This is the final obstacle to overcome.
ArenaBowl XXVI in Orlando. The Philadelphia Soul versus the Arizona Rattlers. Bragging rights are on the line. So are reputations and legacies.
No matter what is said of the AFL, it’s still football. It’s still a sport that lives and dies by one position: Quarterback.
A team wins, the quarterback, in most cases, is praised. A teams loses, the quarterback, in most cases, gets the finger pointed in his direction.
Soul quarterback Dan Raudabaugh is aware of this notion. He went through it earlier in the season when he committed a few turnovers and the final score reflected a Soul loss.
When he played well, like during that seven-game winning streak the Soul put together late in the season, the team won.
Plain and simple, Raudabaugh plays well in Saturday's game and the Soul’s chances of bringing a championship back to Philadelphia are increased.
“I’m here to win it for my guys,” Raudabaugh said. “It would be wonderful to win it, I want to win it here, and I’m going to do everything in my power to lead us to a victory.”
Soul coach Clint Dolezel has nothing but faith that Raudabaugh will be fine once he steps on the field at the Amway Center. In his eyes, the past will not come into play.
That past: 26 of 42, 285 yards, seven touchdowns and a costly three interceptions in last year's ArenaBowl XXV loss to the Rattlers.
“Once the whistle blows and the first play goes,” Dolezel said, “you don’t think about those things. You don’t think about last year, you think about right now and what you have to do to win a football game. Dan is great about shrugging things off. He’s definitely put that behind him. He just knows what we have to do.”
What the Soul have to do is play fast and take a lead.
“It starts with me,” Raudabaugh said. “I threw three interceptions in the first half last year and we were struggling to get back in the game the whole time.”
Asked if he’s putting any extra pressure on himself to not only help deliver an ArenaBowl victory, but also solidify himself as one of the AFL’s all-time greats, Raudabaugh said no.
“I’d love to win a championship for my brothers on this team,” Raudabaugh said. “But I’m not putting any more pressure on myself. You just got to go out there and do your job. That’s what coach has been stressing through the playoffs -- ‘do your job.’”
Pressure or not, Raudabaugh understands what this game means to his career. Dolezel didn’t take the bait, though.
Even though the Soul head coach has won a title as a player (ArenaBowl XV) -- he was a quarterback, too -- Dolezel spoke of this game being a team game. He acknowledged that the quarterback will get the blame and praise, but did not put emphasis on winning a title to be considered great.
You talk to Raudabaugh about it, you get a different response. He wants it. He’s broken the records, set new league and franchise marks, received player of the game awards. The only thing missing is a championship.
“That’s why you play the game, to win championships. That’s what it all about,” Raudabaugh said. “[Soul co-owner] Ron Jaworski stressed it early in the season, and when I first met him he said, ‘We brought you in and the rest of these guys to be world champions.’ You can’t do that without winning the ArenaBowl.”
Before that question about championships and QBs was even asked, the 26-year-old was already in the process of answering.
“You know. You’ve heard it for years,” he said. “Quarterbacks are measured on championships. It’d be nice to get one under your belt now and no better time than this opportunity we have this weekend.”
Raudabaugh did concur with his coach on the "team game" notion.
“We got to go out there and take it and earn it,” he said. “We’ve taken this journey together. We’re all in it together and we’re going to win it for each other.”
Dolezel joked about Raudabaugh being mentally tough for this game.
“If he can put up with me yelling at him on every other play, he’ll be just fine out there,” the coach said.
Raudabaugh will be even better if he’s the winning quarterback when it’s all said and done.
“It’s going to take a lot of will power, a lot of focus, a lot of execution and a lot of trust,” Raudabaugh said. “I don’t think we have to do anything special, we just have to go out and execute.”