Next was a fairly surprising announcement, announced on July 12th just two days after the Dodge City announcement, the Spokane Empire announced they would also be folding effective immediately. This while fairly shocking was not something that was not warned of. Last year Empire owner Nader Naini had stated that if attendance did not rise he would fold the team.
The third news that has come in is the expansion of the National Arena League. To start off the expansion talk the NAL did lose two teams as the Corpus Christi Rage and "Wolfpack" have both folded and will not be returning. The NAL will have the other six teams, the Columbus Lions, Georgia Firebirds, High Country Grizzlies, Jacksonville Sharks, Lehigh Valley Steelhawks, and Jacksonville Sharks will all return for 2018. In addition to those six teams the Jersey Flight, who were announced earlier this year plus four other teams located in Boston, MA, Orlando, FL, Providence, RI, and Richmond, VA were announced as expansion teams for 2018. It was later confirmed via Facebook that the Richmond, VA expansion team is the 2017 Arena Pro Football Champion Richmond Roughriders.
Now for the 2017 IFW All-Indoor Football awards.
Best Arena in Indoor Football: Talking Stick Resort Arena - Arizona Rattlers (IFL)
This award was chosen by you the readers and fans for the Best Arena in the CIF, IFL, and NAL. It started with a Play-In Round and then went through the Round of 32, Round of 16, Quarter-Finals, Semi-Finals, and Final where it faced off with the Sioux Falls Storm's Denny Sanford PREMIER Center. On a vote of 56% to 44% the Talking Stick Resort Arena came out on top.
The Talking Stick Resort Arena has been home to the Arizona Rattlers since they came into existence in 1992. Arizona has built "The Snake Pit" in to one of the most dangerous homes for an Arena/Indoor football team having an all time record of 165-60 inside the building. - Ashle Norling
Worst Franchise/Owner: Project FanChise
Project FanChise came into the league late 2016, bringing an
expansion team in Utah, the Salt Lake Screaming Eagles, and purchasing the
Colorado Crush, keeping that franchise afloat for one more season.
When Project FanChise was first announced as an ownership
group in the IFL, many people had their doubts about this working, saying it
was going to be a trainwreck, a disaster waiting to happen, a complete
shitshow.
I kinda felt the same way, but I wanted to try and take a
somewhat positive approach to it. I was like, “Let’s give this thing a chance,
see what happens.”
Wow.
Wow.
It was a disaster right from the get go. Another note of
importance was that Project FanChise was marketing the Screaming Eagles, and
later the Crush, as an interactive team. Fans got to choose the name of the
team (Lie no. 1, as the fans wanted to call the team Teamy McTeamface, with
Stormin’ Mormons a close second), fans got to vote for the head coach, fans got
to vote on signing players, and the fans got to choose which play the offense
runs.
Because when I think of people who know how to pick the
right play to run, I think the fans over a head coach with a number of years of
experience. They wanted to be the Madden of the IFL. Which in my years of
playing it, Madden doesn’t know shit (I DON’T WANT TO RUN THE BALL ON 3RD
AND 20, MADDEN!!!!).
And they didn’t even do it all the time, as there were games
that it looked like the head coach had a normal playsheet over the iPad, the
Samsung Galaxy Note 7-Point-Whatever, or any other smart device they use. And a
number of times, the team didn’t run the play the fans voted on anyways (Lie
No. 2). So either they audibled to a different play, or the whole system is
broken. Choose your poison, either way.
The first game of the season, the Screaming Eagles scored
their first touchdown, and the fans stormed the field like they had won the
league championship. Bit of a premature celebration, but they weren’t penalized
for it, even though it took forever to get on with the game after that.
To bring even more to the circus, they had famous celebrity
owners who were apparently backing the team as well in Salt Lake. One game,
they had Norm McDonald in the booth calling plays and not sure if the team he
was watching was an expansion team or if it actually played last year. So
either Norm had done no homework on this venture, or he was drunk and didn’t
really care. Either way, not a good play-by-play guy.
