TNA issued the following press release:
Moose and AJ Francis will be the Honorary Captains for the Albany Firebirds of the Arena Football League for the team’s home game on Thursday, May 2, against the Nashville Kats, it was jointly announced today by TNA Wrestling and the Firebirds.
Both Moose and Francis will be part of the pre-game Coin Toss and participate in many other activities, promotions and team-events at the game, with the kickoff set for 7:30 p.m. at MVP Arena.
The Firebirds will be present at the TNA Wrestling shows in Albany: Friday and Saturday, May 3-4, at the Washington Avenue Armory.
Moose will be a special guest Wednesday night, March 13, on the Firebirds weekly Flock U Coaches Show, streaming live starting at 6 p.m. ET. The Flock U Coaches Show provides football fans with a unique opportunity to get up close and personal with the key figures behind Capital Region Football.
The Firebirds are an inaugural team in the third iteration of the Arena Football League and this is the third time that the Firebirds name has been used, first from 1990 to 2004 with the original Albany and Indiana Firebirds from the Arena Football League, and the Albany Firebirds of the af2 in 2009. The Albany Firebirds were founded in 1990 and played in the Arena Football League for over a decade, winning the 1999 Arena Bowl championship.
The Arena Football League will feature 16 teams and the Firebirds will kick off their season on April 27th at home against the Orlando Predators.
TNA Wrestling presents back-to-back nights of high-energy, action-packed pro wrestling in Albany, marking TNA’s long-awaited return to Albany for the first time since October 2022. The TNA action Friday is UNDER SIEGE, which will air live on the TNA+ app, including title matches for the TNA World Championship, the Knockouts World Championship and more. Then, on Saturday, the TNA television trucks will be in Albany to capture all the in-ring action for upcoming episodes of the company’s flagship weekly TV show that airs at 8 p.m. EST every Thursday night (AXS TV in the U.S., Fight Network in Canada).
Tickets for both TNA shows in Albany go on-sale Saturday, March 16, at 10 a.m. EST at Ticketmaster.com or TNAWrestling.com.
The Firebirds are led by head coach Damon Ware and defensive coordinator Dwayne Hollis, who are set to bring hard-hitting, high-scoring football to the Albany community, featuring Darius Prince (WR), Marquell Wade (WR/DB), Daquan Patten (WR/DB) and Arthur Hobbs (WR/DB), among others.
For Albany Firebirds tickets, visit Firebirdsafl.com, ticketmaster.com, in person at MVP Arena Box Office or by calling the Albany Firebirds office at (518) 557-8799.
Both Moose and Francis have years of wrestling experience and Moose is the reigning TNA World Champion. But the NFL is where both launched their sporting careers.
MOOSE
Moose reclaimed the TNA World Championship on January 13, at the Hard To Kill pay-per-view extravaganza in Las Vegas, defeating Alex Shelley. Quinn Ojinnaka, the real-life Moose, played for four teams over seven seasons in the National Football League, including the New England Patriots, before transitioning to pro wrestling, making his wrestling debut in 2012. His NFL career included time as teammates with legendary quarterback Tom Brady while playing for one of the best NFL head coaches in history, Bill Belichick.An offensive lineman, Ojinnaka played 62 NFL games after playing at Syracuse University and was selected in the fifth-round of the 2006 NFL Draft by the Atlanta Falcons. Moose and Bill Goldberg are the only former NFL players from the modern era to have gone from the NFL to become the World Champion of a pro wrestling company.
In fact, there are only four others in addition to Moose & Goldberg to have ever gone from the NFL to World Championship glory in pro wrestling, including Bronko Nagurski, who is a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The others are Ernie Ladd, Dick the Bruiser and Gus Sonnenberg.
Sports Illustrated spotlighted Moose and his record-setting journey from the NFL to IMPACT World Champion: https://tinyurl.com/r8hdutuy.
AJ FRANCIS
Francis played college football at Maryland, then was signed by the Miami Dolphins as an undrafted free agent in 2013. His NFL career also included time with the Seattle Seahawks, Washington Redskins, New England Patriots, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and New York Giants.Francis signed with WWE in January 2020 and competed as Top Dolla.
Francis has had a music career and was a viral sensation in 2015 as an Uber driver in the off-season while playing for the Dolphins.
