May 8, 2024 • 20 mins
On this episode of Press Pass, former nose guard of the now defunct Iowa Rampage Tamatoa Silva speaks out about the team suddenly folding. Silva shares how he moved his entire family from Hawaii to Council Bluffs for a once in a life time opportunity to one day make it to the NFL. He also opened up about financial and housing issues but continuing to stay positive and keep faith.
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Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
It's it's unfortunate, man, becauseat the end of the days, man,
the coaches and the players really reallyare suffering from this. Man.
(00:25):
Welcome back to another episode of ArenaSide the Press Pass. I'm your host
Anthony Carter, and on today's episodewe have tamatoa Silva former nose guard with
the Iowa Rampage. Thank you somuch for joining us today. How are
you doing well, sir? Thankyou for having me. Man, Thank
you absolutely first take us through howyou got with the Iowa Rampage and just
(00:48):
heading into the season training camp,getting ready, going through that first game.
What was that like for you asa player. So so, just
to take it back a couple ofyears, man, I was invited to
showcase out there in Hawaiian XFL showcaseout there in Hawaiian June of twenty twenty
two. My performance there led meto the pre draft workout with the Orlando
(01:15):
Guardians with the coach Ty Warren astheir D line coach. And you know,
I was advised to go indoor andget recent film because I didn't play
I didn't play college football. Istopped after high school. And you know,
he said to go indoor and andget get recent film for a year
(01:38):
and then we'll talk. But unfortunately, after the merger, the Orlando Guardians
didn't make the cut the USFL andthe XFL merger. So man I did.
I didn't stop there. I didn'tlet that stop me. You know.
I felt like God brought this opportunityto me, you know, so
(02:00):
I figured, why not give it, give it another run and see see
where it takes me. So,uh, with my first year in indoor
football, I started off in thecif the Champions Champions Indoor Football League.
I was with the Topeka Tropics forthree games before I got picked up by
(02:22):
the Duke City Gladiators in the IFLand that's where I finished my season.
So during the offseason, I geta phone call with an opportunity to sign
to sign a contract with the IowaRampage. Who were you know, joining
the AFL and me knowing what theAFL was before. Uh, you know,
(02:46):
there's there's like no hesitation, youknow what I mean. But I
still had to pray about it andtalk with the wife. I am married
with two kids, and I hadto talk with the wife about it and
pray, and you know, ultimatelyI felt let it to to sign the
contract man and give it a shot. And uh, that's that's how I
(03:06):
ended up here. Talk to meabout that moment when you finally got that
shot, when you got that callto sign a contract, knowing how beneficial
it would be for you and yourfamily. What was going through your mind
at that time? Man? Itwas It was a blessing, you know,
to know that Kurt Warner started hisprofessional career out here in Iowa,
(03:31):
you know, with with the Barnstormersin the ANFL, and he got picked
up by the Rams from from theNFL. So that alone, and that
alone spoke volumes, you know,like it really did. It got me
hyped, like, man, thisthis could be it. You know,
(03:52):
God, God allows things to happenfor a reason. You know, the
Orlando Guardians was no longer, soyou know, this was like, man,
this is like the Premier Arena FootballLeague, you know, like the
reputation that had before when my coachesplayed Coach Romayne, Coach Demo, you
(04:13):
know, Coach Jackson when they playedin the ANFL. Man, you know,
I saw it as that and that'swhy I took the opportunity. What
was your motivation going through when yougot this opportunity and going through training camp
and meeting like you mentioned those formerAFL stars James Romaine and Donovan Morgan.
(04:38):
What motivated you to keep going toearn your spot and to keep your spot?
Man? Ultimately, it's ultimately it'sgotta be my kids. Man.
My kids motivate me in life general, you know, like generally my kids
is my motivation. My family,my wife who have who've given up a
(05:00):
lot to leave Hawaii, you know, to leave home and come out here
to the Midwest and support me,you know, And and that alone gave
me the reason to go. Giveme, give me every reason to go
out there and and do what Igotta do. You know, where did
you say yourself after this season?What was it to stay with IOWA?
