Avenger sack man Silas Demary
May 10, 2005 - Arena Football League (1987-2008) (AFL I)
Los Angeles Avengers News Release
Out of football for six years, a twist of fate and a coach who still believed in him brought Silas Demary back to the game. Now five years later, he is on the verge of breaking one of the oldest records in Arena Football League history.
In his fifth season as an offensive/defensive lineman in the AFL and second with the Los Angeles Avengers, Demary has recorded a team-record 11.5 sacks, and with two games remaining, he has a legitimate shot of breaking Craig Walls' AFL single-season sack record of 13.0 -- a mark that has stood since 1987, the first season of the league's existence.
But six years ago, football was the furthest thing from Demary's mind.
The year was 1994, and Demary had just finished his senior season at Virginia State. After no professional football team took interest in him, Demary believed that he would never play the game again. So, using a degree in criminal justice, he entered into the workforce. After working for the Wake County (N.C.) Sheriff's Department and the Okeechobee (Fla.) Juvenile Offender Corrections Center, in 1999, he and his wife, Shante, moved to Harrisburg, Pa., to take a job as a youth counselor.
Then, Demary's life took a dramatic turn. He received a phone call from his mother-in-law, Cassandra Reid. She told him that she overhead someone talking about "Silas Demary" at a function she was at. She immediately asked the person if he was talking about the same "Silas Demary" that she knew ... the one that was married to her daughter.
"They were like, 'Get out of here! We have been trying to track down that guy,'" Demary says.
During that conversation Deatrich Wise, the head coach of the Norfolk Nighthawks of arenafootball2 (the developmental league established by the AFL in 1999), introduced himself to Reid and not soon after he was on the phone with Demary, telling him that he wanted him to try out for his team.
"I thought he was calling me to come coach," Demary says. "I was like, 'Shoot, I haven't played ball in six years, and I am 28-years-old and rusty. He told me, 'Come on down and try out. I know you still got it. There is no doubt in my mind.'"
After working out for Wise, Demary was told that he couldn't leave "until he signed a contract." Having just moved to Pennsylvania to take the job, and having been out of football so long, Demary consulted former coaches and his wife about what he should do.
"They said to do it because looking back you don't want to be wondering to yourself, 'What if ...'" Demary says.
Demary was a dominant player at Virginia State, a Division II school. In his senior season with the Trojans, he started all 11 games and recorded 21 sacks, on his way to earning "Defensive Lineman of the Year" honors as well as All-America honors. Six years later, in his first season back in football, Demary hadn't lost a step, recording 53 tackles, 12 sacks and five fumble recoveries for the Nighthawks in 2000.
In 2001, he moved up to the Arena Football League with the Carolina Cobras. In his first year, Demary earned "All-Rookie" honors after he led the Cobras with four sacks. He also proved that he was a threat on both sides of the ball, catching 10 passes for 114 yards and three touchdowns.
"At first, coming in, I thought those guys were much bigger, faster and stronger," Demary says. "But here we are today."
After his brief stint in Carolina, Demary was off to Buffalo where he played two seasons for the Destroyers.
In 2004, Demary found a home with the Avengers, signing a three-year free agent contract and quickly winning over coaches and teammates.
"He is such a force for us," says WR/DB Kevin Ingram, who has been a teammate of Demary's for the past two seasons. "What he has done is just simply amazing. He makes our job in the secondary so much easier when he is getting pressure on that quarterback."
And the feelings about his teammates are mutual for Demary.
"I am just so blessed to be a part of this team and play with these guys," he says.
In his first season with the Avengers the team went 9-7 and made the playoffs for the third-straight season. Demary played in 15 games, finishing with 12 tackles and six batted passes.
This season, Demary got off to a slow start and was plagued by a bad knee. On March 11, he went on the injured reserve list and had to have his knee operated on. He missed a game against the Dallas Desperados -- the only home loss this season for the Avengers -- before returning to action on March 25, against Tampa Bay.
Since then Demary has been virtually unblockable, recording 10.5 sacks during the month of April.
"Since I have been a part of this league I have never seen a better stretch of games by any defensive lineman," Avenger head coach Ed Hodgkiss says. "It is just incredible what he is doing."
On April 10, in a game against the New York Dragons -- the game that will long be remembered for the tragic death of close friend and teammate Al Lucas -- Demary recorded an Avenger single-game record four sacks (three in the first quarter alone).
While nothing could prepare Demary for the news of Lucas' passing, which came following the game, he says that he has received his strength and motivation this season through the Lucas family and the memories of his friend.
"They just give me the strength to keep playing," Demary says. "Al is on my mind everyday. I have been talking to his wife and family, and it helps me get through."
But no matter what happens with the rest of his career, AFL sack record or no record, Demary will always remember the one night that a phone call from his mother-in-law changed his life.
"I still think about that to this day," Demary says. "If it weren't for that that day, I wouldn't be here right now. I am just so blessed to be playing this game. It is so amazing. I would still be in Pennsylvania working with those kids in the cold."
Arena Football League (1987-2008) Stories from May 10, 2005
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