2012 Arena Football League season

2012 Arena Football League season
League	Arena Football League
Sport	Arena football
Duration	March 9, 2012 – August 10, 2012
Regular season
Season champions	Philadelphia Soul
Season MVP	Tommy Grady, UTA
AFL playoffs
American Conference champions	Philadelphia Soul
American Conference runners-up	Jacksonville Sharks
National Conference champions	Arizona Rattlers
National Conference runners-up	Utah Blaze
ArenaBowl XXV
Champions	Arizona Rattlers
Runners-up	Philadelphia Soul
Finals MVP	Nick Davila, ARZ
AFL seasons
← 2011 2013 →

........Gladiators

Mustangs

Power

Soul

Force

Predators

Sharks

Storm

VooDoo

Barnstormers

Command

Rush

Talons

Blaze

Rattlers

SaberCats

Shock

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American: East, South
National: West, Central

The 2012 Arena Football League season was the 25th season in the history of the league. The regular season began on March 9, 2012 with a game between the Pittsburgh Power and the Orlando Predators and ended on July 22, 2012 with a game between the Utah Blaze and Philadelphia Soul. The Arizona Rattlers defeated the Philadelphia Soul by a 72–54 score in ArenaBowl XXV on August 10, 2012 to conclude the playoffs. ^[1]

League business

Teams

The only franchise that relocated during the offseason was the Tulsa Talons, which became the San Antonio Talons following a move to San Antonio, Texas, where the team announced they would play at the Alamodome. ^[2]

When the 2012 schedule was announced, the Dallas Vigilantes were left off without any explanation on the status of the franchise. No expansion teams were added for the 2012 season.

Labor issues

On March 9, 2012, the day the AFL was to begin play, the Arena Football League Players Association went on strike, seeking a doubling of their wages. The game between the Pittsburgh Power and Orlando Predators scheduled for that night was played as scheduled with replacement players making up about three-quarters of the roster. However, players began crossing the picket line by the second quarter and the AFL announced the work stoppage ended just two hours after the game ended. ^{[3] [4]}

For the second game of the 2012 season, the entire roster of the San Antonio Talons voted unanimously not to strike for its first game against the Utah Blaze. ^[5]

On June 8, the Cleveland Gladiators were forced to forfeit a week 14 matchup against the Pittsburgh Power when they were unable to field enough players to play as a result of several of their players going on strike. It was the first forfeited game in the history of the league. ^{[6] [7]} This news came after the NFL Network chose not to air a contest between the Milwaukee Mustangs and Philadelphia Soul in the network's weekly Friday night broadcast, citing a "labor uncertainty." ^[8] In the following week, after reports of a potential lockout rose, ^{[9] [10]} the NFL Network chose to air a War on I-4 game between the Tampa Bay Storm and the Orlando Predators via tape delay on June 16, the day after the game took place. ^[11]

On June 17, it was announced that the AFL and the AFLPU agreed to a multi-year collective bargaining agreement, to be signed on June 20. ^[12]

Regular season standings

American Conference
East Division
Team	W	L	PCT	PF	PA	DIV	CON	Home	Away
(1) Philadelphia Soul	15	3	.833	1228	919	4–2	12–2	7–2	8–1
Cleveland Gladiators	8	10	.444	879	875	4–2	6–8	5–4	3–6
Milwaukee Mustangs [a]	5	13	.278	960	1062	3–3	4–7	2–6	3–7
Pittsburgh Power	5	13	.278	827	963	1–5	4–9	1–8	4–5
South Division
Team	W	L	PCT	PF	PA	DIV	CON	Home	Away
(2) Jacksonville Sharks	10	8	.556	930	884	4–4	8–6	6–4	4–4
(3) Georgia Force	9	9	.500	812	923	5–3	8–5	5–4	4–5
(4) New Orleans VooDoo [b]	8	10	.444	979	995	5–3	7–5	4–5	4–5
Tampa Bay Storm	8	10	.444	1021	1108	4–4	7–7	7–2	1–8
Orlando Predators	4	14	.222	770	902	2–6	4–11	4–5	0–9
National Conference
Central Division
Team	W	L	PCT	PF	PA	DIV	CON	Home	Away
(1) San Antonio Talons	14	4	.778	1042	949	5–1	9–4	8–1	6–3
Chicago Rush	10	8	.556	1047	1044	4–2	5–6	7–2	3–6
Iowa Barnstormers	7	11	.389	948	1032	3–3	5–9	4–5	3–6
Kansas City Command	3	15	.167	705	938	0–6	1–12	2–7	1–8
West Division
Team	W	L	PCT	PF	PA	DIV	CON	Home	Away
(2) Arizona Rattlers	13	5	.722	1118	880	3–3	8–5	7–2	6–3
(3) San Jose SaberCats [c]	12	6	.667	1143	1027	4–2	10–4	8–1	4–5
(4) Utah Blaze	12	6	.667	1128	1051	4–2	8–4	6–3	6–3
Spokane Shock	10	8	.556	1063	1048	1–5	5–7	5–4	5–4

