Player Spotlight with Joe Brannen

Adam Barnhardt: 'Stormer Nation here with Iowa's most loved quarterback, Joe Brannen. Joe, you were the first player to be re-signed. You must have known that you knew at the very beginning of the offseason that you were coming back?

Joe Brannen: After last season I knew right away Iowa was the place I wanted to be playing. We have the best fans in the league, an amazing coaching staff, and I knew from talking with the coaches and the guys that we would be returning a very strong nucleus of guys from last year. Couple that with the recruiting efforts of the coaches and the talent level of players that they would be bringing in I was and am very excited about our potential coming into 2009.

AB: Have you been following the situation with the AFL any?

JB: Yeah I've been following it quite a bit. Its too bad of a deal for the players, coaches, front office staffs, and fans of the AFL that they had to suspend this season. I am hoping and am confident that you will see the AFL come back stronger in 2010.

AB: After college at Coe, you went on to play over seas. How'd you come up with that idea? Did the team contact you or did you pursue them?

JB: I was actually coaching quarterbacks and running backs at Coe and was approached by a coach on an opposing team that recruited American players to play in Europe. It was a hard transition for me to coach instead of play so when the opportunity of playing football again, no matter where it was in the world, came knocking I jumped all over it!

AB: After that, did you immediately come back to play with the Barnstormers or did you take a while to decide where you wanted to play?
JB: I was working for a company in Omaha and I heard the Barnstormers were coming back. I remember watching the Barnstormers the first time around and always dreamed of playing for them. I guess you could say being a Barnstormer is kind of a dream come true. As soon as I had the opportunity in front of me it didn't take long to make up my mind!

AB: You started out the season as the second string, when did you get the heads up that you were going to start? Did you see it coming or was it kind of a spur of the moment type thing?

JB: It was something that I was working for. After the first two games of coming off the bench Coach let me know that I would be the starter for the Quad City game early that week in practice.

AB: Throughout the games that you've been through, team scrimmages and actual season games, who do you think that the hardest hitter on the team is? What about the hardest hitter you've played so far?

JB: As far as teams we have played, the offensive line and fullbacks have done a great job of keeping opposing players from being able to tee off on me so I couldn't really give you a good answer as far as the hardest hitter I've played against. There are a lot of guys out there in the league though that can really bring the wood. On our team we had quite a few guys last year that liked to hit. If you play defense you are always looking to hit someone, Tanner, Matthes, Simpson, Chuck and all the guys on the Barnstormer defense are big hitters. Luckily they don't hit the quarterback in practice so I couldn't honestly tell you who hits hardest.

AB: For the upcoming season, we have re-signed two of our top three receivers in Tim Dodge and Errick McCown as well as upcoming fan favorite Dusty Kain. Coach Gregory has also done a fantastic job on bringing in new talent with Tommy Ellingworth, Terrance Isaac, and Vonzell Pittman. You must be completely estatic with the depth of receivers you have to throw the ball to.

JB: I just hope we have enough footballs to go around. Our timing was really coming along at the end of the season with Tim, E-Speed, and DK. I know we are all looking forward to picking up right where we left off. They are all great receivers. The thing that sets those guys apart is their unselfishness, if you watch, they each block for each other on every single play. You will never see one of our receivers standing around watching. They are always busting it to make a block that might turn a ten yard reception into a touchdown. As far as the new guys go, I have heard great things about each of them and am very excited for camp to get here to see what they bring to the table. I have thrown with Tommy a few times and he has some real talent as I'm positive the others do too. If Coach is bringing you into camp, there is no doubt you can play football.

AB: The only af2 expansion for this season was the Milwaukee Iron. Since Louisville ceased operations for a year, the leage decided to move Lexington out and Milwaukee into the American Midwest division to make it more geographically-friendly as well as an even amount of teams. What are your feelings about the Iron? They have been signing a decent amount of ex-Green Bay Blizzard players so they could end up being a tough team.

JB: From what I have been hearing they are very excited to be playing in the league this year and have been busy signing very good football players. I am sure they will be a very tough team. In this league there are no pushover teams, each team on the field has a great chance to win the ball game every Saturday night.

AB: What game(s) are you looking forward to most this year?

JB: The first one! While some teams are more of a rival than others, as a player the only game you can focus on an look forward to is the next one on your schedule. As of night now that is Milwaukee. After Milwaukee our focus turns to Tulsa and so on. You have to focus on one game at a time. As soon as you start looking forward to a game that might be a few weeks down the road you don't focus as much on the game right in front of you. With the league as tough as it is you can never overlook an opponent.

AB: Any last words that you'd like to say to the viewers about this season?

JB: First off, thanks a ton for all the support last season. It was amazing to see all the fans in the stands at The Well on Saturday nights! Second of all, I am very excited about this new, upcoming season. We learned a lot in our inaugural season last year and we are looking forward to a spectacular season in '09. It's going to be a lot of fun to be part of the Barnstormer organization no matter what your role may be! Fan, player, coach, owner, office staff, or sponsor you have to be excited about the potential of the new season. It's only a couple months away!

AB: Thanks for taking the time to sit down with us!

JB: No problem, thanks for having me! Go stormers!