From indoor leagues to Arena League

[indoor fan]

Have any players made the jump from the indoor leagues (PIFL, IPFL, IFL, NIFL, UIFL, AIFA, CIFL, etc.) to the Arena 1 League?

I was just curious if the AFL teams only bring up AF2 players and possibly blackball indoor teams players?

[BananaCat]

There are players that make the move, but I don't have a complete list of them.

This past season in the NFL though had two indoor starters in the NFL. Fred Jackson (Sioux City Bandits) started for the Buffalo Bills at running back and Chad Mustard (Omaha Beef) started for Denver Broncos on the Offensive Line (the previous season he started at Tight End for the Broncos).

[indoor fan]

There are players that make the move, but I don't have a complete list of them.

This past season in the NFL though had two indoor starters in the NFL. Fred Jackson (Sioux City Bandits) started for the Buffalo Bills at running back and Chad Mustard (Omaha Beef) started for Denver Broncos on the Offensive Line (the previous season he started at Tight End for the Broncos).

Yeah, I was more curious to see if the AFL blacklists the indoor leagues and players.

[exit322]

AFL coaches don't keep their jobs if they don't win games...if an indoor player is better than what the AFL team has, that player will be kept.

Raymond Philyaw is one of the longer-term indoor-to-AFL players. Jay McDonagh also made the jump. I can't think of any names offhand of guys that are currently there that have been more recent than the PIFL.

[Jamie]

I was a Raymond Philyaw fan when he played for the Indiana Firebirds. I didn't know he started on an indoor football team. Which one?

Steve Belisari was drafted by an NFL team, got hurt and was out for a couple years. Came back with an indoor team (Dayton Warbirds) where he was noticed by the AFL and he was assigned to an AF2 team (Manchester Wolves?) and then on to the AFL (New Orleans and Kansas City).

He is currently on the roster for the Voodoo.

[rams80]

Yeah, I was more curious to see if the AFL blacklists the indoor leagues and players.

They can't really. The af2 isn't big enough. (More importantly, that verges into "anti-trust" territory, which is what they are skating on anyway.)

[exit322]

I was a Raymond Philyaw fan when he played for the Indiana Firebirds. I didn't know he started on an indoor football team. Which one?

Steve Belisari was drafted by an NFL team, got hurt and was out for a couple years. Came back with an indoor team (Dayton Warbirds) where he was noticed by the AFL and he was assigned to an AF2 team (Manchester Wolves?) and then on to the AFL (New Orleans and Kansas City).

He is currently on the roster for the Voodoo.

Philyaw - Madison Mad Dogs
McDonagh - Green Bay Bombers

[cRUSHer]

Damien Baumann now with N.O. spent 2007
on the roster of KC and then Austin.

[off_the_nets]

Brett Dietz with the Tampa Bay Storm played for the NIFL Cincinnati Marshalls in 2005 before signing with the af2 Louisville Fire.

Brendan Given with Grand Rapids played with the AIFA Lakeland Thunderbolts in 2006.

Those are the only 2 AFL players that I know played in other indoor leagues

[Dubs]

Didn't the Marshals' Jesse Obert (K) go on to play for either the New York Dragons or Grand Rapids Rampage? (I forget which one it was).

[phydeaux72]

Check this out:

http://www.hockeydb.com/

It lists every hockey league a player has ever played for, including college and juniors. It would be nice if we had a site like this for football. Or maybe there is one and I just don't know about it.

[chardale]

Didn't the Marshals' Jesse Obert (K) go on to play for either the New York Dragons or Grand Rapids Rampage? (I forget which one it was). Jesse went on to kick for the Dragons for 1 season. He is now working for a bank there in Cincy, but is on the Columbus D short list if they need a kicker right away

[Permianman]

Anthony Armstrong-WR-Dallas Desperados (IFL-Odessa Roughnecks)

[BananaCat]

Check this out:

http://www.hockeydb.com/

It lists every hockey league a player has ever played for, including college and juniors. It would be nice if we had a site like this for football. Or maybe there is one and I just don't know about it.
It would be nice indeed to have a list like that. Arenafan is pretty good for researching players that played in AFL/AF2, but I haven't seen the Indoor equivalent. I was thinking of starting one, but I have nowhere near the time for such an undertaking without major help.

[BananaCat]

One of the best indoor players ever has moved up to AFL; Defensive Lineman Leif Murphy, to Grand Rapids.

Storm All-Star Moves Up to AFL
02/07/08 - United Indoor Football Association (UIF) Sioux Falls Storm

The Grand Rapids Rampage of the Arena Football League announced yesterday the signing of Storm defensive lineman Leif Murphy. The UIF All-Star played a critical role in the Storm defense that only allowed 24.4 points per game in 2007.

Murphy finished second in the UIF in sacks by compiling 13 in the regular season. Murphy also added 56.5 tackles and five blocked kicks on his way to being named a UIF All-Star.

Leif was an All-UIF selection in both 2005 and 2006 as a member of the Omaha Beef defensive front. In 2005, Murphy tallied 48.5 tackles and finished third in the league with 10 sacks. Murphy continued to contribute in 2006 as he accounted for 43.5 tackles and led the team again in sacks with 9.5. Murphy spent 2004 as a member of the Tri-City Diesel and was named the NIFL's Pacific Conference Defensive Player of the Year. Murphy had 56 tackles and 14 sacks in leading the Diesel to an 11-4 record. Murphy's first season of professional football was in 2003 when he played for the Ottawa Renegades of the Canadian Football League and the Bismarck Roughriders of the NIFL.

Murphy also had a storied college career while playing at North Dakota State University (NDSU). Murphy started all 11 games as a freshman in 1999. He compiled 36 tackles and four sacks for the Bison. Murphy added 40 tackles and four more sacks as a sophomore before breaking onto the national scene as a junior in 2001. Murphy was named first-team All-American for his efforts in the 2001 campaign as he had 34 tackles and 11 sacks. Murphy's senior season was marred by injury as he suffered a broken thumb and pulled his hamstring in the final half of the season. He was held to just 19 tackles and three sacks in 2002.

The AFL is considered the premier arena league in the country and is a stepping-stone to the NFL. The AFL has been in existence for 22 years and currently has 17 franchises.

[ViperCY15]

Anit-Trust? Haha. I'm pretty sure there are no chances of the AFL losing an anti-trust suit. Mostly because they have a copyright on the nets, otherwise they are not reasonably restricting any trade.

[phydeaux72]

Anit-Trust? Haha. I'm pretty sure there are no chances of the AFL losing an anti-trust suit. Mostly because they have a copyright on the nets, otherwise they are not reasonably restricting any trade.

You can't "copyright" an object. Now, the AFL had a 20 year patent on the nets and game system. But to my knowledge, that patent ran out some time last last year. And I believe (I could be wrong on this) that once a patent expires, it can't be renewed and the system/design becomes fair game to anyone who wants to copy or mimick it.