Pirates Coach Feels Loss of Papasedero
Steve Robinson
Saturday June 21, 2003
The Arena Football League, parent to arenafootball2, lost one of the fraternity on June 22 when Fran Papasedero, head coach of the Orlando Predators, died in a one-car accident.
Florida authorities say Papasedero lost control of his car, overturned several times and was ejected. It`s not yet known if speed, alcohol or drugs contributed to the wreck. Published reports did indicate he was not wearing a seatbelt and was thrown from the vehicle. Reports from the website of Orlando’s WFTV-TV said eyewitnesses to the crash say the driver was zigzagging along the road.
Papasedero is survived by a 3-year-old daughter and his coaching brethren, including Peoria Pirates head coach Bruce Cowdrey and Green Bay Blizzard head coach Jose Jefferson. Jefferson called Cowdrey last Friday morning with news of Papasedero’s death.
Cowdrey and Papasedero could, indirectly, be considered co-workers, because Orlando Predators Entertainment, which owns the AFL Predators, also owns the af2 Pirates.
“It’s a tragedy,” Cowdrey said. “All coaches know each other, either by name or reputation and Fran was a good person in both respects. I had met him a couple of times.”
Jefferson had referred players to Papasedero and spoken to him at last year’s ArenaBowl festivities. A loss like this “puts coaching in perspective,” Jefferson said. “We all want to win each game, win 16 games, go undefeated and into the playoffs and championships, but we are people…What people don’t realize is, we are human, and yes, we have feelings, and yes, we do eventually die, and yes, bad things do happen to us outside of football.”
Papasedero replaced Jay Gruden, the brother of Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach Jon Gruden, as the Predators coach in 2001 when Gruden returned to play quarterback for the team. Papasedero had been an assistant with the team for four seasons. This season, Papasedero got Orlando into the semi-finals, before losing to in-state rival Tampa Bay, 60-50 last Sunday.
Papasedero guided the Predators a 12-4 record this season, and won one playoff game before being defeated by Tampa Bay June 7 in the league semifinals. The team also made the semifinals last season.
Papasedero, 34, began his AFL career in 1993 as a lineman for the Albany Firebirds. He played five AFL seasons with Albany, Massachusetts, St. Louis and Nashville. He joined the Predators coaching staff in 1998 as a line coach under then head coach Jay Gruden. He moved up through the Predators assistant-coaching ranks before taking over as head coach in 2002, when Gruden returned to the field as a player. In two seasons as head coach, Papasedero`s Predators compiled a 22-13 record.
Steve Robinson, a freelance writer since 1984, has written about the Peoria Pirates since the Pirates were members of Indoor Football League, beginning in 1999. He covers the Pirates currently for the Bloomington IL Pantagraph.
