2010 SEASON

I hated the feeling I had following the 2009 season. In the Rebels’ first two seasons, the team experienced two completely different results on the football spectrum. Ending one game short of a championship in 2008, and then failing to meet expectations in 2009, meaning that 2010 was going to be a make-or-break season for the Rebels, and the pressure was on me to ensure the team rebounded from its lackluster performance. As I said in my 2009 exit interview with the media, 2010 was going to be a season of change for the Rebels, and with the first order of change, I decided to relieve Coach Marcus Allen of his coaching duties. This was a tough decision to do, as Coach Allen helped establish a winning culture with the Rebels, as well as, establish who the Rebels were as a franchise. Collectively though, both Mr. Allen and I felt that the time was right, and it was time for a change.

There wasn’t much of a coaching search back in 2010. When I relieved Marcus Allen from his coaching duties, I almost instantly made the decision that I would be the next coach of the Rebels. When I accepted the job back in January 2010, I told myself, and the fans of the Rebels, that if at any time during my tenure as head coach, if the team was in a slope, or was performing badly, I would step down as head coach, and return to my duties as Owner of the Rebels. I was committed to making the Rebels the most successful, well-ran franchise in the Yuma Scorpions. No other team would beat us on popularity, respect, and organization. This was the beginning of a small rebuild.

Having both owner and coaching duties for the team, the next item on my agenda was to hire a general manager. I went into the 2009 Yuma Draft as the Rebels General Manager, and because of the short time frame I had from entering the Yuma Scorpions Fantasy Football League in mid-August to the actual draft in late August, I had very little time to prep, and scout for the upcoming 2009 season. Drafting a defense, and quarterback so high in the draft, I had since learned that my general manager skills were at a pre-rookie level, and if I wanted the Rebels to return to greatness in 2010, I would need to give up my general manager duties, and hire someone to be the next general manager of the Rebels.

Again, there wasn’t a huge search conducted for the general manager position for the Rebels. A few days into my search, I decided to hire former Cleveland Brown and Miami Dolphin Wide Receiver Paul Warfield as the second general manager in Rebels franchise history. Warfield had no prior experience as the general manager, but during his interview, he convinced me that together, our two brains could help bring a championship to the city of Salt Lake City, Utah and help revive this young franchise. His hiring became official on January 17, 2010.

Similar to how the 2009 season started, the 2010 season started with me looking for potential new cities to house my young Rebel franchise. Unlike last season, Jefferson City, Missouri was already out of the equation, for a possible relocation. However, I was still looking for a new city and a fresh start for the Rebels. Salt Lake City, while they were great hosts for the Rebels from 2008 to 2009, the city and the people of Salt Lake, never truly accepted the Rebels as their team. Attendance, while it was in the Top 3 of the league in 2008; 2009 saw the Rebels attendance drop to the second-worst in the league. Salt Lake City did not have a functional, state-of-the-art stadium for the Rebels, instead, the Rebels played their home games in a community college’s football stadium. Put the Rebel’s poor performance, and the small stadium together, and you have a recipe for low attendance. Following the 2009 season, I knew that this would be the last season played in Salt Lake City, I had to move my franchise to a new city, with a fresh start, if I wanted my team to be successful.

The search was not going as well as I would have hoped for. There were several reasons why the search wasn’t going as well as I would have liked, with the main issue being, I had to find a city where no other Yuma Scorpion or NFL team was currently at. This was very tough, as many major cities in the United States already had either a Yuma Scorpion or NFL franchise. However, there was one major city that had neither; that city was Los Angeles, California.

On Sunday, March 21, 2010, the idea of moving the Rebels to Los Angeles popped into my head. I was outside, enjoying the spring air, when this idea came into my head, in a way very similar to how the entire creation of the Rebels came into my head back in January 2008. I was like this is perfect. I need to move the Rebels to Los Angeles. It is the second biggest market in the United States, and the city of Angels had been without professional football since 1995 when the Raiders and Rams left town.

It was settled, the Rebels would move to Los Angeles, California, and adopt a new name, the California Rebels. The move became official on March 30, 2010. The Rebels would play the entire 2010 season in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, and at the beginning of the 2011 season, the team would move into a brand-new 75,000 seat state-of-the-art stadium in Inglewood, California.

