| 2022 NAL season | |
| League: | National Arena League |
| Sport: | Indoor American football |
| Season: | Regular season |
| Finals: | 2022 NAL Championship |
| Finals Champ: | Albany Empire |
| Finals Runner-Up: | Carolina Cobras |
| Seasonslist: | List of National Arena League seasons |
| Seasonslistnames: | NAL |
| Prevseason Link: | 2021 National Arena League season |
| Prevseason Year: | 2021 |
| Nextseason Link: | 2023 National Arena League season |
| Nextseason Year: | 2023 |
| No Of Teams: | 6 |
The 2022 National Arena League season was the fifth season of the National Arena League (NAL).[1] The league played with only six teams mostly based in the Eastern United States, with one new team arriving from the American Arena League, the San Antonio Gunslingers, based in Texas.[2] The season ended with the Albany Empire, Carolina Cobras, Columbus Lions, and Jacksonville Sharks qualifying for the playoffs[3] and the Albany Empire winning the championship.
For the season, the league re-introduced ironman football rules.[4] This concept had previously been used by the Arena Football League from 1987 up to 2007. Ironman football is a variant that allows players to play in both the offense and the defense for the game.[5] Only two players from the offense, two players from the defense, and one player from the special teams can have a player who has their position for just one side of the ball. The stated goal of the ironman football rules is to see players become more creative by showing their skills on offense and defense.
For 2022, the NAL consisted of six teams without conferences or divisions. Each team played 12 games, six home and six away, with the exception of the Carolina Cobras and the Jacksonville Sharks who both played 14 games,[6] [7] [8] seven home and seven away.[9] [10] During the season, there were two byes given out, with the exception of the Carolina Cobras and the Jacksonville Sharks, where they do not get a bye week.
| Albany Empire | Albany, New York | MVP Arena[11] | 13,000[12] | 2020 | 2021 | Tom Menas | ||
| Carolina Cobras | Greensboro, North Carolina[13] | Greensboro Coliseum Complex[14] [15] | 5,000 | 2018 | 2018 | Josh Resignalo | ||
| Columbus Lions | Columbus, Georgia | Columbus Civic Center[16] | 10,000 | 2006 | 2017 | Jason Gibson | ||
| Jacksonville Sharks | Jacksonville, Florida | VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena[17] | 15,000 | 2009 | 2017 | Siaha Burley | ||
| Orlando Predators | Orlando, Florida | Amway Center | 20,000 | 2019 | 2019 | Jeff Higgins | ||
| San Antonio Gunslingers | San Antonio, Texas | Freeman Coliseum[18] | 11,700 | ! I can not find a capacity for the 'Slingers since they are so new. --> | 2020 | 2021[19] | Fred Shaw[20] |
|---|
| z – Albany Empire | 8 | 4 | .667 | 717 | 619 | W4 | |
| y – Carolina Cobras | 9 | 5 | .643 | 725 | 676 | W1 | |
| x – Columbus Lions | 7 | 5 | .583 | 576 | 554 | W3 | |
| x – Jacksonville Sharks | 7 | 7 | .500 | 707 | 663 | L2 | |
| e – San Antonio Gunslingers | 4 | 8 | .333 | 647 | 720 | L1 | |
| e – Orlando Predators | 3 | 9 | .250 | 492 | 632 | L6 |
y – clinched home playoff game
e – eliminated from playoffs
Reference:[22]
| 1 | Devin Wilson, Jacksonville Sharks | Walter Thomas, Carolina Cobras | Darius Prince, Albany Empire (1/4) | Jarmon Fortson, Columbus Lions | |
| 2 | Sam Castronova, Albany Empire (1/3) | Rob Jones, Jacksonville Sharks | Marc Orozco, Albany Empire (1/3) | Darius Prince, Albany Empire (2/4) | |
| 3 | Darius Prince, Albany Empire (3/4) | Cris Page, Carolina Cobras (1/2) | Marc Orozco, Albany Empire (2/3) | Zack Brown, Carolina Cobras (1/2) | |
| 4 | Malik Henry, Jacksonville Sharks | Kwan Stallworth, Jacksonville Sharks | TC Stevens, Carolina Cobras (1/3) | Miles Kelly, Jacksonville Sharks | |
