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QB Chris Greisen is in Dallas preparing for the start of the AFL season later this month
By Mike Shaw
News-Chronicle
New Year's Day is a time for renewed hope and resolutions, so it was fitting that quarterback Chris Greisen began the next era of his professional football career Jan. 1.
While the football nation's attention was riveted on college bowl games, Greisen, a Green Bay resident, boarded a plane for Dallas headed to training camp with the Dallas Desperados of the Arena Football League.
"They'd flown me down a few times before for informal workouts and to meet the other quarterbacks and the receivers," Greisen said prior to his departure. "They're all good guys, a very talented team. It's just a matter of staying healthy and playing to our potential."
The ultimate goal for Greisen, 28, remains the same as it has been since the Arizona Cardinals released him at the end of their 2002 training camp: a return to the big show of the NFL.
Greisen spent three years (1999-2001) as a backup with the Cardinals after the team made him a seventh-round draft pick.
After being released by the Cardinals, he had a short stint on the Washington Redskins' practice squad and then played in the NFL Europe developmental league in spring 2003. He spent the remainder of the '03 season out of football.
Greisen started along the comeback trail last spring by quarterbacking the Green Bay Blizzard of the af2 league, which is a step below AFL but plays the same style of fast-paced, pass-oriented indoor football.
In Dallas, Greisen will compete for the starting job with two other former NFL quarterbacks. Scott Dreisbach, who played collegiately at the University of Michigan, was a former late-round draft pick of the Oakland Raiders and gained some brief playing experience with them. Clint Stoerner, from the University of Arkansas, started two games for the Dallas Cowboys as an injury substitute in 2001.
The Cowboys own the Desperados franchise.
"They told us (the QB race) is wide open and that the best guys are going to start," Greisen said. "If I have any advantage, it's that I have the most arena football experience (of the three).
"If I were to just jump in, I would have to learn all the different angles, the speed, the footwork, the release and what kinds of defenses they play."
While Greisen possesses the most actual on-field experience of the trio, Dreisbach servef as the Desperados' backup QB in 2003. He started the final two games, completing 50 of 78 passes for 593 yards, 10 touchdowns and five interceptions.
Greisen threw for 2,718 yards, 61 touchdowns and 10 interceptions in 10 games with the Blizzard. He left the team in late July following a disagreement with an assistant coach over whether he was healthy enough to play after sustaining a neck injury.
The Desperados are trying to rebound from a 6-10 season in which they lost their final seven games. The 3-year-old franchise made the AFL playoffs in each of its first two seasons.
"When they recruited me, they said they need to have a quarterback who's going to lead them back to the playoffs and ultimately to the championship," Greisen said.
"Chris has been a winner at every level he's played," Desperados offensive coordinator Rich Ingold said on the team's Web site. "He has all the things you are looking for in an AFL quarterback."
Other than the better competition, the transition from af2 to the AFL should be seamless, Greisen said. The rules and field dimensions - 8-on-8 play on a 50- by 85-yard field, with a large percentage of two-way players - are the same as in the lower-level league. The only significant difference would be an improvement from a quarterback's standpoint.
He said the end-zone corners are rectangular instead of rounded like a hockey rink, providing more room to throw.
The AFL doesn't play an exhibition schedule, although the teams schedule controlled scrimmages against each other during training camp. The 16-game season (with one week off per team) begins Jan. 29, and the three-round AFL playoffs conclude with the ArenaBowl title game June 12. NBC Sports broadcasts weekly AFL games after the NFL season ends.
As many as five Desperados games may make it on the air this season, according to the team. "The practice week will probably be similar (to the NFL) but probably not as long," Greisen said. "You'll have two-a-days during training camp, but a lot of the guys play both ways so you can't practice them as long."
Greisen signed a two-year contract with Dallas for a $40,000 annual salary, plus performance-based incentives.
His wife, Shannon, and their young daughter, Michaela, will stay behind in Green Bay, where Shannon is admissions director at Notre Dame Academy. The Desperados, though, will pay to fly them in for every home game.
The franchise also plans to aid Greisen with his new Quarterback Academy (www.cgqbacademy.com), a side business venture in which four young passers at a time can receive personal instruction from the pro.
