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2012 Arena Football League season

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2012 Arena Football League season
LeagueArena Football League
SportArena football
DurationMarch 9, 2012 – August 10, 2012
Regular season
Season championsPhiladelphia Soul
Season MVPTommy Grady, UTA
AFL playoffs
American Conference championsPhiladelphia Soul
  American Conference runners-upJacksonville Sharks
National Conference championsArizona Rattlers
  National Conference runners-upUtah Blaze
ArenaBowl XXV
ChampionsArizona Rattlers
  Runners-upPhiladelphia Soul
Finals MVPNick Davila, ARZ
AFL seasons

The 2012 Arena Football League season was the 25th season in the history of the league. The regular season began on March 9, 2012 with a game between the Pittsburgh Power and the Orlando Predators and ended on July 22, 2012 with a game between the Utah Blaze and Philadelphia Soul. The Arizona Rattlers defeated the Philadelphia Soul by a 72–54 score in ArenaBowl XXV on August 10, 2012 to conclude the playoffs.[1]

League business

Teams

The only franchise that relocated during the offseason was the Tulsa Talons, which became the San Antonio Talons following a move to San Antonio, Texas, where the team announced they would play at the Alamodome.[2]

When the 2012 schedule was announced, the Dallas Vigilantes were left off without any explanation on the status of the franchise. No expansion teams were added for the 2012 season.

Labor issues

On March 9, 2012, the day the AFL was to begin play, the Arena Football League Players Association went on strike, seeking a doubling of their wages. The game between the Pittsburgh Power and Orlando Predators scheduled for that night was played as scheduled with replacement players making up about three-quarters of the roster. However, players began crossing the picket line by the second quarter and the AFL announced the work stoppage ended just two hours after the game ended.[3][4]

For the second game of the 2012 season, the entire roster of the San Antonio Talons voted unanimously not to strike for its first game against the Utah Blaze.[5]

On June 8, the Cleveland Gladiators were forced to forfeit a week 14 matchup against the Pittsburgh Power when they were unable to field enough players to play as a result of several of their players going on strike. It was the first forfeited game in the history of the league.[6][7] This news came after the NFL Network chose not to air a contest between the Milwaukee Mustangs and Philadelphia Soul in the network's weekly Friday night broadcast, citing a "labor uncertainty."[8] In the following week, after reports of a potential lockout rose,[9][10] the NFL Network chose to air a War on I-4 game between the Tampa Bay Storm and the Orlando Predators via tape delay on June 16, the day after the game took place.[11]

On June 17, it was announced that the AFL and the AFLPU agreed to a multi-year collective bargaining agreement, to be signed on June 20.[12]

Regular season standings

American Conference
East Division
Team W L PCT PF PA DIV CON Home Away
(1) Philadelphia Soul 15 3 .833 1228 919 4–2 12–2 7–2 8–1
Cleveland Gladiators 8 10 .444 879 875 4–2 6–8 5–4 3–6
Milwaukee Mustangs[a] 5 13 .278 960 1062 3–3 4–7 2–6 3–7
Pittsburgh Power 5 13 .278 827 963 1–5 4–9 1–8 4–5
South Division
Team W L PCT PF PA DIV CON Home Away
(2) Jacksonville Sharks 10 8 .556 930 884 4–4 8–6 6–4 4–4
(3) Georgia Force 9 9 .500 812 923 5–3 8–5 5–4 4–5
(4) New Orleans VooDoo[b] 8 10 .444 979 995 5–3 7–5 4–5 4–5
Tampa Bay Storm 8 10 .444 1021 1108 4–4 7–7 7–2 1–8
Orlando Predators 4 14 .222 770 902 2–6 4–11 4–5 0–9
National Conference
Central Division
Team W L PCT PF PA DIV CON Home Away
(1) San Antonio Talons 14 4 .778 1042 949 5–1 9–4 8–1 6–3
Chicago Rush 10 8 .556 1047 1044 4–2 5–6 7–2 3–6
Iowa Barnstormers 7 11 .389 948 1032 3–3 5–9 4–5 3–6
Kansas City Command 3 15 .167 705 938 0–6 1–12 2–7 1–8
West Division
Team W L PCT PF PA DIV CON Home Away
(2) Arizona Rattlers 13 5 .722 1118 880 3–3 8–5 7–2 6–3
(3) San Jose SaberCats[c] 12 6 .667 1143 1027 4–2 10–4 8–1 4–5
(4) Utah Blaze 12 6 .667 1128 1051 4–2 8–4 6–3 6–3
Spokane Shock 10 8 .556 1063 1048 1–5 5–7 5–4 5–4

