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FXFL’s Brawlers knocked out before they start
By ED PUSKAS
Ben Moody admits he’s almost too old for the game.
But the lure of continuing to play football is strong.
That’s why, when the Fall Experimental Football League announced in July that a franchise known as Mahoning Valley Brawlers was coming to Niles, Moody and dozens of other athletes took notice.
Moody, 24, a former Lakeview High School and Cornell University football and track standout, saw the FXFL as an opportunity to stay in the game.
But that won’t happen in Niles. The Mahoning Valley Scrappers issued a statement Monday morning to announce that the FXFL had folded the Brawlers franchise. FXFL and Scrappers officials had announced in July that the Brawlers would be part of the four-team FXFL and would play three games at Eastwood Field beginning Saturday.
FXFL Commissioner Brian Woods did not return a call seeking comment Monday.
Moody and dozens of other men with football dreams arrived early Sunday morning at The Mayor Ralph A. Infante Wells Center in Niles for a scheduled tryout that already been pushed back a week from an original date of Sept. 20.
“Our scheduled itinerary said that check-in was from 8 a.m. to 9 a.m. and the tryout was from 9 a.m. to noon,” Moody said.
Moody and the others — he estimates 15 to 20 players were there — arrived to a locked facility and no one from the FXFL to be found.
“Something felt a little off,” Moody said. “We waited in our cars until the workers from the Wellness Center got there to open up at 9.”
But no one ever showed up to conduct the tryout.
Before long, the players began calling the numbers they had for league officials, but never got an answer.
“One number we called three or four times, and then it started going straight to voice mail,” Moody said. “We figured at that point the phone was either dead or they’d turned it off.”
Moody said no one from the FXFL ever arrived and the tryouts — for which each player paid $85 to participate — did not happen.
Moody, a Cortland native, didn’t have far to travel, but many of the others didn’t already live in the Brawlers’ purported backyard.
They came came from Georgia, Florida, Michigan, New York and Texas — among other places.
And they came to Niles in vain.
Marquinn Davis, 26, a former Rayen School Tiger and Akron Zips defensive lineman, said he spent the last three months training to get ready for the tryout.
“It’s very disappointing,” Davis said. “I found out about the league three months ago and I’ve been training and doing something physical every day since, and I didn’t get the chance to show off what I’m training for.”
Davis was part of the last graduating class from The Rayen School. He played on the defensive line at Akron and currently stays in shape playing with the Youngstown Steel Valley Rugby Club.
Davis said he received an email Sunday morning just as he was preparing to leave for the Wellness Center.
“I was ready to go, but then I got the email,” he said. “It just said the Niles tryouts were canceled. There was no valid reason.”
Davis said he’d paid the FXFL $100 — entering his credit card information on the league’s website — for the right to try out.
“That’s the hard part,” Moody said. “You get the opportunity for tryouts like these, but you have to pay for it yourself.”
Dennis Nalor, 23, is a Miami, Fla., native and a four-year starter at cornerback for Central Michigan. He made the 4 1/2-hour drive from Mount Pleasant, Mich., to Niles hoping to earn a roster spot with the Brawlers.
“We all felt bad about it, but we just have to move forward,” Nalor said. “It’s out of our hands.”
Nalor said he’ll graduate in May with a major in entrepreneurship and a minor in accounting. In addition to his class schedule, he works in an internship with a real estate firm.
But like Moody, Nalor still wants to play football. He’s not sure when the next opportunity will come, but he knows one thing — he wants his $85 back.
“I think that’s definitely the next step,” Nalor said.
The statement from Scrappers general manager Jordan Taylor indicated that fans who purchased game tickets would be issued refunds at the Scrappers’ offices beginning at 10 a.m. on Thursday.
“We are extremely disappointed that the FXFL has made the decision to cease operation of the Mahoning Valley Brawlers,” Taylor said in the statement. “Our organization has worked extremely hard over the last six months to develop and promote this new and exciting venture and we were confident that the Brawlers would have been successful in this market based on the immediate support we received from sponsors and the community. It is unfortunate the league has run into recent financial and budgetary issues that has caused this course of action.”
There was no immediate word about whether the players’ tryout fees would be refunded.
“The most frustrating part was not at least having someone there to let us know what was going on,” Moody said. “It would have been easier to understand if they had sent at least one representative to meet us at the door of the Wellness Center.”
Moody said one player flew here from Texas twice for tryouts.
“He flew here last week for the Sept. 20 tryout because the email canceling those didn’t come out until Saturday night [Sept. 19],” Moody said. “So he flew back home to Dallas and then flew out here again this weekend.”
The league apparently plans to continue operations with just three teams — the Brooklyn Bolts, Hudson Valley Fort and Florida Blacktips.
FXFL officials did not respond to an interview request submitted via the league’s website on Monday.
Moody said he’ll continue his work as a paramedic in Warren. He also is seeking to become a firefighter. Since the FXFL’s other teams have already conducted tryouts, Moody said the next opportunity for semi-pro tryouts elsewhere won’t come until February or March 2015.
“I’m going to keep training and try to stay in shape,” Moody said. “Luckily, with the job I have now, being fit is a requirement.”