Kansas City, Mo. – Buck Buttshaw was asking for it, wearing that Colorado Crush/John Elway jersey in Kansas City, where Elway still is Public Enemy No. 1.
Buttshaw heard every taunt in the book from the Brigade faithful Sunday, as one of the NFL’s most heated city rivalries made the transition to the Arena Football League. One taunt involved Brigade co-owner Neil Smith, a former Chiefs and Broncos defensive end.
“Neil Smith played in Colorado,” the fan quipped, “but he came back to the real team!”
“But he won the Super Bowl with the real team,” Buttshaw fired back.
Buttshaw was one of four Club Crush members who drove to Kansas City to watch their defending ArenaBowl champions on Easter. They watched as Colorado held on to beat Kansas City 55-49 in front of 12,814 fans at Kemper Arena.
The Crush (9-3) already had clinched a playoff berth, after San Jose beat Las Vegas on Friday night. Now playing only for playoff seeding, the Crush took advantage of three Kansas City interceptions and built a 49-20 lead in the third quarter.
Crush offensive specialist Damian Harrell had 14 catches for 196 yards and five touchdowns. Running free in the Brigade secondary most of the game, Harrell inched closer to the AFL record for touchdown catches in a season. With 43, he is four from the record with four games to go.
“I don’t chase stats or anything,” said Harrell, who has caught a touchdown pass in 61 straight games. “I just want to get back to Las Vegas.”
The Crush scored on every possession during the first half, and Harrell caught two touchdown passes in the third quarter to give Colorado the 29-point advantage.
The Crush had put up at least 70 points in each of its past two games and looked to be heading for its third in a row. But then, inexplicably, Colorado eased up on the gas pedal. The Crush was held to two field goals in the fourth quarter, and it nearly cost the team a victory against the Brigade (2-10), in its first season after moving to Kansas City from New Orleans.
Kansas City scored on its last four possessions but ran out of time as Harrell collected an onside kick with two seconds left.
At halftime, Harrell approached “Santa Crush,” who was one of the four who made the trip, and pumped fists with the man with the suspenders and the scraggly white beard. Santa Crush, who goes by Chris Goodwin six days a week, enjoyed getting to fuel the Kansas City-Denver arena rivalry.
“It’s a natural rivalry,” Santa Crush said. “These two cities have been on each other’s tails for years.”
The Club Crush contingency wants arena football to succeed in Kansas City so badly, the group had a joint tailgate before the game with Kansas City’s fan club, called the Flight Crew. The Crush fans gave advice about how to get Brigade fans involved in the AFL experience.
Back in Denver, Buttshaw’s wife spent Easter alone.
“It’s Easter,” Buttshaw said, “so I had to get a kitchen pass.”
Buttshaw preferred not to discuss the upcoming tradeoff.
“I’m not going to tell you that,” he said.
It’s all part of being the “ninth man” for the Crush, one of arena football’s top franchises.
“This is a labor of love,” Buttshaw said. “All of this is going to help the AFL grow.”
