Philadelphia Soul

Jon Bon Jovi era (2004–2008)

The team was owned by co-majority owners Jon Bon Jovi and Craig Spencer along with minority owners Richie Sambora, Ron "Jaws" Jaworski (former QB of the NFL's Philadelphia Eagles) and Leo Carlin, Jr. The Soul began play in February 2004, and played its home games at the Wells Fargo Center (then known as the Wachovia Center), home of the Philadelphia Flyers of the NHL and the Philadelphia 76ers of the NBA. When there was a scheduling conflict with the NBA or NHL, games were played at the now-demolished Wachovia Spectrum—the former home of the Flyers, 76ers, Philadelphia Phantoms AHL hockey team and the Philadelphia KiXX MISL soccer franchise. The Soul played in the Eastern Division of the National Conference of the AFL. The name "Soul" referred to the Philadelphia soul music genre, a play on Bon Jovi's career as a musician (Bon Jovi's style of pop rock, however, bore no resemblance to the genre of music known as Philadelphia soul). The official mascot of the Soul was the Blues Brother-like "Soul Man".

In 2005, the Soul began the season by beating the Austin Wranglers 66–35. However, after five games, the Soul had two wins and three losses, which led to the firing of head coach Michael Trigg.

Critics say that the Soul erred that off-season when they made Tony Graziani the highest-paid player in Arena League history. The move left them with little money under the salary cap to improve their defense, and as a result, they were not in competition for the playoffs. The elimination came even after NBC scheduled 14 games of the Soul to be shown on national or regional television.

In 2006, the Soul began 2–0. They went 2–0 against division rival Dallas Desperados (who finished a league best 13–3), and finished the season at 9–7 and earned their first playoff berth through the wild card. In their wild card playoff game, the Soul defeated the Austin Wranglers in Austin, 52–35. The score was 21–21 at halftime, but the #5 seed Soul outscored the #4 Wranglers 21–7 in the third quarter and ran away with the game. The Soul lost their Divisional Round Playoff game 31–27 to the Orlando Predators in the infamous "round of golf", so-called because viewers missed much of the 1st quarter of that game and another AFL game being broadcast simultaneously due to a PGA Golf tournament that was televised on NBC.

The Soul started 4–0 in 2007 before losing to the Georgia Force, 57–49. Afterwards, they lost on a Monday night contest to their division rival, the Dallas Desperados, 51–41. In the game, Tony Graziani left the game early with a separated left shoulder from a sack by OL/DL Rickie Simpkins. He would miss the next four weeks, all losses, dropping the team to 4–6. Graziani returned in week 12 against the New Orleans VooDoo and led the team to its highest scoring output in its short franchise history, winning 78–34. In a Week 16 "win-and-in" matchup with the Columbus Destroyers, Graziani led the Soul down the field and threw a touchdown pass to Charles Pauley with seven seconds left, giving the Soul a 56–53 win and their second trip to the playoffs in their four-year history. In the playoffs, they defeated the Orlando Predators 41–26, then traveled to Atlanta to take on the Georgia Force in the Divisional Round, but lost 65–39.

In 2008, the Soul signed WR Chris Jackson in the off-season. He was united with a former teammate in Tony Graziani. In the offseason the Soul were picked by many as the favorite to win the championship. However, after another good start, once again Graziani was injured. He was replaced by Matt D'Orazio. Unlike previous years, in 2008 the Soul backup was able to keep the team going. He played well enough that when Graziani was healthy once more, the coaching staff decided to allow D'Orazio to keep the starting job. The Soul finished the 2008 season with a 13–3 record and earned a first-round bye. In the divisional round the Soul defeated the New York Dragons. In the conference finals the Soul were able to defeat the Cleveland Gladiators to earn their first berth to the ArenaBowl. They then won their first ArenaBowl on Sunday, July 27, 2008 in a 59–56 win over the San Jose SaberCats in ArenaBowl XXII.

The team suspended operations along with the rest of the Arena Football League in 2009. Bon Jovi would then form another ownership group with members of Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment five years later seeking to purchase the National Football League's Buffalo Bills; the Bon Jovi consortium was outbid by Terry and Kim Pegula.

Ron Jaworski era (2011–present)

On February 17, 2010, the Arena Football League extended an offer to the Soul to make a return to arena football. That offer was accepted, as the Soul returned in 2011 playing all their home games at the then-recently renamed Wells Fargo Center. Jaworski and Spencer returned from the prior ownership group, and Pete Ciarrocchi (owner of local sports bar Chickie's and Pete's) and Cosmo DeNicola (who was the owner of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Pioneers from the now-defunct af2 league) joined the new Soul's ownership. Notably absent is Jon Bon Jovi, who cited his group's tour as a reason for declining ownership, but still maintains his support for the Soul and their new ownership. The team hired future Arena Football Hall of Famer, Mike Hohensee, to lead the revived team. Despite high expectations, the Soul stumbled out of the gate and never recovered, finishing just 6–12, last place in the East.

