# 2017 National Arena League season

The 2017 National Arena League season was the inaugural season of the National Arena League (NAL). Playing with eight teams spread across the eastern and southern United States (with one team in Mexico), the league's regular season kicked off on March 17, 2017, when the Columbus Lions hosted the Jacksonville Sharks and lost 41–56. The regular season ended 14 weeks later on June 17, 2017, with the Sharks hosting the Monterrey Steel and the Lions visiting the Georgia Firebirds. The playoffs were held in two rounds, with the top seed hosting the fourth seed and the second seed hosting the third seed, with the winners of these games facing in the 2017 NAL Championship hosted by the highest remaining seed.

## Teams

For 2017, the NAL consisted of eight teams in a single-table format (no divisions or conferences). Four of the teams (Corpus Christi Rage, Dayton Wolfpack, High Country Grizzlies and Monterrey Steel) were playing their inaugural seasons, with three teams (Columbus Lions, Georgia Firebirds, Lehigh Valley Steelhawks) joining from the now-defunct American Indoor Football, and one team (Jacksonville Sharks) joining from the Arena Football League.
Each team was scheduled for 12 games (6 home and 6 away) with 2 bye weeks during the season. However, in order to satisfy their arena contract from their time in AFL, the Jacksonville Sharks were given eight home games, while the Corpus Christi Rage and Dayton Wolfpack were each only given five home games to balance the schedules. This was changed again when the Wolfpack were apparently unable to secure an arena lease, despite announcing they would play at the Nutter Center. Previously signed players reported on social media before the season that all players had been cut from the team, and as of February 20, all their home games were canceled.

### Other cancelled games

* The May 20 Firebirds vs. Rage matchup was cancelled by the league, which took ownership of both teams at the time, as they saw no reason to pay for the Firebirds' travel cost for a game between both of their teams.
* The June 16 Grizzles vs. Rage matchup was cancelled by the Rage as a result of the team suspending operations during their scheduled bye week.

### Teams

| Team | Location | Arena | Capacity | Founded | Joined | Head coach |
| Columbus Lions | Columbus, Georgia | Columbus Civic Center | 7,573 | 2006 | 2017 | Jason Gibson |
| Corpus Christi Rage | Corpus Christi, Texas | American Bank Center | 10,000 | 2016 | 2017 | Steven Fillmore |
| Dayton Wolfpack | Dayton, Ohio | Traveling team (based in Georgia) | Traveling team (based in Georgia) | 2016 | 2017 | Multiple |
| Georgia Firebirds | Albany, Georgia | Albany Civic Center | 8,436 | 2009 | 2017 | Antwone Savage |
| High Country Grizzlies | Boone, North Carolina | George M. Holmes Convocation Center | 8,325 | 2016 | 2017 | Josh Resignalo |
| Jacksonville Sharks | Jacksonville, Florida | Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena | 13,011 | 2009 | 2017 | Mark Stoute Siaha Burley |
| Lehigh Valley Steelhawks | Allentown, Pennsylvania | PPL Center | 8,500 | 2010 | 2017 | Chris Thompson |
| Monterrey Steel | Monterrey, Nuevo León | Arena Monterrey | 17,599 | 2016 | 2017 | JA Anderson |

## Standings

2017 National Arena League standings :
| viewtalkedit | W | L | PCT | PF | PA | GB | STK |
| z – Jacksonville Sharks | 11 | 1 | .917 | 697 | 299 | — | L1 |
| y – Lehigh Valley Steelhawks | 9 | 1 | .900 | 610 | 349 | 1.0 | W7 |
| x – Columbus Lions | 9 | 3 | .750 | 689 | 412 | 2.0 | W6 |
| x – Monterrey Steel | 7 | 4 | .636 | 478 | 364 | 3.5 | W1 |
| High Country Grizzlies | 3 | 7 | .300 | 449 | 484 | 7.0 | L4 |
| Georgia Firebirds | 2 | 9 | .182 | 372 | 576 | 8.5 | L5 |
| Dayton Wolfpack | 0 | 7 | .000 | 125 | 478 | 8.5 | L7 |
| Corpus Christi Rage | 0 | 9 | .000 | 166 | 624 | 9.5 | L9 |
z – clinched home field advantage
y – clinched home playoff game
x – clinched playoff spot

## Playoffs

| Semifinal | Semifinal | Semifinal | 2017 NAL Championship | 2017 NAL Championship | 2017 NAL Championship |
| 1 | Jacksonville | 43 | | | |
| 4 | Monterrey | 32 | | | |
| 4 | Monterrey | 32 | 1 | Jacksonville | 27 |
| | | | 3 | Columbus | 21 |
| 2 | Lehigh Valley | 50 | 3 | Columbus | 21 |
| 3 | Columbus | 52 | | | |

## Awards
### Individual season awards

| Award | Winner | Position | Team |
| Most Valuable Player | Warren Smith | Quarterback | Lehigh Valley Steelhawks |
| Offensive Player of the Year | Michael Reeve | Wide receiver | Columbus Lions |
| Defensive Player of the Year | Charlie Hunt | Linebacker | Jacksonville Sharks |
| Special Teams Player of the Year | Nick Belcher | Kicker | Jacksonville Sharks |
| Offensive Rookie of the Year | Malachi Jones | Wide receiver | High Country Grizzlies |
| Defensive Rookie of the Year | Sergio Schiaffino | Defensive back | Monterrey Steel |
| Most Improved Award | Warren Oliver | Wide receiver | Lehigh Valley Steelhawks |
| Coach of the Year | | | |

### 1st Team All-NAL

Offense :
| Quarterback | Warren Smith, Lehigh Valley |
| Running back | Derrick Ross, Jacksonville |
| Wide receiver | Michael Reeve, Columbus Darius Prince, Lehigh Valley London Crawford, Monterrey |
| Offensive tackle | Cornelius Lewis, Jacksonville Moqut Ruffins, Jacksonville |
| Center | A. J. Harmon, Jacksonville |
Defense :
| Defensive line | Joe Sykes, Monterrey Jabari Fletcher, Monterrey Jeremiah Price, Jacksonville |
| Linebacker | Wesley Mauia, Monterrey Charlie Hunt, Jacksonville |
| Defensive back | Erick McIntosh, Jacksonville Kyle Griswould, Columbus Marvin Ross, Jacksonville |
Special teams :
| Kicker | Nick Belcher, Jacksonville |
| Kick returner | Brandon Renford, Lehigh Valley |

### 2nd Team All-NAL

Offense :
| Quarterback | Mason Espinosa, Columbus |
| Running back | Undra Hendrix, High Country |
| Wide receiver | Brandon Renford, Lehigh Valley Moe Williams, Jacksonville Tristan Purifoy, Columbus |
| Offensive tackle | Bret Piekarski, Lehigh Valley Colin Madison, Monterrey |
| Center | Ryne Holland, Columbus |
Defense :
| Defensive line | Brandon Sutton, High Country Larry Ford, High Country Daylou Pierson, Jacksonville |
| Linebacker | Larry Edwards, Columbus Marte Sears, Columbus |
| Defensive back | Rodney Hall Jr., Lehigh Valley Micheaux Robinson, Jacksonville Svante Davenport, Monterrey |
Special teams :
| Kicker | Brandon Rutherford, Monterrey |
| Kick returner | Daron Clark, High Country |