Another big issue was that the team decided to stream their
games on Twitch or SI.com. Which, normally, wouldn’t be a bad thing. Getting
your games streamed online is a great way to market and is probably the wave of
the future over getting a TV contract. However, when the league kinda has an
agreement with YouTube to stream all their games live, it sorta pisses off the
league main office.
After two games, the Creaming Eagles (a nickname brought on
by the folks at the Indoor Football Forum after a photo showed the S peeled off
the jersey of a player being interviewed in the first game) decided to fire
their head coach due to “philosophical differences,” despite the team going 1-1
in those first two games. Normally, you don’t see this happen this quickly, but
I’m guessing the head coach didn’t want to do the “fans choose the play” bullshit,
and the office was like, “Screw you, there’s the door.” Might I add that this
firing was done without the voting of the fans, so there’s Lie No. 3. The fans
did get to vote on the next head coach, which was Matthew Sauk. A journeyman in
the arena leagues, as he bounced from 7 different teams in 8 seasons as a
player, and then was one of the assistants for a number of teams after that. Pretty
good offensive coordinator, lousy head coach.
Another great idea by the front office was to have the fans
vote to see if Greg Hardy should join the team or not. Greg Hardy, the man who
was arrested for domestic assault charges and communicating threats, and
suspended 10 games by the NFL. Fortunately the fans voted this down.
Right around midseason, The Wall Street Journal reported
that Project FanChise was planning on creating an entire Interactive Football
League, and the ownership stated that they would finish the 2017 IFL season,
and then they would leave the league after that and start their own league. The
rumor mill had reported that the ownership group wanted to basically fold the
Screaming Eagles and the Crush (thought I had forgotten about them, didn’t ya?)
immediately during the season to save money, but the IFL but a kibosh to that.
The Screaming Eagles would finish the year 5-11, with a last second
controversial win over Spokane to end their playoff hopes.
As for the Crush, they were a victim of circumstance. Their
record was 3-13, but they showed to be a better football team than their record
showed. The team signed veteran head coach Jose Jefferson, and had some close
games in the first eight weeks, giving Wichita Falls their second loss in the
season in an upset that was a contender for Shocking Moment of the Year. Then,
after that game, Coach Jefferson was let go, as was pretty much the entire
staff for “cost cutting measures” by Project FanChise. Midway through the
season, FanChise decided to let the fans choose the offensive plays for the
Crush as well, because “Well, we fucked up one franchise, let’s fuck up
another.” After the season, the Crush’s website went down, and it looks like
the longest reigning Indoor Football program in Colorado has gone quietly into
the night.
If I can feel bad for anybody in this whole circus, it would
be for the players of both teams as well as the coaching staff. Both teams had
some good talent on their teams, with Screaming Eagles QB Verlon Reed earning
IFL Offensive Rookie of the Year. I can see him going to a team and being a
valuable asset in the future. A couple other Screaming Eagles players made the
All-IFL 1st and 2nd teams, so they had talent on the
roster.
This whole ownership group was a damn circus from the word
go. Between the stupidity of the whole “fans call the plays, vote for signings,
etc.”, this was an absolute trainwreck. It depressed me watching the Colorado
Crush go down like it did, because you could tell late in the year that the
players were busting their asses to get those wins, despite the bullshit of the
ownership. My whole thoughts on this ownership group was summed up in a post on
the Indoor Football Forum back in April.
Project FanChise Tweet: “Have we ever lied to our fans?”
My response: “Which instance would you like?” - Adam Lamprecht
Comeback of the Year: Columbus Lions - NAL Semi-Final
Usually when a team blows a 22 point lead in Indoor/Arena football no one bats an eye, however when a team entirely dominates the game for 45 minutes and manages to blow it, that's a bit different.