(05:26):
Was to stay in aren of footballor did you have plans to go even
to the higher league like NFL orCFL. Man, my dreams was always
to play in the big league,you know, the NFL. So ultimately
coming into this league, like cominginto this season, I had a chip
on my shoulder to to go outthere and perform and to possibly be the
(05:49):
next underdog like Kurt Warner, youknow, to to to get out there
and and man, get any anyopportunity I can, you know, taking
through what it was like playing withthe rampage. Man, So I'm not
I'm not gonna lie to you.I did get hurt all training camp and
(06:10):
actually right before training camp, soI was limited a little bit. But
you know, I was still thereand I still got to go out and
training camp, run around and dowhatever I had to do. But you
know, just being there, man, knowing, knowing the coaches we had
former AFL Hall of famers, Man, you know, Coach Demo, Coach
Row, coach Jackson. Man,you're talking about big names for the AFL.
(06:35):
Man, to be coached by them, you know was was was a
privilege, and that's what it hurtsa lot from from everything that's that's happened,
all the falling out, Man,we had we had a solid coaching
staff, Man, a coaching staffthat I would play for any day.
You know, Coach Wells, youknow, man, former Arena legends two
(06:57):
on the team. Man. Wehad Larry Beavers, we had Rakeing,
Cato Marshall, hall of Famer,you know what I mean, Like just
a lot of guys. Man.We had a we had a team around
us. Man, we had agood we had a good team around us.
And that's what really hurts us alot too right now, that uh,
that everything folded like this, man, Like I can't even tell you,
(07:18):
man, the the just the emotions, man like like just just having
a you know, we all gotdreams and aspirations. You know, for
some of us, Man, wegot goals to keep going. Man,
we had we had guys that playedin sec ball, you know, Auburn,
(07:39):
We had a We had guys thatplayed D one college. Man,
this was their first year in arenafootball. And this is the experience they
get, man, not too good. You know, they they got dreams.
We all got dreams. For someof us, Man, it's our
last ride going to be, youknow, to have to sacrifice, leaving
our families and and uh and leavinghome to go pursue our dream. To
(08:05):
be told one thing, but butto be shown a whole different other like
other thing. It's it's a unfortunateman, because at the end of the
days, man, the coaches andthe players really really are suffering from this.
Man. And I can tell youin all aspects, man, emotionally,
financially, like, it's not it'snot easy, man, And and
(08:28):
you know that's why I decided,that's why I decided to speak out.
Because it's not right. You know, it's not right with what's taking place
and what was done. What's rightis right, and what's wrong is wrong,
you know. And and there's alot of wrong in this and uh,
you know, this, this righthere could kill somebody's dream you know
what I mean, like somebody whowho who who has dreams to to to
(08:52):
go to the next level. Man, this, this right here could kill
some of these dreams. Man.I shed tears over this whole situation.
Man, it's very sad. Andyou know, for me, I got
my family out here, I gotmy kids. You know, my wife
was preparing and cookie meals for theteam. You know, my wife is
labored man out here, cookie forthe team. Man, She's prepared over
eight hundred meals, you know,like she cried when all this was happening.
(09:16):
Man, it's very sad and unfortunately, you know, like we were
sold, we were sold on somethingthat really wasn't what it was. You
know, when did you learn aboutthe news of Iowa announcing that they were
going to fold and didn't catch youby surprise at all. Man, let
(09:41):
me take you through this, man. You know, we we learned on
on Thursday, this past Thursday,the owner sent us the release, the
news release, the press release inour group chat, and you know,
he said, he said what hesaid, He released the press to us,
the press release, saying that hehas no option but to fold the
(10:05):
team. Not even three minutes later, it's all over social media, you
know what I mean. So wefound out when everybody else found out,
and yeah, to be honest,man, it did catch a lot of
us by surprise, it did.It really did, because before that the
problem was getting us paid. Youknow, we weren't being paid like they
(10:28):
told us. One day we weregonna get paid. That day came and
didn't happen. Another day came,didn't happen, you know what I mean.