"They're going to help me with marketing and with facilities - and their facility is Texas Stadium (home of the Cowboys)," Greisen said. "It's a great opportunity for young kids to come in and learn (in the place) where Roger Staubach and Danny White and Troy Aikman played."
The Desperados practice at Texas Stadium but play home games at the city's American Airlines Center, home of the NBA's Dallas Mavericks.
"(Cowboys owner) Jerry Jones' son-in-law is the chief operating officer of the Desperados, but meeting him is the closest I've come to meeting Jerry," Greisen said.
Greisen stayed in shape before leaving for Dallas by working out for 90 minutes every morning at Notre Dame, where he's assisted with the football program. At 7:30 a.m., when his wife arrived for work, he would switch child seats and take Michaela home.
The Green Bay Packers gave Greisen a tryout in September but didn't sign him. It's the only recent nibble from the NFL about acquiring his services.
"I thought the tryout went real well, but, at the time, they weren't looking for a quarterback," Greisen said. "When (backup Doug) Pederson went down, I thought I might get a call, but then they made the trade (with New Orleans) for J.T. O'Sullivan."
Greisen, though, said he won't give up if he's not back in the NFL by next fall.
"Look at how many quarterbacks in their 30s are still performing well," he said. "There's so much to learn about the position that I'm a better quarterback now than I was with the Cardinals. I throw the ball better than I ever have before."
Greisen doesn't think a switch back to the slower-paced, run-pass balance of the NFL would be difficult. As an example, he points to the AFL's most celebrated alumnus: New York Giants quarterback Kurt Warner, who with the St. Louis Rams won two MVP awards and reached two Super Bowls, winning one.
"(The arena league) is definitely a faster game because of the confined area," Greisen said. "But, look at Kurt. Partially because of the type of offense in this league, he could really thread the needle - and that (pinpoint accuracy) came from the arena-league experience." Greisen piloted Sturgeon Bay High School to the 1993 WIAA Division 3 state-championship game. He played collegiately at Northwest Missouri State, where he led the Bearcats to the Division II national championship in 1998. </STRONG>
By Mike Shaw
News-Chronicle
New Year's Day is a time for renewed hope and resolutions, so it was fitting that quarterback Chris Greisen began the next era of his professional football career Jan. 1.
While the football nation's attention was riveted on college bowl games, Greisen, a Green Bay resident, boarded a plane for Dallas headed to training camp with the Dallas Desperados of the Arena Football League.
"They'd flown me down a few times before for informal workouts and to meet the other quarterbacks and the receivers," Greisen said prior to his departure. "They're all good guys, a very talented team. It's just a matter of staying healthy and playing to our potential."
The ultimate goal for Greisen, 28, remains the same as it has been since the Arizona Cardinals released him at the end of their 2002 training camp: a return to the big show of the NFL.
Greisen spent three years (1999-2001) as a backup with the Cardinals after the team made him a seventh-round draft pick.
After being released by the Cardinals, he had a short stint on the Washington Redskins' practice squad and then played in the NFL Europe developmental league in spring 2003. He spent the remainder of the '03 season out of football.
Greisen started along the comeback trail last spring by quarterbacking the Green Bay Blizzard of the af2 league, which is a step below AFL but plays the same style of fast-paced, pass-oriented indoor football.
In Dallas, Greisen will compete for the starting job with two other former NFL quarterbacks. Scott Dreisbach, who played collegiately at the University of Michigan, was a former late-round draft pick of the Oakland Raiders and gained some brief playing experience with them. Clint Stoerner, from the University of Arkansas, started two games for the Dallas Cowboys as an injury substitute in 2001.
The Cowboys own the Desperados franchise.
"They told us (the QB race) is wide open and that the best guys are going to start," Greisen said. "If I have any advantage, it's that I have the most arena football experience (of the three).
"If I were to just jump in, I would have to learn all the different angles, the speed, the footwork, the release and what kinds of defenses they play."
While Greisen possesses the most actual on-field experience of the trio, Dreisbach servef as the Desperados' backup QB in 2003. He started the final two games, completing 50 of 78 passes for 593 yards, 10 touchdowns and five interceptions.