This is exactly what happened to the Lehigh Valley Steelhawks on a fateful Friday night in Allentown, PA. The Steelhawks started out the game with a 14-0 lead after 1 quarter and a 21-9 lead at the end of the first half. Throughout the second quarter the Steelhawks continued to score and put points on the board alternating scores with Columbus.
After a 25 yard toss from Smith Jr. to Renford for a TD the Steelhawks then put a deuce (a kickoff through the uprights) on the board to take the largest lead of the night, 43-21, with 1:56 to play in the 3rd quarter.
After that touchdown the Lions defense really stepped up and the offense kept rolling as they would score FIVE unanswered touchdowns between the end of the 3rd quarter and 0:56 left in the 4th quarter to take a 50-43 lead. After scoring that final touchdown the Steelhawks were in the game tying/winning position however Columbus' kicker Lindsey Wolfe to give the Lions a 52-43 lead and unless a miracle happened the nail in the coffin for Lehigh Valley.
The Steelhawks would score one more time but couldn't hit the deuce to tie the game and the Lions walked out of Allentown with a win and a berth to the NAL Championship Game. - Ashle Norling
Collapse of the Year: Spokane Empire
Indoor/Arena Football in Spokane had a good run. The Spokane
Shock made the playoffs every year in existence except for one, which was 2012.
And they still had a winning record that season at 10-8. Hell, in their first
five years of existence, they made the championship game 4 of the 5 years,
winning it 3 of those 4 times. Then, the Shock moved to the IFL, but couldn’t
keep the Shock name, due to numerous issues with the AFL.
Hence, the Spokane Empire was born. Their first year was a
great year. They ended 12-4, made the playoffs, and came up just short of a
title in the United Bowl against the Sioux Falls Storm. Many people pegged them
for a favorite to win it all in 2017, even with the Arizona Rattlers coming
into the league.
And the team started out strong. They rocketed out to a 7-2
start, with a controversial one point loss to the Wichita Falls Nighthawks, and
another close loss to the Nebraska Danger. After 11 weeks, they were sitting
atop of the Intense Conference, 1 ½ games ahead of Nebraska and 2 games ahead
of Arizona.
Then the Storm game happened. A 62-32 drubbing by the
defending United Bowl Champions that saw their starting QB get benched after a
poor outing and a squabble on the bench with another teammate.
After that, the wheels seem to just completely come off for
the Empire. After another tough loss, this time to the Rattlers, and another
squabble on the bench, the starting QB was released. And with two backups
fighting for the job the rest of the season, the Empire would go 1-6 down the
stretch, and their season would end controversially with the 3 Men in Motion
Game against Salt Lake. The Empire would end the season 8-8, and Spokane would
miss the playoffs for only the second time in the 12-year Arena/Indoor football
history of Spokane.
After the season ended, the Spokane Empire shocked everyone
by ceasing operations. The main reason given was that the owner stated if they
didn’t get above a certain attendance all season, that the team would fold. But
there are rumblings in the World of Indoor Football that there’s more to this.
But nonetheless, the Empire had the conference in the palm of their hand. But,
like the Romans and the Galactic, the Empire would fall and crumble into dust. - Adam Lamprecht
Performance of the Year: Nebraska Danger - Week 18
With the Nebraska Danger being at home against the Wichita Falls Nighthawks in Week 18 both teams came in with totally different stories and needed outcomes. For the visiting Wichita Falls Nighthawks a win was necessary and due to having the tiebreaker over both Iowa and Sioux Falls a win would put the Nighthawks in the playoffs and mean the game in Des Moines between Iowa and Sioux Falls was effectively a quasi-playoff game. Nebraska on the other hand came in with Salt Lake having done the work for them. The Screaming Eagles win (albeit under dubious circumstances) over Spokane the night before clinched Nebraska into the Intense Conference Championship against the Arizona Rattlers.