So then all of a sudden,the team is folding, Like man,
what you know? Like, man, they caught a lot of us
by surprise, you know. Andthat's not even the end of it,
you know, Like, but yeah, it was on this past Thursday where
(10:50):
where we found out that the teamwas no longer and we found out at
the same time everybody else on socialmedia found out. So you said you
found out on social media, Soyou didn't have a conversation with the owner
beforehand. What about after the factthat she saw on social media. Has
(11:11):
there been any communication with the owneror even the league office at that No,
So what happened was the owner sentsent us a statement in our in
our group chat. We had agroup chat as players where we'd communicate with
the coaches, the owners, theGM you know, he sent us a
(11:31):
paragraph in the in the group chats, you know, a long paragraph stating
basically that the team was gonna foldand he had no choice. You sw
I remember swiping right out of mymy, my group chat, going on
Instagram and seeing that they posted itat the same time that they're telling us.
So we found out the same timethat they released it to the public.
(11:52):
Basically, you know, do youthink, man, we all came
out here for a reason. Weall left home, we all came from
so for wherever we all came from. You know, they didn't have a
They didn't have the respect to comedown and talk to us as men,
you know, and as professionals,you know, and tell us to our
faces, like, man, thisis what's going to happen. This is
(12:13):
what's going to happen. Because afterthat, there was no getting a hold
of the owner, the GM.Nothing man like if you had questions,
you know, you know, forgetif they were going to get answered.
You know, Like I played.I played in the IFL last year with
the Duke City Gladiators, and Iknow what a professional organization is and what
(12:39):
it's supposed to be. I wastreated well there. I was treated like
a professional. We had cryo therapyset up, we had everything set up
for us. We were taken careof. We were paid on time,
you know, we were fed.We I know what it's like to be
treated like you're a professional athlete,you know, and get paid on time.
And right here was totally was atotal sideline. Man. So you
(13:07):
mentioned paid checks. Have you gottenpaid throughout the season. So the guys
I personally haven't been paid. Someof us haven't been paid. Some have,
but only partially from the Southwest KansasStorm owners themselves out of the kindness
of their heart. From what itseemed was they paid us to come out
(13:31):
and play that game. The teamfolded on Thursday. We're supposed to play
Southwest Kansas Storm on Saturday. Soonce the team folded, you know,
the commissioner stepped in and told usthis and that, this and that,
which he didn't follow through with hisword, and Southwest Kansas ended up paying
us. They sent their bus fromDodge City, Kansas to come pick up
(13:54):
our players from Console Bluss well sothat we can so that their fans can
basically have a game, you know. And what they did was was,
uh, you know, very muchappreciative for for the guys who did get
paid X amount. Nobody got paidtheir full amount that's stated on the contract.
(14:16):
I didn't receive nothing, but uh, they did. They did pay
the players something, you know,but uh but yeah, they sent the
bus out here to pick up theplayers, took them down there, and
sent them back to drop them off. Man. So you know, you
can't, you know, you can'tbe too too mad at that. You
know, they did something on theirown, their own dime. I'm sure,
(14:41):
you know, like the commissioner saidone thing, but it was it
was a total opposite. Have youbeen communicating with your teammates and how are
they doing during all of this?Yeah, we've I've been in communication with
all my teammates. You know,some guys are making their way home,
(15:01):
and some guys are stuck here withnowhere to go. Today was the last
day for the hotel. They cameknocking at doors this morning and told my
teammates they had to leave because theowners only paid up until today for their
rooms. So some guys are stuckhere and trying to find a way home,
(15:24):
and some guys are making their wayhome. I was in the house
that was provided by the team forme and my family, and I too
received a call from the landlord sayingthat I got a week to figure out
how to get my family home,to get out of the house basically,
And you know, it was veryunfortunate, very sad situation. Man.
