ArenaBowl XVII was played on June 22, 2003 at the St. Pete Times Forum (formerly the

Ice Palace An ice palace or ice castle is a castle-like structure made of blocks of ice. These blocks are usually harvested from nearby rivers or lakes when they become frozen in winter. The first known ice palace (or, rather, '' ice house'', ледяной ...

) in

Tampa, Florida Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and ...

before a sellout crowd of 20,496. The

Tampa Bay Storm The Tampa Bay Storm were a professional arena football team based in Tampa, Florida, US. It played in the Arena Football League (AFL). Originally the team was located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and operated as the Pittsburgh Gladiators. The f ...

earned their AFL record fifth ArenaBowl title, by defeating the Arizona Rattlers, 43–29. The win was just months after the NFL's

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. The cl ...

won Super Bowl XXXVII, making Tampa Bay the first metropolitan area to simultaneously hold both NFL and AFL championships.

Game summary

Hall of Fame coach Tim Marcum earned his seventh ArenaBowl title as his

took a first quarter lead and never relinquished it, defeating fellow Hall of Fame coach

Danny White Wilford Daniel White (born February 9, 1952) is a former quarterback and Punter (football), punter for the Dallas Cowboys and an American football coach in the Arena Football League. He has been the color commentator for Cowboys games on Compas ...

's Arizona Rattlers by 14. The teams traded scores in the first quarter, but early in the second

Tampa Bay Tampa Bay is a large natural harbor and shallow estuary connected to the Gulf of Mexico on the west-central coast of Florida, comprising Hillsborough Bay, McKay Bay, Old Tampa Bay, Middle Tampa Bay, and Lower Tampa Bay. The largest freshwater ...

lineman

Kelvin Kinney Kelvin Lamonta Kinney (born December 31, 1972) is a former American football defensive lineman. His nickname is K2. Kinney was a defensive end in the National Football League for the Washington Redskins. He also has professional experience in ...

scooped up a

Sherdrick Bonner Sherdrick Deon "Sed" Bonner (born October 19, 1968) is a former American football quarterback who played fifteen seasons in the Arena Football League (AFL). High school years Bonner attended Azusa High School in Azusa, California and was a stude ...

fumble – one of four lost

Rattler Rattlesnakes are venomous snakes that form the genera ''Crotalus'' and ''Sistrurus'' of the subfamily Crotalinae (the pit vipers). All rattlesnakes are vipers. Rattlesnakes are predators that live in a wide array of habitats, hunting small an ...

fumbles on the day – and ran 26 yards for a rather controversial touchdown. Though it appeared Kinney had thrown the ball in the air in celebration before crossing the goal line, the touchdown stood, and the

Storm A storm is any disturbed state of the natural environment or the atmosphere of an astronomical body. It may be marked by significant disruptions to normal conditions such as strong wind, tornadoes, hail, thunder and lightning (a thunderstorm), ...

took a 20–10 lead. Though

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

answered with a Bo Kelly touchdown run to close within 20–16, the

used two second-half touchdown passes from veteran backup quarterback

Pat O'Hara Patrick O'Hara (born September 27, 1968) is an American football coach and former quarterback who is the Pass game analyst for the Tennessee Titans of the National Football League (NFL). He previously served as the head coach of the New Orleans ...

Lawrence Samuels Lawrence 'Law Dogg' Samuels (born May 1, 1970) is an arena football coach and former wide receiver/linebacker. He played his college football at the Livingston University, and was an AFL wide receiver/linebacker from 1994 to 2010. He received b ...

to keep the Rattlers at bay. The 34-year-old O'Hara, who defeated the

ArenaBowl XII ArenaBowl XII was the Arena Football League's twelfth Arena Bowl, which took place August 23, 1998. It pitted the #4 Orlando Predators (9-5) of the National Conference against the #1 Tampa Bay Storm (12-2), also of the National Conference. This ...

as the quarterback for the

Orlando Predators The Orlando Predators were a professional arena football team based in Orlando, Florida and member of the Arena Football League (AFL). The team was most recently owned by Orlando Predators LLC, a company owned by David A. Siegel, and played its ...

, had thrown only 14 passes all year but was pressed into action when starter

John Kaleo John Kaleo (born February 5, 1971) is a retired American football quarterback in the Arena Football League (AFL) for the Albany Firebirds (1993), Cleveland Thunderbolts (1994), St. Louis Stampede (1995–1996), Anaheim Piranhas (1997), San Jose ...

was injured in the second quarter. He ran for another score with 10 minutes to play, putting

ahead 43–22 and sealing the victory. Samuels was named both the game's

MVP In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...

and Ironman of the Game, as he led all players with five catches for 109 yards and three touchdowns. The game was the first ArenaBowl to be televised by

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

, as ABC had televised the previous five. All participants wore "FP" stickers on their helmets in memory of

head coach

Fran Papasedero Fran Papasedero (March 21, 1969 – June 19, 2003) was an Arena football player and coach. Papasedero coached the Arena Football League's Orlando Predators in the 2002 and 2003 seasons, having been appointed to replace Jay Gruden who wanted to r ...

, who was killed in a one-car accident just days before the game.

Scoring summary

1st Quarter * AZ – FG Garner 36 * TB – Samuels 33 pass from Kaleo (Stucker kick failed) * AZ – Bonner 1 run (Garner kick) * TB – Proctor 1 run (Saunders pass from Dell) 2nd Quarter * TB – Kinney 26 fumble return (Stucker kick failed) * AZ – Kelly 8 run (Garner kick failed) * TB – FG Stucker 23 3rd Quarter * TB – Samuels 9 pass from O'Hara (Stucker kick) * AZ – Bryant 3 pass from Bonner (Garner kick failed) 4th Quarter * TB – Samuels 43 pass from O'Hara (Stucker kick) * TB – O'Hara 3 run (Stucker kick failed) * AZ – Gatewood 3 pass from Bonner (Garner kick)

External links

ArenaFan box score
{{DEFAULTSORT:Arenabowl Xvii 017 2003 Arena Football League season Arizona Rattlers Tampa Bay Storm 2003 in sports in Florida Sports competitions in Tampa, Florida 2003 in American television June 2003 sports events in the United States 21st century in Tampa, Florida Events in Tampa, Florida