2003 Arena Football League Season
The 2003 Arena Football League season was the 17th season of the Arena Football League. It was succeeded by 2004. The league champions were the Tampa Bay Storm, who defeated the Arizona Rattlers in ArenaBowl XVII. The AFL expanded its season from 14 games to 16 games. Standings * ''Green indicates clinched playoff berth'' * ''Purple indicates division champion'' * ''Grey indicates best regular season record'' Playoffs All games televised by NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's .... Source: All-Arena team References {{DEFAULTSORT:2003 Arena Football League Season ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Arena Football League
The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 Arena Football League season, 1987 season, making it the third longest-running professional football league in North America after the Canadian Football League (CFL) and the National Football League (NFL) until the AFL closed in 2019. The AFL played a formerly proprietary code known as arena football, a form of American football played indoors on a 66-by-28 yard field (about a quarter of the surface area of an NFL field), with rules encouraging offensive performance, resulting in a typically faster-paced and higher-scoring game compared to NFL games. The sport was invented in the early 1980s and patented by Jim_Foster_(American_football), Jim Foster, a former executive of the United States Football League (USFL) and the NFL. Each of the league's 32 seasons culminated in the ArenaBowl, with the winner being crowned ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Carolina Cobras
The Carolina Cobras were an expansion franchise in the Arena Football League. The team was formed prior to the 2000 season, which endured a player strike. The team was originally based in Raleigh, North Carolina, but moved to Charlotte following its third season. History They played their home games in Raleigh, North Carolina, at the Raleigh Entertainment & Sports Arena (now called the Lenovo Center) prior to the 2003 season. The team was based in the Charlotte Coliseum through 2004. Coaching staff included: Ed Khayat, John Gregory, Ron Selesky, Ray Jauch. On September 20, 2004, prior to the arrival of the NBA's Charlotte Bobcats, the league announced the termination of this franchise; its players were made available to the other AFL teams in a dispersal draft. Legacy The Cobras' legacy in Charlotte was actually meant to fill open dates at the Charlotte Coliseum when the original Charlotte Hornets moved to New Orleans. When the Charlotte Bobcats began play, the Cobras w ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Linebacker
Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the line of scrimmage than the defensive backs (secondary). As such, linebackers play a hybrid role and are often the most versatile players on the defensive side of the ball; they can be asked to play roles similar to either a defensive lineman (such as stopping the runner on a running play) or a defensive back (such as dropping back into pass coverage). How linebackers play their positions depends on the defensive alignment, the philosophy of the coaching staff, and the particular play the offense may call. Linebackers are divided into middle linebackers, sometimes called inside linebackers, and outside linebackers. The middle linebacker is frequently the "quarterback of the defense". His central role on the field means he is in the best positio ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Fullback (American Football)
A fullback (FB) is a position in the offense (sports), offensive backfield in gridiron football and is one of the two running back positions along with the halfback (American football), halfback. Fullbacks are typically larger than halfbacks, and, in most offensive schemes, the fullback's duties are split among power running, reception (gridiron football), pass catching, and blocking (American football), blocking for both the quarterback and the other running back. Many great rush (gridiron football), runners in the history of American football have been fullbacks, including Jim Brown, Marion Motley, Bronko Nagurski, Jim Taylor (fullback), Jim Taylor, Franco Harris, Larry Csonka, Tom Rathman, John Riggins, Christian Okoye, and Levi Jackson. However, many of these runners would retroactively be labeled as halfbacks, due to their position as the primary carry (gridiron football), ball carrier; they were primarily listed as fullbacks due to their size and did not often perform the ru ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Jim Kubiak
James Kubiak (born May 12, 1972) is an American former professional football player and coach. He is currently the director of the WNY Quarterback Academy, and he was most recently the head football coach at Hilbert College for their first season in 2022. Kubiak was the director of football operations and offensive coordinator for the Georgia Force of the Arena Football League (AFL). He played college football for the Navy Midshipmen. During his career, Kubiak played for the Carolina Panthers, Indianapolis Colts, Barcelona Dragons, New York Jets, Buffalo Destroyers, Dallas Desperados, Detroit Fury, and Georgia Force. College career After a successful prep career at St. Francis High School in Hamburg, New York, Kubiak attended the United States Naval Academy, where he was a four-year letterman and three-year starter. In 1991, Kubiak started the season on the JV team and earned a spot on the Midshipmen's final roster. He earned the starting job in the fifth week of the seas ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Sherdrick Bonner
Sherdrick Deon "Sed" Bonner (born October 19, 1968) is an American former professional football quarterback who played fifteen seasons in the Arena Football League (AFL). Early life Bonner attended Azusa High School in Azusa, California and was a student and a letterman in football, basketball, baseball and track & field. College career Bonner graduated from Cal State Northridge in 1991 with a Bachelor of Science degree in kinesiology and was a member of Sigma Pi fraternity. While there, he started at quarterback and led the Matadors to the 1990 Western Football Conference co-championship and the program's only playoff appearance. He completed 319 of 637 passes for 3,533 yards and 18 touchdowns in 37 career games. He earned honorable mention All- Western Football Conference honors his senior year in 1991. Bonner also lettered in basketball, volleyball, and track and field. He played 23 games for the basketball team in the 1987–88 season, outside hitter for the men's volley ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Quarterback