(15:46):
We were looking forward to playing thiswhole season, but you know, unfortunately
this is how things played out,and we were left out to dry.
You know, we didn't hear fromour owners after them telling us the team
was going to Foam and the commissioner. We've talked with the commissioner and he
(16:08):
said things, and things didn't endup. He didn't end up following through
with his word. So you know, yeah, we're out here. Man.
How do you during during all ofthis, which I'm sure I know
is probably difficult, especially for youand your family. How are you kind
(16:32):
of staying yourself and staying motivated.Is there anything that you're doing to kind
of keep you in the right spiritsdoing all of this? Yeah, for
sure, Man, There's only onething that's keeping me in the right spirit
right now, and I'm gonna seeit praying, man, trusting God.
(16:52):
You know, if I was leaningon my own understanding right now, I'd
probably be really stressed out and reallytrying to make sense of all this,
because you know what, things aren'tgoing to make sense overnight. But you
know, God can go before meand perform miracles, and that's the only
reason why I'm I'm cool, calmand collected for the most part of it,
(17:15):
and able to try and see pastthings and see what's right, what's
right is right, and what's wrongis wrong, you know. And you
know, I feel like the theplayers need to be hurt. Man,
This isn't right because I got Igot teammates that I played with last year
that are on different AFL teams whoare experiencing the same thing, you know.
(17:40):
And I can't speak for all theNFL teams, but there are a
lot out there. I got friendson different teams, many of different teams,
and a lot of them are facingthe same things we are. We're
the only team that folded, Ibelieve, but they're all There are a
lot of players out there that haven'tbeen paid and you know, haven't been
(18:00):
housed and stuff like that. Whatare you hoping for from this point on
and kind of what is your nextstep? Man? I'm hoping that.
I'm hoping that the league and theowners can be professional about this. You
know, you can't call those professionalfootball players and not treat us like professional
(18:22):
football players. You can't call yourselfa professional league and you're not conducting yourself
as a professional league. So I'mhoping that everything. I'm hoping that the
commissioners, the owners, the CEO, whoever it is, come together make
this right. You know, evenif we got to take it off this
season, even if we got tostay folded, we gotta do what we
(18:45):
gotta do. We gotta move onand hope for better next season. But
there are guys out there that's heardyman, Guys out there that are struggling
financially, that can't get home,Guys out there that might not want to
speak up because this could tarnish theircareer. You know what, I'm going
to stand in the gap, andI'm going to stand for what's right,
and what's right is right, what'swrong is wrong. I just hope that
(19:06):
the commissioner, the CEO, andthe owners that haven't paid their players,
the league that hasn't paid the players, you know, I hope. I
hope they can come together collectively andmake this right. Man. That's all
I'm hoping for. Do you havea message to fans or maybe just other
(19:26):
players around the league that may begoing through a similar situation that you're going
through, Man, keep the faithman. To the players out there that's
facing the same thing that I'm doing, Man, don't give up on the
dream. Don't let this right herecause you to give up on your dream
and cause you to be discouraged.You know, keep the faith, keep
(19:51):
fighting, keep working, keep grinding, because it don't stop here. It
really doesn't. It'll stop here ifyou let it stop you here. And
to the fans, man, man, I don't know what else to say
but that you know very sorry thatthat things played out like this. I
(20:11):
believe we had a we had agood fan base out here in consol Pluss,
Iowa. And man, it's unfortunateand uh, there's nothing else to
say but that I'm sorry that everybodyhas to go through this, but there
are people who are in control thatcan take care of this and make things
right, and I'm just hoping thatthey do. Moving forward, Tom and
(20:33):
Silva, I appreciate you for joiningand opening up, especially during this difficult
time, and I hope everything goeswell for you and your family. Man,
thank you so much for the timeand consideration. Man, thank you
for this time, and thank youfor having me. Absolutely
It's it's unfortunate, man, becauseat the end of the days, man,
the coaches and the players really reallyare suffering from this. Man.
