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15 Questions: Bill Barnwell

If you would ask any GM how they arrived at the USAFL site, the typical response would be that they saw a link or perhaps a friend referred them. Not so for Bill Barnwell. As the lead feature reporter for BlitzSports.com, he was told to visit the USAFL website to do a review for the FBPRO Radio Show. Just one visit and he was hooked for life. "It was so overwhelming that I couldn't even comprehend the sheer amount of content that was maintained on the page," says Barnwell.

Barnwell's background with BlitzSports.com (now defunct) brought tremendous resources to the USAFL. At one time the USAFL was housed on their servers. The FBPRO Radio Show featured weekly USAFL scores and storylines, adding to the mystique of the USAFL experience. "It was a marvelous time in the USAFL," says Andrew Lewis. "To be able to logon to the internet every Saturday and listen to the 30 minute show, just to hear scores and stuff about our league. Just knowing that all the FBPRO nuts around the world were tuning in made it seem like we were on top of the world!"

"Guys like Barnwell, Ricotta, Malloy, and Edwards have added so much ground-level leadership to this league," continues Lewis. "Each of them have been involved in countless sports sim leagues and know how unique the USAFL is. Their insights have been invaluable to me over the years."

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DENVER BRONCOS GM Bill Barnwell

1. You've had a long and notable career in the USA Football League, including a couple of championships when you served as an AGM for Joe Malloy's Dallas Cowboys in the second era of the USAFL. When the league re-launched you became the GM of the Kansas City Chiefs with then superstud QB David Erickson at the helm. How excited were you that day back in May 2001 when you first found out that the USAFL was coming back?

-->I was thrilled - I had been out of FBPRO leagues for about a year or two at that point, and I was getting the jones to get back in right around then - so when Andrew contacted me to join the re-formed USAFL, it was the perfect time. When I checked the rosters for the league and saw that I had a monster QB, I was even more excited.

2. Your best season with the Chiefs would probably be the 2003 season, when they won the AFC West division with a 10-4 record. They eventually lost by 1 point to the Oakland Raiders in the AFC Championship Game. The Chiefs were never the same after that game, losing to Denver in the first round of the playoffs the next two seasons, followed by nearly two decades of frustrating losing seasons. How tough was that loss on you personally as a GM and for your team? Did that game have an impact on your later decision to retire from the game?

-->I'd like to say no - but in hindsight, I think it did. I still honestly feel that we were the best team that season, and that it was our best chance to win a title. The Chiefs as a franchise, I think, were defined by that loss - our RB, Brent Wolski, could only run for 43 yards on 22 carries in that game. I think that, even with Birch Fraser, an ace running back replacing him, our offensive line always had to deal with the stigma of not being able to push the Raiders line.

As for leaving the USAFL, to be honest, that had nothing to do with the losing. What it did have to with was the feeling I had that I couldn't manage my team competitively - THAT had something to do with the losing. I would go 3 drafts in my perpetual rebuilding, and then I'd have to miss one for one reason or another - it was unfortunate, but not something I could control. It would retard my efforts, and after a while, I said to myself, "This team and this league deserves an active GM". Fortunately, they got one in Steve.

3. After several seasons in retirement, you stepped back into the game by taking the AGM position with Fred Hurtubise's Tampa Bay Buccaneers. What brought you back?

-->I wanted to destroy Fred from the inside.

I win.

4. You since landed the GM position of the Denver Broncos, after a much-maligned Ben Breeden stepped down. The media limelight in Denver really took it's toll on Breeden. How have you dealt with that? As well as the city's expectations for championship teams?

-->I think that the media in Denver is irritating, quite frankly. I mean - there's a terrible smog in Denver. It's awful. And what does the press do about this? They ALL smoke. Not smoke in the casual sense, but in the "two packs a press conference" sense. It's atrocious. As for the city - they deserve championship teams. We've been to the playoffs each year since I've joined the team, and I expect that excellence to continue.

5. Now that you are firmly in place as the Broncos GM, it appears you have developed a wonderful rivalry with the current GM of the Kansas City Chiefs, Steve Harrison. How cool is that that the Broncos/Chiefs rivalry continues on into history, no matter who is at the helm?

-->It's great - I'm just happy I'm on the winning side.

6. Back in the heyday of the Front Page Sports Football Pro series, you were part of the BlitzSports.com team that produced the weekly Internet Radio Program, The FBPRO Show. In fact, that show was how you discovered the USA Football League. You were the feature reporter who visited the site and reviewed it for The FBPRO Show (you gave it a Touchdown rating I recall, with the Extra Point sailing wide right). For most of the folks reading this interview, they have no clue what the FBPRO world was like on the net back then. What memories do you have of those days? And what brought you to the USAFL to begin with?

