The OSC Interview: Philadelphia Soul President Ron Jaworski
by Fran Stuchbury
February 19, 2008 - Arena Football League (1987-2008) (AFL I)
Philadelphia Soul
OurSports Central contributor Fran Stuchbury spoke to Philadelphia Soul President Ron Jaworski at Soul media day Tuesday. The former Philadelphia Eagles quarterback and current ESPN commentator has been involved with the team since the franchise joined the Arena Football League in 2003.
FS: Are you happy with all the moves the Philadelphia Soul made during the off-season as they try to bring a championship to Philadelphia?
RJ: I believe we have had an outstanding off-season. Now my players will have to verify that feeling when we start on March 1st vs. the Orlando Predators. I feel what I have seen so far during training camp, through the off-season, and through the acquisitions we have made, we have improved our football team and our organization from top to bottom. We will compete for the championship.
FS: How big of an impact has WR Chris Jackson made for the team?
RJ: When you think of great receivers, I think of Chris Jackson in the Arena Football League. When you think of great receivers in the NFL you may think of Jerry Rice, maybe a Cris Carter, a Lynn Swann, outstanding wide receivers. Well Chris Jackson is that to the Arena Football League. We have one of the best WR's in the history of the AFL playing right now here in Philadelphia.
I really had the pleasure of watching him day in and day out of practice and seeing the skills that he has. I think when the fans in Philadelphia see the combination of QB Tony Graziani to WR Chris Jackson they're going be very impressed.
FS: How important was the acquisition of backup QB Matt D'Orazio, who led the Chicago Rush to an ArenaBowl championship in 2006?
RJ: It was the key to our off-season. Last year we
learned one thing: if you don't have depth at the QB
position you have no shot to win a championship.
Tony Graziani is one of the premier QB's in the AFL. He got hurt week five, so our 4-0 start turned into six straight losses. So we were 4-6 because we did not have depth at that position. When we had our evaluation meetings at the end of the season, we realized we needed a strong QB, not only a 1, but a 1A and we got Matt D'Orazio who won a championship with Chicago two years ago. We feel very confident right now that if something does happen to Tony that Matt will jump in, and we won't miss a beat.
FS: How has free agent LB Anthony Dunn improved the Soul defense?
RJ: Anthony Dunn has been a tremendous acquisition, we got him from Colorado, and he has AFL experience. He's tough, strong and fits the new rule of the AFL where that jack-linebacker can now roam sideline to sideline, the mack linebacker has a little more leverage in his ability to blitz. We feel we have solidified the inside linebacker position.
FS: How do you feel about the rule changes as they try to make the AFL more defensive? Is that what you prefer?
RJ: I am on the competition committee for the AFL. Something I wanted to address was legislating a little more defense. There are too many games where you see teams go up and down the field, and the defense really had no shot to slow people down.
We needed to legislate something within the rules that would give the defense a chance. So allowing the jack linebacker to go sideline to sideline I think will make it a little bit tougher on the offense. It will also make it a little tougher on the quarterback. He is going to have to read coverage now. Wide receivers are going have to read coverage on the move. The route adjustments are going to be very important for the plays to be successful. I think the new rule is going to change the basic fundamental approach offenses take in the AFL.
FS: How committed is ESPN to the growth of the AFL?
RJ: They are our partners, so they are long-term committed. We have a five-year contract where they will televise Monday night AFL games on ESPN. They own 10 percent of the league, so clearly ESPN is going make it work. We are very proud, honored, privileged and happy to have ESPN as a partner.
FS: Would you like to see ESPN do a weekly AFL highlight show that TV partner FSN did in the past?
RJ: Absolutely, there is no question we not only have to show the games, we need to have programming throughout the week on ESPN to enlighten people about the AFL. Not only a highlight show, a pre-game show, Sports Center highlights. We have to once again just keep branding people to the value of the Arena Football League.
If you have any questions or comments about this interview feel free to drop me an email at arenazone@yahoo.com and I will be more than happy to get back to you.
• Discuss this story on the Arena Football League (1987-2008) message board...
Arena Football League (1987-2008) Stories from February 19, 2008
- Georgia Force Training Camp Report - Georgia Force
- Blaze Finish Up Day One In Denver - Utah Blaze
- Crush host Utah in day two of scrimmages - Colorado Crush
- The OSC Interview: Philadelphia Soul President Ron Jaworski - OSC Original by Fran Stuchbury
- ESPN.com Web Series "Last Man Standing" Profiles Arena Football's Philadelphia Soul - Philadelphia Soul
- Scrimmage in Dallas Canceled, Team to Practice with Columbus - Grand Rapids Rampage
- Rush Looking For Fashion Help - Chicago Rush
- Pick Up Your Tickets and Help A Child - Orlando Predators
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.
