DALLAS DESPERADOS

The 'Dallas Desperados' are an Arena Football League team that began play in 2002 as an expansion team.

Contents

History

Head coaches

Notable players

Season-by-season

Memorable Desperados Moments

External links

History

The team is owned by Jerry Jones, who is also the owner of the NFL's Dallas Cowboys. They 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 there 6th season in Dallas (2007) there have been rumors Jerry Jones is 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 doesnt 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
The Desperados' official mascot is 'Kid Coyote' [1].

Head coaches

★ 2002-2003 Joe Avezzano

★ 2004-present Will McClay

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

Season-by-season

|-
|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)
|-
!Totals || 61 || 38 || 1
|colspan="2"| (including playoffs)
|}

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 aginst 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 Desperaods 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 on the ten. The game was over along with the VooDoo playoff hopes. Final Score: 80-79 Dallas.

External links

★ Dallas Desperados Official Website

★ Dallas Desperados at ArenaFan.com