The Arena Football League is the most fan friendly football league in major sports. After each game, the home team open up the field to the fans so they can come down to the playing surface, run the field and meet all of their favorite players. One of the most storied franchises of the AFL is the Tampa Bay Storm. The Storm have won a total of five Arena Bowl championships, a record in the AFL.
In 2007, QB Brett Dietz stepped in as starting QB for the Storm, after QB John Kaleo was injured in a game against the Columbus Destroyers. Brett took the reins and never looked back, leading the Storm into the playoffs. In 2007, Brett became the first player to win Rookie of the Year awards in both the AFL and AF2. Brett is also the fastest QB in AFL history to reach 4000 career passing yards and the fastest to reach 80 career touchdown passes. This year the Arena Football League suspended it's 2009 season, hoping to rebound and re-start again in 2010. So far it is looking promising, but Brett is not sitting by and waiting. Recently he was drafted by the UFL's San Francisco team, coached by former Minnesota Vikings and Arizona Cardinals head coach, Dennis Green.
Recently Brett sat down with me to talk about his career so far and his future with both the Arena Football League, and the United Football League.
Bob Carroll (BC): Brett, you have been the starting quarterback for the Tampa Bay Storm since 2007. How did you become involved with Arena football?
BD: Arena football really came to me after I got back from playing football in Finland, playing overseas. When I got back, I had an arena team from my home town of Cincinnati contact me. They were starting a new franchise and they wanted me to come in as a local guy and be the face of the team. I was fortunate enough to play on that team. That was my first experience with arena ball, in the National Indoor Football League (NIFL). We did real well as an expansion team and we only had 3-4 guys who had ever played arena ball before. It took us a few games to get going, but once we did, we gelled together as a team and made it deep into the playoffs, I think we made it to the semi-finals. That was a really good year for us and it got me some attention as far as the AFL and AF2 teams. So that really put me on the map that first season in 2005 with the Cincinnati Marshals.
BC: In 2007, during a game against the Columbus Destroyers, you were sort of thrown into action when the starting QB, John Kaleo wound up being injured and his back up, Stoney Case, already injured in a previous game. Did you feel nervous taking over a starter in this game?
BD: There was really no time to get nervous. That was the first game I had ever dressed in the AFL. By the time he got hurt, when I realized that he was hurt, and I was realized that I was going in the game, I didn’t have time to think about being nervous. I was only with the team at the time, for like six days. A lot of the team had changed from the previous year, when I was on the practice squad. I had a great week of practice, probably the best week of practice in my life, so the team was fairly confident with me in there. You could still see that the team was like ’well, that’s the second QB that has gone down in seven games’. Once I got in there and proved to the team that I could play, they rallied behind me, we really got some confidence going and we started our playoff run in 2007, right there in that Columbus game.
BC: So were you brought in from AF2 to fill in for the injured back-up?
BD: No. In 2006 I was in AF2. In 2007 I had signed with the Chicago Rush, but they released me. I then was signed by the Kansas City Brigade for their practice squad. That’s were I spent the first part of 2007, until Stoney Case was injured in the Orlando game. The Storm had a bye week after that game and they contacted me. I came in the following Sunday, just before the Columbus game. The team was coming off the bye week and had a 1-6 record. I hadn’t dressed for any games; I was just on a practice squad in 2007 for Kansas City before that game.
BC: I was present for your first game, and was very impressed with the way you played. You remained starter for the rest of that season, eventually leading the Storm to a playoff berth. Looking back, were there plans to make you a starter after the 2007 season, or were you going to have to compete against Stoney Case and John Kaleo for that position?
BD: Uh, I really don’t know, but I know John was planning on retiring anyway. I think they were thinking that I would be the starter since I did so well. The team played so well with me at the helm. I know Stoney was coming in and it was going to be a good competition, but I think the coaches had in mind that I was their quarterback of the future. They loved Stoney, but they realized that I was a lot younger and that I would be there for the Storm a lot longer. They ultimately decided to go with me and have Stoney back me up. Stoney helped me tremendously throughout the season and during practices, I learned a lot from Stoney. It all worked out and I think everyone was happy with the situation.
BC: After the 2007 season, you became the first player in AFL history to win "Rookie of the Year" awards back to back in the AFL and AF2. How did it feel to be honored like that?
BD: It was unbelievable; it was beyond anything I could have imagined. You know, here it was week six of the 2007 season and I’m still sitting on the Kansas City practice squad. I was just trying to make a team, let alone win the rookie of the year award. To get on a team, with the position that the Storm was in at the time, and the prestige that the Storm and Coach Marcum have, it was unbelievable to be picked up by the Storm. Then to play well enough to be nominated for rookie of the year and come back to make the playoffs, that was beyond anything I ever imagined. I was very honored to win that award. I was speechless.
BC: Without getting into your particular situation, and being that you played both AFL and AF2, what is the average salary for an arena player in both leagues, and what does the highest paid player make?
BD: In Arena 2, the standard salary is two hundred dollars to play the game and if you win, you get an extra fifty. In the AFL the league minimum salary was $29-30,000, with the average being around $40,000. The highest paid player made around $160,000 a year last year.
BC: The AFL suspended the 2009 season and is trying to re-group for the 2010 season. Have the owners been in contact with the players, and have you heard anything about the future of the AFL?
BD: I have not heard anything recently. The last date I heard for them to make a decision was July 15th, this Wednesday, but I haven’t heard anything leading up to that. You normally would hear something, but I have not heard anything yet. The league has kept everything hush-hush and behind closed doors, so I hope they have a master plan behind those closed doors, and are not just letting this league go by the wayside.
