Dallas Desperados
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Dallas Desperados | ||
|
| ||
| Conference | National | |
| Division | Eastern | |
| Year founded | 2002 | |
| Home arena | American Airlines Center | |
| City, State | Dallas, Texas | |
| Head Coach | Will McClay | |
| ArenaBowl championships | None | |
| Conference titles | None | |
| Division titles | 3: 2003, 2006, 2007 | |
| Wild Card berths | 1: 2002 | |
The Dallas Desperados are an Arena Football League team that began play in 2002 as an expansion team.
Contents |
[edit] History
The team is owned by Jerry Jones, who is also the owner of the NFL's Dallas Cowboys. The team is run on a day-by day basis by its COO Shy Anderson , who is also Jerry Jones' son-in-law Married to Jones' Daughter Charlotte Jones-Anderson. August 12,2000 Jerry Jones while being interviewed by Babe Laufenburgh at Halftime of a Dallas Cowboys Pre-season game, Made the Announcement that the Arena Football League had Approved him Ownership of a team to start in 2002, giving time for the new American Airlines Center to be open. The Team was originally going to be called the Dallas Texans, but soon After the new Houston franchise in the NFL declared it would be Named the Houston Texans, Jones and company scrapped that name, and had an online vote for Dallas Cowboys fans to name the New Arena Team. Dallas had an Arena Football Team that Played at Reunion Arena named the Dallas Texans from 1990-1993. The Desperados play their home games at the American Airlines Center in downtown Dallas, Texas, which is also home to the NBA's Dallas Mavericks and the NHL's Dallas Stars, although they played one 2002 playoff game and the 2003 season at the Reunion Arena. The Desperados compete in the Eastern Division of the AFL National Conference.
The Desperados were formerly coached by Joe Avezzano, who at the time was also the special teams coach for the Cowboys; his tenure with the Desperados ended when he left the Cowboys to join the Oakland Raiders' coaching staff. The starting quarterback for the Desperados in 2005 was Clint Stoerner, a former Cowboys quarterback, who was named to the Arena Football League's 2005 All-Rookie Team.
There was some initial controversy when the Desperados were founded because their logo was similar to that of indoor soccer's Dallas Sidekicks on April 19, 2002 Dallas Sidekicks filed a suit in Federal Court over the Deserados logo in 2003 The Sidekicks settled their logo trademark infringement lawsuit with the Arena Football League's Dallas Desperados. The Desperados will change their logo, but terms were not officially disclosed by either team.
In the 2007 season, the Desperados broke the record for most wins in a season against the New York Dragons with their 14th win in 15 games. With their victory over the Colorado Crush in the final game of the 2007 season, the Desperados pushed the record to 15. The game ended 77-58 with QB Clint Dolezel throwing eight touchdowns for a total of 107 on the season. However, they were defeated in a major upset in the first round of the National Conference playoffs by the Columbus Destroyers.
After their 6th season in Dallas (2007) there were rumors Jerry Jones was looking to sell the team to a San Antonio based ownership group. With the Austin Wranglers moving out of the AFL , there is a decent chance the League would approve such a move. It also doesn't hurt that the franchise's worth is at an all time high with back-to-back great regular seasons (13-3 2006,15-1 2007), and much of the player nucleous under contract, including Texas Native and the AFL's all time leading Td QB Clint Dolezel. - 7/19/07
During The Arena Football League's Arena Bowl Weekend in New Orleans in July of 2007, Jones Presented his Explorations of Re-locating the Desperados to San Antonio in front of the AFL's Board of Directors, and it didn't even pass through the first of 2 Committees. Shortly thereafter the Desperados sent fans Season Ticket Renewal Forms and plan on staying in Dallas and the American Airlines Center until at least 2009, When the Dallas Cowboys new Stadium in Arlington, Tx opens up.
