An open letter to the world's greatest fans

Courtesy: Arena Football League
Release: 07/27/2008

Dear Fans:

There has been no greater joy in my professional life than to serve the fans of the Arena Football League and af2.

I revere our players, respect our coaches, admire our owners and am grateful for our officials, partners and dedicated staff. But it is the AFL family of fans that I will miss the most.

Dedicated fans like Michelle & John Staples and Brian Gomez (the Most Loyal Rattlers), Marshall (the “Boss”) Suroweic and his dad Warren of the New York Dragons (still complaining about “the call”), Brian (“Stand for the Avengers” 9th Man) Fox, Darren “The Wingman” Butler from the K.C. Brigade, Captain Soul and Moxie from the ArenaBowl champion Philadelphia Soul and the millions of others from the AFL’s 17 teams and af2’s 29 teams.

Almost like Santa Claus, it felt as though I was lucky enough to know them all, and, in many cases, watch their families grow up. They are intensely loyal, supremely dedicated and incredibly worthy of the AFL’s Fans’ Bill of Rights and its Mission Statement to be the most fan-friendly league in the world.

So, after 12 exciting years of unparalleled AFL and af2 growth, I am pleased to announce that I am finally getting a promotion!

I too, am just a fan!

With Great Respect & Sincere Appreciation,

C. David Baker
Fan

P.S. Go Falcons!!

Well, that's great Peanut, but Baker made 2 crucial errors. He spelled Michele's name wrong (maybe he thought the "One L" referred to the last name?) and he mentioned Fox in the same paragraph with you guys. No wonder he's not the Commish any more.

Saw you on the tube yesterday. I think it helped that I broke down and bought a 32" HDTV.

I saw John's catch of the missed screen pass and also saw John avoiding a "fan interference" call later in the game. If that play had happened in front of Peanut he would have definitely changed the outcome of the game!

Nice jerseys by the way.