| 5 | Darius Prince, Albany Empire (4/4) | Cris Page, Carolina Cobras (2/2) | Marc Orozco, Albany Empire (3/3) | Dwayne Hollis, Albany Empire | |
| 6 | Rakeem Cato, Orlando Predators | Droell Greene, Columbus Lions | Cody Barber, Jacksonville Sharks | Anthony Johnson, Jacksonville Sharks | |
| 7 | Arvell Nelson, Jacksonville Sharks | Rodney Hall Jr., Columbus Lions | TC Stevens, Carolina Cobras (2/3) | Zack Brown, Carolina Cobras (2/2) | |
| 8 | Robert Kent, San Antonio Gunslingers (1/2) | Kenny Starks, Columbus Lions | Darien Townsend, Columbus Lions (1/2) | Darien Townsend, Columbus Lions (2/2) | |
| 9 | Robert Kent, San Antonio Gunslingers (2/2) | Droell Greene, Columbus Lions | Daniel Justino, Orlando Predators | Kendrick Ings, Carolina Cobras | |
| 10 | Sam Castronova, Albany Empire (2/3) | Marvin Ross, Albany Empire | Drew Pearson, San Antonio Gunslingers | Trevon Shorts, Albany Empire | |
| 11 | Sam Castronova, Albany Empire (3/3) | Joshua Jenkins, Orlando Predators | TC Stevens, Carolina Cobras (3/3) | DJ Myers, Carolina Cobras | |
| 12 | Mason Espinosa, Columbus Lions | Maurice Leggett, Columbus Lions | Nick Belcher, Orlando Predators | Kamrin Solomon, Jacksonville Sharks |
| QB | Robert Kent | San Antonio Gunslingers | Back-to-back 2022 Offensive Player of the Week. | |
| FB | Pierre Turner | San Antonio Gunslingers | ||
| WR | Khali Rashaad | San Antonio Gunslingers | ||
| WR | DJ Myers | Carolina Cobras | ||
| WR | Phillip Barnett | San Antonio Gunslingers | ||
| OL | Dashawn Johnson | Carolina Cobras | ||
| OL | Brandon Turner | Columbus Lions | ||
| C | Melvin Hollins | Albany Empire |
| Position | Player | Team | Former PotW awards | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ML | Zack Brown | Carolina Cobras | Two time 2022 Ironman Player of the Week. | |
| WL | Trevon Shorts | Albany Empire | 2022 Ironman Player of the Week. | |
| DB | Delvon Randall | Orlando Predators | ||
| DB | Maurice Leggett | Orlando Predators | ||
| DB | Droell Green | Columbus Lions | ||
| DE | Chei Hill | Jacksonville Sharks | ||
| DE | Larry Ford | Carolina Cobras | ||
| DT | Kwan Stallworth | Jacksonville Sharks |
| Position | Player | Team | Former PotW awards | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| K | Marc Orzoco | Albany Empire | Three time 2022 Special Team Player of the Week. | |
| KR | Darien Townsend | Columbus Lions |
| Position | Player | Team | Former PotW awards | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| QB | Sam Castronova | Albany Empire | Three time 2022 Offensive Player of the Week. | |
| FB | Zack Brown | Carolina Cobras | Two time 2022 Ironman Player of the Week. | |
| WR | Darius Prince | Albany Empire | Two time 2022 Offensive Player of the Week, 2022 Special Team Player of the Week, and 2022 Ironman Player of the Week. | |
| WR | Nyqwan Murray | Jacksonville Sharks | ||
| WR | Darien Townsend | Columbus Lions | 2022 Special Teams Player of the Week, 2022 Ironman Player of the Week. | |
| OL | Cornelius Lewis | Albany Empire | ||
| OL | Faleoga Russell | Jacksonville Sharks | ||
| C | Derrick Zeigler | Carolina Cobras |
| Position | Player | Team | Former PotW awards | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ML | Kerry Starks | Columbus Lions | ||
| WL | DJ Myers | Carolina Cobras | 2022 Ironman Player of the Week | |
| DB | Josh Jenkins | Orlando Predators | ||
| DB | Markus Smith | Jacksonville Sharks | ||
| DB | Dwayne Hollis | Albany Empire | 2022 Ironman Player of the Week | |
| DE | Ken Washington | Columbus Lions | ||
| DE | Justin Alexandre | San Antonio Gunslingers | ||
| DT | Walter Thomas | Carolina Cobras | 2022 Defensive Player of the Week |
| Position | Player | Team | Former PotW awards | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| K | TC Stevens | Carolina Cobras | Three time 2022 Special Teams Player of the Week | |
| KR | Kali Rashaad | San Antonio Gunslingers |