The Rebels’ move to Los Angeles in March 2010, gave the Rebels the fresh start and new identity I wanted for the franchise. The days of the Hawaiian Rebels and playing in Salt Lake City, while they were good, were now behind us. It was now onto Los Angeles and the future.

One of the first things, a franchise must do once it relocates, is to create a new logo and or uniform. For the Rebels, the team no longer donned a volcano as its main logo, instead, once the team officially moved to Los Angeles, I helped create the Rebels a new logo that had a volcano erupting inside a letter “C” which stood for California. This logo would be worn as the Rebels’ primary logo from 2010-2012. This logo appeared on the team’s helmets, but a secondary logo was also created with the secondary logo being a white letter “C” in a nice italic font, with a crimson red color for the background. The team also adopted new red jerseys as their main home uniforms and a white and red jersey for their away look.

With the team now officially moved to Los Angeles, I spent the 2010 offseason once again studying up my knowledge of the NFL. I also took the 2010 spring and summer months preparing for my first season of tackle football, and my first football season playing for my school, Carroll Middle School. 7th Grade football was hyped up starting in April 2010, all of my friends, including Nathan, were determined to make the 2010 “A” team for our 7th-grade team. For me, way back in April, I was already determined and confident that I would make the “A” team because I knew that I was one of the better football players in my grade. Both Nathan and I set our rivalry aside and made the 2010 offseason, a season in which we bettered one another.

7th Grade football officially began the first week of August where the high school hosted a football camp for both middle school and high school football athletes. During this camp, my teammates and I learned some of the basic drills for tackle football, as well as where our seventh-grade coaches wanted us to play for this upcoming season. I was always quick, and on the first night of the camp, my former fifth-grade teacher, Mike Meyering, who was helping coach the seventh-grade team that year, told me that he thought I would be best if I played in the slot position, as both a running back and wide receiver. On defense, I always saw myself as a defensive back, but the coaches told me to go play linebacker. I had never played linebacker before, and I was not very thrilled to start playing it now.

When the season began, I indeed made the seventh grade “A” team, starting both on offense and defense. We played six games that year, and I believe I did alright for my first year of tackle. I wasn’t much of a threat on offense until later in the year, where I scored three touchdowns in three weeks. My first career tackle football touchdown came in the third quarter against Ballard Middle School. I was in the slot position and ran a curl route about ten to fifteen yards down the field. As I turned to come back to the ball, I see my quarterback, Tyler Williams being rushed, he throws the ball to me and I make a diving catch onto the ground. I get up and run the additional forty yards to score my first touchdown of the season and help put my team up on the scoreboard.

My second and third touchdowns came in the final week of the season, playing against Carroll’s crosstown rival, Kuemper Catholic. Our team’s quarterback, Tyler Williams was out with a broken thumb, so Nathan Simmons filled in as our team’s emergency quarterback. Nathan had practiced all week as the team’s starting quarterback and we as a team felt confident that Simmons was going to help us win the game. When the game began, it was Carroll’s day from the start. We controlled the game both on offense and on defense, but yet Kuemper was holding us on offense, until midway through the second quarter, Nathan throws up a prayer to me in the endzone. I jump over two defenders to secure my second touchdown of the season. Later, my second touchdown came on a similar play, this time over one defender. I helped score two touchdowns for my team, as well as, collect an interception. By the end of the game, Carroll’s “A” team won 14-0.

Overall, I enjoyed my first year of tackle football. I learned how to play the game of football all over again, this time wearing pads. I started the season off slow, but throughout the season, I grew into one of the top players for the “A” team. I was ready for my 8th-grade season, as I knew I could dominate just as much. Looking back on this season, nearly ten years later, my favorite memories were the touchdowns I just mentioned, as well as Coach Funk asking Corey Fennell to never wear a watch to practice ever again, and running laps, because our quarterback Tyler Williams decided to hand out his sweaty practice jersey to a girl, and the girl did not give the jersey back. Seventh-grade football was intimidating at first, but throughout the season, I grew to love the game even more.

Coinciding with my seventh-grade football season, was the start of the 2010 fantasy football season. This season was going to be the season of change for the Rebels. All the preparation I did in the offseason was now coming into fruition with the 2010 Yuma Draft just days away. As I was preparing for the upcoming draft, I experienced a crisis no fantasy football owner should ever want to experience. I forgot my username and password for my fantasy football account on ESPN. This crisis, however, was avoided the next day, when my dad helped reset my username and password.

The 2010 Yuma Draft was very similar to the 2009 Yuma Draft, in the sense that the draft order would be kept unknown until an hour before the start of the draft. The draft started at 8 P.M. Central, and at 7 Central Time, my dad received a text from Steve Kopf telling him the draft order. Steve won the lottery by being awarded the first overall pick, while my dad received the last pick in the first round. As for the Rebels, the team once again was picking at number seven. Drafting at this position meant that the Rebels did not have a clear #1 option for them in the opening round, but it also meant that the Rebels could grab a first-round caliber guy in the second round.

When the draft began, it seemed as if the first overall selection would quickly be announced, but Steve pondered over his top selection. My dad and I were doing our drafts at the church’s offices, and I, being next door to him, could hear my dad yell at his computer saying, “Come on Steve! You know who you’re going to take!” The top picked seemed as if it was a consensus. Tennessee Titans’ Running Back Chris Johnson was coming off a 2,000-yard season in 2009, but yet Steve was pondering over whether to take CJ2K or Minnesota Vikings’ Running Back Adrian Peterson. Steve took the former with Chris Johnson.

When it was finally time for the Rebels to make their top pick in the draft, new Rebels’ General Manager Paul Warfield and I quickly made our decision at #7. The Rebels were once again going to select Houston Texans’ Wide Receiver, Andre Johnson. Johnson, along with the help of 2009 Rebels’ Season MVP Matt Schaub, had a very productive 2009 season, and the sky was only looking up for the Texans. I felt as if Andre Johnson was one of the safest picks at that spot in the draft. Playing safe was going to be a major factor in whether or not the Rebels’ 2010 season was going to be successful, or if they would fail to meet expectations like 2009.

The 2010 Yuma Draft for the Rebels was more successful than the previous year mostly because the Rebels and I were more patient through the draft process and did not choose to reach on players and positions. However, the Rebels once again drafted a defense in the early rounds, but not as early as 2009. For the Rebels’ signal-caller, the team selected Indianapolis Colts’ Quarterback Peyton Manning, and the quarterback who would serve as Peyton’s backup would be Peyton’s very own brother Eli of the New York Giants. The Rebels closed out the 2010 Yuma Draft by selecting Atlanta Falcons’ Tight End Tony Gonzalez at a value pick in the mid-rounds. The core of the 2010 Rebels was now formed.

With the draft now behind us, the regular season was only a few days away. I was poised to return the Rebels to greatness. I set the Rebels’ 2010 season motto as “Be Ready” because I wanted the fans and the rest of the Yuma Scorpion teams to be on the lookout for the Rebels. This was a new team and a new year. The Rebels would not be overlooked.

Week One of the 2010 Season saw the Rebels go on the road against their in-state rival USMC, for the first “Battle of the House” rivalry game of the season. The Rebels started the game firing on all cylinders. Peyton Manning would pass for 433 yards and 3 touchdowns, while the Rebels’ top pick Andre Johnson was held to only 33 receiving yards. Despite Johnson’s poor performance, the Rebels were able to hold on and start the season 1-0.

The following week was NBC’s hyped-up “Manning Bowl” with Peyton and Eli Manning going up against one another. The Rebels decided to start Peyton over Eli, and that proved to be the better decision. Thanks to Peyton Manning’s performance of 255 passing yards and three touchdowns, the Rebels went on to score the highest amount of points in Week 2, allowing the Rebels to move to 2-0 on the season. The coaching change and change of culture I implemented this past offseason was now working. The Rebels were winning.

The Rebels’ winning strike, however, would slow down after Week 2, as the holes of the 2010 Rebels’ roster began showing. The team lost its Week 3 and Week 4 contests, with both losses being a result of poor running back performance. So, with the team heading into Week 5, the Rebels decided to sign free agent running back Peyton Hillis of the Cleveland Browns. This would be Hillis’ second stint with the Rebels, the first being back in 2008. Hillis, like the Rebels, was now playing in a new city. The previous March, Hillis was traded from the Denver Broncos to the Cleveland Browns, and over the first few weeks of the season, Hillis impressed the Browns enough to win the starting running back job. He was averaging close to 100 yards a game by the time the Rebels finally made Hillis part of the team.

Around the time that Hillis joined the Rebels, the popularity of the team was exploding. Fans from all over the country were believing in the Rebel hype. To coincide with the hype of the Rebels, I decided to launch the first official California Rebels website. The original website was designed to provide a few functions such as, keep track of the scores, standings, and roster moves of the Rebels outside of the ESPN Fantasy League homepage. The website was also designed to be a place where fans could come to learn and relive the history of our team. To this day, the history page on the Rebels’ website is the most in-depth page featured on the website, as well as, the most frequently visited. The creation of the Rebels’ first official website in October 2010, was a huge step up from the Rebels’ original “Gateway from down the street” website.

The arrival of both Peyton Hillis and California Rebels.com were two great moves done by the franchise, but they were not enough to stop a midseason slide for the Rebels. Losing from Weeks 3-5, the Rebels record at the halfway mark stood at 2-3. This was supposed to be the Rebels turnaround season but yet, the team was still losing. Both Paul Warfield and I made some midseason adjustments and from Weeks 6 through 7 the team won two straight to go to 4-3. Week 8 would produce yet another loss for the team.

Heading into Week 9 standing at .500, I addressed the media on Tuesday. Many of the questions I faced were about the team’s up and down performance all season. I was asked if I thought the team needed a quarterback change, or if Paul Warfield should sell players off for a playoff push. All of these questions were valid questions from the media, but I was getting frustrated with the pestering questions I was being asked. I went on a rant about how I felt about my team, and what direction I wanted the franchise to go. I ended my address to the media by telling them, “The Rebels will not lose more than five games this season. I guarantee it.” This was a bold prediction I had just made. Especially, when you consider the type of up and down season the team was having. Closing with this line to the media, I took my words and posted them in the team’s locker room. It was time for the Rebels’ to get ready to win.

With my words as motivation, the California Rebels experienced a three-game win strike to move their record to 7-4 heading into Week 12 and the spotlighted Thanksgiving Weekend games. My family and I traveled to Colorado Springs, Colorado to visit relativities for the holiday, and one of the best things about Thanksgiving is getting to watch NFL Football. The 2010 Thanksgiving Game lineup did not disappoint either as the Patriots, Saints, and Jets all won thrillingly.

Heading into the final week of the 2010 season, the Rebels secured a playoff berth with an 8-4 record. The team was in a three-way tie with Cermak and the GMEN for first in the league. Due to how the divisions were set up and the tiebreakers that were put in place, the GMEN were locked in as the 2nd seed for the playoffs. For Cermak and the Rebels, their Week 13 matchup meant that whoever wins would be awarded the #1 seed, while the loser would be awarded the #3 seed for the playoffs. The Rebels so desperately wanted to win and secure the #1 seed, not just to prove to the league and the world that the Rebels were back, but also because the winner of this game would also be awarded a first-round bye, while the loser would have to play the following weekend.

I knew this game was going to be a challenge for the Rebels. In their short history in the Yuma Scorpions, the Rebels were 0-3 against Cermak, and the experts were once again choosing Cermak to come out on top. The Rebels started the Week 13 game off so well, but it wouldn’t be enough as Cermak had far too many weapons on offense. The Rebels would end up losing to Cermak by eight points, 69-61. Cermak would be the #1 seed, while the Rebels would be the #3 seed.

With the playoff bracket now set, the Rebels were scheduled to host Metz in the Wild Card Round. The Rebels have easily named the favorites in the game, but that didn’t stop me from reminding my team to not overlook Metz or forget that we had a ball game to play this Sunday. It was the first-ever playoff game for the California Rebels, and we sold out the game within eight hours of tickets going on sale. Los Angelenos were excited that playoff football was back in LA.

The Rebels came out that day poised to send a message to the league and secure the team’s first playoff win in the Yuma Scorpion era. They were simply the better team that day, knocking Metz out of the playoffs with a 107-73 victory. While Metz did lose in the first round, 2010 was also a huge step for their franchise moving forward. 2009 saw Metz finish as the second-worst team in the league, only behind the Rebels, now both teams were in the playoffs, with one of them, the Rebels, now only one game away from the Yuma Bowl.

