Arizona Rattlers

PHOENIX — The offseason brought change to the roster and division, along with a tweak to the schedule. What hasn’t changed — and never will — is the Arizona Rattlers’ No. 1 goal each and every season: An ArenaBowl championship. They’ve won two straight ArenaBowls and take aim at a third beginning this week. “The […]

The ArenaBowl’s format is going back to the way it used to be. The Arena Football League announced Wednesday that the 2014 ArenaBowl will be hosted by the team with the highest remaining playoff seed. This marks a change from the last two championship games, which were held at neutral sites. “We listened to our […]

Winning a championship is difficult. Defending it may be even harder. The Arizona Rattlers were able to do just that in 2013, and are heading into 2014 as the two-time defending Arena Football League champions. “I’m excited about this year,” he told Doug and Wolf on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM as part of Newsmakers Week […]

PHOENIX — The Arizona Rattlers will defend their Arena Football League Championship with an Arena Bowl rematch against the Philadelphia Soul on March 15, 2014 at the US Airways Center. The back-to-back champs will host their first three games at home with Spokane and Jacksonville visiting the Snake Pit. The Rattlers became the first team […]

PHOENIX — With back-to-back-to-back third quarter defensive stops, the Rattlers make it back-to-back-to-back appearances in the AFL title game. “If I was in the NFL, I’d be rich right now,” head coach Kevin Guy said with a laugh. His Rattlers (17-3) are once again ArenaBowl-bound after defeating the Spokane Shock 65-57 in the National Conference […]

Arizona Rattlers defensive back Virgil Gray picked off a Russ Michna pass in the closing seconds of the team’s playoff win over the San Jose Sabercats August 5. Instead of drawing attention to himself or taunting his opponent, Gray simply went to the first row of the stands, kneeled and prayed, handed the ball to […]

PHOENIX — Step one is complete. Behind Nick Davila’s passing, Rod Windsor’s receiving and a defense that forced three turnovers, the defending ArenaBowl champion Arizona Rattlers opened the playoffs with a 59-49 victory against their arch rivals, the San Jose SaberCats, in front of an announced crowd of 7,932 at US Airways Center Sunday. “It […]

For the second time in three seasons, the Arizona Rattlers have finished the regular season with the best record in the Arena Football League. Arizona wrapped a 15-3 campaign with a thorough 84-45 dismantling of the Iowa Barnstormers at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines Saturday night. On the first play of the game, Arizona […]

It was Throwback Night at Ak-Chin Field at US Airways Center. The Arizona Rattlers wore retro uniforms, the same ones in which the 1997 team toppled Kurt Warner and the Iowa Barnstormers for their second Arena Bowl championship. Their opponent, the Chicago Rush, bought into the theme of the evening, handing out a good, old-fashioned […]

Arizona Rattlers quarterback Nick Davila and defensive back Virgil Gray have both earned Arena Football League honors for Week 16. Davila threw for 411 yards and a season-high nine touchdowns in the Rattlers’ 84-56 win over the Orlando Predators last Saturday and was named the Russell Athletic Offensive Player of the Week. Gray registered five […]

Nick Davila threw for a season-high 411 yards and nine touchdown passes as the Arizona Rattlers stormed back into the win column with an easy 84-56 win over the Orlando Predators at Amway Center Saturday night. Orlando rallied from an early two-touchdown deficit and tied the score at 21-21 when quarterback Aaron Garcia hit Jarvis […]

The Arizona Rattlers found themselves in unfamiliar territory last Saturday night in San Jose. Not only did the Rattlers lose for the first time in ten games, they were blown out. Their 72-42 loss was one of the most lopsided defeats in their 21-year history. But it still wasn’t enough to knock Kevin Guy’s team […]

The Arizona Rattlers’ winning streak came to an end with a resounding thud Saturday night in San Jose. Sabercats quarterback Russ Michna completed 24-of-37 passes for 313 yards and nine touchdowns, including five to Fred Williams, and San Jose cruised to an easy 72-42 win over the Rattlers at the HP Pavilion. The game was […]

The rich get richer. The Arizona Rattlers, the defending champs and owners of the Arena Football League’s best record at 12-1, were assigned linebacker Kevin McCullough according to a press release issued by the team. McCullough was a free agent after last season, and wasn’t resigned. The three-year veteran from the University of Cincinnati was […]

The Arizona Rattlers’ defense forced seven turnovers, including six interceptions, and Nick Davila threw five touchdown passes in a 70-21 win over the San Antonio Talons at the Alamodome Saturday. The Rattlers (11-1) got on the board on their first possession, with Davila hitting Jared Perry on a six-yard touchdown pass which capped a four-play, […]

Coming off an easy 44-point win over the Iowa Barnstormers last week. Arizona Rattlers head coach Kevin Guy said he wanted his team to experience some adversity in a football game. They got some. After Philadelphia’s Dan Raudabaugh hooked up with Tiger Jones on a 32-yard touchdown pass with 8:40 left that put the Soul […]

There’s really no doubt who the best team in the Arena Football League is right now. Last Saturday, Nick Davila threw eight touchdown passes in less than three full quarters of play and an opportunistic defense forced five turnovers in the Arizona Rattlers’ 70-26 dismantling of the Iowa Barnstormers at US Airways Center. For their […]

Nick Davila completed 19 of 23 passes for 241 yards and eight touchdowns and the Arizona Rattlers defense forced five turnovers and terrorized Iowa quarterbacks in an easy 70-26 win over the Barnstormers at Ak-Chin Field at US Airways Center Saturday night. Davila, who gutted his way through illness in a 56-49 win over Chicago […]

Nick Davila threw for 301 yards and seven touchdowns and the Arizona Rattlers hung on for a 56-49 win over the Chicago Rush at Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Ill. Sunday. Davila hooked up with Rod Windsor on a 32-yard touchdown pass early in the fourth quarter that put Arizona up 56-35, but Chicago would answer. […]

There’s been plenty of talk about the Arizona Rattlers’ offense and defense this season, but it was their special teams that got things kick-started Saturday night. Trailing 14-0, Virgil Gray took back a kickoff 56 yards for a touchdown, the first of three straight Rattlers scores in a 65-49 win over the Utah Blaze in […]