Gladiators Game Notes
February 12, 2003 - Arena Football League (1987-2008) (AFL I)
Las Vegas Gladiators News Release
QUICK FACTS:
Game: Las Vegas Gladiators (0-2) vs. Tampa Bay Storm (0-1)
Date: Monday, February 17, 2003
Kickoff: 7:00 p.m.
Site: Thomas & Mack Center
National Anthem: Clint Holmes
Coin Toss: TBA
Officials: Referee: Tom McCabe, Umpire: Thomas Laverty Head Linesman: Brent Durbin, Line Judge: Bob McElwee Back Judge: James Anderson
Radio: ESPN Radio 920 (Las Vegas) â Andrew Siciliano (play-by-play), Mike Pritchard (color commentary)
Coaches: Frank Haege, Las Vegas Gladiators (9-7, 2nd year) Tim Marcum, Tampa Bay Storm (144-52, 14th year)
THE SERIES: This will be the third overall regular season meeting between the Gladiators and Tampa Bay (Tampa Bay and the New Jersey Red Dogs also met four times). Each team has one win in the series.
Last Meeting: At Tampa, Mike Horacek caught eight passes, one for a touchdown and set a single season team record for receptions in leading to a 55-33 victory over the Tampa Bay Storm at the Ice Palace.
Ex-Gladiator David Saunders provided the offense for Tampa with three touchdowns, two on receptions.
The Gladiators defense forced three turnovers, including Aundrae Harris' 45-yard interception return for the Gladiators final score. Frank Carter added a pair of rushing touchdowns for the Gladiators and Jeremy Wilkinson recovered a fumble by Tampa quarterback Scott Milanovich in the end zone for a score.
THE IFs:
If the Gladiators win, it would...
· Give Las Vegas a 2-1 series record with Tampa Bay
· Give Las Vegas a 1-2 record in 2003
· Give Las Vegas a 1-0 record at home
LAS VEGAS GLADIATORS, Head Coach: Frank Haege First Season (9-7, 0-1 in playoffs with Gladiators)
The Las Vegas Gladiators second-year head coach can look back upon his rookie year in the AFL and boast about his wide array of accomplishments. Haege led the Gladiators to the fourth-best record in the AFL and their first-ever playoff berth in franchise history. Haege believes that there is still a lot of work to do and will not rest until the job is complete. Haege also serves as the offensive coordinator, quarterbacks, and wide receivers coach.
The Gladiators 9-5 record and first place finish in the Eastern Division of the National Conference was the biggest turnaround in AFL history. The Gladiators finished the 2002 regular season with seven more victories than the previous season.
The Gladiators set franchise marks in almost all offensive categories and earned five road victories in seven tries. In all five victories, New Jersey came back to win after entering the fourth quarter either tied or trailing their opponent. In one of the wildest games of the season, the Gladiators scored 34 points against the New York Dragons in the fourth quarter to tie the game before winning in OT.
Haege was named the second head coach of the New Jersey Gladiators on August 23, 2001. Haege brought with him six players and an assistant coach from the Steamwheelers.
Previously, he spent two years as the head coach and director of football operations with the Quad City Steamwheelers (af2) in 2000 and 2001. Haege posted a remarkable 37-1 record, including an undefeated 2000 season. The Steamwheelers became the first AFL or af2 team to have an undefeated season.
On August 10, 2001, Frank Haege made his mark in the af2 record books by leading the Quad City Steamwheelers to a 55-51 win over the Richmond Speed to secure a second-straight championship.
In 2000, his 19-0 Steamwheelers defeated the Tennessee Valley Vipers 68-59 to win the first-ever ArenaCup, played on August 10, 2000. This completed the perfect season.
Haege will enter his ninth season in Arena Football in 2003, when the Gladiators open the season in February. Haege is no stranger to the Garden State; he coached in the AFL with the New Jersey Red Dogs (1997-99) under John Hufnagel (1997-98), now the quarterbacks coach for the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Prior to joining the Red Dogs in New Jersey, Haege was the defensive coordinator for the Minnesota Fighting Pike, a former AFL franchise in 1996. In 1994, while with the Milwaukee Mustangs, he served as the team's special teams coordinator and FB/LB coach.
Haege has also coached on the collegiate level. He was the offensive coordinator from 1996-1998 at Augsburg College(MN), a Division III school, while coaching Arena Football in the spring.
Prior to his time at Augsburg College, he also coached from 1992-1995 with Bemidji State University (MN), a Division II program, where he directed the secondary. His playing career included one year (1987) as a wide receiver for Vermillion Community College (MN) and three years as a tight end at the University of Wisconsin-Stout (1989-1991).
Haege earned a bachelor's degree in marketing education from UW-Stout in 1992, before completing his master's degree in physical education at Bemidji in 1995.
Haege was born on Oct 11, 1968 in Two Rivers, Wisconsin. He is married (Michele) and resides in Nutley, NJ.
