((HT: Albany Times-Union/Singelais))
The Albany Firebirds are in the playoffs because the Florida Firecats didn't make the payoffs.
Albany earned an arenafootball2 postseason bid on Monday when the league booted the Firecats "due to their failure to honor league commitments," according to a Firebirds news release.
Citing a league source, the News-Press of Fort Myers, Fla., reported Florida wasn't allowed to participate because the franchise owed af2 more than $200,000.
As a result, the Firebirds (7-9) replace the Firecats as the eighth and final seed in the American Conference.
Albany will face the No. 1 seed Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Pioneers (13-3) on Saturday night in Wilkes-Barre, Pa.
"Hey, we'll go in because of (Florida's) mistake, so we'll take it anyway it goes," Firebirds wide receiver/linebacker Alvin Ray Jackson said.
The Firebirds are in the playoffs for the first time since 2003.
Af2 spokesman Marc Lestinsky didn't return calls to his office and cell phone. A phone message to Florida's office wasn't returned.
It appeared Albany was eliminated from playoff contention Saturday when Florida (7-9) beat Kentucky in the regular-season finale.
Florida had the head-to-head tiebreaker due to its 32-27 win in Albany on April 10.
But Firebirds general manager Garen Szablewski said he told the players and coaching staff to remain in the Capital Region because he'd heard Florida might be deemed ineligible for rules violations.
"We're really excited," Szablewski said. "We really thought our record this year didn't really reflect the quality of the team."
Albany started 0-5 before winning seven of its final 11 games.
Wilkes-Barre is 3-0 against Albany this season, including a 49-40 home win over the Firebirds on July 18.
"We couldn't be happer to get in the playoffs," Firebirds quarterback Stephen Wasil said. "We played them tough last time and I don't see any reason why we shouldn't have won."
The Firebirds return to practice this morning in Halfmoon.
The statement, in full, is pretty lengthy and can be found by clicking in black...
The Firecats explanation can be found here...
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