The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually considered the leader of the offense, and is often responsible for calling the play in the huddle. The quarterback also touches the ball on almost every offensive play, and is almost always the offensive player that throws forward passes. When the QB is tackled behind the line of scrimmage, it is called a Quarterback sack, sack. The position is also colloquially known as the "signal caller" and "field general". The quarterback is widely considered the most important position in American football, and one of the most important positions in team sports. Overview In modern American football, the starting quarterback is usually the leader of the offense, and their successes and failures can have a significant impact on the fortunes of their team. Ac ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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AFL On NBC
The ''AFL on NBC'' is the branding used for broadcasts of Arena Football League (AFL) games produced by NBC Sports, the sports division of the NBC television network in the United States, that aired from the 2003 to 2006 seasons. Background Jim Foster, a promotions manager with the National Football League (NFL), conceived the idea of indoor football while watching an indoor association football match at Madison Square Garden in 1981. While at the game, he wrote his idea on a 9x12 envelope from his briefcase with sketches of the field and notes on gameplay. He presented the idea to a few friends at the NFL offices, where he received praise and encouragement for his concept. After solidifying the rules and business plan, supplemented with sketches by a professional artist, Foster presented his idea to various television networks; he reached an agreement with NBC for a "test game". In 1998, CBS assumed the broadcast rights to the American Football Conference (AFC) from NBC, en ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Colorado Crush
The Colorado Crush were an arena football team based in Denver, Colorado. They began play as a 2003 Arena Football League expansion team. The Crush played in the Central Division of the American Conference until the Arena Football League suspended operations in 2009. They were last coached by Mike Dailey and owned by a coalition of Denver sports figures led by John Elway. Negotiations with a Denver ownership group were underway for a future AFL expansion franchise in Denver, but it was unclear whether or not it will use the Crush branding or that of the Denver Dynamite (arena football), Denver Dynamite, an earlier AFL team. Like the Dallas Desperados, the Crush's branding is partially based on NFL teams (the Denver Broncos and St. Louis Rams, though to a much lesser degree), which would have given the late Pat Bowlen or Stan Kroenke a potential veto over any usage of the Colorado Crush branding. On July 15, 2015, the Crush name was acquired by the Indoor Football League franchis ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Los Angeles Avengers
The Los Angeles Avengers were an Arena Football League team based in Los Angeles, California, from 2000 through 2008. They folded on April 19, 2009. History The Los Angeles Avengers played their home games at the Staples Center, which is also the current home to the Los Angeles Kings of the National Hockey League, the Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers of the National Basketball Association, the Los Angeles Sparks of the Women's National Basketball Association. The team began play in the 2000 season. The Avengers competed in the Western Division of the American Conference. Since its inception in 2000, the Avengers had competed in postseason play five times. The Avengers earned American Conference wildcard playoff berths in 2002, 2003, 2004, and 2007, and won the American Conference Western Division Championship in 2005. The Avengers franchise was owned by Casey Wasserman, grandson of the MCA head Lew Wasserman. As part of the Avengers's marketing plan as they got off ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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San Jose SaberCats
The San Jose SaberCats were a professional arena football team based in San Jose, California. The SaberCats had been members of the Arena Football League (AFL) since 1995 (the year in which the team was founded); and until 2015, they belonged to the AFL's National Conference. Over nineteen seasons of play, the SaberCats emerged as one of the Arena Football League's most successful franchises; at the conclusion of the 2015 San Jose SaberCats season, 2015 season, the SaberCats boasted a lifetime regular season record of 198–98. Moreover, the SaberCats had won a total of four ArenaBowl, AFL Championships (ArenaBowl XVI, 2002, ArenaBowl XVIII, 2004, ArenaBowl XXI, 2007, and ArenaBowl XXVIII, 2015). Their lifetime postseason record stood at 19–12. In the club's first four seasons (1995–1998), the team played just above mediocre, but still qualified for the playoffs three out of the four years, losing in the opening round each time under the guidance of Todd Shell. In 1999 San J ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Indiana Firebirds
The Indiana Firebirds were a team in the Arena Football League. The team was based in Indianapolis, Indiana. Home games were played at the Conseco Fieldhouse, also the home of the Indiana Pacers of the National Basketball Association and Indiana Fever of the Women's National Basketball Association. History Albany Firebirds (1990–2000) The team was founded in Albany, New York as the Albany Firebirds, and played in Albany from 1990 to 2000. At that time, home games were played at the Knickerbocker Arena (now known as the MVP Arena). The team's original ownership group was headed by Joe O'Hara, owner of the Continental Basketball Association's Albany Patroons, who would later become the AFL's second commissioner. In 2020, he revealed that he originally wanted to call the team the Nighthawks, but league founder Jim Foster wanted that nickname for a future team he planned to own after his tenure as commissioner. After getting off the phone with Foster while in Boston, he happened ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |