For current information on this topic, see 2008 Dallas Desperados season

Dallas Desperados
Conference	National
Division	Eastern
Year founded	2002
Home arena	American Airlines Center
City, State	Dallas, Texas
Head Coach	Will McClay
ArenaBowl championships	None
Conference titles	None
Division titles	3: 2003, 2006, 2007
Wild Card berths	2: 2002, 2008
Owner(s)	Jerry Jones
Current uniform
Image:AFL-Uniform-Current-http://fohn.net/tiger-pictures-facts/tiger.jpg

The Dallas Desperados are a professional Arena Football team in the Eastern Division of the Arena Football League.

The franchise began play in 2002 as an expansion team, and have posted a winning record in all but one of their seasons in existence. The team is owned by Jerry Jones, who also owns the Dallas Cowboys.

History

During a halftime interview at a Cowboys preseason game on August 12, 2000, Jerry Jones revealed to Babe Laufenberg that the AFL had granted him an expansion franchise to begin play in 2002. The team was originally going to be named the "Dallas Texans", following in the footsteps of Dallas’ former AFL franchise which existed from 1990-1993. However, that same year he sold the rights to the name "Texans" for a reported $10 million to the upstart Houston franchise. After a contest in which fans voted via the team’s official website, the new Dallas team was eventually named the Desperados. Jones appointed Cowboys special teams coach Joe Avezzano as head coach, and on November 21, 2001 in the AFL expansion draft, they acquired their first player, lineman Aaron Hamilton.

Avezzano, along with starting quarterback Andy Kelly, led the team to a respectable 7-7 record and a playoff appearance in the teams first season of play, and a 10-6 record and a second consecutive playoff berth in 2003 under new quarterback Jim Kubiak. However, Avezzano was fired from the Cowboys staff that season, and subsequently resigned as Desperados head coach when he accepted a job with the Oakland Raiders.

Before the 2004 season, Jones hired Will McClay to replace Avezzano, and McClay struggled to a 6-10 record his rookie season as coach. The team improved to 8-7-1 the following season and barely missed making the playoffs, and under the helm of quarterback/offensive coordinator Clint Dolezel, posted a 13-3 record in 2006 and made their first appearance in an AFL conference championship game, losing to the Orlando Predators. The following season saw the Desperados post an AFL record fifteen wins and the team appeared destined to make their first ArenaBowl appearance, but they were shocked by the Columbus Destroyers, who had entered the playoffs with a 7-9 record, in the first round. The upset is ranked by many among the greatest of all time. The following season saw no relief to the postseason failure as the Desperados at 12-4 lost to the 8-8 New York Dragons in Dallas.

With the exception of one playoff game and the entirety of the 2003 season, the Desperados have played all of their home games at American Airlines Center, and the team’s official mascot is Kid Coyote^[1].

Head coaches

• 2002 - 2003 Joe Avezzano
• 2004 - present Will McClay

Notable players

The Dallas Desperados in action.

• Caleb Thomas Cannida - OL/DL
• Clint Dolezel - QB
• Aaron Hamilton - DL\OL - First player in franchise history
• Jermaine Jones - DS
• Marcus Nash - WR
• Will Pettis - WR/DB
• Duke Pettijohn - FB/LB
• Colston Weatherington - DL

Season-by-season

Note: W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties

Memorable Desperados Moments

• In a June 9, 2007 regular season game against the 4-9 New Orleans VooDoo, Dallas at 13-1 found themselves with their backs against the wall late in the game. But Dallas QB Clint Dolezel threw a beautiful pass into the endzone with 30 seconds left on the clock to give the Desperados the lead. On the ensuing kickoff, the VooDoo fielded the ball off the net and found themselves looking at a long way to the endzone from their own 1 yard line. They managed to put together a lengthy drive and were able to score on an amazing play with 1.7 seconds left to make the score 80 - 79. Rather than tie the game with an extra point they elected to go for the win with a 2 point conversion. VooDoo quarterback Steve Bellisari dropped back and was sacked by 2007 AFL lineman of the year Colston Weatherington on the ten. The game was over along with the VooDoo playoff hopes. Final Score: 80-79 Dallas.

The game was voted 2007 "Game of the Year" leaguewide in July 2007.

Awards and Honors

2007

• Will Pettis- U.S. Army Ironman of the Year
• Shy Anderson- AFL Executive of the Year

2006

• Shy Anderson- AFL Executive of the Year

Notes

External links

• Official Website
• Dallas Desperados at ArenaFan.com