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LasVegasGladiatorsgif
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American
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Western
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1997
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Thomas & Mack Center
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Las Vegas, Nevada
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3:<br>1997, 1998, 2003
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1:<br>2002
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none
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The have no connection to the
The are an
Arena Football League team. The team that is now known as the Gladiators played its first season in the AFL in 1997.
The entered the
Arena Football League in
1997 , along with the
Nashville Kats and the
New York CityHawks . Their ownership group, which was led by
New Jersey Radio entrepreneur
E. Burke Ross , also included several ex-
NFL players, such as
Joe Morris ,
Carl Banks , and
Harry Carson . The Red Dogs played at
Continental Airlines Arena in the
New Jersey Meadowlands .
The AFL's intention was to add only New Jersey and Nashville for 1997. However, well after the awarding of the Red Dogs and Kats franchises, the owners of
Madison Square Garden in
New York City requested a franchise of their own, and the league granted this request. And so the CityHawks also began play in 1997. This had an impact on the Red Dogs, in that the league then prevented the Red Dogs from advertising in New York. While
North Jersey itself is very populous in its own right, the Red Dogs had hoped to be the team for the entire
New York Metropolitan Area .
Despite this setback, the Red Dog management built a good team, which opened its history in memorable fashion. The team won 8 of its first 9 games, including a victory in their inaugural game on a last-second game-winning
Field Goal , a thrilling overtime victory against the
Albany Firebirds , a thorough thrashing of the
Iowa Barnstormers (runners-up in the previous year's
ArenaBowl X), and also one game in which they scored a then-record 91 points against the
Texas Terror . (This record has since been surpassed by the
New York Dragons , who scored 99 in a game against the
Carolina Cobras in
2001 .)
The Red Dogs were led by head coach
John Hufnagel , who had been a
Quarterback and offensive coordinator for the
Calgary Stampeders of the
Canadian Football League , and who has since gone on to be an offensive coach for several
National Football League teams, including the
New England Patriots and the
New York Giants .
Hufnagel brought in several players with CFL experience to the Red Dogs, including QB
Rickey Foggie , a fearless -- sometimes reckless -- player whose unpredictablity kept defenses on their toes; and offensive specialist
Larry Ray Willis , a stern-faced, intense receiver who had great hands and was very difficult to tackle.
The team's other main receiver was
Alvin Ashley , a player whose small size (150 lb.) made him unlikely to play in the NFL, but who was perfectly built for the Arena game (illustrating the differing physical requirements of the two games).
The Red Dogs slumped late in their first season, winning only 1 of their final 5 games (the win coming against the CityHawks) to finish 9-5, then losing to the
Orlando Predators in the first round of the playoffs.
The team returned intact for
1998 , and had another winning campaign, going 8-6, including a road victory up in
Albany . The Red Dogs also won their first playoff game in their second year, a victory at the home arena of their biggest rivals, the Firebirds. (It is worth noting that the Red Dogs developed their biggest rivalry with Albany, and not with the floundering cross-river CityHawks.)
During the 1998 season, the Red Dogs traded their back-up quarterback to the
Iowa Barnstormers . The Barnstormers had gone to two ArenaBowls under their star QB,
Kurt Warner ; but Warner signed with the NFL's
St. Louis Rams , whom he went on to lead to victory in
Super Bowl XXXIV following the
1999 season, while being named the game's
Most Valuable Player as well as the league's regular season MVP. (Warner would be named NFL MVP once again in
2001 .) The quarterback the Red Dogs sent to Iowa was
Aaron Garcia , who has remained with that franchise ever since, moving with them when the franchise became the
New York Dragons in 2001. Garcia has since become one of the greatest QBs in AFL history, throwing for well over 700
Touchdown s. Garcia ranks no. 1 or no. 2 in virtually every statistical category, occasionally trading places on the all-time lists with another veteran QB,
Andy Kelly .
Hufnagel left the Red Dogs after the 1998 season for a job with the NFL's
Cleveland Browns , and he was replaced by
Frank Mattiace , who had played on the defensive line for
New Jersey Generals of the
USFL .
Without Hufnagel -- and without Larry Ray Willis, who had been traded to the
Milwaukee Mustangs -- the Red Dogs slumped in 1999 to their first losing season, going 6-8. This, despite winning 3 of their first 4, including yet another one-point victory over Albany (a controversial victory in which an Albany receiver was penalized for taking his helmet off during a touchdown celebration, thus adding yards to the extra-point attempt, which was then missed).
The Red Dogs made a huge trade following the 1999 season, but it was one which they never got to benefit from. New Jersey sent Alvin Ashley to the Orlando Predators for wide receiver/defensive back
Barry Wagner , widely regarded (indeed, almost undisputedly regarded) as the greatest player in the league's history. However, soon after the trade, the league and its players agreed to a new
Collective Bargaining Agreement that resulted in several veteran players -- including Wagner -- achieving free agency. Wagner then signed with the
San Jose SaberCats , leaving the Red Dogs with neither him nor Ashley.
