ESPN Classic Airing Vintage Arena Football Games
Randy Snow
Friday April 13, 2007
However, last Monday I was channel surfing on the satellite dish and I stumbled across a Semifinal Arena Football playoff game from 1994 on ESPN Classic featuring the Albany Firebirds and the Arizona Rattlers. I couldn’t believe it! There was Mike Hohensee coaching and “Touchdown” Eddie Brown catching a touchdown for the Firebirds. So, what are these two guys up to 13 years later? Well, Hohensee is now the head coach of the Chicago Rush and led his team to an ArenaBowl championship last season while Brown is in his first year as the head coach of the expansion Fort Wayne Fusion in arenafootball2.
I had never actually seen the Albany Firebirds play before, so I was totally enjoying watching the game. I hadn’t been that excited since I stumbled across a 1983 Michigan Panthers USFL game on ESPN Classic a few years ago.
As it turns out, ESPN Classic is showing vintage Arena games every Monday afternoon for the next several weeks, prior to their regular Monday night Arena games on ESPN2. I think it’s fantastic to be able to see some of the great players of the past as well as teams that are no longer in the League. (Hey, ESPN, is there a Miami Hooters game somewhere in your archive?)
The Arena Football League has quite a history of producing great players over the past 20 years and they should not be forgotten. Hopefully, ESPN will continue to sprinkle classic Arena Football League games into their schedule throughout the year, and not just during the AFL season.
Here is the upcoming schedule on ESPN Classic. All games are shown on Mondays at 4 PM EST;
April 16
ArenaBowl XIV (2000)
Nashville Kat vs. Orlando Predators
April 23
ArenaBowl VIII (1994)
Arizona Rattlers vs. Orlando Predators
April 30
Regular Season Game (2001)
Carolina Cobras vs. New York Dragons (NY scores 99 points)
May 7
Semifinal Playoff Game (2005)
Chicago Rush vs. Colorado Crush
May 14
Semifinal Playoff Game (1996)
Arizona Rattlers vs. Tampa Bay Storm
May 21
ArenaBowl V (1991)
Detroit Drive vs. Tampa Bay Storm
Randy Snow covered the Grand Rapids Rampage of the Arena Football League for ArenaFan from 2003-2008. He also covered the Fort Wayne Fusion of arenafootball2 in 2007. From 2004-2008 and in 2010, he was a member of the Arena Football League Writer’s Association and, since 2011, has been a member of the Professional Football Researchers Association. Randy lives in Kalamazoo, Michigan but will travel just about anywhere for a football game or a great football story. He runs the web site www.theworldoffootball.com and hosts a podcast with his son, Adam, called “This Week in The World of Football.”