-->I have a million stories and memories - it'd take too much time to tell them all. I remember getting on AOL in 1995 and joining the pay leagues in the Grandstand area - this was when AOL would accept a $10 fee and you would join a Football Pro league for a season. There would be a keyword on AOL that you could go to that would allow you to access your league, and from there you could post your game plans and profiles, download league files, talk on a bulletin board, etc. That was my first in to the FBPRO world. From there, I had to play in, geez, maybe 40, 50 different leagues. Most of them were custom play leagues - I still use the custom plays I would create now in the custom play designer for Madden. They all work a thousand times better than they did in FBPRO. I also remember the halcyon days of Internet venture capitalists - we (being me, Jason Tudor, and two other friends of ours) received an five-figure offer to purchase the site, along with four figures monthly to maintain the site. I forget why we turned it down...

As for why I joined the USAFL - I had never seen a more impressive website for a league than I had for the USAFL. Why did I only give it 6/7? It was so overwhelming that I couldn't even comprehend the sheer amount of content that was maintained on the page. I joined because it looked like the premier league on the 'net - my own aside. :)

7. Let's talk about your current team. You lost to the Baltimore Ravens, 23-16, in the first round of last season's playoffs. How surprising was that loss?

-->It was pretty shocking - I mean, honestly, when you think about the elite teams of the league, Baltimore's not one that comes to mind. But they outplayed us. Our offense didn't execute as well it could've. Hopefully, that will be alleviated in FA.

8. Looking ahead to next week and the start of the 2032 regular season, how tough of a job will your team have considering they were hit really hard with retirements this past off-season?

-->We've still got Reggie Albert. We're in the mix just because of him, alone.

9. In our league, there are several different levels of competiveness. Describe your competitive spirit when it comes to the USAFL. What keeps you involved?

-->I think the main reason for why I (try and) remain competitive in the USAFL changes as time goes on. I think at the beginning, it was to win a title - and I came close. After that, it was to beat Ben and successfully complete a rebuilding process. I couldn't do either of those. Now, it's to re-establish myself as a quality GM in the league, and come out of the shadow of Benver and the franchise he built, and make it my own.

10. What one feature of the USAFL would you say is by far, the best component to the league?

--> I think for me, it's the custom plays that Todd created. I was always nagging Andrew to let me create custom plays that wouldn't result in defensive monsters dominating the league way back when. Of course, when I got two monster DL, the plays were ready. :) They really make the league much more fun and realistic, though.

11. If you could have any ACTIVE player on your team right now, who would it be?

--> I have him already - Reggie Albert. I think he's the best offensive player in USAFL history.

Outside of my team, I've seen most everyone go for skill position players, so I'll go for one of the unsung heroes - the linemen - and select Ernie Spindler, the tackle on Minnesota. A 5 year guy who still has room to grow and already has 80's in all the important categories? Beautiful.

12. Let's say you do make the Super Bowl this season, which team would you like to face?

--> Out of all the NFC teams, Arizona. And I'd beat them 73-0.

Out of all the NFC teams that have a realistic shot, I'd like to beat New York, because I served my apprenticeship under Joe Malloy.

13. How many of your family/friends know that you are a hard-core USAFLer? Do you talk about it with them? Or are you a closet USAFLer?

--> My family and friends know about my FBPRO obsession through Blitzsports, so that's nothing new to them. I'm not sure they know about the USAFL specifically, though.

14. Describe your environmental setting on a draft night. Do you draft from work/home? Do you order out for pizza/wings/etc? How much paperwork are you looking through to make your selection, or is all your scouting work done on the computer?

--> I draft from my cozy apartment in the South end of Boston. Usually I've got a drink of some sort (non-alcoholic, since I have work/classes in the morning). Since I'm in college, I have no money for food - so usually I'm drafting hungry. I have an Excel spreadsheet open with my team and the draft pool's ratings and formulas. If I don't have the draft pool with formulas run on it, I figure I might as well not show up - as I won't be drafting very intelligently.

15. Which of the following would you rather have in your trophy case? One Lorne Sundby Cup, three James Maurer GM of the Year Awards, six AFC Championship trophies, four Bing Bennett Most Valuable Player Awards, five Tim Arkwright Rookie of the Year Awards, or ten AFC West Division Championship trophies?

I gotta go with the majority here too - especially since I haven't won one. That Sundby Cup would look mighty nice on my mantle.

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NEXT WEEK: Baltimore Ravens GM Martin Lemay