In
2000 , the Red Dogs, with no Wagner and no Ashley, and also without their other offensive mainstay, wide receiver/linebacker
Chad Lindsey , fell to 4-10. Not even the presence of another AFL legend, former
Tampa Bay Storm and
Detroit Drive offensive specialist
George LaFrance , could stave off the collapse.
Foggie lost his job as starting QB, replaced by
Tommy Maddox , who had had a disappointing NFL career up until that point, and who later returned to the NFL to have several excellent seasons for the
Pittsburgh Steelers . Coach Mattiace also lost his job, replaced mid-season on an interim basis by
Kevin Guy , a former defensive back/wide receiver who had played two full seasons with the Red Dogs.
Before the 2001 season, the New Jersey team was sold to
Jim Ferraro , a lawyer from
Miami . Ferraro changed the team name to the . The new ownership appointed as head coach the ex-CityHawk boss
Lary Kuharich , who had won
ArenaBowl VII in
1993 with the Tampa Bay Storm, and acquired
Connell Maynor from Orlando to be the starting QB.
Maynor had led the Predators to victory in ArenaBowl XIV the previous season, and was named the game's MVP. An all-around threat, Maynor had played with the CityHawks under Kuharich in 1997, but took only one
Snap all season as the backup to
Mike Perez . Instead, the CityHawks used Maynor as a wide receiver/linebacker, and one week he even won the award for the league's best "ironman" (player who plays both on
Offense and
Defense , as 6 of 8 players must do in Arena Football).
The Gladiators reached the lowest ebb in the history of the franchise in 2001, winning only 2 out of 14 games that season. The club's top receivers attained roughly half the amount of yards that Larry Ray Willis had done in each of the franchise's first two seasons, and the rushing leader was QB Maynor himself.
In
2002 , the club had another new coach,
Frank Haege , who had been a Red Dog assistant under John Hufnagel. After leaving the Red Dogs, Haege went on to coach the
Quad City Steamwheelers of the AFL's minor-league circuit
Af2 . Haege's Quad City team dominated the af2 for two seasons, winning 31 of 32 regular-season games -- including one win by a score of 103-3 -- and two championships. (Haege was later charged by the AFL with violating the af2 salary cap rules at Quad City, and was fined heavily by the league. Also, the Quad City team was banned from the af2 playoffs in 2002.)
The Gladiators' new QB for 2002 was
Jay McDonagh , who had played under Haege at Quad City. Former Red Dog Alvin Ashley was back with the club, seeing limited duty; however, this time around the main New Jersey receiver was
Mike Horacek , who had starred for the Iowa Barnstormers, and has since returned to that franchise to play for the Dragons. The Gladiators' fortunes turned around, and they had their first winning season since 1998, going 9-5 and hosting a playoff game for the first time (a loss to Orlando).
The New Jersey Gladiators looked all set to go for the
2003 season. The 2003 season would be the first one to begin in February instead of April, and it would be the first one in which the league's games would be televised weekly by
NBC .
However, with only weeks to go before the start of the season, owner Ferraro moved the team to Las Vegas. The move came as a shock to the team's fans, as the Gladiators were sending out ticket package offers even through their last week in New Jersey.
The AFL schedules for the 2003 season had already been devised, so the Las Vegas Gladiators would play that season in the Eastern Division of the National Conference, before shifting in
2004 to the American Conference's Western Division.
The relocated to Las Vegas for the
2003 season and play their home games at the
Thomas & Mack Center on the campus of the
University Of Nevada, Las Vegas . This arena was also the home of a previous Arena team, the
Las Vegas Sting , in
1994 and
1995 .
The Gladiators currently compete in the Western Division of the
AFL 's American Conference.
The Gladiators official mascot is a gladiator uniform-claded lion named
{Link without Title} .
The first
ArenaBowl to be played at a neutral site took place in
2005 , when Las Vegas hosted
ArenaBowl XIX . Previously, the ArenaBowl had been held at the home arena of the higher-seeded of the two remaining teams.
2006 's
ArenaBowl XX and
2007 's
ArenaBowl XXI will also be held in Las Vegas.
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"6" align="center" '''New Jersey Red Dogs'''
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"6" align="center" '''New Jersey Gladiators'''
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"http://wwwinformationdelightinfo/encyclopedia/entry/Orlando_Predators" class="copylinks">Orlando Predators )
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"6" align="center" '''Las Vegas Gladiators'''
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"http://wwwinformationdelightinfo/encyclopedia/entry/Arizona_Rattlers" class="copylinks">Arizona Rattlers )
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