Yr108 AFL season

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The Yr108 AFL season is the 87th in the history of the American Football League (AFL). The season began with the defending Stanley Cup champions New England Patriots facing the Birmingham Warriors. The season concluded with the Denver Broncos defeating the Philadelphia Eagles in the 87th Stanley Cup held at Cleveland Browns Stadium in Cleveland, Ohio.

The season was marred by a series of off-field incidents during the course of the season, calling Lewis Lacey's leadership as Commissioner of the AFL into question on a regular basis. The season also included the lowest completion rate and unforced turnover rate in the history of the league, as well as questionable officiating, both contributing to one of the lowest scoring seasons to date in the process.

Regular Season Standings

Western Division

Team GP W L Notes
San Diego Chargers 18 12 6
Denver Broncos 18 10 8
Seattle Seahawks 18 9 9
Utah Blazers 18 8 10
Kansas City Chiefs 18 5 13

Eastern Division

Team GP W L Notes
Philadelphia Eagles 18 10 8 [1]
Cleveland Browns 18 10 8
New England Patriots 18 9 9 [2]
Atlanta Falcons 18 9 9
Birmingham Warriors 18 8 10
  1. Won Head to head against Cleveland
  2. Won Head to head against Atlanta

Postseason

  Divisional Semi-Finals     Divisional Finals     Stanley Cup
                           
  Western Division     1  San Diego Chargers 0  
  2  Denver Broncos 13     2  Denver Broncos 42    
  3  Seattle Seahawks 10         1  Philadelphia Eagles 13
      2  Denver Broncos 31
  Eastern Division     1  Philadelphia Eagles 17    
  2  Cleveland Browns 23     2  Cleveland Browns 16  
  3  New England Patriots 20  


Notable Events

Preseason

Sacramento/Oklahoma City Expansion Dispute

With four weeks until the Yr108 draft, it was confirmed that the AFL would expand to 12 teams in Yr110, with the teams allowed to draft sophomores eligible for the draft in te Yr108 draft, and either loan them out to the AFL for the two years preceding their first season in the AFL or keep them in college. This was a similar format to the expansion of the Utah Blazers and the Birmingham Warriors, as they were announced to expand during the Yr99 season, and first drafted in the Yr100 draft, making their debut in the Yr102 season.

The dispute over the expansion teams came when Miami and Sacramento initially were announced as the expansion teams. While Miami, having hosted the Stanley Cup twice before (out of a total of three times the Stanley Cup has been held in Florida), has long been in discussion to have an AFL team, Sacramento had been in brief discussion with the AFL and had made an informal agreement before the announcement. However, a week later, it was revealed that the second expansion team had gone to Oklahoma City instead, citing the proximity to the San Diego Chargers and the failed Las Vegas Stallions as probable causes in the change. Sacramento's potential ownership group has filed a lawsuit in regards to this matter, and as a result, Miami's (and the 12th AFL franchise) was pushed back to be projected for the Yr111 season. The franchises will not participate in the Yr108 draft.

Eventually, the AFL ruled that Oklahoma City were to be given the 12th franchise for the Yr111 season, and the group responsible for the Sacramento franchise would be financially compensated at an undisclosed amount in response to the controversy. The league was heavily criticized for not being transparent during the expansion process.

Suspension and retirement of Matt Moore

During the Eastern Division Final against the Cleveland Browns and the New England Patriots, the referee stopped play right before a play in the second half and swapped footballs before resuming play. It was later revealed that there were "dozens" of footballs during the game that were underinflated during the course of the game. New England would go on to win the game 28-16 and the Stanley Cup for the Yr107 season. Matt Moore, the starting Quarterback for the New England Patriots, was cited as a possible conspirator for directing employees of the Patriots to underinflate the footballs during the game. Moore was also cited as the main leader behind getting the footballs underinflated.

Moore's lawyers released a statement shortly afterward that there was no such act done by the Patriots and defended Moore strongly. However, following a lengthy discussion process by the AFL's disciplinary board, the AFL suspended Moore for six games for the Yr108 season. Rather than face suspension or an appeals process, Moore retired from the Patriots after 9 seasons. The move caused heavy criticism from fans and the media, with Moore being called a "quitter" by those who thought he was guilty and the AFL was criticized for jumping too quickly to a conclusion and for chasing out one of the better Quarterbacks out of the sport. The Patriots have also been fined $100,000 and stripped of their first two round draft picks for the following season (as the suspension came after the Yr108 draft). The Patriots have sued the AFL for defamation and libel over the incident.

