Soul Say Hello
Published on September 23, 2003 under Arena Football League (1987-2008) (AFL I) News Release
PHILADELPHIA -- The Arena Football League conducted a conference call today in conjunction with the expansion announcement of its 18th team, the Philadelphia Soul, for the 2004 season.
The following are conference call highlights from Soul co-owner JON BON JOVI, team president and former NFL quarterback RON JAWORSKI, Soul head coach MICHAEL TRIGG and AFL Commissioner DAVID BAKER.
BON JOVI: "It is a legitimate sport played by legitimate athletes. It's for the hardcore fan like me or for the new fan like my eight-year-old son. He can appreciate it just as much and for a different reason.
"The AFL is this hot, hip league that's was on NBC for the first time (in 2003) but was 17 years old ... this league is fan-friendly, affordable and accessible."
BON JOVI ON THE NAME âPHILADELPHIA SOUL': "It's something I was very passionate about. I think that, like everything we are doing with this team, we would like to break down some walls - from naming to the team colors and our logo. We want to be original. We want to be unique. We want to be a 'stand alone.' We're going to try very hard to be very relevant here in the community and have our presence felt in a way that, right from the outset, people get to know who their coaches and players are and why. We want to be a part of this community. We've been saying that any great athlete has to have a good head on his shoulders. The ones that differentiate themselves from others have heart. In this organization, we have soul."
JAWORSKI: "We all know what we're up against as an expansion team. I think we have some real positives coming into our first season. You can't say enough good things about Mike Trigg. He understands the Arena Football game; he knows the game. He's won an ArenaBowl championship; he's hoisted the trophy. He brings a presence that players will respect automatically. We're bringing in guys that know Arena Football. They understand what it takes to be successful. They know the personnel of the league. It is my role really to create an environment for winning. Fortunately, with Jon (Bon Jovi) and (co-owner) Craig (Spencer), we have tremendous leadership and commitment at the top in order to bring a championship team to Philadelphia."
TRIGG: "It's certainly going to be a challenge, to say the least, but it's something that we embrace and feel that, with the number of quality free agents that are available in the AFL right now, it's a matter of good scouting and good planning. We're going to get a pad of help from the AFL expansion draft, but we certainly can't count on that to be our nucleus. Driving forward, we'll try to harness players that we've had in the past who are familiar with (our) system. (We'll) try to get as many AFL-experienced guys on board as quickly as possible. We certainly understand the challenges of an expansion team, but we can't look at it that way. We have to believe in our mindset that we can do what's necessary to win and, more importantly, reward the fanbase and ownership with a quality product in year one. "
BAKER: "From our perspective what is so exciting is that Jon (Bon Jovi) is deeply committed to the integrity of the Arena Football game. He has demonstrated to me that he is the hardest working guy in all of entertainment. Now, he's about to become the hardest working guy in all of sports. He and Craig (Spencer) are certainly doing this the right way. There are going to be a lot more people who know about Arena Football because of them.
"I think Ron Jaworski has been one of the greatest "X and O" guys in all of football. It always impressed me, from early on, that Ron was a great student of Arena Football. Of all the intricacies of our game and it differentiated from the stadium game. He's one of those guys who's a master, played in the Super Bowl, loves the game of football and has been an outspoken proponent of Arena Football. It's exciting for me, not only to see Jon and Craig bring the Philadelphia Soul here, but to see Ron Jaworski get to be a part of it as well.
Arena Football League (1987-2008) Stories from September 23, 2003
- Soul Say Hello - AFL I
- Cheerleader finals at Wild Bill's of Atlanta on Saturday, October 11th, open to the public - Georgia Force
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
