Kyle Rowley

Kyle Rowley (born January 30, 1979) is an arena football quarterback for the Jacksonville Sharks of the Arena Football League.

Rowley is the only quarterback to ever win an AFL ArenaBowl and af2 ArenaCup Championship. His personal career accolades include 2006 ArenaCup Player of the Game, 2008 Af2 Offensive Player of the Year, and 2010 ArenaBowl XXIII Championship MVP. He was voted by the AF2 coaches and league officials in 2009 as one of the top ten signal callers in league history. During his career he has led the AF2 in single season completion percentage and completions (2004), passer rating and touchdown/interception ratio (2006) touchdowns and touchdown passes (2008) and passing yards (2009). He also holds every Arkansas Twister and Columbus Wardog franchise passing records. He started his Arena Football career in 2003 and has played for numerous AFL and AF2 teams, including the Charleston Swamp Foxes (2003), Columbus Wardogs (2004), Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Pioneers (2005), Manchester Wolves (2006, Philadelphia Soul (2007), Grand Rapids Rampage (2007), Arkansas Twisters (2008 & 2009), the Spokane Shock (2006 & 2010-2012) and the Orlando Predators.

College

Rowley attended Brown University from 1997–2001 and was a standout in the Ivy League, leading the league in every statistical passing category in his first and only season as the starting quarterback. After only two games of action in that season he held the school's single game passing record (474 yards) and single game total offense record (485 yards).^[1] He was part of one of only two Ivy League Championships in school history at the time (1999 Ivy League Champions) and recorded more varsity football wins while at Brown than any other player in school history till that time.

Professional career

Spokane Shock

In 2006, while the Spokane Shock were an expansion team in the af2, he was brought in mid-season and proceeded to go undefeated as a starter (9-0). He helped lead the team to a 17-2 overall record on the season, and an Arena Cup National Championship victory. He was named the 2006 Arena Cup Offensive Player of the Game.

Philadelphia Soul

After his Arena Cup championship, Rowley was picked up by the Philadelphia Soul in 2007 to begin his AFL career.

Grand Rapids Rampage

Later during the 2007 season he was traded to the Grand Rapids Rampage where he suffered a knee injury in the final game of the season.^[2]

Arkansas Twisters

He spent the next two seasons working his way back to the AFL with the AF2's Arkansas Twisters. After the 2008 season, he was selected as the Schutt Offensive Player of the Year by a vote of the af2 head coaches and press.^[3]

Spokane Shock

With the return of the AFL in 2010 from bankruptcy in 2009, Rowley was picked up by the newest AFL franchise, the Spokane Shock, and proceeded to do exactly what he did for the af2 expansion team Spokane Shock in 2006. He won yet another expansion year national championship. This time it was the Arena Bowl Championship of the AFL. Over the course of the 2010 season Rowley, technically still a league rookie at the time, tallied a league best 130 touchdowns, 5,159 passing yards, 444 completions, 123 passing touchdowns in route to ^[4] leading the Shock to an ArenaBowl XXIII win and being named the ArenaBowl XXIII MVP. In the league's final game Rowley set the record for Arena Bowl touchdown passes (9) and Arena Bowl total touchdowns (10) eclipsing the previous mark by two. Prior to 2010 Rowley had played limited time for the AFL's Philadelphia Soul, and the Grand Rapids Rampage in second half of the 2007 season. After a knee injury in the final game of 2007, a return to the AF2 in 2008, and an AFL league collapse in 2009, he returned to a revamped AFL in 2010 with the Spokane Shock. He signed with the Pittsburgh Power for the 2012 season but never actually played for them. He was released due to the AFL player strike.^[5]

Rowley returned to the Spokane Shock for the fourth game of its season. Despite Spokane holding the lead for much of the game, the Arizona Rattlers defeated the Shock 57-53 with a TD pass at :05 left in the game. Rowley completed 26-40 for 271 yards, 3 touchdowns, and 2 interceptions. He also had a rushing touchdown.

Spokane's fortunes changed in the next game when Rowley, playing in his first home game for Spokane in 2012, helped the Shock defeat the Milwaukee Mustangs 57-26. Rowley completed 20 of 26 for 214 yards and five touchdowns.

Despite only playing in 15 of 18 games for the Shock in 2012, Rowley tallied 101 total touchdowns and in a crucial game verses San Jose, broke the all-time AFL record for passing touchdowns in a single game (12 TDs, which was tied later in the season by Tommy Grady). Before that no one in the 25 year history of the league had ever thrown 12 touchdowns in a single game.

Orlando Predators

Rowley signed with the Orlando Predators for the 2013 season.^[6] Rowley appeared in 5 games for the Predators, ultimately being reassigned once the Predators made a trade for Aaron Garcia.

Jacksonville Sharks

Rowley was picked up two weeks later by the Jacksonville Sharks.^[7]

References