Eight teams qualified for the playoffs: four teams from each conference, of which two are division champions and the other two have the best records of the teams remaining.[13]

  • Green indicates clinched playoff berth
  • Blue indicates division champion
  • Gray indicates division champion and conference's best record

Tie-breakers

  • a Milwaukee finished in third place in the East Division based on a head-to-head sweep over Pittsburgh.
  • b New Orleans clinched the American Conference's No. 4 seed based on a greater won-loss percentage among games between New Orleans, Tampa Bay, and Cleveland. (New Orleans: 2–1, Tampa Bay: 2–2, Cleveland: 1–2)
  • c San Jose clinched the National Conference's No. 3 seed based on their greater point differential in head-to-head competition with Utah.

Playoffs

Conference Semifinals Conference Championship ArenaBowl XXV
         
1 Philadelphia 66
4 New Orleans 53
1 Philadelphia 89
American Conference
2 Jacksonville 34
2 Jacksonville 58
3 Georgia 56
A1 Philadelphia 54
N2 Arizona 72
1 San Antonio 34
4 Utah 35
4 Utah 69
National Conference
2 Arizona 75
2 Arizona 51
3 San Jose 48

Conference semifinals

Conference Date Kickoff Away Home Final score Game site Recap
National July 27 8:00 p.m. EDT Utah Blaze San Antonio Talons Utah, 35–34 Alamodome [14]
American July 28 7:00 p.m. EDT Georgia Force Jacksonville Sharks Jacksonville, 58–56 Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena [15]
American July 28 7:05 p.m. EDT New Orleans VooDoo Philadelphia Soul Philadelphia, 66–53 Wells Fargo Center [16]
National July 28 10:00 p.m. EDT San Jose SaberCats Arizona Rattlers Arizona, 51–48 US Airways Center [17]

Conference championships

Conference Date Kickoff Away Home Final score Game site Recap
American August 3 8:00 p.m. EDT Jacksonville Sharks Philadelphia Soul Philadelphia, 89–34 Wells Fargo Center [18]
National August 4 10:00 p.m. EDT Utah Blaze Arizona Rattlers Arizona, 75–69 US Airways Center [19]

ArenaBowl XXV

Main article: ArenaBowl XXV
Date Kickoff Away Home Final score Game site Recap
August 10 10:30 p.m. EDT Arizona Rattlers Philadelphia Soul Arizona, 72–54 New Orleans Arena [20]

All-Arena team

Offense
Position First team Second team
Quarterback Tommy Grady, Utah Nick Davila, Arizona
Fullback Derrick Ross, Philadelphia Odie Armstrong, Arizona
Center Kyle Young, Arizona Billy Eisenhardt, Chicago
Offensive lineman Rich Ranglin, San Jose
Michael Huey, Arizona 		George Bussey, Tampa Bay
Manny Akah, San Jose
Wide receiver Jesse Schmidt, Iowa
Maurice Purify, Arizona
Aaron Lesué, Utah 		Reggie Gray, Chicago
Tiger Jones, Philadelphia
Dominick Goodman, Cleveland
Defense
Position First team Second team
Defensive lineman Joe Sykes, San Jose
Mike Lewis, Utah
Victor DeGrate, San Antonio 		Bryan Robinson, Philadelphia
Scooter Berry, Jacksonville
Luis Vasquez, Milwaukee
Middle linebacker Aaron Robbins, Jacksonville Francis Maka, San Jose
Jack linebacker Alvin Ray Jackson, New Orleans Marcus Everett, Milwaukee
Defensive back Kent Richardson, Philadelphia
Jason Simpson, Iowa
Terrance Sanders, Spokane 		Jeremy Kellem, New Orleans
Arkeith Brown, Arizona
Tracy Belton, Georgia
Special teams
Position First team Second team
Kicker Kenny Spencer, Spokane Nich Pertuit, San Jose
Kick returner PJ Berry, Pittsburgh Terrance Sanders, Spokane

