Piranha Football--Call Them the Lord’s Players

All-Arena league defensive back Carlton Johnson had to do a heap of praying about his decision this spring: Would he knock down receivers and passes in the fledgling Arena Football League or play for bigger bucks in the Canadian Football League?

The Piranhas, one of the newcomers to Arena Football this season, made Johnson’s “Render unto Caesar” decision easy.

“I was looking for more than just football this time,” said Johnson, 26, who has spent a year in the CFL and the Arena league. “Football only lasts for a short time. The Lord will be with me when I’m gone.”

Since the Piranhas moved last year from gambling-happy Las Vegas to football-hungry Anaheim, the team’s path has taken an unmistakably spiritual turn under its new owners. And spreading the word has helped the team make money.

“This franchise was birthed with a lot of prayer,” said Roy Englebrecht, co-owner and team president, who also promotes the Irvine Marriott’s monthly boxing shows. “Myself, Dave Baker [co-owner and a former mayor of Irvine] and several others in the ownership group believe in the power of prayer and are evangelical Christians. If we’re setting the tone for the team in prayer, then we should walk the walk and talk the talk.”

Once Johnson met with Englebrecht and Baker, both born-again Christians, and John Gordy, Piranha chapel coordinator and Orange County director of Fellowship of Christian Athletes, he realized Montreal and Calgary couldn’t give him what Anaheim could--a safe home for his faith.

“The owners made me feel comfortable,” said Johnson, a born-again Christian. “Their religious backgrounds made me feel comfortable to be going with the Lord. The Lord comes first and I could see they felt that way too. I could tell it wasn’t an act. They believed in what they were telling me.”

The Piranha management doesn’t just believe in it.

The Piranha owners have set a course that nearly follows the efforts of Athletes in Action, a missionary group of former college basketball players. While other professional teams provide chapel services and their players may pray together before or after games, Englebrecht and Baker have taken their commitment to a higher level.

They require everyone in the organization to sign on to the team’s philosophy. Their players quote freely from the Bible, attend chapel services before games and seek converts at well-attended “testimonials” after home games at the Pond.

The team has also won. Nearly the same roster and coaching staff that compiled a 6-6 record last year as the Las Vegas Sting have qualified for the playoffs this year with a 9-5 record. The season ended Friday night, however, with a 30-16 loss to the Tampa Bay Storm at St. Petersburg, Fla., in the opening round.

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Jim Drucker, commissioner of the Arena Football League, believes the Piranha owners may have found something with their “different” approach to running their team. More than anything, Drucker is impressed with the owners’ success in building teamwork throughout the organization.

Drucker says the vehicle to that teamwork is the Piranhas’ “mission statement,” which was signed by each player, coach and staff member before the season began.

“I don’t see that as a religious document,” Drucker said. “It’s the belief that the integrity of a person can carry over into teamwork. I saw it as a ‘Let’s all act this way’ to get players to pull for the other guys. I thought it was a stroke of genius, and I think that document alone was good for one or two points a game.”

Englebrecht doesn’t see the mission statement as a religious document either.

“It’s not a prerequisite to play for the Piranhas to be an evangelical Christian,” Englebrecht said. “But we do have a mission statement and it’s easier to live by that statement if you’re anchored to a rock like the Lord.”

The mission statement, which appears in all home programs, reads: “To serve our community with pride as a quality example of individual and team excellence on the field, in the office, at the arena and within the community by demonstrating the highest character, respect and appreciation for our customers and teammates as a cost effective and visionary organization providing a total entertainment experience.”

The majority of the Piranhas’ 24-man roster, according to the players, consists of born-again Christians or deeply religious nondenominational people. Chapel services before home and away games are attended by churchgoers and non-churchgoers alike.

“I go to try and bring the team together,” safety Mike Wilpolt said. Though he doesn’t often participate in what Baker calls “the praying program,” Wilpolt said he does not feel ostracized.

“They don’t push it on us. If you don’t go, they don’t say, ‘You’re not going to make our team or we’re going to look at you differently.’ ”

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Although Baker admits the team’s foundation is built on the owners’ Christian values, he denies he is running a Bible school.

“A lot of what we’re talking about here is values,” he said. “People can have the same values and they don’t have to be Christian. To make sure we don’t cross the line, this has to be an honest expression of free speech. It has to be an invitation and not a request.”

One expression comes in the form of a testimonial--a story of how one came to his beliefs. After the game, players and coaches parade to a podium and microphone set up on the field and speak to the converted and those considering a leap of faith. The testimonials have been marketed as “Youth Jams” to more than 1,000 churches throughout Southern California.

The first Youth Jam, co-sponsored by the Harvest Crusade, helped the Piranhas set an AFL attendance record for an exhibition game by accounting for 4,000 of 15,106 fans April 20. The second Youth Jam drew only about 2,000 kids July 20 but contributed to the Piranhas’ franchise-record crowd of 15,835.

“The [testimonials] are another way of showing the kids that there’s something else to do besides going out and getting into trouble,” Johnson said.

Adds Piranha Coach Babe Parilli: “I think it’s wonderful. If we can make better people out of these kids, we should do it.”

Drucker attended the second Youth Jam against Iowa and was intrigued.

“They didn’t make many public address announcements about it, and they didn’t do it in such a manner that it became overbearing,” he said. “It didn’t start until 14 or 15 minutes after the game and that was important. It wasn’t like they were trapping anyone. They didn’t have it at halftime or between quarters. I don’t think anyone felt intimidated or uncomfortable.

“I, for example, am Jewish,” he continued. “To me, it was something different, that’s for sure.”

The Piranhas’ Youth Jams are also money-makers. Though the children are able to see the Piranhas for a group rate of $5 a game--a $2 discount--Englebrecht doesn’t deny he is expanding his season-ticket base by bringing new faces to the Pond.

“I’m a promoter,” Englebrecht said. “I like to do things that haven’t been done. I can’t remember a chapel service following a sporting event. But for $5 it’s not a bad deal. The Youth Jam is just part of what we’re selling--an evening of entertainment. A football game, competition, cheerleading and a chance to rejoice and sing and feel a part of the joy.”

Arena Football is far from traditional football. It’s played indoors on a field 50 yards by 28 yards with a backdrop of loud music, annoying public address announcers, dancing cheerleaders, fireworks and screaming, gyrating, beer-drinking fans.

So does it bother Englebrecht or Baker that scantily clad women, alcohol and violence are not usually synonymous with Christian values?

“There’s nothing that says you can’t run a business as long as you don’t compromise your principals and values,” Englebrecht said. “Nothing in the Bible says you can’t drink. Moderation is the key to everything.”

Said Baker: “There’s a lot in the Bible about being a warrior in a battle. This is good, clean, controlled fun. The beer drinking is in a pretty controlled atmosphere. I have no problem with some drinking as long as it’s not a place to get drunk. I think our fans have been active but not out of control or hurtful, and I look at our cheerleaders as being athletes.”

Jai Hill, a Piranha receiver-defensive back, said his beliefs have come together since he began regularly attending chapel service before games.

“It’s changed me,” he said. “I have started reading the Bible more and going to church.”

Hill said he has also seen positive changes throughout the league.

“Other teams are starting to pick it up. You see more teams praying after games. I think it’s catching on and it’s good for sports.”

Baker said comments such as Hill’s have made this season worthwhile.

“We’re teaching our players how to be better dads, better husbands and better employees, and we feel by doing this, we’re putting them in the best possible position to win.

“The ultimate dividend is how some of these guys have grown mentally and spiritually. I think that it has won some games for us, but more importantly it will help these guys even more down the road.”