The Forumla for Success
Dave Harwood
Sunday January 5, 2003
Out of professional football from 1995 to 1999, Maddox finished the 2002 NFL regular season with 2,836 yards and 20 touchdowns. Maddox was 8-3-1 in games he appeared in and led the Steelers to their first AFC North title. Maddox`s magical season also produced one of the most spectacular performances as he passed for 473 yards and 4 TD`s on November 10th against Atlanta.
Many Steeler fans have been waiting for someone to come along and wrestle the starting assignment away from Kordell Stewart. Too many times it has been `The Steelers Year` to win it all, only to see them fail miserably as opposing defenses focus on the run, allowing the Steelers passing game be the deciding factor.
In the 1999 NFL Draft, hopes were set on Chad Pennington. Little did Steeler fans know that the answer would be Tommy Maddox, a former New Jersey Red Dog and L.A. Xtreme QB.
What wonders can happen with just one year of `seasoning` in the Arena Football League? With just one season, it can give a former NFL prospect the skills necessary to compete in today`s NFL. The proof? Well, the formula is a bit trickier than that.
The AFL to NFL formula of success involves one part AFL, one part outdoor league, and then a chance in the NFL.
Kurt Warner`s success is well documented. After three seasons in the AFL, Warner headed to Amsterdam in 2000 where he led NFL Europe in passing yards and touchdowns. The next step was training camp with the St. Louis Rams where he got his chance to play in a mop-up performance agaisnt San Francisco at the end of the 1998 season. But 1999 was the magical year as Warner was thrown into a starting role after Trent Green tore his ACL, MCL and lateral meniscus in his left knee in the third preseason game vs. San Diego. After numerous passing records and an MVP trophy, Kurt Warner reached the ultimate plateau by winning Super Bowl XXXIV.
Maddox followed the same formula, but with a slight twist.
After he failed to be John Elway’s replacement in Denver, and a few years as a backup in Los Angeles and New York, Maddox was out of the league. In 50 career NFL games with four starts, Maddox was 0-4 as a starter and threw for 948 yards with six touchdowns and 14 interceptions.
In 2000, Tommy Maddox returned to football with the New Jersey Red Dogs of the AFL. Maddox played outdoors the following year for the XFL`s Los Angeles Xtreme and won the `Million Dollar game` and MVP honors.
The formula? The AFL allows quarterbacks to work on their quick-release and precision-throwing. A follow up year outdoors helps the quarterback work on what they have learned in the AFL on a larger field. This formula worked for Warner, and has proven valuable for Maddox.
Tommy Maddox could become the second former-AFL Quarterback to win a Super Bowl. While Warner`s 1999 NFL season is and always will be the ultimate `fairy-tale` season, Maddox is writing his own fairy-tale in 2002.
Dave Harwood was a writer for ArenaFan Online from 2001 to 2003.