References

  1. ^ "2012 AFL Schedule Announced". San Antonio Talons. October 6, 2011. Archived from the original on February 22, 2012. Retrieved January 4, 2012.
  2. ^ "Pro Football Has Finally Arrived in San Antonio". San Antonio Talons (Press release). September 27, 2011. Retrieved 19 December 2016.
  3. ^ Arena Football League officials prepared for work stoppage[permanent dead link]. Des Moines Register.
  4. ^ [1] Archived 2012-03-10 at the Wayback Machine. Bright House Sports Network (March 9, 2012). Retrieved March 10, 2012.
  5. ^ Oliver, Richard (March 10, 2012). Players' strike loses momentum. Retrieved March 10, 2012.
  6. ^ "Cleveland forfeits matchup against Pittsburgh". ArenaFan.com. June 8, 2012. Retrieved June 7, 2012.
  7. ^ Manoloff, Dennis (June 8, 2012). "Cleveland Gladiators players' strike causes forfeit loss to Pittsburgh Power". The Plain Dealer. Retrieved June 8, 2012.
  8. ^ "AFL broadcast will not air nationally". ArenaFan.com. June 8, 2012. Retrieved June 8, 2012.
  9. ^ DiPoala, Jerry (June 12, 2012). "Union: Arena League threatens lockout". Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Retrieved June 15, 2012.
  10. ^ Obert, Richard (June 14, 2012). "Arena Football League threatening lock out". The Arizona Republic. Retrieved June 15, 2012.
  11. ^ Markowitz, Adam (June 12, 2012). "Labor Dispute Rages On, NFL Network Pulls Plug On Live Broadcasts". ArenaFan.com. Retrieved June 15, 2012.
  12. ^ "AFL, AFLPU Agree to Terms on Multi-Year CBA". ArenaFan.com. June 17, 2012. Archived from the original on June 18, 2012. Retrieved June 17, 2012.
  13. ^ "AFL Playoff Qualification, Selection of Teams". Arenafan.com. Retrieved May 18, 2013.
  14. ^ "Utah Holds on, Advance to Conference Championship". Arena Football League. July 28, 2012. Retrieved July 28, 2012.[dead link]
  15. ^ "Sharks Defeat Force in Nail-Biter, 58–56". Arena Football League. July 29, 2012. Archived from the original on August 1, 2012. Retrieved July 29, 2012.
  16. ^ "Soul Top VooDoo, 66–53". Arena Football League. July 28, 2012. Archived from the original on August 1, 2012. Retrieved July 29, 2012.
  17. ^ "Rattlers Eliminate SaberCats in 51–48 win". Arena Football League. July 29, 2012. Archived from the original on August 1, 2012. Retrieved August 3, 2012.
  18. ^ "Soul Eliminate Sharks 89–34". Arena Football League. August 3, 2012. Archived from the original on August 7, 2012. Retrieved August 4, 2012.
  19. ^ "Rattlers Defeat Blaze, 75–69, in Exciting Finish". Arena Football League. August 5, 2012. Archived from the original on August 7, 2012. Retrieved August 5, 2012.
  20. ^ AFL Communications (August 11, 2012). "Arizona Rattlers Win Avitae ArenaBowl XXV". Arena Football League. Archived from the original on August 15, 2012. Retrieved August 11, 2012.
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