Growing up in Orlando in the '90s into the early 2000s, I would go to Arena Football League games pretty often with my father. They were always such a fun experience with such an energetic atmosphere with high scoring games and lots of big hits, all within the comfort of air conditioning -- a true Floridian dream.
I remember going to middle school rocking my Orlando Predators Joe Hamilton jersey and was baffled when others didn’t know that the sport — let along the team — existed. This entertaining adaptation of the most popular sport in the US was taking place in their backyard and they just had no idea!
Years went by and the AFL filed bankruptcy in 2009 — pair that with starting college and figuring out how to navigate the world and it caused a personal disconnect with the sport of Arena football and I never really got back into it with that same feeling.
When the league eventually came back, it was still ‘Arena football’, but it just wasn’t the same. It didn’t have the same grit and feel as it did before. Several shutdowns later over the next decade and it seemed like the Arena game I grew up loving was dead and gone.
Flash forward to February 1st 2023, the AFL announces it was coming back for the 2024 season. I remember seeing this headline and getting the wave of nostalgia from going to these games growing up. This nostalgia wave got me curious and I took a deep dive into the world of Arena football and started to pick up where I left off in 2009.
The rabbit hole I fell down throughout most of 2023 of watching old Arena Football League games and discovering the highly entertaining Indoor Football League reignited that feeling I had when I would go to Predators games at the old TD Waterhouse in 2004 wearing that number 14 jersey.
I created this blog as a way to document my journey re-discovering my love for this game. There are so many great stories to be told from the 30+ year history of Arena & Indoor football and it’s an exciting time filled with promise and optimism for what lies ahead for the game.
Whether you are new to the sport or have been a fan for years, welcome!
This is Off The Wall.
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