Nagy savors success in AFL

He thinks of NFL, but still feels lucky

By ED GRUVER, Staff
Intelligencer Journal

Published: Aug 04, 2007


LANCASTER COUNTY, Pa. - Matt Nagy has always been able to see the big picture, whether it involves speed-reading defenses or seeing what's ahead of the next curve on life's road.

Maybe that helps explain his success as a championship quarterback at Manheim Central, the University of Delaware and in the Arena Football League. Last Sunday, he was at the wheel of Columbus' offense in the AFL championship game.

Nagy and the Destroyers lost to San Jose, 55-33, but by midweek, he had pretty much put the defeat behind him.

The reason why has much to do with his view of the aforementioned big picture.

"I'm going to be 'Mr. Mom' for the next six months," Nagy said with a laugh, shortly after his return home to Lancaster. "My wife (Stacey) is going back to teaching, so I'm going to be hanging out with our kids (Brayden, age 3, and one-year old Tate). I'll be playing with them."

Following a season which saw him complete a franchise record 341 passes and throw for a single-season record 75 touchdowns against just 15 interceptions, Nagy has earned some relaxation time with his family.

He engineered road upsets of Tampa Bay, Dallas, and his former team, Georgia, in the AFL playoffs, throwing for a combined 14 TDs and rushing for five scores en route to the National Conference title.

Against heavily-favored San Jose in the championship game in New Orleans, Nagy matched SaberCats QB Mark Grieb touchdown for touchdown, each throwing four. But the 'Cats, the league's Team of the Decade with three AFL titles in six years, pulled away on the strength of their defense.

"It was a fun year and one I'll always remember," Nagy said. "We weren't expected to go to the championship game. We were the No. 6 team in the (National) Conference, and they only take six (to the playoffs).

"To go on the road and beat quality teams, no one expected us to do that."

Of the loss to San Jose, Nagy said that the two weeks off between the National Conference championship July 14 and the league title game proved to be something less than a blessing.

"We got out of our rhythm during the week off," he said, "and we weren't able to get it back."

Nagy's appearance in the title game was his second in three seasons. In 2005, as a member of the Georgia Force, he emerged from a backup role to lead his team to its first National Conference championship and to a berth in ArenaBowl XIX. Georgia lost to Colorado.

That he was traded by Georgia to Columbus last Aug. 16 didn't come as a surprise to him.

"It didn't catch me off-guard," he said. "Georgia and myself were looking to go in different directions."

Not that he has Georgia on his mind any longer.

"The way it worked out, I'm very excited," he said. "I'm in contract negotiations to go back to Columbus, and I don't see why it wouldn't work out."

Neither, apparently, does Columbus coach Doug Kay.

"Matt Nagy has been a wonderful fit for this team," Kay told the Associated Press on the eve of the title game. "There's not anybody I'd rather have."

Small wonder, since Nagy was named league Offensive MVP five times during the regular season. The last honor came in the wake of a playoff-clinching win in New York, where he completed 25-of-33 passes for 256 yards, 7 TDs and zero interceptions.

Nagy's success in the AFL surprises few who have followed his career since his days as the Barons' QB, when he led Central to consecutive District Three Class AAA titles in 1994 and '95 and berths in the PIAA Eastern finals opposite Berwick.

Nagy traces much of his success to a conversation he had at the end of his sophomore season with Barons boss Mike Williams.

"I still remember the day when he said to me, 'You have the potential to be a starter and one of the better (QBs) we've had,' " Nagy said. "I know the time and effort he and his staff put in, a lot of time that people don't see.

"I learned from him what hard work and determination can do for you."

Nagy took the lessons he learned at Central with him when he played at the University of Delaware. He established 20 career passing records, including completions (502), yards (8,214) and TDs (58). In 2000, he led the Blue Hens to the NCAA Division I-AA national semifinal.

While he still thinks about playing in the NFL, the 29-year-old Nagy sounds content to close out his pro career in the AFL, then get into coaching football at the high school level.

"Do I think about the NFL? I do, and my agents are working on that," he said. "But if it doesn't happen, I still feel blessed and fortunate to be where I am now."

Sounds like a guy who has the big picture squarely in focus.