Papasedero Would Have Been Proud of White
Adam Markowitz
Thursday June 14, 2007
I remember like it was only yesterday. I had just rolled out of bed on a Friday morning when the words on the white board next to the Markowitz family refrigerator hit me like a ton of bricks: Papasedero is dead.
On the night of June 19th, 2003, just a few days after his Orlando Predators got bounced from the playoffs by the eventual ArenaBowl champion Tampa Bay Storm, Fran Papasedero was killed in a one-car accident. Reports later showed that his blood alcohol level was over double the legal limit. I remember seeing pictures and hearing stories about owner, Brett Bouchy and PR director, Dan Pearson simply being cast into tears when the news broke early that Friday morning.
I can’t believe it was almost four years ago.
Before becoming the Predators coach in 2002, Papasedero served as the Preds line coach, having been a First-Team All-Arena lineman in 1996 with the St. Louis Stampede. In Gruden’s first stint as Orlando’s head coach, he most famously said to Papasedero, “If you ever put [Reggie] Lee at offensive line, I’ll kill you.” Isn’t it ironic that all these years later, Lee has developed into a purely offensive lineman in the new, free substitution AFL?
No one coached up a line like Coach Fran. You couldn’t miss him and his red head barking at all of the big guys on the field before and during a game. His motto was that he would take any pass rusher and teach them how to block. It’s no wonder that the Predators have had some of the greatest defensive lines in AFL history. Just look at some of these linemen that Papasedero coached and where they are today.
Ernest Allen played for four years under Papasedero, recording 17 sacks in those four years and is now one of the members of the Georgia Force defensive front which has recorded 22 sacks this season.
BJ Cohen also played for the Preds for four years under Papasedero’s guidance, recording 9 sacks and becoming known as one of the best receiving tight ends and pass rushing linemen in the AFL. He has since played for three other teams and has recorded five sacks this season for the Kansas City Brigade.
Rich McKenzie played on Papasedero’s line for three seasons. Though his stats were never staggering, he was a cog on the line for those years, and is most famously known for threatening to kill David Cool if he didn’t make the game-winning field goal in the 2000 ArenaBowl. Cool made the kick, and McKenzie was the first one there to lift him in the air. He is now the Predators strength and conditioning coach.
Duke Pettijohn became an Orlando Predator in 2002 when Papasedero became head coach. He was one of the most ferocious fullback/linebackers the Preds ever had, and is now a staple on the Dallas Desperados front four. Pettijohn gave credit to Papasedero for giving him a chance in the AFL, where he has now become a star in the league.
EJ Burt is perhaps the best find Coach Papasedero ever made. Coming from the af2, Burt was a prototypical Papasedero lineman. He was thought to be undersized and merely a pass rusher. That pass rusher came in his first season and recorded seven sacks and has recorded no fewer than 4.5 sacks since then in his career. In his second season, Burt became a significantly better blocker in addition to his pass rushing expertise, to the point where Papasedero said he was one of the best blocking linemen the team had. Burt was a prize free agent acquisition for the Chicago Rush this offseason.
That’s a pretty impressive stable of big guys.
Perhaps what is most amazing is the fact that Greg White’s 2007 season with the Predators has eclipsed more than any of these previous linemen, and any other lineman in AFL history.
White's 15 sacks in 2007 is the best in league history by 2 sacks with two games to play in the regular season. Even more impressive is that White did this having spent 4 weeks on injured reserve. At 6'3" 275 lbs, White isn't the biggest lineman by any means, but he certainly is a difference-maker up front. With White out of the lineup, the Preds simply got no pass rush on opposing quarterbacks, but it should come as no surprise that in White's return to the lineup in Week 7 against Tampa Bay, he recorded one of the three sacks on Storm quarterbacks Stoney Case and John Kaleo that night. The Predators are 7-4 with White in the lineup this season and just 1-2 without him.
White will certainly be up for ADT Defensive Player of the Year honors in 2007. Maybe it’s even a better certainty that the 27 year old lineman will be in his last year in black and red, as I would be shocked if he wasn’t playing on Sunday’s next year. But before he leaves, it would be nice if he could celebrate his 28th birthday on July 25th with an all-expenses paid trip to New Orleans for the ArenaBowl.
There is no telling what Papasedero’s future would have held after Jay Gruden came back to coach the team in 2004. He would have made an excellent head coach elsewhere in the league. One thing is for certain. Somewhere out there, Coach Fran is looking down on the Predators and is smiling at White’s performance this season.