Arrest of Doug Martin

During preseason training camp, the Yr105 AFL MVP and Cleveland Browns RB Doug Martin was arrested for assault after being accused of beating his girlfriend in an elevator. The charges were eventually dropped days later due to a lack of evidence, but shortly after the release Martin was indicted again after CCTV footage was leaked to the press showing Martin appear to beat his girlfriend. Martin initially was not suspended or fined for the charges, calling for action from the AFL's commissioner Lewis Lacey to revise the Personal Code of Conduct for the players and to suspend Martin for his actions. Two weeks after his second indictment, Martin voluntarily placed himself on the AFL Exemption List, removing himself from all active duties with the Browns. Martin was eventually given a year long suspension from the AFL shorty before the season was about to begin. Browns GM Ray Farmer criticized the timing and length of deliberation of the suspension, as Martin had been allowed to practice with the Browns while on the Exemption List, and were implied that Martin would be allowed to play.

Death of Alex Burton

Alex Burton, the starting Quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles during the previous season, died in a single car collision on July 12, Yr108. He was 25 years old. Burton's death caused shockwaves across the league, with commissioner Lacey calling his death "extremely saddening and heartbreaking for all fans across the nation." The Eagles removed his jersey number 10 from circulation following his death. Burton's car was believed to have ran off a guardrail while travelling down a highway in nearby Harrisburg while travelling to training camp; Alcohol or speed was not believed to be a factor in the crash, though low visibility due to the rising sun and fog-like conditions was a contributing cause to the crash. Following the accident, the Eagles moved all practice times for training camp and beyond from 7 am to 8 am, to avoid having players commute in heavy traffic and in low light conditions. This practice was soon followed by the Falcons, Chargers, and the Browns as well.

The death of Alex Burton was the first of many quarterbacks that were suited at one point during the preseason for the Eagles. Second string Drew Stanton tore his ACL in the first preseason game, and was ruled out for the season. Third string Matt Barkley sustained a heavy concussion during the same game and was ruled out for a significant amount of time, forcing the punter, Jake Henley, to play Quarterback in relief for the remainder of the game. The Eagles then signed Ross Barkley (no relation) and Cedric Butler to the roster, with Butler eventually winning the job at Philadelphia.

Regular Season

"Gang Green" Shooting Incident

Prior to their Week 2 matchup, players from the Birmingham Warriors and the Atlanta Falcons were participating in heated trash talk. Warriors CB Draymond Green commented that the Falcons "couldn't compete with the rest of the AFL, while the Falcons wide receivers were planning to make sure that they were called for every contact they made with the secondary during the game. The game was marred by numerous penalties for unsportmanlike conduct, including three ejections, all from the Warriors. The Falcons won the game 20-7.

Minutes following the game, shots were heard from outside the Georgia Dome near the home locker room, and two Falcons players were taken to the hospital with minor injuries. The AFL suspended three players from the Warriors and a player from the Falcons for a game for "unsportsmanlike conduct" unrelated to the shootings, but after police searches from the Warriors locker room found a handful of handguns, the league suspended cornerbacks Mike Harris and Gilbert Johnson for the rest of the season in relation to bringing handguns to the locker room. Additionally, the Warriors were fined $100,000 for the incident. Warriors president Jake Armstrong criticized the AFL for not taking enough action on the Falcons, citing that the Falcons were just as responsible for escalating violence during the game as well.

Death of Tyler Lockett

During the Week 6 matchup against the Birmingham Warriors, Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Tyler Lockett died after a collision with Warriors CB Brandon Russell after an errant pass went over Lockett and the two collided head-to-head. It was the first time in the league's 90 year history that a player died after an injury on the field. The death caused huge shockwaves across the league, and brought to question on safety of American Football as well as the enforcement of the head-to-head contact rules. It also brought into question the "brute force" tactics used by the Birmingham Warriors since their inception.

On the death of Lockett, critic Mark Reynolds commented that the AFL was "negligent" in their advocacy of the safety of the league, and called for the league to cease operations. Other critics urged the league to step up measures for safety including harsher fines and suspensions for heavy hits and better protection and compensation for the players. Others called for the resignation of Lewis Lacey for failing to truly protect the players and for not having effective leadership for the league in whole after numerous players had been "enforcing" hits and penalties in the past.

AFLPA President and former player Chris Donalds said that, "The death (of Lockett) is both saddening and worrying as well. It is sad that a player had to die in order for the league to realize that this is a dangerous sport and that the league had not done enough to protect the players. It is time for the AFL to step up and take affirmative action regarding helmets and rules and attitude towards safety. We sincerely hope that this tragic indicent gets the league to start seriously thinking about the safety of our players."

There was brief debate about postponing the next week's games, but Lacey decided to have the games go on as planned, as Lockett "would have wanted them to continue regardless of circumstance." Both the Seahawks and the Warriors pulled Lockett's #18 from circulation (even though the Warriors had not used the number in over two seasons), and the whole league wore patches in honour of Lockett. In Seattle's Week 8 matchup against the Utah Blazers, the #18 flag was flown instead of the usual 12th Man flag flown at the beginning of the game.