(00:25):
Welcome back to another episode of ArenaSide the Press Pass. I'm your host
Anthony Carter, and on today's episodewe have tamatoa Silva former nose guard with
the Iowa Rampage. Thank you somuch for joining us today. How are
you doing well, sir? Thankyou for having me. Man, Thank
you absolutely first take us through howyou got with the Iowa Rampage and just
(00:48):
heading into the season training camp,getting ready, going through that first game.
What was that like for you asa player. So so, just
to take it back a couple ofyears, man, I was invited to
showcase out there in Hawaiian XFL showcaseout there in Hawaiian June of twenty twenty
two. My performance there led meto the pre draft workout with the Orlando
(01:15):
Guardians with the coach Ty Warren astheir D line coach. And you know,
I was advised to go indoor andget recent film because I didn't play
I didn't play college football. Istopped after high school. And you know,
he said to go indoor and andget get recent film for a year
(01:38):
and then we'll talk. But unfortunately, after the merger, the Orlando Guardians
didn't make the cut the USFL andthe XFL merger. So man I did.
I didn't stop there. I didn'tlet that stop me. You know.
I felt like God brought this opportunityto me, you know, so
(02:00):
I figured, why not give it, give it another run and see see
where it takes me. So,uh, with my first year in indoor
football, I started off in thecif the Champions Champions Indoor Football League.
I was with the Topeka Tropics forthree games before I got picked up by
(02:22):
the Duke City Gladiators in the IFLand that's where I finished my season.
So during the offseason, I geta phone call with an opportunity to sign
to sign a contract with the IowaRampage. Who were you know, joining
the AFL and me knowing what theAFL was before. Uh, you know,
(02:46):
there's there's like no hesitation, youknow what I mean. But I
still had to pray about it andtalk with the wife. I am married
with two kids, and I hadto talk with the wife about it and
pray, and you know, ultimatelyI felt let it to to sign the
contract man and give it a shot. And uh, that's that's how I
(03:06):
ended up here. Talk to meabout that moment when you finally got that
shot, when you got that callto sign a contract, knowing how beneficial
it would be for you and yourfamily. What was going through your mind
at that time? Man? Itwas It was a blessing, you know,
to know that Kurt Warner started hisprofessional career out here in Iowa,
(03:31):
you know, with with the Barnstormersin the ANFL, and he got picked
up by the Rams from from theNFL. So that alone, and that
alone spoke volumes, you know,like it really did. It got me
hyped, like, man, thisthis could be it. You know,
(03:52):
God, God allows things to happenfor a reason. You know, the
Orlando Guardians was no longer, soyou know, this was like, man,
this is like the Premier Arena FootballLeague, you know, like the
reputation that had before when my coachesplayed Coach Romayne, Coach Demo, you
(04:13):
know, Coach Jackson when they playedin the ANFL. Man, you know,
I saw it as that and that'swhy I took the opportunity. What
was your motivation going through when yougot this opportunity and going through training camp
and meeting like you mentioned those formerAFL stars James Romaine and Donovan Morgan.
(04:38):
What motivated you to keep going toearn your spot and to keep your spot?
Man? Ultimately, it's ultimately it'sgotta be my kids. Man.
My kids motivate me in life general, you know, like generally my kids
is my motivation. My family,my wife who have who've given up a
(05:00):
lot to leave Hawaii, you know, to leave home and come out here
to the Midwest and support me,you know, And and that alone gave
me the reason to go. Giveme, give me every reason to go
out there and and do what Igotta do. You know, where did
you say yourself after this season?What was it to stay with IOWA?