Nebraska could have easily rested started for the playoff game the following week to make sure and prevent injuries to top players but that's not what they did. Through the first half the Danger hung with the Nighthawks being down a very close 28-24 at halftime.
The Danger showed who the king of the castle was starting in the 3rd quarter scoring 2 unanswered TD's to start the half while Wichita Falls only managed a FG in the 3rd putting Nebraska up 38-31 after 45 minutes.
The Danger continued to show dominance the 4th quarter as they scored early on and made a statement they weren't there just to survive but also to win. After the Nighthawks scored another TD Nebraska would put up another 2 unanswered TD's before Wichita Falls managed to put a late one on. It was too little too late and the Danger, a team who could have just easily rested that entire night, pummeled and pounced on a team needing that win for the playoffs by a score of 59-44.
Shocking Moment of the Year: Omaha Beef - CIF Northern Division Championship
The Beef came into the Northern Division Championship huge underdogs going 3-10 against the Bandits overall since 2013. That 3-10 included losing 6 straight games that lasted since 2015, as the last win was at home on 4/10/15, as well as a 5 game road losing streak dating back to 2014 as the last win by the Beef in Sioux City was on 4/27/13.
While those years were all bad years for the Beef they were the opposite for the Bandits as they had an overall record of 48-19 since 2013, which included 2 championship game appearances and a win in CIF Champions Bowl I.
Neither team was going to make this easy on the other one in a rivalry that dates back to 2002 in the National Indoor Football League. After one quarter the Bandits held a 14-13 lead but the Beef would tie it up to end the second half at a 28 all deadlock.
After the teams each scored once early on in the 3rd quarter it would be until there was 9:30 remaining on the clock in the 4th, a whopping 16:25 between scores.
The teams battled back and forth trading scores in the 4th quarter. The big break came when the Omaha defense held the Bandits to a FG with 3:29 to play. Even though Omaha was down by 3 that meant a FG would tie it and a TD would win the game. After milking down the clock past the 1 minute mark Omaha hit paydirt with a 23 yard TD pass from Iannott to Scott, which along with the PAT put them up 49-45. With the Bandits able to win on a TD it was up to the Omaha defense to finish off the game and what a way did they do it. An INT reception for a TD put the game over the edge for Omaha. The win not only gave Omaha their 4th win over Sioux City since 2013 but their first Championship appearance since the 2002 IPFL Championship they had dropped to the Tennessee ThunderCats. - Ashle Norling
F@%K Up of the Year: 3 Men in Motion
Let me start off by saying this. The only time I like to dis
and badmouth officiating is when it’s in the NFL or the NCAA. Mainly, because
those two organizations make a shit ton of money that they can afford to hire
full time officials for those leagues, as well as replay officials that know
the damn rules.
Indoor leagues I try to be a little more lenient towards
officiating, as the game is a little different, a few different rules, so there
can be some confusion.
However, there’s one instance that I cannot let pass, as it
was a major play that ended the season, and possibly the franchise, of one team
while the other team was ending anyways and wanted to stick it to the entire
league it was in.
Salt Lake/Spokane. Week 18. Spokane wins, they have a chance
to make the playoffs. They lose, they’re done. Spokane scored late, but an
unsportsmanlike conduct penalty gave the Screaming Eagles great field position
with less than 3 minutes to play.
It went down to 4th and Goal, 11 seconds left.
The pass fell incomplete, but there was a penalty. Illegal contact by Spokane.
Automatic first down for Salt Lake. They try again, with no time left on the
clock. Incomplete pass for Salt Lake, but another flag on Spokane for pass
interference.
And then, the play. Salt Lake lines up, 3 guys go in motion-
Wait, back up a second. THREE GUYS?
Yes. Salt Lake had three guys in motion. In the IFL, you can
only have two guys in motion. If there are three, it should be ruled dead as an
illegal procedure with a 5 yard penalty on the offense.
And here’s the worst part of it. NONE OF THE REFS CAUGHT IT.