TAMPA BAY STORM, Head Coach: Tim Marcum Eighth Season with Tampa 14th overall (144-52, 22-8 in postseason)
It's only fitting that the Arena Football League's top coach lead the league's most storied franchise. Legendary AFL head coach Tim Marcum returns for his eighth season as head coach of the Tampa Bay Storm and his 14th overall as an AFL head coach. A charter member of the Arena Football League Hall of Fame, Marcum's AFL coaching legacy is unmatched and his incredible on-field achievements continue to overwhelm.
Marcum is the winningest head coach in Arena Football history. He owns six ArenaBowl championships and has coached in nine of the 15 ArenaBowls. Marcum is the only coach in Arena history to lead three different teams to ArenaBowl championships (Denver, Detroit, and Tampa Bay), and is the AFL career coaching leader in victories (136), winning percentage (.770), games coached (178), and post-season victories (21).
A two-time recipient of the AFL Coach of the Year award (1987 & 1998), Marcum has overseen the Tampa Bay Storm's development into league's flagship franchise. He is the only coach in AFL history to win more than 100 games and has missed out in playing for the league championship only four times in his career. Incredibly, Marcum's AFL clubs have advanced to the post-season in every year he has coached.
After purchasing the team prior to the 1995 season, Storm owner Woody Kern brought four-time ArenaBowl champion Marcum aboard as his head coach. The Storm proceeded to put together a record-breaking two-year stretch, winning back-to-back ArenaBowls in 1995 and 1996. The Storm combined for a 28-4 mark during the stretch, and put together an AFL record 17-game winning streak from July 1, 1995, to June 29, 1996.
Marcum, who also led the Storm to the 1998 ArenaBowl, owns an 81-30 overall record in Tampa. His Tampa Bay teams have earned seven straight playoff births and are 71-25 in the regular season, with a 10-5 post-season record. The first coach in pro football history to be elected to any professional Hall of Fame while still an active coach, Marcum began his Arena Football career in 1987 as head coach of the Denver Dynamite during the league's inaugural season. Marcum led the Dynamite to a 5-2 overall record and won the league's first championship.
The following season Marcum took his act to Detroit, but the results remained the same. He won back-to-back titles with the Drive in 1988 and 1989. After a two-year absence from the AFL, Marcum returned to Detroit in 1991 and led returned the club to the league's elite by winning ArenaBowl VI in 1992. Marcum's five-year tenure in Detroit resulted in three ArenaBowl championships and a 50-10 overall record.
But Marcum's coaching crusades have not only existed in the Arena Football League. Like his father, the Snyder, TX, native began his coaching career in the high schools of West Texas. He landed his first collegiate job at Ranger College, and, in 1979, guided the school to the Junior College National Championship with an 11-0 record. As a prelude to his arrival in the explosive Arena League, Marcum's junior college champions averaged nearly 35 points per game.
In 1980 Marcum left Ranger and joined the coaching staff at Rice University as an assistant coach. From there he made his first entrance into the professional coaching ranks, joining the San Antonio Gunslingers of the USFL as linebackers coach in 1984. Marcum was named the team's defensive coordinator the following season. A year before accepting the post in Denver, the coaching carrousel continued, as Marcum was selected as the assistant head coach of the New York Knights of the World League of American Football.
In between stints as head coach of the Detroit Drive, Marcum coached linebackers for Steve Spurrier at the University of Florida in 1990. He then spent the 1994 season as a defensive assistant with the Atlanta Falcons of the National Football League.
A 2001 recipient of the Founder's Award by the Arena Football League, Marcum has coached a number of fellow Arena Football Hall of Famers, including Dwayne Dixon, Gary Mullen, Tate Randle, Alvin Rettig, Jay Gruden, John Roehlk, and Joe March.
Marcum honed his football skills while playing quarterback at McMurry University under head coach Grant Teaff. A starting quarterback for the Indians in 1965 and 1966, Marcum held for many years the school record for yards in a game with 328. Marcum, who transferred to McMurry in the fall of 1963 from Texas A&M, is a 2001 inductee into the McMurry University Athletic Hall of Honor.
Marcum resides in Tierra Verde, Fla. He has two daughters, Mitzi and Michelle, and has three grandchildren, Austin (7), Bryce (3), and Max (7 weeks).
2002 REVIEW:
With new players and an even newer coaching staff, the Gladiators took great strides in 2002. New Jersey, led by head coach Frank Haege, finished the season with the fourth best record in the AFL and a first round bye in the playoffs. The Gladiators 9-5 record and first place finish in the Eastern Division of the National Conference was the best turnaround in AFL history. New Jersey finished the 2002 regular season with seven more victories than the previous season.
The Gladiators named Mike Horacek the MVP of the 2002 season and Dennison Robinson as the Ironman. With one season under his belt in New Jersey, Frank Haege will look to build on an already solid foundation.
Steve Videtich was selected as the Kicker of the Year for his efforts during the 2002 season. Videtich, who won the same award in 1997, had a stellar year for the Gladiators. Videtich scored 130 points (No. 5 amongst kickers). He converted 88-91 PAT's this season and his accuracy percentage (96.7) on extra points ranks him No. 1 all-time in that category among kickers to play in every regular season game. He was also 14 of 25 (56.0%) on field goal attempts. A seven-year veteran, Videtich has scored 861 career points, ranking him 10th on the all-time AFL scoring list.
