Eastern Division Shopping Sprees of Epic Proportions
Jim Parcels
Monday January 14, 2002
Strike that. What a difference a winter makes!
Last summer the Eastern Division of the Arena Football League resembled a rerun of the “Stooges” in mid-June.
You had the “quarterback-less” Buffalo Destroyers battling the bumbling Carolina Cobras for first place until about mid-June. The Cobras had led the division for most of the first half of the year and fell apart as the weather got hotter.
Then you had the “defense-less” New York Dragons racking up about 139 points a game but had a 4-5 record.
You also had the Toronto Phantoms looking at each other after every play wondering if moving to the Great White North was such a good idea – they had a 3-6 mark.
Then in the basement resided the dazed and confused New Jersey Gladiators who looked like they had just gone a couple of rounds with Russell Crowe in “The Coliseum”.
They were 1-10.
In the end, the upstart Phantoms ended up winning the turtle race with an 8-6 mark and a first round playoff victory over the Dragons.
Then came the off-season.
Add a Free Agent period here, a Dispersal Draft there; what you have today is a Division that has transformed by epic proportions.
Ray Bentley of the Buffalo Destroyers has totally ignored the 18 feet of snow in his city by shoveling in a bevy of talent.
He now has at his disposal several quality bodies in OS Lemart Cooper, QB Fred McNair, FB/LB Jason Bratton, WR/DB Tommy Boyd, WR/LB Thomas Bailey, QB Jeff Loots and K Steve McLaughlin.
These aren’t your average Arena Football players either. Cooper was the AFL’s “Don’t Blink” Player-of-the-Year with Oklahoma last year and set several all-purpose yardage marks. McNair carried the Carolina Cobras to a playoff berth in their second year and brings a wealth of experience to the club going into his eighth campaign.
Bratton was a solid part of Nashville’s success on the ground the past few years while Boyd was a big target in Detroit’s offense last year.
Bailey is a former AFL all-star who struggled to find a spot in the Orlando scheme after putting up big numbers in Grand Rapids in 1999 and 2000. Loots is one of the league’s solid backup pivots and McLaughlin is one of the league’s best kickers.
The Destroyers may finally be doing some “destroying” of their own.
In the swamp you have new Coach Frank Haege putting his stamp on the Gladiators - a football club that last year resembled an average AF2 club.
Haege has added former Tampa Bay standout OS James Bowden, all-star DS Damon Mason from Orlando, former Jet QB Glenn Foley, WR/LB Cedrick Robinson from Houston and DS Terrell Sutton.
Quite an improvement.
In Toronto, Mark Stoute has been careful not to upset the chemistry his club built up at the end of last year, only filling some glaring holes.
He shored up his defensive backfield by adding veteran Storm DS Tommy Henry and several key linemen to improve a pass rush that struggled at times last year.
In are C/NT Doug Lytle from Milwaukee, veteran G/DE Kelvin Ingram from Arizona and QB/WR/DB Kahlil Carter, a former Mustang, who could be another Connell Maynor.
In New York, the Dragons had been looking to fill the OS hole left by All-Star Kevin Swayne, who is with the Superbowl-hopeful New York Jets.
Yesterday former AFL All-Star and another “Don’t Blink” player-of-the-year, Steve Papin strutted into Uniondale to shake hands with head coach John Gregory.
Great, all Garcia needs is Papin added to the league’s top receiving corps along with Doxzon, King, Turner and Conley!
Also in the Lair is former Outlaw OL/DL Tim Martin who some consider to be the AFL’s next great lineman.
The four teams in the division should be thanking their lucky stripes that the Cobras have been moved to the southern Division. The Cobras have improved markedly on last year’s talent base as well.
In recent years I cannot remember a single division improving so quickly from one year to the next with such an influx of talent.
Next year all teams could be 8-6, 7-7 or 6-8 due to the fact the division is so competitive.
A drastic change from last year’s standings in mid-June.
Jim Parcels was a writer for ArenaFan Online during the 2002 season.