Hell, the back judge was looking DIRECTLY at the play as it unfolded. But there
was no flag, and Salt Lake scored the winning touchdown, and Spokane was
bounced from the playoffs.
Most of the time, I let the officiating pass, but this was
atrocious. Not only do you see all three guys in motion, but in a photo, one of
the Spokane defensive backs was trying to tell the official that 3 guys were in
motion!! But nope, no penalty. And Project FanChise gets to ride off into the
sunset giving a giant middle finger to the rest of the IFL. - Adam Lamprecht
Game of the Year: Colorado vs Wichita Falls - Week 10
Week 10, Colorado and Wichita Falls. Both of these teams came in to the game having polar opposite seasons, Colorado at 1-6 with their only win over Salt Lake while Wichita Falls was 7-1 with their only loss coming on the road to the Sioux Falls Storm. The game was highly expected to be a complete blowout.
The game saw both teams trade TD's until the Crush scored three straight to end the 1st quarter with a 26-15 lead. The second quarter saw the opposite happen compared to the first quarter with the Nighthawks scoring twice to start the quarter and twice again after a Crush TD. With the Nighthawks seemingly going into halftime with a 42-32 lead it looked as if they started to take down Colorado, but the Crush had different plans. On the kickoff following Wichita Falls' fourth TD of the quarter Daniel Lindsey proceeded to run the kick back 46 yards for a Crush TD and putting the game to within three points at the half.
The third quarter saw each team handle the ball three time and alternate two scores starting with the Nighthawks and after another 28 total points Wichita Falls led this game 56-53 after 45 minutes of play.
Colorado would start off the 4th by finishing a drive started in the previous quarter, with a field goal to tie it up. Both teams exchanged blows moving the game as high as a 70-all tie before the Nighthawks were held to just a field goal with 0:25 to play. After the ensuing kickoff the Crush took the ball down 3 and needing just a field goal to tie from the 25 yard line. With 0:17 left on the clock the unthinkable happened as Liam Nadler completed a pass to Kyle Kaiser for a TD to put the Crush up 77-73. The defense did their job picking off Charles McCullum to end the game with a win in favor of the underdog Colorado Crush..
This victory was made more incredible by the fact that while being owned by Project FANCHISE the Crush were very much the red headed step child of the owners. This actually worked out in favor of the coaching staff until a few days after the win Colorado dismissed Jose Jefferson as head coach due to "cost cutting reasons", the 2nd time that season FANCHISE had fired a coach immediately following a win. - Ashle Norling
Mr. Consistant: Verlon Reed - Salt Lake Screaming Eagles
Verlon Reed did what no other quarterback did this year or probably ever will again in this sport. He played well, put up good number all while his team and season seemed to be sabotaged from the ground up. Being Salt Lake's starting quarterback while they went through two coaches, had fans "picking their offensive plays" and even pushing through the rumors the team was to have been disbanded halfway through the season to save money and still output like he did is amazing.
Reed managed to snag the IFL Rookie of the Year award on offense for 2017. His performance was undeniable finishing as one of just 5 quarterbacks to play all 16 games during the season. He also #1 in total offense, averaging 218.3 YPG, #3 in Offensive TD's with 70, #3 in Passing YPG with 170.9. Verlon Reed put up very good numbers and always played at a certain level even while the rug and everything else was being ripped out from underneath him. - Ashle Norling
Comeback Player of the Year: Chris Dixon II - Texas Revolution
If you’ve been around the sport of indoor football for many
years, then you probably know the man named Chris Dixon II.
Chris is considered by many people (myself included) to be
the greatest indoor football quarterback in the history of the sport. Let me
bring up some of his awards: 7-time League Champion (2006, 2009-2012, 2014,
2017). 4-time League MVP (2008, 2009, 2011, 2012). 3-time United Bowl MVP
(2010, 2011, 2014). 4-time All-IFL (2009-2012). 2016 IFL Hall of Fame. The
awards go on and on for Chris. He played the majority of his career for the
Billings Outlaws, only moving to the Sioux Falls Storm once Billings folded.