In 2012, the Soul began the season with new head coach Doug Plank. They finished the regular season with the league's best record at 15–3. They would advance to ArenaBowl XXV, but lost to the Arizona Rattlers 72–54. Less than a week later, Plank announced his resignation.

In 2013, the Soul hired offensive coordinator, Clint Dolezel, to succeed Plank. Dolezel's familiarity with many of the Soul players made it easy for the team to maintain success through the 2013 season. The Soul finished the regular season 12-6, winning the Eastern Division for a second season in a row. Dolezel would lead the Soul back to ArenaBowl XXVI, but the team once again fell to the Rattlers 48-39.

In September 2014, New Orleans Saints wide receiver Marques Colston bought a share of the team; Jaworski remained the majority owner. In August 2015, additional pieces of the team were sold to Colston's Saints teammate, Philadelphia native Jahri Evans, and to former Eagles coach Dick Vermeil.

In 2016, the Soul finished the regular season with a 13-3 record, the best in the American Conference. In the playoffs, they first defeated the Tampa Bay Storm, then the Jacksonville Sharks, to claim the American Conference Championship. In ArenaBowl XXIX, they defeated the National Conference Champion Arizona Rattlers 56-42 to claim their second AFL Championship.

Before 2017, the AFL contracted to 5 teams, and the conferences were abolished. The Soul are scheduled to play a 14-game regular season.

Franchise highlights

Power

The Soul and Pittsburgh Power were both located in Pennsylvania. The Power began play in 2011, and both the Power and Soul were placed in the now-defunct East Division. As members of the East Division, the Soul and Power met twice a year, with each team hosting one home game. The series was tied 4-4 by the end of the 2014 season. The Power franchise folded in the 2014-15 off season due to poor attendance numbers, and many of the Power's key franchise players signed with the Soul when Pittsburgh folded.

Desperados

The Dallas Desperados were one of the Soul's biggest rivals. This rivalry originally spurred from the rivalry of the NFL's Philadelphia Eagles and the Dallas Cowboys, but made its way indoors with the Soul and Desperados battling for Eastern Division titles. The Soul lost the first game in this rivalry 51-47 on February 15, 2004. The all-time series ended tied at 5-5 at the demise of the Desperados franchise.

Gladiators

Though originally not as important as the rivalries with the Power and Desperados, the Cleveland Gladiators are the Soul's current biggest rival. The rivalry started in 2008 when the Gladiators moved from Las Vegas to Cleveland, moving them into the same conference and division as the Soul. In their first ever meeting, the Gladiators defeated the Soul 63-35. For the 2017 season, the AFL abolished the conferences, and the Soul and Gladiators are scheduled to play 4 games against one another.

Sharks

The rivalry between the Soul and the Jacksonville Sharks truly began in 2012, the Sharks' defending Arena Bowl championship season and just their second year in the league. Philadelphia hosted the defending champions in the American Conference championship, which the Soul ran away with 89-34 to advance to the Arena Bowl. The following season, the Sharks would finish with the highest record in the conference and would host the Soul in the conference championship, which the Soul would win again, this time 75-59. In the 2015 off season, Soul legends Derrick Ross, Tiger Jones and Jason Holman left the Soul and signed with Jacksonville, and when the Sharks returned to Philadelphia for their third conference championship match up in four seasons, Jacksonville finally overcame the Soul 61-56 to advance to the Arena Bowl. In the 2016 AFL playoffs, the Soul got revenge, defeating the Sharks in the American Conference Championship game, advancing to ArenaBowl XXIX. The Jacksonville Sharks left the AFL after the 2016 season, ending the Soul-Sharks rivalry.

Popular culture

The Soul logo appeared on a 2008 episode of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia entitled "Dennis Reynolds: An Erotic Life". Actress Lisa LoCicero played the role of a "representative" of the team.

Logo and uniforms

The Soul logo is a music note with a white football inside. Their original home jersey was a dark grey, and the road jersey was white. After experimenting with white and silver helmets during the 2004 Preseason, they adopted a dark grey helmet. In 2008, they introduced a blue alternate jersey PHL on the chest and grey pants. The blue jersey was worn throughout the entire 2008 playoffs, including ArenaBowl XXII. However, the blue jerseys did not return when the Soul returned in 2011. On March 13, 2012 the Soul unveiled a modified version of their blue jerseys to become their new home jerseys and matching white road jerseys, as well as a powder blue helmet for their road uniforms. For 2016, they reverted to grey home jerseys.

All-Arena players

The following Soul players have been named to All-Arena Teams:

All-Ironman players

The following Soul players have been named to All-Ironman Teams:

All-Rookie players

The following Soul players have been named to All-Rookie Teams:

Head coaches

Note: Statistics are correct through the end of the 2016 Arena Football League season.