PAW PATROL

AFL LEGEND ‘SUGAR’ SHANE STAFFORD, NATE LEWIS LIVE TUESDAY WITH 1010 KXPS HOST JULIE BUEHLER

(PALM SPRINGS) — It will be a little surreal for SoCal Coyotes head coach J. David Miller on Tuesday (January 8) at 12:15 p.m. (PST) when quarterbacks past and present join radio personality Julie Buehler live on KXPS 1010 (www.team1010.com).

Future Hall of Famer “Sugar” Shane Stafford, the 10th all-time passing leader in the history of the Arena Football League with 24,525 yards and 451 touchdowns, will join the popular ‘Jules’ on a new weekly Coyote segment called ‘Paw Patrol.’

Also in the booth will be SoCal Coyotes AAA National Player of the Year Nate Lewis, who huddled with Stafford a week before his two-day workout with the San Jose Sabercats to prepare himself for the next level of play. During Lewis’s workouts, Stafford texted Miller for update’s on his understudy’s performance.

“Sugar is a class act and as a player was as good as it gets,” said Coach Miller, who worked under AFL Hall of Fame head coach Tim Marcum with the World Champion Tampa Bay Storm. “There wasn’t a single throw he couldn’t make. When the game was on the line, he wanted the ball.

“Now Nate’s graduating through our system, and it’s been a lot of fun to put them together,” Miller added. “Nate is playing lights out. He’s making deep throws in tight windows that are indefensible. Honestly, he’s playing as well as some of the guys who play on Sundays.”

Saturday in the Coyotes Black-White exhibition at the Eldorado Polo Club, Lewis was 23 of 25 for 551 yards and six touchdowns, including long balls of 83, 50, and 65 yards. His QB rating was 158.3 and he averaged 23.9 yards per completion. After a two-day workout with the San Jose Sabercats last week, he hopes to compete for the opportunity to eventually replace Arena legend and Sabercat starter Aaron Garcia.

“Paw Patrol” is a new weekly Coyotes segment that will be heard every Tuesday at 12:15 p.m. during ‘Buehler’s Day Off.”

“It’s exciting to see how far the Coyotes have come,” says Lewis. “This team is changing the culture of AAA football. To have players and coaches of Shane’s caliber work with our players to get to the next level says a lot about our organization.”

Stafford, who played collegiately at Connecticut under Skip Holtz, understands the road ahead of Lewis: He, too, rose from a ‘street’ free agent to the very pinnacle of the sport, and is still the Storm’s all-time, single-season passer.

Stafford and Lewis now share some common ties between Miller, Marcum, Mouse Davis and the Run ‘n’ Shoot, which is the base offense of the Arena League.

Today, Shane works with NCSA Athletic Recruiting Network, which educates, assists and connects college coaches with committed student athletes and sports-minded companies.

NCSA ’empowers student athletes to lead through sports,’ something Stafford and Lewis know a thing or two about.