Raymond Philyaw leads the Cleveland Gladiators against the top-seeded Philadelphia Soul on Saturday at noon on ESPN.
Reprinted with Permission
by Terry Pluto
Cleveland Plain Dealer
www.Cleveland.com
Think Bill Nelsen. Think Brian Sipe. Think Steve McNair
after a few years in the NFL.
That's Raymond Philyaw, the 33-year-old quarterback
who has carried the surprising Cleveland Gladiators to the
Arena Football League's final four.
This is his ninth year in the AFL, and he has been knocked
down, beat up and physically bounced around from one end of
the AFL to another. In the process, the 5-10 Philyaw has
become one of the league's greatest quarterbacks -
ever.
"If Ray were a few inches taller, he'd be an NFL
quarterback," said Gladiators coach Mike Wilpolt.
"He takes three to five hits a game that are almost
frightening, and gets back up. He is so special."
That opinion also is held by Bernie Kosar, who marvels at
Philyaw's grit. When the former Browns quarterback says
a fellow quarterback is tough - he speaks from his own
history of broken bones, concussions, sprains, strains and
other assorted pains from his career.
Kosar has said Philyaw is everything you'd want in a
quarterback.
Much has been made of Kosar's first year as the
Gladiators' president, how he took over a team that was
2-14 in Las Vegas in 2007, turned the roster upside down
while moving it to Cleveland. As the Gladiators take the
field in Philadelphia at 12:00 p.m. Saturday, they are one
victory away from the ArenaBowl - this league's Super
Bowl.
Yes, Kosar's fingerprints are on the blueprint of
success, but Philyaw and Wilpolt drew the lines for the
foundation.
"When you are a young player or a coach, you do dream
about the NFL," said Wilpolt. "But after a few
years, most of us realize that we are Arena-lifers. Having a
chance to play this game and get to the Arena Bowl - this is
our big dream."
Philyaw is the league's second-ranked quarterback
this season. He's a guy who would have gone to a bigger
school if only he could have been taller than 6-0. Instead,
it was four years at ULM, where he set a school
record for touchdown passes, and is No. 2 on the all-time
passing yardage list.
He played for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the Canadian
Football League, and the Madison Mad Dogs of the Indoor
Football League before coming to the AFL. He's been
with four different franchises, and usually improved the
team when the ball was placed in his hands.
"A warrior," Wilpolt has said.
And underrated.
Despite taking a 2-14 team to 9-7 and racking up gaudy
statistics, Philyaw didn't make first- or second-team
All-AFL. Philyaw didn't like it, but he just takes the
hit of disrespect, says little, pushes forward.
Meanwhile, Wilpolt was named AFL Coach of the Year. He was
a head coach once before, taking over the Indiana franchise
in 2004. Former NFL quarterback Steve DeBerg opened as
coach, struggled with the league and its strategy, and was
fired after an 0-5 start. Wilpolt had an 8-3 record as an
interim. He was set to be the head coach in 2005, when the
franchise folded.
He returned to being a defensive coordinator, a job he had
in the league before. Talk about thankless -- the rules are
incredibly restrictive on defenses, setting the stage for
50- . . . 60- . . . even 70-point games.
Stressing defense in the AFL is a little like running a
Gamblers Anonymous meeting in the middle of a casino with
poker tables to the right, slot machines to the left, a
blackjack table at the rear and a roulette wheel spinning in
front.
"When we see a guy staggering in the streets, we joke
it's an old AFL defensive coach," said Wilpolt,
whose roots in the league go back to 1992 when he was a
backup receiver and defensive back.
For Wilpolt and Philyaw, this is a season of redemption.
Both are looking for their first AFL titles. Both are quiet,
intense men with hardly a drop of self-promotion in their
veins. Even if you know little about the AFL, they are easy
guys to like and worthy of cheers from Cleveland's
football fans.
By Neil Bisman
Arena Football League
Reprinted with Permission
www.arenabowl.com
With ArenaBowl
XXII being held in New Orleans for a second
consecutive year on Sunday July 27, the desire to touch down at Louis Armstrong
Airport is just a little
bit stronger than usual for Arena Football League players.
For a
select group of players competing in tomorrow's conference championship games, a
victory means a chance to win a championship in front of their hometown fans.
This
Saturday, when the Cleveland Gladiators (11-7) travel to the Wachovia Center
to face the Philadelphia Soul (14-3) in the National Conference Championship
game, four players from the Pelican
State will take the field
for the Gladiators.
Gladiators
quarterback Raymond Philyaw is a proud son of the northwest part of the
state. Born in Shreveport,
Philyaw played collegiately at ULM. Philyaw threw for a school-record 52 touchdown passes while
finishing his career with the second-most passing yards in school history
(7,061).
Since
turning pro, Philyaw has shown no signs of slowing down his record setting ways
as his name is currently littered across the AFL record books. Philyaw ranks ninth in AFL history in
completions (2,083), passing yards (24,865), and touchdown passes (464). One of the League's most prolific passers, he
finished second in 2008 in passer rating (124.5).
More
important than personal records, Philyaw would love nothing more than to have a
crack at winning a championship in the state that raised him.
"It's
going to be great playing in New Orleans,” said Shreveport's own. “To play on the biggest stage in my home state
will be exciting for my family, friends and myself."
Another
quarterback on the Gladiators' roster, Rohan Davey, played his college football
just down the road from the New Orleans Arena in Baton Rouge.
While playing at LSU, Davey became the first quarterback in school
history to throw for over 3,000 yards in a season when he threw for 3,347 in
2001. Davey put an exclamation point on
that outstanding season by taking home MVP honors in the 2002 Sugar Bowl.
Completing
the offensive quartet of Louisiana players for
Cleveland are
wide receiver Randy Hymes and offensive lineman Antonio Narcisse. Hymes, a late season pickup who posts the
fourth-most touchdown receptions in the playoffs (4), was a two-sport athlete
at Grambling State
while Narcisse is the lone New Orleans
native on the roster.
While
attending Reed High School, Narcisse earned
All-Conference honors three straight years.
In his senior season, Narcisse was named Offensive Lineman of the Year,
MVP of the 5A Conference and was elected to the High School All-Stars team.
In the
second game of the ESPN doubleheader, Grand Rapids Rampage (8-10) travels to HP
Pavilion to face the San Jose SaberCats (12-5) in the American Conference
Championship Game. While San Jose does not boast any players from the state of Louisiana, Grand
Rapids has two.
Ironman
Chris Ryan, hailing from Lake Charles,
is a two-time All-Ironman selection (2002, 2004) and is one of the best fullbacks
to ever play in the Arena Football League.
In 2005, Ryan became the first player in League history to post 16
rushing touchdowns in consecutive seasons.
For his career, Ryan ranks third all-time in AFL history in rushing
touchdowns (89) and eighth in League history in rushing yards (941). Ryan is currently on the Injured Reserves
list.
Rampage
fullback Terrell Browden, a Baton Rouge native,
attended Christian
Life High
School and helped the Crusaders earn a berth in
the Louisiana Class 2A semifinals in his senior season. While at Christian Life, Browden also earned
First Team All-District 7-2A honors.
For anyone
who has ever put on an Arena Football League uniform, the opportunity to play
in an ArenaBowl is why they play the game.
But for the six Louisiana
natives participating in conference championship games this Saturday, the
chance to play in ArenaBowl in front of their fellow statesmen would be a dream
come true.
Who said
that you can't go home again?
