Your AFL Seer of Seers, Prognosticator of Prognosticators correctly called nine of the ten AFL Hall of Fame finalists. My gut called all ten but with the eligible players so vast, I pulled Gene Nudo off the big board to put a fellow Arizona great in Randy Gatewood as a finalist. Let's take a closer look at these ten Arena legends and my five picks of who gets inducted.
This Friday during the NFL Network broadcast of the War on I-4, ten individuals will be selected as finalists for the first AFL Hall of Fame class in nearly a decade. As the self-anointed AFL historian, I've taken the liberty of going through the list of eligible individuals and present to you my ten finalists.
ArenaBowl XXIV featured a title-game record eleven lead changes, including four in the final 52 seconds. The last was the most dramatic and capped the greatest ArenaBowl in league history when Jacksonville QB Aaron Garcia hit receiver Jeron Harvey on a ten-yard strike as time expired that gave the Sharks an ArenaBowl title in just the team's second season. As usual, Breaking it Down will provide more insight into this great game than anywhere in the indoor football universe. Enjoy!
Arizona secured home-field throughout the playoffs. Dallas clinched a playoff berth, while Iowa, Kansas City and Tampa Bay were officially eliminated. A big crowd gathered for the first outdoor AFL game in history. The SaberCats seem to be back and the UFL continues to raid the AFL for talent. This and the most comprehensive breakdown of Arena Football action around starts right now.
The 2013 Arena Football League Hall of Fame class was announced by the AFL at halftime of the National Conference Championship Game between the Spokane Shock and the Arizona Rattlers. Darryl Hammond, Greg Hopkins, Cory Fleming, Bob McMillen, Carl Paganelli, and Lawrence Samuels have been introduced as the Hall of Fame class of 2013, and they will be introduced next week at ArenaBowl XXVI in Orlando.