(05:26):
Was to stay in aren of footballor did you have plans to go even
to the higher league like NFL orCFL. Man, my dreams was always
to play in the big league,you know, the NFL. So ultimately
coming into this league, like cominginto this season, I had a chip
on my shoulder to to go outthere and perform and to possibly be the
(05:49):
next underdog like Kurt Warner, youknow, to to to get out there
and and man, get any anyopportunity I can, you know, taking
through what it was like playing withthe rampage. Man, So I'm not
I'm not gonna lie to you.I did get hurt all training camp and
(06:10):
actually right before training camp, soI was limited a little bit. But
you know, I was still thereand I still got to go out and
training camp, run around and dowhatever I had to do. But you
know, just being there, man, knowing, knowing the coaches we had
former AFL Hall of famers, Man, you know, Coach Demo, Coach
Row, coach Jackson. Man,you're talking about big names for the AFL.
(06:35):
Man, to be coached by them, you know was was was a
privilege, and that's what it hurtsa lot from from everything that's that's happened,
all the falling out, Man,we had we had a solid coaching
staff, Man, a coaching staffthat I would play for any day.
You know, Coach Wells, youknow, man, former Arena legends two
(06:57):
on the team. Man. Wehad Larry Beavers, we had Rakeing,
Cato Marshall, hall of Famer,you know what I mean, Like just
a lot of guys. Man.We had a we had a team around
us. Man, we had agood we had a good team around us.
And that's what really hurts us alot too right now, that uh,
that everything folded like this, man, Like I can't even tell you,
(07:18):
man, the the just the emotions, man like like just just having
a you know, we all gotdreams and aspirations. You know, for
some of us, Man, wegot goals to keep going. Man,
we had we had guys that playedin sec ball, you know, Auburn,
(07:39):
We had a We had guys thatplayed D one college. Man,
this was their first year in arenafootball. And this is the experience they
get, man, not too good. You know, they they got dreams.
We all got dreams. For someof us, Man, it's our
last ride going to be, youknow, to have to sacrifice, leaving
our families and and uh and leavinghome to go pursue our dream. To
(08:05):
be told one thing, but butto be shown a whole different other like
other thing. It's it's a unfortunateman, because at the end of the
days, man, the coaches andthe players really really are suffering from this.
Man. And I can tell youin all aspects, man, emotionally,
financially, like, it's not it'snot easy, man, And and
(08:28):
you know that's why I decided,that's why I decided to speak out.
Because it's not right. You know, it's not right with what's taking place
and what was done. What's rightis right, and what's wrong is wrong,
you know. And and there's alot of wrong in this and uh,
you know, this, this righthere could kill somebody's dream you know
what I mean, like somebody whowho who who has dreams to to to
(08:52):
go to the next level. Man, this, this right here could kill
some of these dreams. Man.I shed tears over this whole situation.
Man, it's very sad. Andyou know, for me, I got
my family out here, I gotmy kids. You know, my wife
was preparing and cookie meals for theteam. You know, my wife is
labored man out here, cookie forthe team. Man, She's prepared over
eight hundred meals, you know,like she cried when all this was happening.
(09:16):
Man, it's very sad and unfortunately, you know, like we were
sold, we were sold on somethingthat really wasn't what it was. You
know, when did you learn aboutthe news of Iowa announcing that they were
going to fold and didn't catch youby surprise at all. Man, let
(09:41):
me take you through this, man. You know, we we learned on
on Thursday, this past Thursday,the owner sent us the release, the
news release, the press release inour group chat, and you know,
he said, he said what hesaid, He released the press to us,
the press release, saying that hehas no option but to fold the
(10:05):
team. Not even three minutes later, it's all over social media, you
know what I mean. So wefound out when everybody else found out,
and yeah, to be honest,man, it did catch a lot of
us by surprise, it did.It really did, because before that the
problem was getting us paid. Youknow, we weren't being paid like they
(10:28):
told us. One day we weregonna get paid. That day came and
didn't happen. Another day came,didn't happen, you know what I mean.
