Arkansas War Cats on the prowl
Posted on Wednesday, July 16, 2008
URL: http://www.nwanews.com/bvwv/Sports_and_Recreation/6728/
At an age when most professional football players would have been retired for a handful of years, one Bella Vista man is in the second season of his gridiron career.
James Ahern, 40, is a member of the Arkansas War Cats, a semiprofessional football team in the World Football League.
Ahern, whose regular job of late has been in the landscaping business, saw an ad for tryouts for the team in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette last year and applied.
While he was no stranger to athletics — he had played soccer since he was 5 — he wasn’t quite ready for the physical aspects of such a rough sport at his age.
“ They’ll run me over if I’m not careful, ” Ahern said of the many younger players on the team.
Since making the team last year, Ahern said he has found a friend in Ibuprofen.
“ Sometimes after a game, I could not walk, ” he said.
Despite the aches and pains, Ahern said he truly enjoys the game.
“ It’s a passion, ” he said. “ God has blessed me (with athletic ability ), and I hope I can give back to my community this way. ”
Unlike their counterparts in the National Football League, players like Ahern don’t make millions of dollars. In fact, when he found out he made the team in 2007, he also discovered it was his responsibility to provide his own equipment — helmet, jersey, pants, gloves, etc. That cost him roughly $ 500.
Then, he spent nearly $ 100 out of pocket for an insurance plan in case he was ever hurt during practice or a game.
The team travels to away games to places such as Beaumont, Dal- War Cats: Owner hopes sponsors will help keep team alive las, San Antonio and Austin, Texas, via chartered bus, which costs the owner thousands of dollars.
Ahern said team members are responsible for their own food on the road.
While he didn’t say how much his salary is, he did say it is based on the number of people who attend the games. In the home opener June 7, approximately 1, 500 fans filed into the stadium to see the home team trounce the Texas Bulldogs (Hutto, Texas ) 48-0. Ahern said the most spectators he has heard of at any game so far this year is 4, 000.
The War Cats play their games at David Gates Stadium in Rogers.
There are eight regular season games, a playoff later in the year and then a WFL World Bowl championship game in September in Shreveport, La. So far, the local team is 1-4 in the season.
There isn’t much difference between this league and the NFL, outside of the money and position assignments, Ahern said. Because some of the teams don’t draw large numbers of players, those who do make it have several jobs. In Ahern’s case, at 6-1 and 255 pounds, that means playing defensive tackle, punting when needed and filling in on the offensive line on those nights when some of the guys can’t get off work.
The WFL teams play on the same size field as the NFL and follow the same rules, although until last season, the games were played using high-school rules.
The War Cats is owned by James Burkheart, who started the organization under the name of the Benton County Saints in 2004. The team competed in the Central Football League, at one point under the name Panthers, until joining the more established WFL and changing its name to the Arkansas War Cats this summer.
Like many of the players, who have regular jobs and play football on the side, the owner spends many of his daytime hours in the office with PB 2 Architecture and Engineers in Rogers. But ask him where his heart is when he leaves the office, and he — and anyone else who knows him — will tell you he’s all about football.
But keeping the team and the league alive takes more than passion and love. It takes money.
Burkheart said he’s determined to do whatever it takes not only to keep the War Cats afloat, but turn the team into something special. He realizes it’s going to take time, patience and — perhaps more than anything victories to establish an identity. And they will, of course, need money, which he hopes will come from sponsorships, he said.
“ We’ve gotten support from small businesses stepping up to make a donation or cover part of our expenses for a week. I’m out there every day, trying to convince a big corporate sponsor to take a chance on us. I’ve been beating on their doors, because that’s going to make all the difference in the world, ” Burkheart said.
“ It’s hard to sell a business that isn’t proven yet. How do they know we’ll be here next year and the year after ? There are companies that have told me they’d do a sponsorship in a year or two, once we’ve been around longer and are established. But we need the financial support now just to keep paying the day-to-day bills. I’d love to have a big advertising budget, but we’re just trying to build this thing and get to tomorrow.
“ I think we’re making some progress in that respect. We’re getting more fans out and more people hearing about us, but there’s a long way to go. For me, this isn’t at all about money. It’s about putting a good entertainment product on the field and providing these young men — many of them former Razorbacks and standouts from as far away as Tulsa, Joplin and Fort Smith — an opportunity to keep playing the game they love. ”
While some of the War Cats hope to play their way into the Arena Football League, or even beyond that to the NFL, Ahern is being realistic about his future.
“ I’m probably too old for the next level, ” he said. “ But right now, it sure makes me feel young again. ”
Ahern calls his sport the “ working man’s ” football. He said his teammates drive from towns all over Arkansas, Oklahoma and Missouri within about a twohour radius of the stadium.
“ Most of them played the game in college but didn’t go anywhere. But they still love the game, ” he said.
Ahern said he doesn’t know how much longer he’ll be able to play the game.
“ Can I give it another year ? I think I can. I just have to try not to get hurt. ”
Ahern isn’t the only one looking at the future.
“ We’re not going away, ” Burkheart said. “ I’m not going away. The War Cats are here, and I’m going to continue to find ways to make sure they are tomorrow. ”
Jeff Mores of The Benton County Daily Record contributed to this story.