2018 Albany Empire season

The 2018 Albany Empire season was the first season for the franchise in the Arena Football League. The Empire play home games at the Times Union Center.

2018 Albany Empire season
Owner	Main owners: George Randolph Hearst III Dan Nolan Ed Swyer Partner owners (with Philadelphia Soul): Ron Jaworski Craig Spencer Pete Ciarrocchi Cosmo DeNicola Martin E. Judge Dick Vermeil Marques Colston Jahri Evans Nicholas Giuffre Philip Jaurigue Stewart Anmuth Gil Peter Hal Brunson
Head coach	Rob Keefe
Home field	Times Union Center
Results
Record	8–4
League place	1st
Playoff finish	Eliminated in semifinals
Albany Empire 2019 →

Standings

2018 Arena Football League standings
Team	Overall			Points		Records
	W	L	PCT	PF	PA	Home	Away	GB	STK
(#)-Albany Empire	8	4	.667	646	564	4–3	4–1	—	W3
Baltimore Brigade	7	5	.583	605	562	5–1	2–4	1	L3
Philadelphia Soul	7	5	.583	612	577	3-2	4-3	1	L1
Washington Valor	2	10	.167	482	642	1–5	1–5	6	W1

^(#) - clinched regular season title

Roster

2018 Albany Empire roster

Quarterbacks  4 Tommy Grady  6 Kyle Rowley  12 Mike Fafaul Fullbacks  9 Mykel Benson Wide receivers 81 Joe Hills  7 Malachi Jones 11 Collin Taylor 18 Jordan Williams		Offensive linemen 68 Ryan Cave 75 Hayworth Hicks 72 Bret Piekarski 93 Moqut Ruffins Defensive linemen  3 Darryl Cato-Bishop 99 Nick Seither 91 Brandon Sesay 50 Derrick Summers  1 Joe Sykes		Linebackers 13 Wesley Mauia  8 Terence Moore Defensive backs 12 Arkeith Brown 21 Marrio Norman  5 Terrance Smith 10 Varmah Sonie Kickers 19 Kenny Spencer		Injured reserve -- Paul Browning WR (IR) 12 Mike Fafaul QB (IR) 24 Arthur Hobbs DB (IR) -- Erick McIntosh DB (IR) 14 Al Phillips DB (IR)  5 Brandon Stephens DB (IR) Other league exempt currently vacant League suspension 45 Brian Brikowski DL (Susp.)  2 Greg Carr WR (Susp.) -- Julian Talley WR (Susp.) Refused to report currently vacant Inactive reserve currently vacant Recallable reassignment currently vacant rookies in italics Roster Archived 2018-07-31 at the Wayback Machine updated July 19, 2018 23 Active, 9 Inactive → More rosters

Staff

Albany Empire staff

	Front office Albany ownership group – George Randolph Hearst III Albany ownership group – Daniel Nolan Albany ownership group – Ed Swyer Philadelphia ownership group – Craig A. Spencer Philadelphia ownership group – Ron Jaworski Philadelphia ownership group – Pete Ciarrocchi Philadelphia ownership group – Cosmo DeNicola Philadelphia ownership group – Martin E. Judge Philadelphia ownership group – Marques Colston Philadelphia ownership group – Dick Vermeil Philadelphia ownership group – Nicholas Giuffre Philadelphia ownership group – Jahri Evans Philadelphia ownership group – Philip Jaurigue Philadelphia ownership group – Stewart Anmuth Philadelphia ownership group – Gil Peter Philadelphia ownership group – Hal Brunson President – John Adams Director of operations – Chris Thompson			Coaches Head coach – Rob Keefe Assistant head coach – Les Moss Offensive coordinator – Chris Thompson[1]

Schedule

Regular season

The 2018 regular season schedule was released on February 13, 2018.^[2]

Week	Day	Date	Kickoff	Opponent	Results		Location	Attendance
					Score	Record
1	Saturday	April 14	7:00 PM EDT	Philadelphia Soul	L 35–56	0–1	Times Union Center	13,648
2	Bye
3	Saturday	April 28	3:00 PM EDT	at Baltimore Brigade	L 49–52	0–2	Royal Farms Arena	4,796
4	Saturday	May 5	7:30 PM EDT	Washington Valor	W 47–23	1–2	Times Union Center	10,065
5	Friday	May 11	7:00 PM EDT	at Washington Valor	W 53–42	2–2	Capital One Arena	9,037
6	Saturday	May 19	6:00 PM EDT	at Philadelphia Soul	W 41–36	3–2	Wells Fargo Center	9,715
7	Saturday	May 26	6:00 PM EDT	Washington Valor	W 48–21	4–2	Times Union Center	7,847
8	Saturday	June 2	7:00 PM EDT	Baltimore Brigade	W 61–53	5–2	Times Union Center	8,057
9	Saturday	June 9	7:00 PM EDT	Baltimore Brigade	L 56–59	5–3	Times Union Center	8,767
10	Saturday	June 16	6:00 PM EDT	Philadelphia Soul	L 74–75	5–4	Times Union Center	9,534
11	Saturday	June 23	7:30 PM EDT	at Baltimore Brigade	W 56–49	6–4	Royal Farms Arena	5,552
12	Friday	June 29	7:00 PM EDT	at Washington Valor	W 55–41	7–4	Capital One Arena	5,044
13	Saturday	July 7	7:00 PM EDT	Philadelphia Soul	W 71–57	8–4	Times Union Center	10,082

Playoffs

Round	Day	Date	Kickoff	Opponent	Result	Location
Semifinal #1	Saturday	July 14	7:00 PM EDT	at Washington Valor	W 57–56 OT	Capital One Arena
Semifinal #2	Saturday	July 21	7:30 PM EDT	Washington Valor	L 40–47	Times Union Center

References

1. "ALBANY AFL NAMES CHRIS THOMPSON DIRECTOR OF FOOTBALL OPERATIONS". Albany AFL team. November 14, 2017. Archived from the original on January 22, 2018. Retrieved May 21, 2018.
2. "Arena Football League to Kick Off 2018 Season with New Playoff Rules, More Ticket Options for Fans". AFL. February 13, 2018. Archived from the original on February 14, 2018. Retrieved May 21, 2018.