soul
off the field
Gridiron Outlaws
The love of the game drives Alabama Outlawz players to balance full-time jobs and football. By Loyd McIntosh Portraits by Wes Frazer;
Action photos courtesy of John Stalemon
The Alabama Outlawz is an indoor football team that plays its home games at Bill Harris Arena at the Birmingham Crossplex.
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College and Pro Football Hall of Fame member Red Grange once said, “Every football player knows when his time is up.” For most, that’s around age 18. For the lucky few who play a little college ball, maybe 22. By then the bell tolls for the average football player. But John Stalemon, as well as his teammates on the Alabama Outlawz indoor football team, refuses to answer the call. “Every year I say I’m going to retire,” says the 29-year-old wide receiver. “At the end of every season I look to hang up the pads and, every year about this time, I start to get the drive back to play football.” A graduate of Curry High School, Stalemon played college football at Miles — one of the few white players on the Bears’ squad — before testing his luck in professional football. He was invited to a few camps, but never able to catch on with a team. Unable to quell his passion for the game, for the last seven years Stalemon has balanced a full-time job, maintaining overhead cranes, with semipro football. During that time he’s played on outdoor teams owned and operated by sports entrepreneur Lee Ellison. In 2014, Ellison shut down his latest team and formed the Outlawz, a new team competing in the indoor X-League, playing home games at Bill Harris Arena at the Birmingham Crossplex. The Outlawz are the first indoor team of note in Birmingham since the Steeldogs shut down operations in 2007. The team seems to have tapped into a demand for fast-paced, spring football — one Stalemon says they weren’t prepared for. Nearly 2,000 people showed up for the team’s inaugural home game. “We weren’t expecting that big of a crowd and we didn’t have enough people to do ticket sales at the arena,” Stalemon says. “We had one ticket booth open. “The indoor game is 100 miles an hour faster. It’s more exciting, and gets the fans more involved. I don’t ever want to play outdoor ball again,” he adds. “Indoor ball is pretty much a receiver’s fantasy. It’s oneon-one and that’s pretty much all we do, throw the football the whole time. It’s great.” The X-League is a 10-team circuit with teams in Texas, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, North Carolina, Ohio, Illinois and Missouri. Players hold down full-time jobs, practice in the evenings and then travel for as many as 10 hours to put on the pads and helmets and play tackle football. Some people may say they’re nuts, but when you’ve been put on this earth to catch passes, like Stalemon, it’s worth the effort. “During football season it’s hard working a 50- to 60-hour work week and then adding football,” Stalemon says. “It’s a release of all of your frustrations and stuff like that. It comes out in football and that’s the only place I can find it. Once you get a taste of it in you, it’s hard to put it down.”
Details The Alabama Outlawz season begins in March. For an up-to-date schedule or to purchase tickets, visit bamaoutlawz.com.
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| Birmingham |
Feb 15
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: Jerrard Jones, DeCardius Martin, John Bennett and Lloyd Blevins of the Alabama Outlawz. The team takes the field for its second season this spring.