On opening day in Buffalo, New Jersey QB Jay McDonagh threw for six touchdowns and ran for another, but it was his only turnover that did him in, as the Buffalo Destroyers defeated the Gladiators 53-51. The next weekend, New Jersey defeated the expansion Dallas Desperados 45-44 after McDonagh connected with Alvin Ashley on an 18-yard scoring pass to give New Jersey a come back win in their home opener.
The next week on a Saturday night in Orlando, Damon Mason led his new team to his old hometown and took a game from the Predators, 45-44. It was the second straight week that New Jersey won by a single point and by the same score, but it was the first time a Gladiators team boarded a plane for the return trip home, victorious. The Gladiators then lost their next game to a former Gladiator, Connell Maynor, who came back to East Rutherford and out-did his former team. The Gladiators stood at 2-2 and needed a shot in the arm. The shot in the arm would come from a player named Sedrick Robinson, last season's Rookie of the Year runner-up was given the ball against the New York Dragons. Robinson was a little red blur on the Meadowlands carpet as he willed his team to a 76-69 overtime victory against New York. He returned six kickoffs for 208 yards, three touchdowns; catching 10 passes for 116 yards, two touchdowns and rushing for a four-yard score. His six-touchdown, 36-point, performance helped the Gladiators achieve their first Offensive Player of the Week award and gave New Jersey their first victory within their division and first defeat of the archrival Dragons, 76-69. With the help of Robinson, New Jersey achieved their highest point total (76) ever. The previous team high was 62 points in an overtime victory over the Indiana Firebirds on July 8, 2001. It also doubled the Gladiators previous record of 18 points in one game by any one player. The Gladiators had won a football game, and Haege had found a new secret weapon.
New Jersey then headed north of the border to take on their division rivals, the Toronto Phantoms. McDonagh's four touchdown passes and Horacek's 10 receptions, powered New Jersey to a 45-38 nail-biting win over the Phantoms at the Air Canada Centre, giving them sole possession of first place in the Arena Football League's Eastern Division for the first time in team history.
The following week the Chicago Rush pounded the New Jersey Gladiators 44-14 at the Allstate Arena, handing the Gladiators their worst loss of the season. New Jersey bounced back the following week by routing the defending ArenaBowl champion Grand Rapids Rampage, 70-42 to remain in first place. After outclassing the AFL champions the Gladiators visited a few old friends in Tampa the following week to defeat the Storm and win their second straight game, 55-33 and open up a 6-3 overall record. After losing to Buffalo 52-45 for the second time in as many tries New Jersey then went on a three game winning streak, defeating the Fury in Detroit 62-45 for the first victory. New Jersey continued their road dominance by defeating the Dragons 76-50 to clinch their first playoff berth in franchise history. The Gladiators closed their streak with a 57-55 overtime victory against the Phantoms at Continental Airlines Arena. The Gladiators, who clinched the Arena Football League's Eastern Division title before they had even played a down, needed a safety in overtime to defeat Toronto and sweep the season series. During the winning streak Gladiators OS Mike Horacek was selected as the Offensive Player of the Month in June for his performances.
Horacek secured the Offensive Player of the Month award by starting in all five games in June and was named game MVP in two of those contests (vs. Grand Rapids and at Detroit). Over that span, Horacek caught 36 passes for 401 yards, and 12 touchdowns. His five-touchdown, 30-point, performance against the Fury helped the Gladiators achieve their first Offensive Player of the Month award.
New Jersey finished the regular season 4-2 against the Eastern Division. The Rattlers came to the swamps of New Jersey to defeat the Gladiators 53-45 and put an end to the Gladiators winning streak.
The Gladiators 9-5 record earned them the No. 4 seed in the Arena Football League Playoffs. New Jersey ranked second in total defense by allowing only 245.1 yards per game. The first AFL playoff game at Continental Airlines Arena against the Orlando Predators was a back and forth struggle that wasn't decided until the final minutes of regulation. Orlando defeated New Jersey 49-46 to end the Gladiators otherwise successful season. The Gladiators, winners of the National Conference Eastern Division, finished the campaign with a 9-5 record.
GLADIATORS NEXT WEEK: The Gladiators will hit the road again to open division play as they travel to New York to take on the Dragons on Saturday, Feb. 22. Kickoff is slated for 7:30 pm ET
TEAM NOTES/TRENDS:
Jay McDonagh: Last week, McDonagh completed 18 of his 33 attempts for 211 yards. In addition to passing for 211 yards, Jay threw for four touchdown passes against the Rattlers, (02/09/03).
-- With his 381 yards passing in the first game of the season against LA, McDonagh set a Gladiators' single-game record for passing yards in a game.
Mike Horacek: Caught three more TD passes against Arizona, bringing his season total to seven.
Sedrick Robinson: Robinson had the Gladiators' first kickoff return for a touchdown of 2003 against the Rattlers. In the first quarter, Robinson leaped to catch kickoff before it hit the net, and scampered 58 yards for the touchdown.
Steve Videtich: Videtich made all six XPs in week two, and 12 of 13 overall.
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