The Philadelphia Soul and the Utah Blaze of the AFL just recently held on open tryout in Los Angeles, California in hopes of finding some untapped talent in Southern California. This January 14th event marked the first time any team (the Soul) has traveled over 3,000 miles to host a tryout. Why would a team attempt something such as this you might ask? The reason is that in the AFL, open tryouts actually do work and have worked quite recently for the Soul.
When the Soul reemerged in 2011, they held two open tryouts in Philadelphia looking for pieces to add to their roster. Both were the two highest attended tryouts in the AFL with over 600 participants showing up to display their talents. Out of those who showed up, the Soul made offers to 7 of them and 3 made the final 2011 roster. Seven out of over 600 plus doesn't seem like a huge success, but when you consider that only 24 players make up an AFL roster, the Soul found one-eighth of their team from those two open tryouts. Those players were LB Jerome Hayes (15 games), WR Keith Stokes (13 games) and OL Nyere Aumaitre (14 games). All three started games and received pretty significant playing time with Stokes probably being the biggest surprise out of the group. Stokes racked up 78 catches for 940 yards and 7 touchdowns in his 13 games. Hayes also contributed nicely on the defensive side of the ball registering 21.0 total tackles, 3.0 tackles for a loss, 1 sacks and 1 interception.
Both Aumaitre and Hayes have signed on for the 2012 season with Stokes still being listed as a free agent. With the plethora of talent the Soul have added to the receiving corps this off-season, the 33-year-old's chances of making the squad would look pretty dim anyways.
This past October 22nd, the Soul held another tryout at the Philadelphia Eagles' NovaCare Complex where over 200 participants showed off their football talents. Just days later the Soul announced the assignments of two out of the 200 plus hopeful. DB Jesse Cooper and WR/KR Alfonso Hoggard III were the two lucky players who agreed to terms with the Soul. Coach Plank was quoted as saying that Cooper displayed a great defensive presence while Hoggard III had great hands with good route running ability and added a 4.2 forty speed.
So what might seem as a minor detail or a waste of time to sports fans not familiar with the process, open tryouts have become very successful for the AFL introducing players in ways that wouldn't have been possible otherwise. The AFL is all about the blue collar type of player that Philadelphia fans clamor for every season. Don't let the game of arena football fool you though, these players come to play every week in hopes of making the "big bucks" one day like AFL legend Kurt Warner. Despite making less money, the players don't let up in their intensity and effort which is reason enough to give the AFL a try if you haven't yet had the pleasure of doing.
Just think of Vince Papale back in 1976 and how great of a story that was for not just Eagles fans, but for the entire world. Well in the AFL stories like that happen on a yearly basis, giving guys that the NFL labeled as "not good enough" or that "lack the right size" to be successful at their position the chance of making a name for themselves by the quality of their play alone. Here's to getting to know a couple more people like that in this coming season.
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