So then all of a sudden,the team is folding, Like man,
what you know? Like, man, they caught a lot of us
by surprise, you know. Andthat's not even the end of it,
you know, Like, but yeah, it was on this past Thursday where
(10:50):
where we found out that the teamwas no longer and we found out at
the same time everybody else on socialmedia found out. So you said you
found out on social media, Soyou didn't have a conversation with the owner
beforehand. What about after the factthat she saw on social media. Has
(11:11):
there been any communication with the owneror even the league office at that No,
So what happened was the owner sentsent us a statement in our in
our group chat. We had agroup chat as players where we'd communicate with
the coaches, the owners, theGM you know, he sent us a
(11:31):
paragraph in the in the group chats, you know, a long paragraph stating
basically that the team was gonna foldand he had no choice. You sw
I remember swiping right out of mymy, my group chat, going on
Instagram and seeing that they posted itat the same time that they're telling us.
So we found out the same timethat they released it to the public.
(11:52):
Basically, you know, do youthink, man, we all came
out here for a reason. Weall left home, we all came from
so for wherever we all came from. You know, they didn't have a
They didn't have the respect to comedown and talk to us as men,
you know, and as professionals,you know, and tell us to our
faces, like, man, thisis what's going to happen. This is
(12:13):
what's going to happen. Because afterthat, there was no getting a hold
of the owner, the GM.Nothing man like if you had questions,
you know, you know, forgetif they were going to get answered.
You know, Like I played.I played in the IFL last year with
the Duke City Gladiators, and Iknow what a professional organization is and what
(12:39):
it's supposed to be. I wastreated well there. I was treated like
a professional. We had cryo therapyset up, we had everything set up
for us. We were taken careof. We were paid on time,
you know, we were fed.We I know what it's like to be
treated like you're a professional athlete,you know, and get paid on time.
And right here was totally was atotal sideline. Man. So you
(13:07):
mentioned paid checks. Have you gottenpaid throughout the season. So the guys
I personally haven't been paid. Someof us haven't been paid. Some have,
but only partially from the Southwest KansasStorm owners themselves out of the kindness
of their heart. From what itseemed was they paid us to come out
(13:31):
and play that game. The teamfolded on Thursday. We're supposed to play
Southwest Kansas Storm on Saturday. Soonce the team folded, you know,
the commissioner stepped in and told usthis and that, this and that,
which he didn't follow through with hisword, and Southwest Kansas ended up paying
us. They sent their bus fromDodge City, Kansas to come pick up
(13:54):
our players from Console Bluss well sothat we can so that their fans can
basically have a game, you know. And what they did was was,
uh, you know, very muchappreciative for for the guys who did get
paid X amount. Nobody got paidtheir full amount that's stated on the contract.
(14:16):
I didn't receive nothing, but uh, they did. They did pay
the players something, you know,but uh but yeah, they sent the
bus out here to pick up theplayers, took them down there, and
sent them back to drop them off. Man. So you know, you
can't, you know, you can'tbe too too mad at that. You
know, they did something on theirown, their own dime. I'm sure,
(14:41):
you know, like the commissioner saidone thing, but it was it
was a total opposite. Have youbeen communicating with your teammates and how are
they doing during all of this?Yeah, we've I've been in communication with
all my teammates. You know,some guys are making their way home,
(15:01):
and some guys are stuck here withnowhere to go. Today was the last
day for the hotel. They cameknocking at doors this morning and told my
teammates they had to leave because theowners only paid up until today for their
rooms. So some guys are stuckhere and trying to find a way home,
(15:24):
and some guys are making their wayhome. I was in the house
that was provided by the team forme and my family, and I too
received a call from the landlord sayingthat I got a week to figure out
how to get my family home,to get out of the house basically,
And you know, it was veryunfortunate, very sad situation. Man.
