Philadelphia Underdog Mentality Returns for ArenaBowl 32
Harrison Brown
Sunday August 11, 2019
The city of Philadelphia is once again an underdog in a football championship. The Philadelphia Soul are heading into ArenaBowl 32 as a ten-point underdog against the Albany Empire. The ArenaBowl will be played in the Times Union Center in Albany, the mecca of passionate AFL fan bases. The Empire have had control of the number one seed all season and were well represented in the AFL’s award ceremony yesterday, leading many to predict an ArenaBowl championship parade in the Capitol Region for the first time in twenty years.
Despite the odd’s being against them, Philly has no plans of allowing Albany to party like it’s 1999 tonight. The Soul’s veteran cast of players like quarterback Dan Raudabaugh and defensive back James Romain have played in multiple ArenaBowl’s during their Soul tenure. Their experience has been valuable for the rookies and younger members of the Soul roster as they look to pull off the upset.
“Don’t put too much pressure on yourself,” Raudabaugh said of his advice to the rookies. “Go out there and make plays, you don’t have to be someone you’re not. Be yourself, be in the moment and don’t ride the emotional waves. Everyone else is going to ride it for you, the coaches, the fans, the front office, everyone’s emotions are on a roller coaster all week. If we control what goes on in between the walls good things will happen,” Raudabaugh said.
ArenaBowl 32 will be Raudabaugh and head coach Clint Dolezel’s fifth ArenaBowl appearance since joining the Soul in 2012. The duo has been together for a decade, dating back to 2010 in Dallas.
“We’re friends that’s the bottom line,” coach Dolezel said of he and Raudabaugh’s relationship. “In the offseason we played softball together for a couple years and we play golf all the time. On and off the field, in season and out of season we’re friends. We put the game plan together and we trust each other,” Dolezel said.
The Dolezel & Raudabaugh duo has brought two ArenaBowl titles to the city of Philadelphia, but just as relevant they’ve won two softball championships during their off seasons in Texas. The dynamic softball duo was forced to breakup when Raudabaugh moved, but their Arena Football legacy could strengthen tonight with an upset win over the Empire.
“We know they’re going to be there at the end of the game just like we hope we are. They’re a high-powered offense and it’s hard to get to Grady, the biggest task for us is to try and get some pressure on him,”
“On the other side of the ball they’ve got a great pass rush, we’ve got to protect Dan. We’ve given up a couple of sacks this year and two of them came from Albany. I think it’ll come down to who blinks first, who makes the first mistake or who makes a play. I hope it doesn’t come down to the bounce of a ball where someone loses off that, I hope somebody just makes a play,” Dolezel said.
The Soul and Empire split their first two meetings before Albany decisively beat the Soul in the final week of the regular season. Both teams removed a majority of their starters in the final meeting and this will be an opportunity for the Soul to get even with the Empire on a much bigger stage.
“We’ve just got to go out and execute,” Raudabaugh said. “It’s going to be loud so I’d like to say we’ll use a snap count, but we might not be able to hear each other. We’re going to go out and do what we do, being ourselves got us here so we don’t have to change much,” Raudabaugh said.
One change the Soul did make during the week was the addition of veteran defensive back Kent Richardson. Richardson won the Defensive Player of the Year award in 2012 when he recorded fourteen interceptions with the Soul. Richardson spent four seasons in Philly before signing with the Orlando Predators in 2016. Richardson played for Cleveland during the beginning of the 2017 season before rejoining the Soul for their ArenaBowl run.
Despite spending a few weeks with the Washington Valor last season, Richardson said the last time he was in full football mode was during the 2017 ArenaBowl run. Richardson spent this year in his home state of Florida working at a cross fit gym.
“I feel good, it’s good to be back,” Richardson said. “I didn’t think I’d be back this late in the season but I’m here. Coach called me on Thursday and asked if I was in shape and had I been running. I was like you know I stay ready and he said he needed some help, so I’m here now,”
“It’s going to be a crazy rush; all I want to do is play football and the fact that I get another opportunity I’m definitely going to take advantage of it. Hopefully I’ll be with the Soul next year but if not, I heard there’s some more expansion teams coming,” Richardson said.
Richardson will be dressed but isn’t expected to start at defensive back. His longtime teammate and the Soul’s franchise leader in interceptions James Romain was named this seasons Defensive Back of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year.
“Personally it’s a surreal moment,” Romain said. “I prayed for this and this is something I really played for and worked for in the offseason. I said, ‘I want to come in and get Defensive Back of the Year again, and I want to get player of the year,’” Romain said.
The Defensive Player of the Year Romain will be matched up against the Offensive Player of the Year Malachi Jones. The Albany wide receiver led the AFL in receiving yards this season and it’s widely expected that he’ll get another NFL opportunity after the ArenaBowl.
“They're a great defense and they’ve been a great organization for years,” Jones said of the Soul. “They’ve won multiple ArenaBowls, so we understand what we’re up against. We’ve done a great job this week in practice understanding what they do well and what they don’t do well. We’re going to take what they give us and we’re going to play our game tomorrow. We’ve got to play fast and try to score on every possession and be efficient in the red zone and avoid third and fourth downs,” Jones said.
It’s hard to argue that this matchup was the best possible ArenaBowl for the AFL. The Empire and Soul were the most well represented teams on both All-Arena lists, Empire quarterback Tommy Grady won MVP, Dolezel won coach of the year, and Romain and Jones won both sides of the ball’s player of the year.
The Soul aren’t favored to win but the underdog spirit of the city of Philadelphia is here in Albany. A talented roster with a mix of veterans and newcomers, the Soul are looking to play spoiler to the city of Albany’s first ArenaBowl in twenty years.
“You’ve got to enjoy it because you never know if you’ll get back,” Dan Raudabaugh said. “I’ve been fortunate to be on some really good teams to get to this spot. Just go out and have fun, cut it loose and don’t worry about it, make the plays when they’re there,” Raudabaugh said.
Harrison Brown is a college student who has been covering Arena Football since he was 12 years old and has been with ArenaFan since 2014. Harrison was a captain of the varsity football team during his senior year of high school and went on to play one season of Division III football in Massachusetts. Harrison has worked for two indoor football teams, in 2018 he was the Director of Player Personnel for the Jersey Flight and in 2016 he was the Color Commentator for the Philadelphia Yellow Jackets. You can follow Harrison on twitter @HarryBrownRusso.