Eight teams qualified for the playoffs: four teams from each conference, of which two are division champions and the other two have the best records of the teams remaining. ^[13]

• Green indicates clinched playoff berth
• Blue indicates division champion
• Gray indicates division champion and conference's best record

Tie-breakers

• ^a Milwaukee finished in third place in the East Division based on a head-to-head sweep over Pittsburgh.
• ^b New Orleans clinched the American Conference's No. 4 seed based on a greater won-loss percentage among games between New Orleans, Tampa Bay, and Cleveland. (New Orleans: 2–1, Tampa Bay: 2–2, Cleveland: 1–2)
• ^c San Jose clinched the National Conference's No. 3 seed based on their greater point differential in head-to-head competition with Utah.

Playoffs

	Conference Semifinals					Conference Championship					ArenaBowl XXV
	1	Philadelphia	66
	4	New Orleans	53
						1	Philadelphia	89
	American Conference
						2	Jacksonville	34
	2	Jacksonville	58
	3	Georgia	56
											A1	Philadelphia	54
											N2	Arizona	72
	1	San Antonio	34
	4	Utah	35
						4	Utah	69
	National Conference
						2	Arizona	75
	2	Arizona	51
	3	San Jose	48

Conference semifinals

Conference	Date	Kickoff	Away	Home	Final score	Game site	Recap
National	July 27	8:00 p.m. EDT	Utah Blaze	San Antonio Talons	Utah, 35–34	Alamodome	[14]
American	July 28	7:00 p.m. EDT	Georgia Force	Jacksonville Sharks	Jacksonville, 58–56	Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena	[15]
American	July 28	7:05 p.m. EDT	New Orleans VooDoo	Philadelphia Soul	Philadelphia, 66–53	Wells Fargo Center	[16]
National	July 28	10:00 p.m. EDT	San Jose SaberCats	Arizona Rattlers	Arizona, 51–48	US Airways Center	[17]

Conference championships

Conference	Date	Kickoff	Away	Home	Final score	Game site	Recap
American	August 3	8:00 p.m. EDT	Jacksonville Sharks	Philadelphia Soul	Philadelphia, 89–34	Wells Fargo Center	[18]
National	August 4	10:00 p.m. EDT	Utah Blaze	Arizona Rattlers	Arizona, 75–69	US Airways Center	[19]

ArenaBowl XXV

Main article: ArenaBowl XXV

Date	Kickoff	Away	Home	Final score	Game site	Recap
August 10	10:30 p.m. EDT	Arizona Rattlers	Philadelphia Soul	Arizona, 72–54	New Orleans Arena	[20]

All-Arena team

Offense Position First team Second team Quarterback Tommy Grady, Utah Nick Davila, Arizona Fullback Derrick Ross, Philadelphia Odie Armstrong, Arizona Center Kyle Young, Arizona Billy Eisenhardt, Chicago Offensive lineman Rich Ranglin, San Jose Michael Huey, Arizona George Bussey, Tampa Bay Emmanuel Akah, San Jose Wide receiver Jesse Schmidt, Iowa Maurice Purify, Arizona Aaron Lesué, Utah Reggie Gray, Chicago Tiger Jones, Philadelphia Dominick Goodman, Cleveland