There has been speculation that the Desperados will play their home games at the new Arlington site when the Stadium is fully operational, The Desperados would have a fee Lease, 100% Revenue on Tickets,Merchandise,Parking and Concessions at the new Location. The New Stadium will also house a permament Locker Room for the Desperados (Currently they use the visiting NFL teams Locker Room in Texas Stadium for all non gameday activities) and have a practice field all to their own.
The Desperados' official mascot is Kid Coyote [1].
[edit] Head coaches
- 2002-2003 Joe Avezzano
- 2004-present Will McClay
[edit] Notable players
- Clint Dolezel - QB
- Jermaine Jones - DS
- Will Pettis - WR/DB
- Duke Pettijohn - FB/LB
- Colston Weatherington - DL/OL
- Marcus Nash - WR
- Jermaine Lewis - WR
- Daleroy Stewart - DL/OL
- Josh "Zeus" White - FB/LB
[edit] Season-by-season
Note: W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties
| Season | W | L | T | Finish | Playoff results |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 4th AC Western | Won Week 1 (Indiana) Lost Week 2 (Chicago) |
| 2003 | 10 | 6 | 0 | 1st AC Central | Lost Week 1 (Georgia) |
| 2004 | 6 | 10 | 0 | 3rd NC Eastern | -- |
| 2005 | 8 | 7 | 1 | 2nd NC Eastern | -- |
| 2006 | 13 | 3 | 0 | 1st NC Eastern | Won Divisional (Georgia) Lost NC Championship (Orlando) |
| 2007 | 15 | 1 | 0 | 1st NC Eastern | Lost Divisional (Columbus) |
| 2008 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| Totals | 61 | 38 | 1 | (including playoffs) | |
[edit] Memorable Desperados Moments
- In a June 9, 2007 regular season game against the 4-9 New Orleans VooDoo, Dallas at 13-1 found themselves with their backs against the wall late in the game. But Dallas QB Clint Dolezel threw a beautuful pass into the endzone with 30 seconds left on the clock to give the Desperados the lead. On the ensuing kickoff, the VooDoo fielded the ball off the net and found themselves looking at a long way to the endzone from their own 1 yard line. They managed to put together a lengthy drive and were able to score on an amazing play with 1.7 seconds left to make the score 80 - 79. Rather than tie the game with an extra point they elected to go for the win with a 2 point conversion. VooDoo quarterback Steve Bellisari dropped back and was sacked by 2007 AFL lineman of the year Colston Weatherington on the ten. The game was over along with the VooDoo playoff hopes. Final Score: 80-79 Dallas.
The game was voted 2007"Game of the Year" leaguewide in July 2007.
[edit] Awards and Honors
2007
- Will Pettis- U.S. Army Ironman of the Year
- Shy Anderson- AFL Executive of the Year
2006
- Shy Anderson- AFL Executive of the Year
[edit] External links
Dallas Desperados seasons
| |
|---|---|
| Image:Flag of Dallas, Texas.png | Sports teams based in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex
| Image:Flag of Fort Worth, Texas.svg |
|---|---|---|
| Soccer | MLS: FC Dallas, PDL: DFW Tornados | |
| Baseball | MLB: Texas Rangers, TL: Frisco RoughRiders, AA: Fort Worth Cats • Grand Prairie AirHogs | |
| Basketball | NBA: Dallas Mavericks, PBL: Dallas Defenders, ABA/WBA: Texas Tycoons, WBA: Fort Worth Star Prospects • Mayas-USA, UBL: Fort Worth Funk • Grand Prairie Stallions | |
| Football | NFL: Dallas Cowboys, AFL: Dallas Desperados, IFL: Frisco Thunder, APFL: Fort Worth Regulators, NAFL: Dallas Diesels, NPSFL: DFW Panthers, NPSFL: Dallas Defenders Football Club, WPFL: Dallas Diamonds, NWFA: Dallas Rage | |
| Hockey | NHL: Dallas Stars, CHL: Texas Brahmas, NAHL: Texas Tornado | |
| College athletics (NCAA Division I) | Southern Methodist University • Texas Christian University • University of North Texas • University of Texas at Arlington |
