New team, same QB: Grady’s return key
Training camp begins with 3 weeks to learn playbook
Training camp began Tuesday for the Albany Empire, exactly 21 months after a team with the same name marched off the Times Union Center floor with the last Arena Football League championship.
Besides the name and uniform colors, the only connection between that team and the one that will start up May 29 in the National Arena League is quarterback Tommy Grady.
If you’re allowed to have only one slice from the old regime, Grady would be that piece.
“He’s the quintessential quarterback,” Empire coach Tom Menas said. “He’s got the good looks, he’s got the body, he’s got the arm. When God said he’s going to make a quarterback, he made Tom Grady.”
Grady was voted Most Valuable Player in that August 2019 title game, in which the Empire defeated the Philadelphia
Soul 45-27. He was a three-time league MVP. In nine seasons with five franchises, he passed for 38,062 yards (sixth-most in AFL history) and 850 touchdowns (fifth).
So why did Grady, 36, decide to give it another go?
“I just didn’t feel like I was done,” Grady said after a Wednesday morning practice. “I felt like I could play a couple of more years, and my body feels great. My kids want me to play, and I live in Clifton Park.”
After starting all 29 games in the Empire’s two-year AFL existence, Grady settled in the area. He works as a mortgage broker for Flagstar Bank. His boss there, John Kane, recently joined the Empire’s ownership group.
Like most of Albany’s roster, Grady knows that playing football is only a part-time job. Salaries are considerably lower than they were
in the AFL, which filed for bankruptcy in November 2019.
“This league’s a little bit different,” he said. “The pay’s not as big as it used to be. I’ll keep my job, do the mortgages and stuff. That’s my main job. I’ll be here as much as I can and see how it works out.”
Grady and the team get less than three weeks to learn the playbook. Neither quarterback nor coach seem to think that will be an issue.
“We don’t have a choice,” Grady said. “It’s actually the same length as the AFL camp. We had three weeks of practice before our first game in the AFL, as well. The only difference is that there is a lot more inexperience in the locker room than there used to be. The biggest thing is trying to get these guys to learn the indoor game.”
As a veteran, Grady will have some say in the offense, which will include calling his own plays.
“Most veteran quarterbacks like to call their own plays,” Menas said. “We have no problem with that. I have no problem with that. He’s an experienced veteran with a long track record of success. I love it. There are going to be occasions when we’re going to see something that he may or may not have seen. When you’re playing, it’s one thing, but when the eye-in-the-sky coaches in the box see something, we’re going to point it out to him.”
Menas said the Empire likely will practice every day leading up to their opener against the Ontario Bandits at Times Union Center.
“I did miss it,” Grady said. “I like being around the guys. Playing football is awesome, but being in the locker room is what you miss the most. We’ve got a good group of guys out here, and we’ll see if we can come together.”
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