Grieb not flashy, but he was nearly flawless en route to MVP honors

By William Bendetson
ESPN.com


NEW ORLEANS -- Before Sunday's ArenaBowl XXI, Columbus Destroyers coach Doug Kay was watching warm-ups and saw San Jose QB Mark Grieb.

"I really like him," Kay said. "He is really consistent."

Turns out Kay was watching the ArenaBowl MVP warm up and the quarterback was much better than consistent. He was nearly perfect. Grieb was 24-of-29 for 218 yards with four TDs and zero interceptions as he led San Jose to a 55-33 win over Columbus in ArenaBowl XXI. It's San Jose's third AFL title in the past six seasons and Grieb's second MVP honor.

"Mark has a tremendous ability to decipher what the defense is trying to do," said San Jose offensive coordinator Terry Malley. "He also knows how to find the right receiver at the right time."

With three 1,000-yard receivers -- James Roe, Ben Nelson and Rodney Wright -- Grieb and the SaberCats simply took what was open. Columbus couldn't get much pressure on Grieb, so he just destroyed the Destroyers. At one point in the third quarter, he completed nine passes in a row, and he now has thrown the second-most touchdown passes in ArenaBowl history.

"You don't have enough fingers to cover all their receivers," Kay said. "In the first half, we overemphasized our defense on Nelson and Roe and they found the openings. When you don't have a good pass rush, it becomes even more magnified."

Mainly, Grieb and the SaberCats found Wright, who caught six passes for 57 yards in the first half. They also found the end zone, scoring on their first four possessions.

"That was our game plan," Nelson said. "We knew they were going to play a lot of zone so Wright was going to make a lot of catches with his speed. Once they switched to man defense in the second half, that opened it up for Roe and myself."

All told, Wright finished with 10 catches for 94 yards, Roe had eight for 76 yards and two TDs, and Nelson finished with five for 47 yards and one TD.

"A lot of teams have one or two great receivers," Roe said. "But with our team, we have three great receivers plus some young guys who can really play. You can hold us down for some time, but not for long."

In addition to hurting Columbus' defense, Grieb also hurt the Destroyers' offense simply by keeping it off the field. He orchestrated long drives that ran down the clock, including one 14-play drive in the second quarter, and limited the Columbus possessions. In a game in which San Jose was scoring nearly every time it had the ball, this put added pressure on the Destroyers' offense, which just couldn't keep up.

"With a team like Columbus, they are trying to force a lot of turnovers, so you need to remain patient," Grieb said. "The great thing about our offense is that you can't stop us with man defense, so teams play zone. But when Columbus got down, they switched to man, and that is when we have the most fun."

Added Columbus defensive back Brandon Hefflin: "We knew we needed to get pressure on Mark in order for him to make bad decisions, and we barely touched him. He took what we gave him and found the open areas."

He also found another championship for the SaberCats.

"What makes Mark so good is that he watches so much film that he is always well-prepared and comes to meetings with good questions," Malley said. "He spends a tremendous amount of time in the weight room, and he is a team-first person. He does not care how many touchdown passes he throws as long as the team wins."

And sometimes the wins come MVP awards. And sometimes the awards come with cars -- such as the Mitsubishi Spyder that Grieb won Sunday. There might not be any road trips planned just yet, but he definitely has some plans.

"I am going to relax," Grieb said

"I really like him," Kay said. "He is really consistent." And these comments from his press conference before the Arena Bowl game -- "Kay is also known as the ultimate motivator. In a conference call this week with reporters, Kay said that Columbus QB Matt Nagy can throw the ball into the ground as well as anyone or throw the ball high as well anyone, but that no one should question his desire to win."


Coach Kay, yes that is what a consistent QB looks like. You haven't had one in a long while.

He also keeps him mouth shut and does what his coaches tell him to do. I can't believe that you could have an Super Star, like Grieb, that is not a me player but a team player. Did you see his reaction when they first told him that he had won the MVP award -- "No Shit, No Way"

Could that also be why for at least the past 6 years, you have to go though San Jose to either get to the Arena Bowl game or win the Arena Bowl championship.