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The Chicago Rush were a professional arena football team based in Rosemont, Illinois. The team played at the Allstate Arena from 2001 to 2013. They were a member of the Central Division of the National Conference of the Arena Football League (AFL). Founded in 2001, the team qualified for the playoffs 11 out of 12 seasons and won one AFL championship, ArenaBowl XX in 2006. During their history, the Rush won five divisional titles and competed in the AFL Conference Championship six times, including four consecutive appearances from 2004 to 2007. They also had the largest market in the AFL.
The San Jose SaberCats were a professional arena football team based in San Jose, California. The SaberCats had been members of the Arena Football League (AFL) since 1995 ; and until 2015, they belonged to the AFL's National Conference. Over nineteen seasons of play, the SaberCats emerged as one of the Arena Football League's most successful franchises; at the conclusion of the 2015 season, the SaberCats boasted a lifetime regular season record of 198–98. Moreover, the SaberCats had won a total of four AFL Championships. Their lifetime postseason record stood at 19–12.
John Dutton is a former Arena Football League (AFL) quarterback. He was drafted out of University of Nevada, Reno in the 6th round of the 1998 NFL Draft by the Miami Dolphins. In 2005, he led the Crush to the ArenaBowl XIX title. In 2006, he was on the cover of the EA Sports first AFL video game, Arena Football, making him the first player to pose for the cover. He had been the backup quarterback for the San Jose SaberCats behind Mark Grieb. After Grieb's suffered a season-ending injury earlier in the year, Dutton quarterbacked the SaberCats to a 52–14 victory over the Arizona Rattlers in ArenaBowl XVI. He was named Offensive Player of the Game for his performance. In June 2009, Dutton was signed by the RiverCity Rage of the Indoor Football League (IFL). On February 12, 2010, it was announced that Dutton had been signed by the Cleveland Gladiators.
ArenaBowl XVIII saw the San Jose SaberCats and Arizona Rattlers competing for the 2004 Arena Football League championship. Until 2010, this game marked the last time the ArenaBowl was held at the home arena of the higher-seeded team, rather than a neutral site, and 17,391 fans packed the sold-out America West Arena as the visiting SaberCats defeated the homestanding Rattlers, 69–62 in a rematch of ArenaBowl XVI.
ArenaBowl XVI was played between the San Jose SaberCats and Arizona Rattlers in San Jose, California on August 18, 2002. A game with considerable expectations given the teams' intense rivalry and respective success that year, the SaberCats surprised everyone by posting the most dominant victory in ArenaBowl history, holding the Rattlers scoreless until the final period, and winning the game by the lopsided score of 52–14 to earn their first Arena Football League title in franchise history. Arizona's 14 points are the second-lowest in ArenaBowl history, just above the Chicago Bruisers' 13 points in ArenaBowl II. With the SaberCats' victory, Darren Arbet also became the first African-American head coach to win a North American pro football championship.
Doug Kay is a retired American football coach who was most recently assistant head coach for the Tampa Bay Storm of the Arena Football League (AFL), which league ceased operations after the 2017 season. He has more than 55 years of football experience, including 12 seasons in the AFL. He was the head coach of the Charlotte Rage, Carolina Cobras and Columbus Destroyers. He was also the head football coach at Olivet College from 1971 to 1975.
Kevin Arbet is a former American football cornerback for the Arena Football League's San Jose SaberCats. His uncle, Darren Arbet was the head coach of the SaberCats.
Robert James McMillen, Jr. is a former arena football fullback/linebacker and head coach. He was most recently the head coach of the Los Angeles Kiss of the Arena Football League (AFL). He played his college football at Illinois-Benedictine, and was an AFL fullback/linebacker from 1995 to 2007. He began coaching the sport in 2010, first serving as an assistant for the Chicago Slaughter in 2010, as an assistant with the Rush in 2011, before being named head coach of the Rush in 2011. In 2013, McMillen was elected into the Arena Football Hall of Fame.
The 2002 Arena Football League season was the 16th season of the Arena Football League. It was succeeded by 2003. The league champions were the San Jose SaberCats, who defeated the Arizona Rattlers in ArenaBowl XVI. In the process the SaberCats came closer to a perfect season than any other team in the history of the league, winning sixteen of seventeen games.
