NFL Player Involvement in the Arena Football League
John Hoh
Thursday April 27, 2006
- Mike Ditka (Chicago Rush)
- John Elway (Colorado Crush)
- Joey Galloway (Columbus Destroyers)
- Ron Jaworski (Philadelphia Soul)
- Neil Smith (Kansas City Brigade)
That doesn’t include the NFL owners who also own Arena Football League franchises:
- Colorado (Pat Bowlen and Stan Kroenke)
- Dallas (Jerry Jones, Sr.)
- Georgia (Arthur Blank)
- Nashville (Bud Adams)
- New Orleans (Tom Benson)
But NFL player involvement goes much deeper and the potential list of former NFL players owning Arena Football teams could be longer. Brian Noble, former Green Bay Packers linebacker, owns the Green Bay Blizzard in af2 and is rumored to be seeking a franchise in the AFL for Milwaukee. Dan Marino, the Fall of Fame quarterback of the Miami Dolphins, was rumored to be a part of the ownership group that made an aborted bid to buy the woeful Florida Bobcats (Wayne Huizenga, Miami Dolphins owner, was rumored to be the lead in that group, but backed out and the League contracted the Bobcats out of the league shortly thereafter).
Several NFL players have also served as arena football coaches. Brian Noble coached the Blizzard in af2. Don Strock, the former backup QB to David Woodley and Dan Marino of the Dolphins, as well as Jim Jensen, coached AFL and af2 teams in Florida. Steve DeBerg (yes, he did play a few games for my beloved Dolphins as well) tried his hand at coaching, albeit briefly, the Indiana Firebirds.
Perhaps the former NFL player with the greatest success coaching is Danny White who led the Arizona Rattlers to two ArenaBowl wins and several other ArenaBowl appearances. He is currently coaching the Utah Blaze, which is hot on the playoff trail as we speak.
Some lesser known players also tried their hand at coaching the AFL ranks, players such as Babe Parilli, Doug Plank, and John Fourcade (who might have even played in the old All-American Football Conference). The roster of AFL coaches also lists a Bobcat coach by the name of Bruce Hardy. I seem to remember that name from the Dolphins also located in the Miami area.
I’m sure there might be others. But the truth is these former players see that the Arena Football League is a viable league, a competitive league, and a league worth investing in. No doubt others will soon enter the fray. Can some Redskins players possibly join Dan Snyder in finally getting the awarded Washington franchise going? Perhaps Joe Montana might join the owners of the 49ers to start the Bay area franchise already awarded the York family? I would love to see the Bay area rivalry between the SaberCats and the San Francisco team. Perhaps Huizenga and Marino might still get an expansion franchise for southern Florida (but please, Wayne, don’t call it "Florida"—call it "Miami!"). And maybe—just maybe—my dreams will come true and Brian Noble will be awarded an expansion franchise for Milwaukee. I can see Brett Favre as a co-owner already. Who knows what else could happen. Kurt Warner could enter an ownership group for a new team in Iowa or St. Louis when his playing days are over.
Oh, the possibilities are endless! And the future is bright in the Arena Football League, and getting brighter with each NFL star joining the ranks.
John L. Hoh, Jr., is a free-lance writer from Milwaukee who grew up in Appleton, Wisconsin, as an avid Dolphins fan. He followed Arena Football since its inception, at one point watching tape-delayed games on low-powered WAV-TV in Waukesha. His happiest day was when Milwaukee was awarded the Mustangs franchise; his saddest when the Mustangs were contracted out of the league. John is married to his wife Maija (13+ years) and has a young son, Matthew. John pines for the return of the Arena Football League to Milwaukee.
