MICHAEL KIRAL / L’Observateur / August 21, 1999

LAPLACE – Damon Mason remembers the scene vividly.

His Orlando Predators were playing Grand Rapides during the 1999 Arena Football League regular season. Mason, the Predators’ defensive specialist,slipped twice in the game and both he and the team were soundly beaten.

After that game, the Predators’ coaches and players were pondering what was wrong with a team that had captured the league championship the year before. Mason, a key player on the team, realized he was not helpingthe team and was not living the life he needed to. It was at that point thatMason, a very spiritual person, went back to God.

“I learned what you do off the field affects what you do on the field,” Mason, a former Destrehan High School and Southwestern Louisiana star, said. “How you play was reflective of what you did off the field. That wasthe turning point for me and the team.”The Predators, who had been 5-6 at one point, went on to win two of their final three games and made the playoffs as the No. 8 seed. After pullingoff two upsets, Orlando finds itself where it was a year ago, playing in the Arena Bowl.

Orlando will play the Albany Firebirds in Arena Bowl XIII today in Albany, N.Y. Kickoff is scheduled for 2 p.m. and will be televised on ABC TV. “It feels good,” Mason said of making it back to the Arena Bowl. “It’s beenan up and down year. Getting back to the playoffs, it’s like another season.It doesn’t matter what happened in the regular season.”In order to get to the Arena Bowl, Orlando had to survive a rough road in the playoffs. In the first round, the Predators upset Tampa Bay, the topseed, 41-19. Orlando then came back to defeat Iowa, the No. 2 seed, 48-41,in the semifinals. It was the first time in league history that a No. 8 seedhad defeated the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds in the playoffs. Mason made a bigcontribution, intercepting a pass against Tampa Bay and picking off two, returning one for a touchdown, against Iowa.

Orlando will be facing an Albany team that can put points on the board in a hurry. The Firebirds, the No. 3 seed, defeated Grand Rapids, 55-45, in thefirst round and Arizona, 73-47, in the semifinals. The Predators andFirebirds split their season series.

Last year, the Predators won the title, defeating Tampa Bay, 62-31, in Arena Bowl XII in Tampa. Mason helped the Predators to the championshipwith a 22-yard interception return for a touchdown.

Mason joined the team during the regular season after starting out with the Louisiana Bayou Beast of the Professional Indoor Football League.

Because he was with the Predators for only part of the season, he said making it to the Arena Bowl again this year felt better because he made a bigger contribution to it.

“I had a more important role this year,” Mason said. “How I played helpedus get there. It feels a lot better.”Mason did indeed have a lot to do with the Predators returning to defend their crown. He set a single season AFL record with 116 tackles and hadgames of 16 and 15 tackles to get the single-game mark. He is currentlyup for the all-Arena Football League team and is a candidate for the league’s Defensive Most Valuable Player.

Because of his inexperience last year, the coaches had Mason play at back side cornerback. This year, with a year under his belt, Mason has beenmoved to defensive specialist, essentially the safety spot, to take advantage of his speed. Nine out of 10 times, Mason would be facing theopposing team’s offensive specialist, which unlike in the NFL, was allowed to move toward the line of scrimmage before the ball was snapped.

“I learned, in Arena ball, it’s all about angles as far as receiving and playing defensive back,” Mason said. “The receiver is always trying todisguise his route. If you can cover anybody in this league, you can coverreceivers anywhere.”Mason said this Orlando team is different than the one that won the title last year with a lot of new guys. But he is confident that the team canmake it back to back championships.

“The team has really come together,” Mason said. “We’ve come togetherwhen it counted in the playoffs and we will have to again this game to win back the championship.”

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