After the 2014 IFL season, and a couple trips to the AFL in
there, Chris decided to call it a career. He would accept the head coach
position for the new team in Billings, the Billings Wolves, and return back to
a community that adored him. After leading the Wolves to the playoffs in 2016,
the team folded, and left Dixon at another crossroad.
In 2017, the Texas Revolution came calling, and Dixon
answered the challenge, suiting up after 2 years of inactivity as a player.
Many stated this made the Revs the early on favorite to win the Champions Bowl.
However, there were some naysayers that said he was too old, past his prime,
that the two years off would hurt him. Dixon’s response: Watch me.
Dixon was third in yards passing with 2767 yards, 1st
in passing touchdowns with 67, 6th in rushing yards with 693 rushing
yards, and tied for 2nd in rushing touchdowns with 24 TDs. And with
that, he lead the Revs to their first league championship in the long history
of the franchise. - Adam Lamprecht
All-Indoor MVP: Nate Davis - Amarillo Venom
When you think of Amarillo Venom football, the past four
years there’s one guy that is associated quite well with the franchise. And
that is the man under center, quarterback Nate Davis.
Under Davis’ leadership since 2012, the Venom won two Lone
Star Football League Championships, and has been a Championship Contender each
year in the CIF. And this year was no different.
Davis wasn’t the leading passer in yards, YPG, or
Touchdowns, but he was right there. In total passing yards, he racked up 2,980
yards, only 30 behind leader Donovan Porterie. In passing touchdowns, he was 3rd
on the list, right behind Chris Dixon and Porterie with 62 TDs. And he was a
dual threat, putting up 248 yards on the ground. While not majorly impressive,
he was able to get 22 rushing TDs as well, which was 6th on the
list.
The big thing for Davis was wins. He helped guide the team to a lot of close wins over the season, including 3 games against Duke City that were won by 3 points or less, and one against Texas by 7. Granted, they had two losses against Texas, one by 7 and one by 1 point (a 96-95 shootout), he proved to be the man that would lead the Venom to a possible championship run.
Unfortunately, that run was cut short in the South Division
Championship, where they would lose to eventual CIF Champions the Texas
Revolution. But his play on the field showed why Nate Davis was voted the
All-Indoor MVP for 2017. - Adam Lamprecht
All-Indoor Football Team
Offense
Quarterback - Donovan Porterie (CIF/Duke City Gladiators)
Running Back - Darrell Monroe (IFL/Arizona Rattlers)
Wide Receiver - Clinton Solomon (CIF/Texas Revolution)
Wide Receiver - Jordon Jolly (IFL/Wichita Falls Nighthawks)
Wide Receiver - Damond Powell (IFL/Cedar Rapids Titans)
Guard - Darius Savage (IFL/Nebraska Danger)
Guard - Lamar Mady (IFL/Arizona Rattlers)
Center - Rashad Mungro (IFL/Sioux Falls Storm)
Kicker - Sawyer Pete (IFL/Arizona Rattlers
Defense
Defensive End - Joe Sykes (NAL/Monterrey Steel)
Defensive End - Devon Bridges (CIF/Sioux City Bandits)
Defensive Tackle - Jabari Fletcher (NAL/Monterrey Steel)
Linebacker - Javicz Jones (IFL/Iowa Barnstormers)
Linebacker - Tyler Knight (IFL/Sioux Falls Storm)
Defensive Back - Kyle Griswould (NAL/Columbus Lions)
Defensive Back - Rodney Hall Jr. (NAL/Lehigh Valley Steelhawks)
Defensive Back - Allen Chapman (IFL/Arizona Rattlers)
Kick Returner - Tyrell Pearson (IFL/Green Bay Blizzard)