The 2007 San Jose SaberCats season was the 13th season for the franchise. They defeated the Columbus Destroyers 55–33 in ArenaBowl XXI to capture their 3rd Arena Football League title. San Jose ended the year on a 13-game winning streak including playoff games.
Omarr Ali Hasan Smith is a former American football defensive back who was most recently the head coach of the Baltimore Brigade of the Arena Football League (AFL). He played professionally for the San Jose SaberCats of the AFL, and played college football at San Jose State.
Kevin Guy is an arena football coach and former wide receiver and defensive back who is the head coach for the Arizona Rattlers of the Indoor Football League (IFL). He played his college football at the University of West Alabama, and was an AFL wide receiver and defensive back from 1996 to 1999. He has been a football coach since 2000, and first served as a head coach in 2000 as the interim head coach for the New Jersey Red Dogs. After being the defensive coordinator for the San Jose SaberCats from 2006 to 2007, he became the Rattlers head coach in 2008. In 2018, his wife Cathy became co-owner of a new Tucson-based IFL franchise, called the Tucson Sugar Skulls, set to play in 2019.
Clevan Nathaniel Thomas is a former American football cornerback. Along with Kenny McEntyre, he is regarded as one of the top defensive backs in Arena Football history. He spent ten of his seasons in the AFL with the SaberCats; over this span, he won four ArenaBowl championships and three Defensive Player of the Year (DPOY) awards. In 2012, Thomas was inducted into the AFL Hall of Fame.
Rob Keefe is a former arena football defensive specialist and coach. Keefe has five championship victories and is the only person in arena football history to win ArenaCup (af2) and ArenaBowl (AFL) titles as both a player and a coach. As of the 2022 season, he is an assistant head coach and defensive coordinator with the Bay Area Panthers in the Indoor Football League.
The 2015 San Jose SaberCats season was the team's 19th in San Jose, California. The team was coached by Darren Arbet and played their home games at the SAP Center at San Jose. They finished first in the Pacific Division with a 17–1 regular season record and went on to defeat the Jacksonville Sharks 68–47 in ArenaBowl XXVIII.
Terence Patrick Malley is an American football coach.
Cedric Walker is a former American football defensive back and coach who is currently the head coach and defensive coordinator of the Wyoming Mustangs of the Champions Indoor Football (CIF). Walker played football at Stephen F. Austin University; once his stint there concluded, he signed with the AFL's Charlotte Rage. Walker played for a succession of AFL teams over his ten-season career; these included the Orlando Predators, Arizona Rattlers, Indiana Firebirds, Chicago Rush, Austin Wranglers, and Las Vegas Gladiators. At the end of his AFL Career, Walker had amassed some 522 solo tackles ; this was the league's seventh-highest total. Walker also won one ArenaBowl as a player; this came with the Arizona Rattlers in 1997.
Jeff Jarnigan is an assistant general manager and coach for the Arizona Rattlers of the Indoor Football League (IFL).
Richard B. Buffington is an American former football player and coach. After briefly playing college football at BYU, he played for 17–19 different minor league teams in several leagues. He became a coach afterwards, beginning in 1968 with Bristol Community College. Buffington was a scout and assistant coach in the National Football League (NFL) in the late 1970s, and was an administrator and coach in the United States Football League (USFL) from 1982 to 1984. From 1988 to 2000, Buffington was a coach for several teams in the Arena Football League (AFL), including serving as head coach for the Albany Firebirds (1990–1993), Connecticut Coyotes (1995), Charlotte Rage (1996), and Florida Bobcats. He also coached the New Haven Ninjas (2002) and Albany Conquest (2004) in AF2, the New England Surge (2007) in the Continental Indoor Football League (CIFL), and the Boston Blaze (2017) in the Can-Am Indoor Football League.
References
- ↑ William Bendetson (July 27, 2007). "Arbet doesn't want to be known as anything but a football coach". www.espn.com. ESPN Internet Ventures. Retrieved October 9, 2013.
- ↑ Ferrara, John Ross (August 24, 2016). "Respect for the Game: A Coach's Journey From the Arena Football Hall of Fame to Redwood Bowl". lostcoastoutpost.com. Archived from the original on August 25, 2016. Retrieved August 24, 2016.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ↑ "Darren Arbet Coaching Record". ArenaFan.com. Retrieved July 31, 2014.
