They Started From the Bottom Now They're Here

Adam Markowitz
Saturday August 16, 2014

It's not that often that you'll see me referencing Drake in any of my articles, but in the case of the Cleveland Gladiators, I feel as though I can safely say that they started from the bottom, now they're here in ArenaBowl XXVII.

Statistically speaking, there has never been a turnaround in AFL history quite like this one. Never before has there been a team with a worse winning percentage the previous season go on to make the ArenaBowl. In fact, there have only been eight teams who finished their previous season under .500 who went on to the ArenaBowl the next season. Only three of those went on to capture the Foster Trophy, and that includes when the Pittsburgh Gladiators moved and became the Tampa Bay Storm in 1991.

Worst Winning Percentage in Previous Season Before Going to ArenaBowl
*Denotes Won ArenaBowl
2014 Cleveland Gladiators (.222 in 2013)
1992 Orlando Predators (.300 in 1991)
2012 Philadelphia Soul (.333 in 2011)
1988 Chicago Bruisers (.333 in 1987)
*1991 Tampa Bay Storm (.375 as Pittsburgh in 1990)
2005 Georgia Force (.437 in 2004)
*2003 Tampa Bay Storm (.428 in 2002)
*2001 Grand Rapids Rampage (.428 in 2000)

Of the 50 teams which have played in the ArenaBowl in the past (not including ArenaBowl I), only six didn't make the playoffs the previous season. This includes the 2010 Storm, who didn't make the playoffs in 2008. None of those six teams went on to win the ArenaBowl. Cleveland is going to try to break the mold as the seventh team a week from Saturday.

If it was only the fact that the 2014 Gladiators made it to the ArenaBowl after a season where they didn't make the playoffs, it would be impressive. If it was only the fact that the Glads are here a year after going 4-14, it would be impressive. If it was only the fact that the city of Cleveland has its first truly awesome chance at capturing a championship since 1964, it would be impressive.

What's most impressive to this writer, though, is the fact that this franchise, for all intents and purposes, should have been dead just two years.

For a team that has spent its entire year preaching the concept of "1-0," it is interestingly "2-0" that starts to tell the tale of what should have been the demise of the Cleveland Gladiators.

The date was June 8th, 2012. The Gladiators were set to host the Pittsburgh Power at Quicken Loans Arena. Gladiators players officially went on strike that afternoon, and the end result was the first and only forfeit in the history of the Arena Football League. The final score officially reads Pittsburgh 2 – Cleveland 0.

The shame of it all was that that Cleveland team was downright respectable. The club was 6-5 at the time, and by all accounts, it probably should have gotten into the playoffs. Instead, the forfeit marked the third game of a five-game losing streak that helped end the team's season on a sour note.

Some players showed up to try to play that night in June, but there weren't enough men cobbled together to reasonably give it a go.

As a fan of this league for over two decades, I must admit that I would have had a hard time going back to the Gladiators if I was a fan in Cleveland. Remember that Cleveland only got our beloved sport back in the Forest City in 2008, and after one very successful season in which the team was one step away from the ArenaBowl, the league went on hiatus, and it was dark once again at the Q.

Attendance sunk and sunk dramatically. In that 2008 season, the Gladiators averaged 14,016 fans per home game. That number was nearly cut in half to 8,828 fans in 2010, and it dropped as low as 6,230 fans in 2012. I was on the record in 2012 saying that I didn't know how much longer this franchise would survive after losing a home game via forfeit.

That was the bottom.

The Gladiators were either going to start to move in the right direction, or they were going to fall through the bottomless pit into extinction just like so many other AFL franchises have done and continue to do.

Rather than give up, Cleveland continued to fight. Dan Gilbert and the Gladiators chose to go 1-0 against history.

The 2013 season though, had to be incredibly frustrating as well. The team was beaten down by three scores or more eight times on the season. Most of those games were over by halftime. The average halftime score that season? 31-22. Many were significantly worse than that. The defense allowed 58.2 points per game. The offense was good for just 47.1. The offensive line gave up 39 sacks. The team turned the ball over an average of 2.4 times per game. Chris Dieker, Brian Zbydniewski and Danny Southwick all looked lost under center.

But there was hope at the end of the year. Cleveland was up 33-30 against the Iowa Barnstormers before allowing the game-winning touchdown with 0:13 left to play. The Glads stormed back from down 55-35 in the fourth quarter against the Orlando Predators to tie the game with three minutes left, but they lost with 0:03 left when Aaron Garcia hit Prechae Rodriguez for the game winner. An interception returned for a touchdown with 1:15 to play cost Cleveland a game against the Jacksonville Sharks. A missed field goal with four minutes to play was all that separated the Gladiators from the Utah Blaze in the finale.

That's four games that Cleveland lost that could have easily gone the other way. If three of the four did fall the other direction, the Gladiators would have made the playoffs.

Now, the Gladiators refuse to lose. Six games were won on the final play of the game this year, including the opening round game in the playoffs against the Philadelphia Soul. Five games this year featured Cleveland trailing with 0:00 on the clock in the fourth quarter. In four of those instances, the Gladiators came back from the dead on their final play to win, each seemingly more remarkable than the last. It was never a matter of "if" Cleveland was going to find a way to win games in which it was behind. It was a matter of "how."

The offense averaged 55.1 points per game. The defense allowed just 43.4. The turnover margin which was -8 last season is +16 now. The seemingly lost quarterbacks were replaced by second-team All-Arena pivot, Shane Austin, who threw 99 TDs this year in spite of the fact that he only started 16 of the 18 games. But more importantly, all of those close games that were lost in 2013 are now being won in 2014.

They say you have to play a full 60 minutes in football to win a game. Not against the Gladiators, you don't. You've got to play around 60 minutes and five or 10 more seconds just to be sure.

Winning is the ultimate panacea in sports. Fans love seeing wins, and they love supporting winners. A team's record might not tell the whole story, but it never lies. Cleveland had a 4-14 team last season. It had a team which forfeited a game the year before. And yet, the Gladiators went out in the community and continued to push their product for 2014. Dollar hot dog nights and $2 beer nights were the craze. Parking was free for fans who bought seats early. The Daniel Bryan "Yes!" chant was a catchy thing for the city to latch onto, even if it is a little trite at this point. The basis was always there for the Gladiators to succeed in 2014. Winning just made it contagious throughout a city which has wanted nothing but a winner for the last 50 years.

That's how the Cleveland Gladiators got themselves all the way from the bottom. Now, they're here, 60 minutes… maybe a little more… from being the most unlikely champions in Arena Football League history.