BC: Recently the Tampa Bay Storm released hall of fame coach Tim Marcum. Is that any sign of trouble for the league?
BD: No, that was just business. We were not playing this year. Coach Marcum and Dr. Nucci had their own agreement and I know that Coach Marcum knew beforehand that he was going to be released. I believe every AFL coach has been released at this time; it just doesn’t make sense to pay a coach when the team is not playing the season. There is no doubt that if the league comes back, Coach Marcum will again be the head coach of the Tampa Bay Storm.
BC: If you had a guess about the future of the AFL, what would you say?
BD: Um, wow, let’s see, it doesn’t look great right now, just because we are not hearing anything, but hopefully they can get something together. I know the league is too good a football league to stop completely. The owners, players and the league need to do something to get the AFL back on it’s feet and back to playing. It’s a great game and too many people have worked too hard and put in too much time to let it die. The AFL has been around for 23 or 24 years, so we all need to step it up and do whatever we need to do to get this league playing again.
BC: With your recent news, and we will get into this in a second, do you feel that Brett Dietz has played his last down with the AFL?
BD: I honestly have no idea. You know I’m going into the United Football League with everything full speed ahead and I’m going in 100% committed, not even worrying about arena, because I’m going to be 100% committed to San Francisco and the UFL. My ultimate goal is to go upward, so I’m going to do my best for San Francisco, prove my worth and move up from there. I’m just going to focus on moving forward, working hard, playing hard and learning some more football.
BC: You have recently been drafted by the San Francisco team in the United Football League. This league is billing itself as sort of a second chance league for NFL players that may have been cut in training camp, to work their way back into the NFL, or players that may not have had the chance to try out for the NFL. How were you alerted that you had been drafted?
BD: I thought that the UFL draft was taking place on a Saturday, but I got a text message on a Friday night that the draft was being posted on Twitter. I didn’t have a Twitter account, but I quickly made one up, logged on trying to get some information. Then I got a text from somebody, I’m not sure who it was to this day, that said ’Congratulations, you have just been drafted by San Francisco’. I don’t know who texted me, but thank you for texting because it was the first time that I had heard I was drafted by the UFL.
BC: I received a text from you at 1:30 that morning and I appreciate that you included me in that news. Give us an overview of the UFL.
BD: No problem. The overview, the UFL is a four team league debuting this fall. We are going to play six games with one bye week. There are going to be some players that have already been out and the rest of the players will be picked up from cuts made during the NFL training camps. We are going to be a very competitive league within each other. We are not trying to compete with the NFL, we are just giving players another outlet to show their stuff and prove they are worthy of another shot in the NFL. We are going to bring exciting football to fans around the country and the world. It has been proven that America’s favorite sport is football, so we are going to give them one more league they can watch on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday nights, I believe. We are going to be playing in the fall, and we will be showcasing some talent. After the season is over, the NFL will inspect our league and give some of our players a shot.
BC: What goals are you hoping to accomplish with playing in the UFL?
BD: My goal is to get into training camp, win the starting job and lead our team to the championship. I want to really play well and prove that I can play outdoors again. I want to prove that I have the smarts and the arm to get it done and get at least one opportunity in the NFL. That’s what I am doing and I’m going in there to get that starting job.
BC: Coming into the UFL, you are going from one legendary AFL coach in Tim Marcum, to the legendary Dennis Green. What can a good head coach provide to you as a player?
BD: Oh, he does everything. Everything from instilling confidence that he emits into his players and athletes. Leading us and teaching us how to act in certain situations, what to do in different situations, um, how much to practice us and how much time off to give us. It is going to be huge to have an experienced coach like Dennis Green leading us. I’m going to listen to everything he says, remember it or write it all down. It’s going to be an honor to play for Coach Green.
BC: Do you think you will ever be as good a QB as me?
BD: As you?
BC: Yes.
BD: I can only imagine, in my wildest dreams that I would ever even come close to being the athlete that you are! Actually that was proven by the Chicken Run Challenge.
BC: (laughing) I’ll get to that in a second. Any chance you will be able to fly me out to every game?
BD: Um, I’m going to have to check with my accountant, who is my wife by the way, on that and uh; maybe I can get in good with an airline or something. I’ll work on that!
BC: Last April, you participated in the first annual Chicken Run Challenge, a soon to be 5k for charity. What was it like to be a part of the debut of this race and how did you do in the race?
BD: It was an honor to be part of the race that I helped create. It is the first charity event that you and I have organized together, first of many, so it was fun. We had a good crowd for the first year and even though I came in a very respectable third place, I did not win, which is what I expected to do. But it was a lot of fun and I hope we can do it for many years to come.
BC: Brett, you have the floor. How does it feel to be one of the first interviews conducted by Convicted Artist Magazine and what would you like to say to the readers of Convicted Artist Magazine?
BD: Oh, I’m honored! I’m new to the website as well but I’ll definitely be checking back early and often. To the site owners, you know you have a good writer on your hands with Bob. I’ve known him for quite some time now and he works hard at what he does, he is good at it and you will get nothing but the best.
BC: I appreciate that Brett. Do I owe you any money for that last part?
BD: Yes. We’ll talk later.
I would like to thank Brett Dietz for taking time to speak with me. Brett Dietz is a regular contributor to the Fightin' Words Radio show. For more on Brett, listen to Bob, Butch and "THE Big Dog" Benny Henderson Jr, every Wednesday night from 8-9pm on Fightin Words Radio Show. To listen worldwide, go to www.1490WWPR.com and look for the "listen here" tab. Also, don't forget to visit the shows website, www.fightinwordsonline.com
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