af2 impacting AFL for 2008
November 14, 2007 - Arena Football League (1987-2008) (AFL I) News Release
NEW YORK - Since its inaugural season in 2000, af2 has served as a valuable proving ground for players and coaches to develop their skills before moving up to the AFL. There were 148 former af2 players on AFL rosters during opening weekend in 2007.
The AFL's free-agent signing period began on October 29. Since that date, 55 players who competed in af2 in 2007 have signed free-agent contracts with AFL teams.
Two notable signings have been af2 Offensive Player of the Year QB RYAN VENA and ADT Defensive Player of the Year DB LEVY BROWN. Both players were signed by the New York Dragons, whose head coach WEYLAN HARDING spent 2001 as the defensive backs coach for the af2's Rochester Brigade.
"The experience gained in af2 is invaluable," said Harding. "You don't have any other leagues that get players ready for our particular game. To see that they perform well in af2 is important to us to project how they will do here at this level."
Following is a list of notable offseason signings of af2 players to AFL rosters for 2008:
Player Pos. af2 Team af2 Honor AFL Team
Ryan Vena QB Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Pioneers Schutt Offensive Player of the Year New York Dragons
Levy Brown DB Florida Firecats ADT Defensive Player of the Year New York Dragons
Elex Reed DL Bossier-Shreveport Battle Wings Russell Athletic Lineman of the Year Cleveland AFL
Chris Royal DB Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Pioneers Spalding Rookie of the Year Philadelphia Soul
David Davis K Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Pioneers Havoc Kicker of the Year Los Angeles Avengers
Josh Richey WR Everett Hawks All-af2 First Team San Jose SaberCats
Quinton Staton DL Rio Grande Valley Dorados All-af2 First Team Orlando Predators
Jeff Hughley WR Tulsa Talons All-af2 Second Team Colorado Crush
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