Greisen threw for 2,718 yards, 61 touchdowns and 10 interceptions in 10 games with the Blizzard. He left the team in late July following a disagreement with an assistant coach over whether he was healthy enough to play after sustaining a neck injury.
The Desperados are trying to rebound from a 6-10 season in which they lost their final seven games. The 3-year-old franchise made the AFL playoffs in each of its first two seasons.
"When they recruited me, they said they need to have a quarterback who's going to lead them back to the playoffs and ultimately to the championship," Greisen said.
"Chris has been a winner at every level he's played," Desperados offensive coordinator Rich Ingold said on the team's Web site. "He has all the things you are looking for in an AFL quarterback."
Other than the better competition, the transition from af2 to the AFL should be seamless, Greisen said. The rules and field dimensions - 8-on-8 play on a 50- by 85-yard field, with a large percentage of two-way players - are the same as in the lower-level league. The only significant difference would be an improvement from a quarterback's standpoint.
He said the end-zone corners are rectangular instead of rounded like a hockey rink, providing more room to throw.
The AFL doesn't play an exhibition schedule, although the teams schedule controlled scrimmages against each other during training camp. The 16-game season (with one week off per team) begins Jan. 29, and the three-round AFL playoffs conclude with the ArenaBowl title game June 12. NBC Sports broadcasts weekly AFL games after the NFL season ends.
As many as five Desperados games may make it on the air this season, according to the team. "The practice week will probably be similar (to the NFL) but probably not as long," Greisen said. "You'll have two-a-days during training camp, but a lot of the guys play both ways so you can't practice them as long."
Greisen signed a two-year contract with Dallas for a $40,000 annual salary, plus performance-based incentives.
His wife, Shannon, and their young daughter, Michaela, will stay behind in Green Bay, where Shannon is admissions director at Notre Dame Academy. The Desperados, though, will pay to fly them in for every home game.
The franchise also plans to aid Greisen with his new Quarterback Academy (www.cgqbacademy.com), a side business venture in which four young passers at a time can receive personal instruction from the pro.
"They're going to help me with marketing and with facilities - and their facility is Texas Stadium (home of the Cowboys)," Greisen said. "It's a great opportunity for young kids to come in and learn (in the place) where Roger Staubach and Danny White and Troy Aikman played."
The Desperados practice at Texas Stadium but play home games at the city's American Airlines Center, home of the NBA's Dallas Mavericks.
"(Cowboys owner) Jerry Jones' son-in-law is the chief operating officer of the Desperados, but meeting him is the closest I've come to meeting Jerry," Greisen said.
Greisen stayed in shape before leaving for Dallas by working out for 90 minutes every morning at Notre Dame, where he's assisted with the football program. At 7:30 a.m., when his wife arrived for work, he would switch child seats and take Michaela home.
The Green Bay Packers gave Greisen a tryout in September but didn't sign him. It's the only recent nibble from the NFL about acquiring his services.
"I thought the tryout went real well, but, at the time, they weren't looking for a quarterback," Greisen said. "When (backup Doug) Pederson went down, I thought I might get a call, but then they made the trade (with New Orleans) for J.T. O'Sullivan."
Greisen, though, said he won't give up if he's not back in the NFL by next fall.
"Look at how many quarterbacks in their 30s are still performing well," he said. "There's so much to learn about the position that I'm a better quarterback now than I was with the Cardinals. I throw the ball better than I ever have before."
Greisen doesn't think a switch back to the slower-paced, run-pass balance of the NFL would be difficult. As an example, he points to the AFL's most celebrated alumnus: New York Giants quarterback Kurt Warner, who with the St. Louis Rams won two MVP awards and reached two Super Bowls, winning one.
"(The arena league) is definitely a faster game because of the confined area," Greisen said. "But, look at Kurt. Partially because of the type of offense in this league, he could really thread the needle - and that (pinpoint accuracy) came from the arena-league experience." Greisen piloted Sturgeon Bay High School to the 1993 WIAA Division 3 state-championship game. He played collegiately at Northwest Missouri State, where he led the Bearcats to the Division II national championship in 1998. </STRONG>
