by Woody Wommack
With an economic crisis sweeping the entire nation, people from all walks of life are finding themselves affected.
While the nightly news is filled with information about the struggling banking and automotive industries, these are not the only fields in peril.
The sporting world also is feeling the economic crunch, and the Arena Football League is one of the first major sporting entities to suffer serious consequences.
After months of speculation about their teams’ futures, AFL representatives announced that the league would suspend the 2009 season and take a year to re-work the economic model.
“A challenging economy forces you to make difficult decisions,” Orlando Predators majority owner Brett Bouchy said during his introductory press conference in December. “It forces you to look at every aspect of your economic model, and it’s done that for us, and that’s good for everybody.”
For Orlando Predators backup quarterback Jake Eaton (left) and coach Jay Gruden, of Palma Vista, the future of the Arena Football League remains uncertain.
Bouchy and his fellow team owners have said all the right things since the cancellation was announced, vowing that the AFL will make a strong return in 2010.
In the meantime, players and coaches are left with nothing but questions and very few, if any, answers.
That includes Palma Vista resident and longtime AFL stalwart Jay Gruden.
For the first time in as long as he can remember, Gruden is not actively planning for an upcoming football season.
The longtime player and coach of the Predators usually spends his spring running practices and getting his team ready for games. He now is left to plan his next move in life, rather than on the football field.
“I definitely want to stay in football,” Gruden said, “whether it be pro, college or arena.”
To add insult to injury, Gruden’s second job also was recently eliminated.
He usually spends the AFL offseason working as a member of his brother John’s coaching staff for the National Football League’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
However, after seven seasons in Tampa, John was fired in January, meaning Gruden’s position with the team also was eliminated.
Gruden is still employed by the Predators, who have an office near downtown Orlando, but his contract has been restructured, and his responsibilities are far less than they were when he was head coach.
“I’m still here,” Gruden said. “I think the AFL will be back, and I really appreciate what it has given me throughout my career, both on the field and as a coach.”
Gruden said his newly found free time has given him more time to focus on becoming a better coach.
He and his brother have met with multiple college coaching staffs in an effort to learn new skills for future jobs.
Gruden also is spending more time with his family and helping coach his son’s flag-football team.
However, Gruden is not the only member of the Predators organization searching for his next career move. Many of the players on the Predators roster were caught unaware by the announcement that the season would be canceled.
Many AFL players have spoken out about the timing of the announcement, saying they feel blindsided and even betrayed.
Some have taken legal action against the AFL, stating that they should still be paid the salaries they are owed, regardless of the fact the season has been canceled.
None of the Orlando players have gone that far, but they have made it clear they are not happy with the decision.
“We didn’t really see it coming,” said longtime Predators defensive back Kenny McEntyre. “They told us less than two months before we were supposed to start practicing. That doesn’t give us players much time to find jobs.”
McEntyre, 38, was under contract for the season that was supposed to begin in late February; however, with no return in sight, his playing days may be over.
Offensive/defensive lineman B.J. Cohen said that even though he was sad when he heard the news, it was the timing that angered him.
“They didn’t have to wait so long to tell us we weren’t going to be playing,” Cohen said. “There are hundreds of players with families that were depending on the league to provide for their families, and now that opportunity isn’t there anymore.”
Bouchy, who took over the team just a week before the cancellation news was announced, said the final vote by his fellow owners surprised him.
While Bouchy did not want to get into specifics about how the decision to cancel the season was reached, he did say that he still has a positive outlook about the future of the league.
“I wouldn’t have bought the team if I didn’t think it still had value,” Bouchy said. “I’m still optimistic that we’ll have a season in 2010.”
Bouchy’s statements echoed the original stance he took in December, when he first announced he was taking over as majority owner.
“I have never been more excited about owning an arena football team because of where we are going with the economic model,” Bouchy said.
”We’re going to look back on late 2008 as kind of a turning point for the league.”
There has been little progress made in the restructuring of the AFL since the season suspension was announced.
The league’s official Web site has not been updated, and a proposed March 1 deadline has come and gone.
There is nothing but time for moves to be made, but with a number of players and fans already angry, it is hard to see the AFL returning to the success it enjoyed before the suspended season.
Even though Gruden and his players are unsure about their football careers and may not have the same outlook as Bouchy about the future of the sport, they all agree on one point — if the AFL returns, they will not be far behind.
“Hopefully they get this thing figured out, and I’ll be back,” McEntyre said. “I love football, so I’ll take any chance I can get to play.”
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