ArenaBowl XXI Media Day: Destroyers Style
Jack Bedell
Saturday July 28, 2007
For one, it was my first chance to cover the Destroyers up close and personal, a particular treat for me because they’re the team I cut my AFL teeth on back when they were in Buffalo. In fact, one of the first shows I watched the day I set up my DirecTV satellite almost a decade ago was an Empire Network broadcast of a Buffalo Destroyers game featuring Browning Nagle at QB. I’ve been hooked ever since, and I’ve kept a sweet spot for the team through the years.
Second, I was really interested in checking out the mood Columbus had brought to town. As this year’s version of a Cinderella story, the Destroyers had faced a murderer’s row of opponents down the stretch, knocking a hot Tampa Bay Storm squad out in round 1, then upsetting the Dallas Desperados who were everyone’s consensus favorite, and finally slaying QB Matt Nagy’s old Georgia Force team to get to the championship.
Fighting through all that adversity, and coming this close to a title no one gave them a shot to win, could either have the team loose and playing like they had nothing to lose, or uptight and worried about blowing this chance against a San Jose squad very accustomed to playing in these types of games.
Luckily, the first player I had a chance to chat up was former New Orleans VooDoo fullback and linebacker Leroy Thompson, the guy who coined the gravedigger celebration that became the hallmark of success in the New Orleans Arena. A real vet with as much big-game experience as anyone in the league, Thomson was chomping at the bit to get the game on and genuinely proud of the Destroyers’ run.
When I brought up the underdog angle with Thompson, he put it to rest pronto.
“At this point the whole 7-9, sixth seed thing is over for us. We’re not even thinking of that anymore. We just know that we’re facing a good San Jose team and we have to be on our A game to get it done.”
Like any good, veteran leader, he was quick to spread the reasons for Columbus’ success around to his teammates, especially the defense, “They’re a tenacious bunch, especially K2 and those guys up front. Our defense has really been key for us, getting turnovers, and that’s what it’ll be about this weekend—turnovers and getting pressure on Grieb.”
Everything about Thompson’s mood was calm and business-like, but there was an undercurrent of eagerness to tee the ball up. In fact, that would pretty much sum up the mood of the whole team as I saw it.
As a unit, the Destroyers looked ready to get to work without much horsing around, and you could tell that came down from the top. You just couldn’t find a more relaxed, business-like coach than Doug Kay. The five minutes I spent with Coach Kay was as pleasant an experience as I’ve had speaking with any team official. Kay was gracious and complimentary to his team and staff as well as his opponents, but there was also a confidence to him that spread out into the arena.
Kay put it simply, “We’re a good football team, but we’re playing a good football team, and we need to play our best game to get the job done. We’re here, and we’d like to be able to win.”
At the same time, Kay was a realist, fully aware of the challenge his team was about to face.
“Those kids in San Jose have been together a long time. Mark Grieb’s been there. James Roe’s been there. Their special teams have been together a while. And Darren Arbet is a fine coach with a fine staff who put their team in a position to win with good coaching.”
To a man, the Destroyers feel they have already weathered a tremendous storm playing through a losing streak and coming out of it to beat three of the best teams in the league to reach the championship game. As Coach Kay phrased it, “They played a five-game losing streak and didn’t lose the confidence that they were a good football team because they could’ve disintegrated and didn’t.”
And it’s not like the blueprint for the Destroyers’ success doesn’t exist. The Chicago Rush pulled won the ArenaBowl just last season with the same record as Columbus and a very similar M.O. Quarterback Matt Nagy was quick to point out those similarities as soon as we started talking.
“We knew we had a good football team. We just weren’t clicking at the same time, and for Chicago to have done their deal last year with the exact same record, it was a perfect story for us. We’ve been through a meat-grinder of teams, and we’re here ready to play.”
From the looks of things at Media day, the Columbus Destroyers are ready to play. They’re galvanized into a family by what they’ve been through this season, and they’ve gained a tremendous amount of confidence from their last month of success.
Come Sunday, I guess we’ll see if the Destroyers can keep their roll on, of if that slipper’s set to fall off.
Jack Bedell was an inaugural season ticket holder for the af2's Lafayette Roughnecks and the AFL's New Orleans VooDoo. He's been a fan of the league since he first saw Browning Nagle heaving touchdowns for the Buffalo Destroyers. Jack's married to a lovely wife, Beth, and has two sons, Jack and Samuel Eli. He works as an associate professor of creative writing at Southeastern Louisiana University.