Defense Position First team Second team Defensive lineman Joe Sykes, San Jose Mike Lewis, Utah Victor DeGrate, San Antonio Bryan Robinson, Philadelphia Scooter Berry, Jacksonville Luis Vasquez, Milwaukee Middle linebacker Aaron Robbins, Jacksonville Francis Maka, San Jose Jack linebacker Alvin Ray Jackson, New Orleans Marcus Everett, Milwaukee Defensive back Kent Richardson, Philadelphia Jason Simpson, Iowa Terrance Sanders, Spokane Jeremy Kellem, New Orleans Arkeith Brown, Arizona Tracy Belton, Georgia

Special teams Position First team Second team Kicker Kenny Spencer, Spokane Nich Pertuit, San Jose Kick returner PJ Berry, Pittsburgh Terrance Sanders, Spokane

References

1. "2012 AFL Schedule Announced". San Antonio Talons. October 6, 2011. Archived from the original on February 22, 2012. Retrieved January 4, 2012.
2. "Pro Football Has Finally Arrived in San Antonio". San Antonio Talons (Press release). September 27, 2011. Retrieved December 19, 2016.
3. Arena Football League officials prepared for work stoppage ^{[ permanent dead link ‍]}. Des Moines Register.
4. Archived 2012-03-10 at the Wayback Machine . Bright House Sports Network (March 9, 2012). Retrieved March 10, 2012.
5. Oliver, Richard (March 10, 2012). Players' strike loses momentum. Retrieved March 10, 2012.
6. "Cleveland forfeits matchup against Pittsburgh". ArenaFan.com. June 8, 2012. Retrieved June 7, 2012.
7. Manoloff, Dennis (June 8, 2012). "Cleveland Gladiators players' strike causes forfeit loss to Pittsburgh Power". The Plain Dealer . Retrieved June 8, 2012.
8. "AFL broadcast will not air nationally". ArenaFan.com. June 8, 2012. Retrieved June 8, 2012.
9. DiPoala, Jerry (June 12, 2012). "Union: Arena League threatens lockout". Pittsburgh Tribune-Review . Retrieved June 15, 2012.
10. Obert, Richard (June 14, 2012). "Arena Football League threatening lock out". The Arizona Republic . Retrieved June 15, 2012.
11. Markowitz, Adam (June 12, 2012). "Labor Dispute Rages On, NFL Network Pulls Plug On Live Broadcasts". ArenaFan.com. Retrieved June 15, 2012.
12. "AFL, AFLPU Agree to Terms on Multi-Year CBA". ArenaFan.com. June 17, 2012. Archived from the original on June 18, 2012. Retrieved June 17, 2012.
13. "AFL Playoff Qualification, Selection of Teams". Arenafan.com. Retrieved May 18, 2013.
14. "Utah Holds on, Advance to Conference Championship". Arena Football League. July 28, 2012. Retrieved July 28, 2012.^{[ dead link ‍]}
15. "Sharks Defeat Force in Nail-Biter, 58–56". Arena Football League. July 29, 2012. Archived from the original on August 1, 2012. Retrieved July 29, 2012.
16. "Soul Top VooDoo, 66–53". Arena Football League. July 28, 2012. Archived from the original on August 1, 2012. Retrieved July 29, 2012.
17. "Rattlers Eliminate SaberCats in 51–48 win". Arena Football League. July 29, 2012. Archived from the original on August 1, 2012. Retrieved August 3, 2012.
18. "Soul Eliminate Sharks 89–34". Arena Football League. August 3, 2012. Archived from the original on August 7, 2012. Retrieved August 4, 2012.
19. "Rattlers Defeat Blaze, 75–69, in Exciting Finish". Arena Football League. August 5, 2012. Archived from the original on August 7, 2012. Retrieved August 5, 2012.
20. AFL Communications (August 11, 2012). "Arizona Rattlers Win Avitae ArenaBowl XXV". Arena Football League. Archived from the original on August 15, 2012. Retrieved August 11, 2012.