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2004 Arena Football League Season
The 2004 Arena Football League season was the 18th season of the Arena Football League. It was succeeded by 2005. The league champions were the San Jose SaberCats, who defeated the Arizona Rattlers in ArenaBowl XVIII. The AFL reduced its playoff teams from the top 12 teams in the league making the playoffs to the top eight teams in the league making the playoffs. Standings * ''Green indicates clinched playoff berth'' * ''Purple indicates division champion'' * ''Grey indicates best regular season record'' * New York Dragons won the Eastern Division, but did not make the playoffs as only the top 8 teams qualified. The AFL reverted to the old rule in the following season in that Division Champions get an automatic bid to the playoffs for the following season. 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 N ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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] |
Orlando Predators
The Orlando Predators were a professional arena football team based in Orlando, Florida and member of the Arena Football League (AFL). The team was most recently owned by Orlando Predators LLC, a company owned by David A. Siegel, and played its home games at Amway Center. The team was founded in as an expansion team of the AFL. The team advanced to the playoffs 19 consecutive seasons between and , becoming the ArenaBowl champions in 1998 and 2000 during that span. The team suspended operations after the 2016 season. History Early years (1991–1997) There was interest in arena football in Orlando as early as 1987, with a group looking to place an AFL team in central Florida in time for the 1988 season. But more than three years would go by until the Orlando Predators franchise was finally secured by Davey Johnson, Tracy Allen and Mike McBath on February 14, 1991. The Preds began play that same year but missed the playoffs, the only time the club would do so until 2012. I ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tony Graziani
Anthony Robert Graziani (born December 23, 1973) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons of the National Football League (NFL), and the Los Angeles Avengers and Philadelphia Soul of the Arena Football League (AFL). He played college football for the Oregon Ducks. Graziani was the highest-paid player in the history of the AFL, earning over $200,000 for the 2007 season. Early life Graziani attended Thomas Downey High School in Modesto, California. As a quarterback, he passed for 3,956 yards and 35 touchdowns in his prep career while leading his team to a share of the Central California Conference title. College career Graziani was a four-year letterman the University of Oregon, playing in 28 games in his collegiate football career. At Oregon he majored in political science. He accumulated the following stats: * Completed 362-of-670 for 4,498 yards and 25 touchdowns * Was 92-of-171 for 1,353 yards and eight touchdown ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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] |
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] |
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] |
Grand Rapids Rampage
The Grand Rapids Rampage was an arena football team based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The team began play in 1998 in the Arena Football League as an expansion team. They were last coached by Steve Thonn. Their home arena was the Van Andel Arena. History In 1997, Dan DeVos was granted an expansion AFL franchise for the 1998 season, and was awarded the remains of the dormant Massachusetts Marauders franchise out of bankruptcy court. That team's first incarnation, the Detroit Drive, had been the league's first dynasty; the Drive had advanced to the ArenaBowl in all six years they played in Detroit, winning four times. They moved to Worcester, Massachusetts for the 1994 season before folding. Due to the four-year period of dormancy, the Rampage did not claim the Drive/Marauders' history as their own. Grand Rapids was the smallest market in which the AFL had a franchise at the times of its first/2009 disbanding. The Rampage played in the Van Andel Arena, which is also the home of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Detroit Fury
The Detroit Fury were an arena football team based in Auburn Hills, Michigan. They were a member of the original Arena Football League from 2001 to 2004 and played at The Palace of Auburn Hills, also the home of the NBA's Detroit Pistons. They were the first team to play in Detroit since the Detroit Drive, four-time ArenaBowl champions, before that franchise relocated to Worcester, Massachusetts, and were rebranded the Massachusetts Marauders. The team was co-owned by William Davidson, who owned the Pistons, along with William Clay Ford, Jr., son of the owner of the National Football League Detroit Lions. History Eight years after the departure of the Detroit Drive to Massachusetts, Detroit Pistons owner Bill Davidson and William Clay Ford, Jr., son of Detroit Lions owner William Clay Ford, Sr., came together to purchase an expansion franchise in the original Arena Football League. A name the team contest was held in 2000 to generate public interest with over 3000 sub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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] |
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] |
Chicago Rush
The Chicago Rush were a professional arena football team based in Rosemont, Illinois. The team was founded in 2001 and played in the Arena Football League's Central Division. The Rush qualified for the playoffs in 11 of 12 AFL seasons, during which they won ArenaBowl XX in 2006 and captured five division titles. The Rush played home games at Allstate Arena from 2001 to 2012. The team struggled to find a permanent owner and later relocated to Rockford, Illinois in 2013 to play their final season. The AFL itself ceased operations in 2019.AFL Issues Statement on Rush, Blaze Chicago Rush Media Relations, ArenaRush.com, September 9, 2013 In 2023, Chicago-based music producer Ernest Clark acquired the Rush and announc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
