At the very least it's suspended. After winning the AFL MVP award last season, Tommy Grady has come out with a big large thud this season and after only 11 games he had already tied the all time AFL single season interception record. Apparently the team management really didn't want him to break it in week 12. Grady wasn't even suited up for the game against the Jacksonville Sharks.

 

“We're giving away 2 interceptions a game, we had to change something. We can't afford to go into games in Arena Football down two possessions before we even start. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting the same result, so we switched it up.” said Head Coach Ron James about the decision to bench Grady and give back-up QB Jason Boltus his first AFL start.

 

As far as Grady being inactive, James stated that “he was deactivated basically because we changed the QB position and we decided at that time on a game decision to suit up another defensive linesman to look at another pass rusher we hadn't played yet. It's gambling a little bit that your quarterback is going to stay healthy. It's something we usually don't do, but we looked at this week as an opportunity to look at a couple different players and not just the quarterback.”

 

The team gambled on Boltus, but that's partially because the coaching staff and team have a lot of confidence and respect for Boltus. Jason Boltus earned that respect because he has those leadership skills and other “intangibles” needed to be a high level quarterback. He's one of those guys that say the right things to get the team behind him. Take a look at this response to a question of which receiver he feels most comfortable with:

 

“It's everyone. Everyone got in the mix today. I think all the receivers got a touchdown. The whole team, we all work hard. We all ride with each other. We're earning respect of each other and come out here and put it on the line everyday. It's important that we all gel together and stay together. We have rocky moments in the game, but we stayed together.” said Boltus.

 

Saying that your team all rides together and puts it on the line everyday might be some schmaltzy and stereotypical statements for a starting quarterback but that's who Jason Boltus is. He isn't just spouting off those statements about his teammates because that's what a quarterback is supposed to do, he legitimately feels that way, and it comes off in the way he acts on and off the field. That attitude has led to Boltus garnering the respect of his teammates, and that respect directly lead to the victory last Saturday.

 

The Blaze bolted out to an early lead that stemmed, according to Coach James, from Boltus. “Boltus, as Tommy, is very respected by the team. But Boltus does everything. He runs down on kickoffs, he's played Jack Linebacker. He's an every down, every day player. The team rallied in knowing it was his first chance to show what he can do.” said Coach James.

 

The Blaze were only stopped once in the first half, and were able to get a 3 score lead at half time. They’d need every one of those extra points in order to withstand a second half surge from the Sharks, and win by one touchdown 62-55. “(The game) was won because of (Boltus). In the first half, the players believed in him and in the second half we managed the game so that we could come away with a win. He's gonna learn, he's going to continue to learn. We don't lose games despite of any quarterback. Tommy works hard and Jason works hard. This is just Jason's opportunity.”
 

If Jason Boltus was the difference in this game, it wasn’t because of spectacular play. If you compare his statistics to Tommy Grady’s per game season stats through the first 11 games, you’ll notice that there was very little difference:

 

 

Boltus, for his credit, knows that his play needs to improve. “It ain't a perfect 10. I've got to give myself a 7 or 8. We’ve got to improve on the second half. The defense rose up to the occasion and offensively we kept grinding and kept up with their scores.”

 

Boltus also continued the disturbing trend of the Blaze being a pick-a-thon, throwing 3 during his first start. “All the interceptions were solely my fault. Misreads, where I could have went other places with the ball. There's so many other things I could have done with the ball then throw interceptions. I solely take responsibility with that. Those are the things I have to work on to be ready for Spokane.”

 

“He made a few mistakes to expect in your first start,” said Coach James. “There was a few passes where he shouldn't have thrown where he did. It's a learning experience for him, but luckily for us that learning experiences are coming with the defense is playing well.”

 

The time for learning is over, however, as the Blaze will enter Deaf Valley to play the Spokane Shock next Friday in a game that could destroy any chances of making the playoff if the Blaze don’t play to their best. As for who will be the starting Quarterback for that game, “We have to evaluate as we do every week,” said Coach James. “This isn't a death nail for Tommy, there's a lot you can learn as a back-up and maybe this will motive him to work harder this week to get back in the lineup.”

 

“Whatever is in the Coaches plan, I'll be ready for.” Said Boltus “Right now, I'm planning on starting (next week), work hard this week and let the chips fall where they may… My role is to do whatever I could help this team with. That's what I continue to do. Whether I'm the Quarterback, the Jack, running back on kickoffs, blocking on kick returns, I'm just so happy to be on this team and be with a bunch of hard working guys and be on the Utah Blaze.”

 

For being 3 games back of San Jose and Spokane with 6 to play the Blaze are surprisingly optimistic about their changes of making the playoffs.

 

“We're focusing one game at a time. We still control our destiny.” Said Defensive Back David Hyland “If we take care of our business one week at a time and if everything unfolds the way it should we'll be right back in it. Then if we can get hot, it's just like anything else. It's just like the (New York) Giants when they won a Superbowl a couple years ago. They didn't start out so hot and then their momentum led them through the postseason and they won the whole thing.”

 

“Our odds increase every week that we play well and win.” Said Coach James “We can’t gauge what other teams are going to do. We'll be at their mercy and the math will take care of itself. All we can do is focus on what we're going to do in Spokane and week by week try to claw our way back in.”

 

David Hyland recorded his 6^th interception this week, breaking a franchise record for interceptions caught in a season by jumping over Carlton Brown and Orshawante Bryant. Hyland didn’t have much to say about his accomplishment. “Really? That's pretty cool. I didn't know that. It doesn't really matter what I do unless we win.”

 

Hyland did have more to say about the Blaze continued 3^rd quarter trials, “I honestly don't know what it is. Maybe it's just going in and cooling down. Maybe we should just stay on the field.”

 

The announced attendance was 5109, the second lowest of the season. The season average of 6169 is the second lowest of all time, losing only to the 2010 season when the Blaze were 2-14 and playing in the Maverick Center in West Valley City. That season the Blaze averaged 5018 people.

 

The Utah Jazz announced remodeling to Energy Solutions Arena that includes a new video board that is much larger then the current board, and changes to the sound system as well as 2 new scoreboards in the corners of the arena. The Jazz expect the project to be completed on Sept. 15, but said it could be the first of October in order to be ready for the Jazz's first games of the next season. While no official word has been given it would appear that construction will not interfere with the Blaze’s last 3 home games.

 

The screens are quite large, taking up about half of the basketball court, and they hang quite low. If the renditions are to be believed, the screens could really cause problems on kickoffs for future Blaze seasons. That is, of course, if there are future Blaze seasons. The team has not announced 2014 season tickets yet, but there are still 3 home games left, so I’m probably just being paranoid. A news report about the announcement of the updates to the Arena, and renditions of the new screens can be found here. 

Don Eisenbarth has been following the Utah Blaze since 2006, but this is his first year covering for ArenaFan. Born in Provo to a family of BYU fans and having graduated from the University of Utah, Don has enjoyed all sides of the Utah college football landscape for decades and is excited for the return of professional football to the Beehive State. You can follow him on twitter at http://twitter.com/bigdondoo