George Herbert LaFrance III (born September 24, 1965) is a former

Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 season, making it the third longest-running professional football league in ...

offensive specialist In arena football, a specialist was a player, other than a quarterback or placekicker, who was exempt from the league's one-platoon system ("Iron Man"). Under the original Arena football system, six of the eight players on each team were required ...

. In a playing career lasting twelve years, he played for the

Detroit Drive The Massachusetts Marauders were a professional arena football team that was based in Worcester, Massachusetts. They were a member of the Arena Football League (AFL) from 1988 to 1994. The team was established in Detroit in 1988, as the Detroit D ...

(

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Australian ...

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peace ...

), 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 ...

(

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

), and the

New Jersey Red Dogs The Cleveland Gladiators were an arena football team based in Cleveland, Ohio, United States, and members of the Arena Football League (AFL). The Gladiators played their home games at Quicken Loans Arena, which they shared with the Cleveland Cava ...

(

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

). In 2002, he served as general manager of the

San Diego Riptide The San Diego Riptide was a professional arena football team based in San Diego, California. The team played its home games at the San Diego Sports Arena. The team was originally coached by Cree Morris, then Mouse Davis and finally by Sean Ponde ...

Career

LaFrance attended

Baker University Baker University is a private university in Baldwin City, Kansas. Founded in 1858, it was the first four-year university in Kansas and is affiliated with the United Methodist Church. Baker University is made up of four schools. The College of Art ...

Baldwin City, Kansas Baldwin City is a city in Douglas County, Kansas, United States, about south of Lawrence. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 4,826. The city is home to Baker University, the state's oldest four-year university. History ...

, where he played as a wide receiver for two years. LaFrance is in the AFL Hall Of Fame, and in

ArenaBowl IX ArenaBowl IX was the Arena Football League's ninth ArenaBowl. The game featured the #6 Orlando Predators (7-5) of the National Conference against the #1 Tampa Bay Storm (10-2), also of the National Conference. This would be the very first ArenaBow ...

, wearing #25 for the Storm, became the only player to ever win ArenaBowl

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 ...

3 times. LaFrance is the career leader in Tampa Bay Storm all-purpose yards with over 20,000.

Retirement

In 2012, the 47-year-old LaFrance cited his desire to return to the AFL after 12 seasons of retirement. LaFrance stated, "You can always think. I'm in good shape. It would be during the playoffs. What team I'm looking at, I don't know. A team that's ready. I'll keep that wide open." LaFrance is currently athletic director at Navajo Technical University in Crownpoint, New Mexico.

References

External links

ArenaFan Online's George LaFrance page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lafrance, George 1965 births Living people Sportspeople from New Orleans People from New Iberia, Louisiana Players of American football from New Orleans American football wide receivers Detroit Drive players Tampa Bay Storm players New Jersey Red Dogs players Baker Wildcats football players