Thursday, July 05, 2007
Sports

07/08/07 SPORTS LEAD: A dominant force

A dominant Force Georgia’s arena football heroes gunning for a second shot at national title BY EARLE MCDONALD The year was 2005. A decade had come and gone since the Braves won the World Seri...

Wide receiver Derek Lee and the Georgia Force look poised for another run at Arena Football glory. CREDIT: Courtesy of the Georgia Force

AFL Divisional Playoffs Georgia Force vs. Philadelphia Soul Sunday, July 8 7 p.m. Philips Arena 404-249-6400 www.philipsarena.com

A dominant Force
Georgia’s arena football heroes gunning for a second shot at national title
BY EARLE MCDONALD

The year was 2005. A decade had come and gone since the Braves won the World Series. The Thrashers were still an upstart franchise, and the Falcons and Hawks—well, you know that story. But that same year, the Georgia Force brought Atlanta to within three points of a championship at Arena Bowl XIX. The team had recently been acquired by Arthur Blank as a complement to the Falcons, it had a fiery new head coach, and Atlanta had a winning team to cheer for.

Then, last year, the team struggled. They made the playoffs, but just barely, and were out in the second round.

But after having tasted the success in 2005, 8-8 and a quick playoff exit was completely unacceptable to coach Doug Plank and the Force.

“If we don’t win the Arena Bowl, it will be considered a disappointment,” Force fullback Matt Huebner tells The Sunday Paper. “That’s the message the players have gotten from the coaching staff and the front office since the beginning of training camp.”

Enter Jim Kubiak, the new Director of Football Operations. Actually, make that re-enter Jim Kubiak, who did some time as quarterback for the Force before an injury sidelined him early in the 2005 season.

Kubiak’s first big assignment was to find the replacement for Matt Nagy, the man who had replaced him at quarterback when he went down in ’05. Most of the mainstream media chimed in with the opinion that he should sign Joe Hamilton; having played at Georgia Tech, Hamilton would have been an instant fan favorite. Surprisingly, Kubiak passed. He went after Chris Greisen, a man with 16 pass attempts on his AFL resume.

But having been a quarterback, Kubiak knows the position, especially in the Arena League. And he knew Greisen had the skill set. The media considered Greisen the biggest question mark on the team leading into the year. Insiders weren’t so sure either.

“There were a lot of new players on the team, and in our first few scrimmages, we didn’t look good,” Huebner says of the offense before the season started. “But we came together a bit for the first game, and each week we got better and better.”

When Huebner says they came together during that first game, he’s talking about the offense—led by that question mark named Greisen—scoring 69 points. Greisen was 25-of-30 passing for 337 yards and nine touchdowns. Clearly the offense put it together.

Since then, Greisen did little more than re-write the franchise and AFL record books. Most notably, he set league records for completion percentage (74 percent), passer rating (132) and total touchdown passes (117). Yes, you read that right—117 touchdown passes. NFL fans remember all the attention Peyton Manning got when he set the NFL single season touchdown passing record with 49 in 2004—but this is the AFL, where touchdowns grow on trees. And Greisen has groomed himself a large orchard. “My receivers are great,” Greisen says of his teammates. “I just have to get them the ball and they make me look good. I feel fortunate to be on this team.”

Georgia Force fans feel fortunate, too. But the regular season is over; it’s time for the playoffs. First up: Jon Bon Jovi’s Philadelphia Soul, who have plans of their own. But if Greisen has his way—and if he keeps getting Chris Jackson, Troy Bergeron and Derek Lee the ball—those plans won’t matter.

“My goal is to win the championship,” Greisen told The Sunday Paper before the season even started. “That’s our focus; that’s the goal.” And with a season like he’s had so far, it’s a goal well within reach. SP