No. 7 | |||||||||||
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Position: | Quarterback | ||||||||||
Personal information | |||||||||||
Born: | New York, New York, U.S. | March 1, 1969||||||||||
Height: | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | ||||||||||
Weight: | 195 lb (88 kg) | ||||||||||
Career information | |||||||||||
High school: | New York (NY) Lehman | ||||||||||
College: | New Mexico State | ||||||||||
Undrafted: | 1993 | ||||||||||
Career history | |||||||||||
* Offseason and/or practice squad member only | |||||||||||
Career Arena statistics | |||||||||||
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Player stats at ArenaFan.com |
Charles "Charley" Puleri (born March 1, 1969) is a former professional football quarterback.
Puleri signed to the Sacramento Gold Miners in 1993. He spent the vast majority of his career in the minor leagues, playing at various points in his career with the Miami Hooters, Texas Terror, Iowa Barnstormers, Detroit Fury, Buffalo Destroyers, London Monarchs and, during the 2000 preseason, the Dallas Cowboys. Unusually for a quarterback, Puleri played ironman in arena football, seeing limited playing time on defense and special teams. [1] [2]
Puleri is best known for his time with the New York/New Jersey Hitmen of the XFL. In 2001, Puleri, a native of New York City, signed with his hometown team. Puleri would be the starting quarterback in the XFL's first game, leading the Hitmen against the Las Vegas Outlaws on national television. Puleri's tenure as the Hitmen's starting quarterback proved to be a disastrous embarrassment for both him and the league as a whole, as he was repeatedly sacked and turned the ball over numerous times, making the league's level of talent look bad and partially prompting the mass decline in viewers as the season progressed. After a short quarterback controversy, Puleri was benched in favor of Wally Richardson (a former NFL backup for the Baltimore Ravens and Atlanta Falcons) during the second week of the season. [3] Puleri's struggles were later attributed to the ball's slippery texture, which was later solved by using sandpaper and wirebrush to roughen the surface. [4]
The XFL was a professional American football league that played its only season in 2001. The XFL was operated as a joint venture between the World Wrestling Federation and NBC. The XFL was conceived as an outdoor football league that would begin play immediately after the National Football League (NFL) season ended, to take advantage of the perceived lingering public desire to watch football after the NFL and college football seasons conclude. It was promoted as having fewer rules to encourage rougher play than other major leagues, while its telecasts featured sports entertainment elements inspired by professional wrestling, including heat and kayfabe, and suggestively-dressed cheerleaders. Commentary crews also featured WWF commentators joined by sportscasters and veteran football players. Despite the wrestling influence, the games and their outcomes were legitimate and not based on scripted storylines.
The Las Vegas Outlaws were an American football team in the XFL. They played in the Western Division with the Los Angeles Xtreme, San Francisco Demons and Memphis Maniax. They played their home games at Sam Boyd Stadium. On February 3, 2001, The Outlaws hosted the first nationally televised XFL game on NBC against the New York/New Jersey Hitmen.
The Birmingham Thunderbolts were a short-lived springtime American football team based in Birmingham, Alabama. This team was part of the failed XFL begun by Vince McMahon of World Wrestling Entertainment and by NBC, a major television network in the United States.
The San Francisco Demons were a short-lived springtime American football team based in San Francisco, California. This team was part of the failed XFL begun by Vince McMahon of World Wrestling Entertainment and by NBC, a major television network in the United States. Originally they were to be based in San Jose but prior to the start of the season they were moved to San Francisco. They were in the Western Division with the Los Angeles Xtreme, Las Vegas Outlaws and Memphis Maniax.
The New York/New Jersey Hitmen were an American football team based in East Rutherford, New Jersey. The Hitmen were the members of the Eastern Division of the XFL. The team played their home games in Giants Stadium of the Meadowlands Sports Complex.
Thomas Alfred Maddox is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback for nine seasons in the National Football League (NFL), most notably with the Pittsburgh Steelers. He also played one season each for the New Jersey Red Dogs of the Arena Football League (AFL) and the Los Angeles Xtreme of the XFL. In the XFL's only season, Maddox was the league's most valuable player (MVP) while leading the Xtreme to victory in the league's championship.
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