The 2019 LWOS National Arena League (NAL) awards have come to a conclusion as we announced all of our NAL selections for each award. There were multiple players who stood out this season that don’t deserve to go unnoticed. All players and coaches fought until the end for the 2019 season and it all showed. Michael Green, Chris Sanders-McCollom, and Jason Gibson are going down as our LWOS Honorable Mentions for the 2019 season.
2019 LWOS NAL Honorable Mentions
Defensive Back Michael Green, Carolina Cobras
Up there with our Defensive Player of the Year was Green. All season long, Green served to be one of the best defensive backs in the league, and proved that he is worthy of being in the top two or three. This season, Green finished with an incredible 10 interceptions for 81 yards and one touchdown. He also had 62 tackles, just two shy of the league-leader in 2019. Green also broke up 34 passes, forced two fumbles, and recovered two fumbles on the year.
Wide Receiver Chris Sanders-McCollom, Columbus Lions
Sanders-McCollom was on his way to become the best Lions receiver in 2019 until a late-season injury popped up and took him down until the playoffs. In his 10 games with the Lions, Sanders-McCollom totaled 59 receptions for 654 yards and 17 touchdowns. In the same amount of games, Paris Mack was able to have nine less receptions for 871 yards and 14 touchdowns (217 more yards).
Head Coach Jason Gibson, Columbus Lions
Gibson entered the 2019 season going back-to-back in NAL Championship appearances. In 2019, Gibson looked to make a third consecutive visit to the game. Having a 2-5 start to the season, Gibson was able to get things rolling and finish with a 6-8 record. Things started to click with the Lions late in the season as they had a healthy team for the first week all season. But then, Center AJ Harmon went down with a season-ending injury. Gibson had to figure something out quick before the playoffs started. Every game against Jacksonville, no matter where it’s played, is always a close game. The Lions just needed that one piece to the puzzle to defeat Jacksonville. Entering the playoffs with a fully-healthy receiving group, the Lions were in high-hopes that their O-Line could keep the Sharks D-Line off the quarterback. Falling short in the playoffs, Gibson’s season came to a close. Finishing the season with a three-game win streak is definitely something to look back on.
LWOS NAL First and Second Team All-NAL Up Next!
The NAL Honorable Mentions is a wrap for all of the individual LWOS awards for the 2019 season. Later today, we will announce our First and Second Team All-NAL awards. The league will release all of their awards during Media Day on Friday, August 16.