Having secured victory the previous week, the Rebels were moving on to the second round. The team was scheduled to travel to East Rutherford, New Jersey to take on the GMEN. The Rebels and the GMEN were friendly rivals at first, thanks to the bond that was created during the 2007 NFL Playoffs. But over the last couple of seasons, the Rebels and the GMEN started growing into fierce rivals, aiming to destroy one another. However, before the teams got to this point, the GMEN came to the Rebels asking for help.

In October 2010, Steve Kopf came to me and my dad asking which quarterback he should make as his long-term starter. The options were Tennessee Titans’ Vince Young, Denver Broncos’ Kyle Orton, or Philadelphia Eagles’ Michael Vick. My dad, still learning fantasy football like Steve and I, was leaning towards Vince Young, while I stepped in and told Steve to start Michael Vick. I explained to him that Vick was the better quarterback this week because Philadelphia was playing the Jaguars. I showed him Kyle Orton’s stats when the Broncos played Jacksonville earlier that year and told him that starting Vick would give the GMEN similar or better production than what Orton gave you when he played Jacksonville. I had sold Steve on Vick and the GMEN named him their starting quarterback. The following day, Steve texted my dad to tell him to thank me for the advice. Michael Vick was going off with three passing touchdowns.

Throughout the remainder of the 2010 Season, Michael Vick helped the Philadelphia Eagles, the GMEN, and fantasy teams everywhere make playoff pushes, as Vick was having himself his best season since being released from prison; being named NFL Comeback Player of the Year. Deep down, I regretted helping Steve, but I knew that if I didn’t tell him to start Vick, eventually he would’ve decided to start him on his own.

The 2010 semi-finals began on Thursday Night. The Rebels had one player playing that game, San Diego’s Vincent Jackson. Jackson had done little since joining the Rebels two weeks ago, but through strong determination, I started Jackson feeling he would have a big game against a weak San Francisco secondary. Jackson had a monster game, carving up the 49er secondary for 112 receiving yards and three touchdowns. Good for 30 fantasy points, as the Chargers would demolish the 49ers 34-7.

Heading into Sunday, the Rebels found themselves with a 30-point lead over the GMEN. Steve, a day later wrote in the smack-talk section of the match-up “30 points, really? You can’t be serious.” The Rebels were in a perfect position to take the game away from the GMEN. Victory and the Yuma Bowl were insight.

On Sunday my dad invited Steve over to watch the games. Just that season, my dad and I invested in Direct TV’s NFL Sunday Ticket, so we were able to watch all the games. But on this Sunday, Steve was only interested in watching one game, and that was the Philadelphia Eagles against the New York Giants. The game would be a pivotal game for both the Eagles and the Giants as whichever team won would control its destiny; inching closer to the 2010 NFC East Division title.

Steve was unsure as to who he wanted to win as he was torn between his favorite NFL team and his fantasy team. I for one was rooting for the New York Giants. The 2007 playoff run by the Giants, in a way, made me a fan of the team. But I was also rooting for the Giants because I needed them to contain Michael Vick if the Rebels were going to have any chance at advancing to the Yuma Bowl. It looked as if I was going to get my wish as the Giants held the Eagles in check; securing a 24-3 lead at the half. Michael Vick, on the other hand, had less than five fantasy points at the half.

I was overjoyed with emotions. The Rebels looked as if they were on their way to their first Yuma Bowl and their second championship game in three seasons. I was talking shit to Steve and he was just laughing, not sure how to feel. His Giants were up, but his fantasy team was down. In my head, I was already planning to next week’s Yuma Bowl, but I probably shouldn’t have. My joy was short-lived as the second half got underway. The Eagles started a miraculous second-half comeback, which was later called, “The Miracle in the Meadowlands Part II.” Michael Vick was a big part of why the Eagles were able to come back, as the former #1 overall selection passed for 242 yards and three touchdowns. This helped the GMEN erase the Rebels’ lead and eventually surpass the Rebels on the scoreboard.

Steve was all happy that he was able to come back against me, but he was not happy with how the Eagles and Giants game ended. This was the game that the Eagles won on a walk-off DeSean Jackson punt return touchdown as time expired. It was a boneheaded mistake by Giants’ Punter Matt Dodge. This mistake by Dodge not only cost the Giants the game, but also the division and the chance at the postseason. Steve, on the other hand, felt confident that the GMEN would be able to pull it out against the Rebels.