(15:46):
We were looking forward to playing thiswhole season, but you know, unfortunately
this is how things played out,and we were left out to dry.
You know, we didn't hear fromour owners after them telling us the team
was going to Foam and the commissioner. We've talked with the commissioner and he
(16:08):
said things, and things didn't endup. He didn't end up following through
with his word. So you know, yeah, we're out here. Man.
How do you during during all ofthis, which I'm sure I know
is probably difficult, especially for youand your family. How are you kind
(16:32):
of staying yourself and staying motivated.Is there anything that you're doing to kind
of keep you in the right spiritsdoing all of this? Yeah, for
sure, Man, There's only onething that's keeping me in the right spirit
right now, and I'm gonna seeit praying, man, trusting God.
(16:52):
You know, if I was leaningon my own understanding right now, I'd
probably be really stressed out and reallytrying to make sense of all this,
because you know what, things aren'tgoing to make sense overnight. But you
know, God can go before meand perform miracles, and that's the only
reason why I'm I'm cool, calmand collected for the most part of it,
(17:15):
and able to try and see pastthings and see what's right, what's
right is right, and what's wrongis wrong, you know. And you
know, I feel like the theplayers need to be hurt. Man,
This isn't right because I got Igot teammates that I played with last year
that are on different AFL teams whoare experiencing the same thing, you know.
(17:40):
And I can't speak for all theNFL teams, but there are a
lot out there. I got friendson different teams, many of different teams,
and a lot of them are facingthe same things we are. We're
the only team that folded, Ibelieve, but they're all There are a
lot of players out there that haven'tbeen paid and you know, haven't been
(18:00):
housed and stuff like that. Whatare you hoping for from this point on
and kind of what is your nextstep? Man? I'm hoping that.
I'm hoping that the league and theowners can be professional about this. You
know, you can't call those professionalfootball players and not treat us like professional
(18:22):
football players. You can't call yourselfa professional league and you're not conducting yourself
as a professional league. So I'mhoping that everything. I'm hoping that the
commissioners, the owners, the CEO, whoever it is, come together make
this right. You know, evenif we got to take it off this
season, even if we got tostay folded, we gotta do what we
(18:45):
gotta do. We gotta move onand hope for better next season. But
there are guys out there that's heardyman, Guys out there that are struggling
financially, that can't get home,Guys out there that might not want to
speak up because this could tarnish theircareer. You know what, I'm going
to stand in the gap, andI'm going to stand for what's right,
and what's right is right, what'swrong is wrong. I just hope that
(19:06):
the commissioner, the CEO, andthe owners that haven't paid their players,
the league that hasn't paid the players, you know, I hope. I
hope they can come together collectively andmake this right. Man. That's all
I'm hoping for. Do you havea message to fans or maybe just other
(19:26):
players around the league that may begoing through a similar situation that you're going
through, Man, keep the faithman. To the players out there that's
facing the same thing that I'm doing, Man, don't give up on the
dream. Don't let this right herecause you to give up on your dream
and cause you to be discouraged.You know, keep the faith, keep
(19:51):
fighting, keep working, keep grinding, because it don't stop here. It
really doesn't. It'll stop here ifyou let it stop you here. And
to the fans, man, man, I don't know what else to say
but that you know very sorry thatthat things played out like this. I
(20:11):
believe we had a we had agood fan base out here in consol Pluss,
Iowa. And man, it's unfortunateand uh, there's nothing else to
say but that I'm sorry that everybodyhas to go through this, but there
are people who are in control thatcan take care of this and make things
right, and I'm just hoping thatthey do. Moving forward, Tom and
(20:33):
Silva, I appreciate you for joiningand opening up, especially during this difficult
time, and I hope everything goeswell for you and your family. Man,
thank you so much for the timeand consideration. Man, thank you
for this time, and thank youfor having me. Absolutely
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