The year of the Dubai Stallions continued at the Emirates American Football League Player Awards as Davion Miller earned Most Valuable Player honours and Anthony Daniels was named Coach of the Year.
After celebrating their long-awaited Desert Bowl triumph in March, the Stallions finished atop two of the noteworthy categories at Friday’s Player Awards banquet at The Els Club, Dubai Sports City.
Miller, who was the MVP of the Desert Bowl as well, beat out team-mate Askia Horne-Pierre, Dubai Barracudas’ Alex Rodriguez and Zavier Cobb, Abu Dhabi Wildcats’ Vivaldi Tulysse and Corey Williams, and Al Ain Desert Foxes’ Adeeb Labaran.
“Well deserved,” said Daniels, who accepted the award on behalf of Miller.
“He had a great season and I don’t think that anybody else could have been close to winning that MVP award like he did with the season he had.”
Daniels was chosen over Barracudas’ Kyle Jordan, Wildcats’ Charles Gillespie and Desert Foxes’ Darrell Magee as top head coach.
“They [the team] won it for me. Those guys work hard, they listen and they put their hearts into it. That makes my job easier,” Daniels said.
And, Daniels is already looking forward to defending the crown.
“This was a good year for the Stallions and our goal is to improve on it,” he said.
“The next thing is two in a row, that’s what we have to strive for. Individual awards, we’re not really concerned about.
"They’ll come. What we’re looking forward to is getting out there, getting to the Desert Bowl again and winning it.”
The Offensive, Defensive and Special Teams Player of the Year awards were swept by the Barracudas as Cobb, Rodriguez and Suliman Gaouda walked away with the respective titles.
“It’s always nice to get the team award; but the league award, that’s pretty important,” said Rodriguez, who also earned the team’s top defensive honours.
“I remember after last season seeing that award, that was one of my goals from last season to get it this season.
“You’re only as good as the team you’re on, so without a good defensive unit, no one player could ever stand out.”
EAFL general manager Dustin Cherniawski announced upcoming changes to the league’s rule book, which will be tweaked to make them unique to the UAE.
“Starting next year, we’ll have the EAFL’s very own rule book,” Cherniawski said.
“So there will be a few very unique rules that are special to the UAE and football here in the Middle East.
"You can look for those changes, which will be from inputs of the coaches, club presidents and a big part from the official association as an independent body.”
