For fans of the Nashville Kats, finding the greatest updates, stories, and learning about the team’s history is a thing which all fans may want to do. If you are looking to learn about how your favorite team got started up, or how the players and team first came to be, there are several places to learn about the history of this great team, and how they became such a huge team for the fans in Nashville. There are several online sites, such as wikipedia, or even the (more…)

Andy Kelley was a notable quarterback in the Arena Football League (AFL), which is the highest professional league of indoor American Football. He has played the quarterback position for eight different AFL teams. He began his quarterback career playing for the Charlotte Rage in 1993. His most recent quarterback stint was with the New Orleans Voodoo. However, he only played with the New Orleans Voodoo for one year. The team that he played for the longest was none other than the (more…)

The Nashville Kats were an Arena Football League (AFL) team, which operated from 1997 until 2001. Inside the friendly confines of the Gaylord Entertainment Center, now known as Bridgestone Arena, the Kats were successful in reaching two AFL Championship games and being awarded the title of the AFL’s “Organization of the Year” in 1997.

In 2004, after the team lost scope under the ownership of Atlanta businessman, Virgil Williams, the Kats were purchased by Arthur Blank, a successful entrepreneur in his own right, who already had owned the Atlanta Falcons and the co-founder of the (more…)

The Nashville Kats were a defunct football team in the Arena Football League, and they were located in the great city of Nashville, Tennessee. Pat Sperduto was the last coach officially on hire with them, and he coached them all way to dual ArenaBowel appearances before the franchise took a shift to Atlanta in 2002. The Nashville Kats were fan favorites in the state of Tennessee, and the move to Georgia was shunned by all. People were saddened that their favorite team was taking off for the East Coast. However, Tennessee still holds a soft spot in their hearts for the (more…)

Just like the Phoenix in Egypt, the Nashville Kats arena football team is going to return from the ashes. An open tryout will be held for the Kats and anyone who thinks they’ve got what it takes to play in the fast and furious arena football league will be showing up. There’s plenty of support still out there for the Kats. The old fan base has been waiting on pins and needles for this new startup and there will be a lot of excitement when the season (more…)

The Nashville Kats were often looking for a great quarterback. There are a lot of people out there who would have preferred that the Nashville Kats were able to find a quarterback in the mold of a Jay Cutler who played at Vanderbilt University. It was difficult to find someone with the kind of talent that Jay Cutler has in the Arena Football League. Cutler probably spoiled a lot of those Nashville based football fans in his four years at Vanderbilt. Jay Cutler of course went on to play in the NFL with the Denver Broncos and the Chicago Bears. (more…)

As we’ve mentioned on other pages, the original Nashville Kats team went down to Georgia. How did this occur, thoughwere they following the devil’s call? Hardly. Atlanta businessman Virgil Williams purchased the franchise for almost 10 million in December 2001. When the team’s owners couldn’t negotiate a lease with the Nashville Predators to remain in their arena, Williams moved the team to Georgia and applied the Georgia Force moniker. The actual name was chosen by Georgian Anthony Ward through a contest held by the Atlanta Journal Constitution.Williams ran the team for three years. The Force played its first season in 2002, housed in Philips Arena. The arena, which is located in downtown Atlanta, has historically been the home of the NBA Atlanta Hawks and the NHL Atlanta Thrashers. In 2003, the Force moved to the Arena at Gwinnett Center, located in Duluth, and stayed there for two seasons, making it to the playoffs in 2003. When Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank purchased the franchise in 2004, he announced that the team would return to Philips Arena, but the team moved back to the Gwinnett Center in 2008. If this all sounds confusing, consider that the Nashville Kats also played at a number of stadiums in Nashville, but they were mostly all different names for the current Bridgestone Arena. (more…)

It’s the story of a building with more identities than the killer in a horror movie.For the entirety of their lifecycle, the Kats’ home games were played in the building originally known as Nashville Arena, then the Gaylord Entertainment Center, and then the Sommet Center. Owner Bud Adams pondered the idea of building a new arena when the franchise was reinstated in 2005, but the Nashville Predators agreed to welcome the Kats into their fold once more.Currently known as the Bridgestone Arena, the building which housed the Kats was only one year old when the team was created. The architectural firm HOK Sport (which itself has now changed its name to Populous) was behind the aesthetically-appealing engineering of the stadium, which features a Frisbee-shaped stadium with a rectangular entry area and lobby. (more…)

While an iteration of the Nashville Kats still survives in Georgia as the Georgia Force, the Nashville players have moved on to other pursuits. Today, we take a look back at some of our favorite players from the short-lived team.James Baron (OL/DL): This Indiana native started off with the Detroit Lions, then played with the Kats in both iterations. After the breakup, he returned to the Chicago Rush, with whom he played during the three-year interim. Today, though, Baron is a free agent for the AFL and works at many volunteer centers in the Nashville and Chicago communities.Daryl Hammond (WR/LB): The Kats’ 2006 season was the last one Hammond would play before retiring from the AFL. Since then, Hammond’s been practicing his other skills, appearing in various films (Invincible, Hannah Montana: The Movie), and currently working as a counselor and assistant football coach at Tennessee’s Independence High School. (more…)