Soul sign Tony Graziani
by Fran Stuchbury
Published on October 12, 2004 under Arena Football League (1987-2008) (AFL I)
Philadelphia Soul
Monday the Philadelphia Soul officially announced they have signed free agent QB Tony Graziani to a three-year contract. The salary was undisclosed, but it's reported he is the highest paid player in AFL history.
Graziani was a starting quarterback with the Los Angeles Avengers the past three seasons. He put up his best numbers last year throwing for 99 TDs and only 5 INTs, while earning All-Arena First team honors.
Last season's starters for the Soul, Todd Hammel and Nick Browder, combined for 67 touchdowns and 19 interceptions. Browder was cut towards the end of the season, and the Chicago Rush took Hammel in the expansion draft. The addition of Graziani is a major upgrade at the quarterback position for the Soul.
Graziani is happy to join the second-year team.
"It was one of those things in LA where I really have a good situation, but I wasn't too sure about the direction," said the passer. "I just wanted to see what else was out there. When I came to Philadelphia it was a done deal. I felt like I was at home."
The Soul has a lot of talent at the WR/LB, WR/DB and OS positions with Tyronne Jones, Ricky Ross, Sean Scott, Terrill Shaw and company, and Graziani is thrilled having all those weapons.
" I didn't want to go to a team where I was the only guy, and I'm definitely not the only guy here," he added. "There is a bunch of talent, and now they have someone who can get them the ball and get them in a good position to be successful."
Soul President Ron Jaworski knows how important it is to have a good starting quarterback. "If you expect to win a championship at any level of football, you must have a stellar quarterback," he said "The foundation is now in place for the Soul to win an ArenaBowl Championship."
Graziani will be wearing the number seven,
which last season was a popular jersey sold with Soul
President Jaworski's name in the back. Once fans see how
well Tony performs, many of his jerseys may be sold as well.
Soul coach Michael Trigg was interested in signing Graziani for several reasons: "I liked his quick Release. I liked his decision making," he stated. "He is very comfortable in the pocket. When he drops back you can see his head moving around, doesn't fixate on the rush. He's looking on what's going on and gets rid of the ball very quickly. He is rarely sacked and his accuracy is one of the tops in the game."
Look for more signings from the Soul to be announced in the next several days, plus they have the third pick in the Dispersal Draft this Thursday so another quality player will come on board, perhaps at the OL/DL or DS positions.
I had the chance to talk to Avengers fan Michael Goldsmith and he had this to say about Graziani: "As an Avengers fan, Graziani was a much-welcomed addition, we knew with a good defense, number seven, and our offense could take us anywhere, but number seven never got the defense. I am still trying to figure out how the Avengers will find anyone, with half the talent, to replace him."
The Avengers defense wasn't that good last season and that led to the firing of Doug Kay and his replacement by Firebirds head coach Mike Wilpolt. Even in my power Rankings, I said the Avengers needed to upgrade the defense if they wanted to win a championship, not only do they need to do that now, but they also must find a QB to replace him.
I spoke to Jim Draucker, a Dallas Desperados loyalist and he had these comments to make about Graziani coming to the Soul: "The signing of Tony Graziani is huge for the Philadelphia Soul. He brings a lot of experience to a young team. This is just another reason why the Dallas Desperados will need to get better to beat Philly twice next season."
The addition of Graziani adds more intensity to the rivalry against the Desperados. Philly fans hate Dallas fans and vice versa.
The press conference announcing the passer's addition took place at Chickie's and Pete's, and many Soul fans attended. I had the chance to talk to two, Paula and Aaron Coleman who are part of the Blue Brigade. They are die-hard fans who got hooked on the Philadelphia Soul in its inaugural season. They go under the nicknames Capt. Soul and Moxie. Aaron said, "Let's hope our prayers are answered with Graziani in our corner. It would be wonderful to have a second year team be a true contender!"
ArenaFan Staff member Ken Gill said it best, "A top quality ownership lands a top quality QB."
If you have any questions about this article feel free to drop me an email at arenazone@yahoo.com, and I will be more than happy to get back to you.
Arena Football League (1987-2008) Stories from October 12, 2004
- Soul sign Tony Graziani - OSC Original by Fran Stuchbury
- Rampage looking to put 2004 behind them...literally - Grand Rapids Rampage
- Destroyers continue to build roster for 2005 - Columbus Destroyers
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer(s), and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
