It didn’t take long for Mike Ditka to make the transition from playing and coaching in the NFL to owning a team in the Arena Football League.
Ditka is co-owner of the Chicago Rush, which plays the Colorado Crush at 1 p.m. Sunday at the Pepsi Center for the AFL’s American Conference championship and a chance to advance to the June 12 ArenaBowl in Las Vegas.
During a conference call Wednesday that included John Elway, co-owner of the Crush, Ditka talked about staying closer to home for player development.
“Why send players to the European League?” said Ditka, a first-year owner whose NFL coaching career ended after the 1999 season. “This league is a different venue, but it looks to me as if it would be a great development league for the NFL. The way this game is played, it makes quarterbacks release the ball quickly.”
Many AFL franchises are in the backyards of NFL teams, much closer than sending players to NFL Europe.
“The only way players get better, whether it’s in Europe or the arena league, is by getting playing experience,” Elway said. “Players don’t get better by sitting around lifting weights. Playing helps them get better.”
The arena league hasn’t been a major proving ground for NFL players, but quarterbacks Kurt Warner of the Arizona Cardinals and Tommy Maddox of the Pittsburgh Steelers came out of the indoor league and have starred. Warner led the St. Louis Rams to a Super Bowl championship in the 1999 season. He is a Super Bowl MVP and two-time league MVP. Maddox, a former first-round draft pick of the Broncos, led the Steelers to the playoffs in the 2002 season.
Elway and Dikta said they are feeling some of the same emotions going into a big game now as they did when they were players.
“I’m excited for these games as when I played,” Elway said. “In either case, I just want to be best at what we’re doing.”
Said Ditka: “It’s pride. John and I both have been in Super Bowls, and I see the same pride factor with these players. These guys are throwbacks to the old game. They play both ways and they play hard.”
Elway likes to stay involved with his team.
“I enjoy being around athletes,” he said. “I want (the players) to know this is important to me.”
Irv Moss can be reached at 303-820-1296 or imoss@denverpost.com.