Arrest of Mario Hernandez

One day after the Week 9 matchup against the Cleveland Browns, New England Patriots Tight End Mario Hernandez was arrested for murder and armed robbery in relation to an incident involving the death of Lenny Larson, a former agent working in the AFL, though not with Hernandez. Documents were leaked days prior to the arrest saying that there was a case for Hernandez to have, without reasonable doubt, some involvement in the case. However, police hesitated to arrest Hernandez given his high status as a football player, and that they were uncertain of the public response to arresting him.

The arrest was the 18th player arrested and jailed for any reason since training camp started, and the second high profile incident, the first being the arrest of Browns RB Doug Martin. Hernandez's arrest caused some critics to call for better criminal background checks and psychological screening, especially when it was revealed that Hernandez had ties to the Italian mafia. Lewis Lacey called the arrest "very worrying," and vowed to ensure that all AFL players are "criminally sound" before they are entered into the AFL draft.

Refereeing Controversies

Throughout the season, there have been numerous high profile incidents involving referees and players and coaches in the league, resulting in the highest number of ejections related to arguing and disputing calls made by referees on the field. At the halfway point in the season, there had been 35 ejections made during the course of the season, just 3 short from the previous record of 38 after a full 18 week season.

Journalists have also complained that the league has been "plagued" with incorrect calls made during the season. One journalist, Mike Fernando, said, "the referees over the years have been yelled at and sworn at a lot of times within the past ten years, and as a result they have developed a thick skin towards the players, which definitely seems to have also had an effect on their call judgment as well, given the lack of calls being overturned from the booth review." A study done revealed that more than 75% of the games played at the halfway point of the season had at least one "big" call blown (which includes any turnovers, scoring plays, or important plays such as third or fourth downs), and some games had more than 25% of all calls blown, including the Week 5 matchup against the Denver Broncos and the Cleveland Browns, which had over 75% of the calls blown by the referee staff of that game. The staff working that game had not worked since that game, although the decision to bench the staff came before the study was revealed.

One cause can be pointed to the retirement of AFL Video Review President Jamie Snyder, who had been at the post for over 35 years, and had worked in video review with the AFL for more than 50. According to reports, Snyder had constantly overruled judgments made by other staff, and did not seriously plan appointing a successor until shortly before his retirement. Fernando stated that "Snyder had such an attention to detail in the video review business that he did not trust very many people to handle making the big decisions when the booth was called; Ultimately, when he left after the end of last season, he left a huge void of leadership and ability in the review booth." Commissioner Lacey said that "the league was always committed towards ensuring that all the calls made on the field are ultimately the correct ones."

Post-Season

Sara Figueroa incident

During the Western Divisional Semi-Final against the Denver Broncos and the Seattle Seahawks, Seahawks defender Sean Andersen was making a play against an opponent and ran outside out of bounds after the play. Sara Figueroa, who had passed through security and around the players nearby, got to Anderson despite him trying to avoid her and stabbed him in the chest. Andersen was taken to the hospital but was in stable condition. The game continued after Andersen was removed from the field, and the Broncos won in overtime 13-10.

Figueroa was immediately arrested and charged for attempted murder, as Andersen survived his injuries. However, he had his lung punctured, and required emergency surgery to quickly remedy the internal bleeding that had occurred. Andersen would recover, but would retire from the game due to the injury. Figueroa remains in police custody and is awaiting trial, with her motive not yet known. The league was blasted for having subpar security during the playoff game. Commissioner Lewis made corrective action immediately, adding more effective security on the sidelines during the remaining playoff games.

"The Uncatch"

During the fourth quarter Eastern Divisional Final against the Philadelphia Eagles and the Cleveland Browns, Quarterback Liam McCoy threw what appeared to be a touchdown pass to Tight End Jermaine Gresham into the endzone. However, the play was quickly reviewed and overturned without a booth review. Philadelphia ended up winning the ball on a turnover on the next play and won the game 17-16.

Immediately following the game, Gresham blasted the officials for the incorrect call made on the field, commenting, "it looked like a catch, felt like a catch, sounded like a catch, and should have been a catch, but it was not called like a catch." Head coach Marvin Lewis was more precise and critical of the officiating, saying that it was "a complete distraction to have to keep with the judgment of the referees." Both Gresham and Lewis were fined by the AFL for dissent towards officials, drawing criticism from the media for trying to silence the critics of officials and referees. Journalist Tom Mayfield said that "any player who now tries to speak up and constructively criticize the referees are instead crushed by the disciplinary board and their comments are not taken seriously and no meaningful improvements are made.

The fan reaction to the call was overwhelmingly negative, as neutral fan support for the upcoming Stanley Cup was well in favour of the Western Division champions Denver Broncos. During the game, the Eagles were consistently booed and jeered. Eagles player Jon Kiermaier commented, "Don't blame us, blame the (expletive) that put us here." The Broncos won the game 31-13, a game which critics called "the most just result that was possible in the AFL."