New Chicago Rush brings back former coach, QB

Meet the new Chicago Rush, not quite the same as the old Chicago Rush.

After a year away from the game, arena football will return to the Allstate Arena next season when the upstart Arena Football One league kicks off its inaugural season with a new-look Rush squad representing Chicago.

While it won't have the same ownership group or the same league name as the old Arena Football League, the "new" Rush will have the same logo, the same coach (Mike Hohensee) and the same star quarterback (Russ Michna) as the team had the last time it was in action.

And the new ownership group, led by managing partner William Niro, hopes the fans who once supported the AFL's Rush will enjoy AF One's version just as much with its 14-team league a mix of a few AFL club, some AFL2 teams and new teams.

"This is tremendous; I'm really pumped," said Niro, who was part of the original group that founded the AFL. "What we are doing is going back to our roots. It's a commitment to the game, to the players."

And no one is more excited about that commitment than former AFL Rush coach and current AF One coach Hohensee, whose 2009 didn't go as planned once the AFL folded.

"It's been the hardest year of my life," said Hohensee, who signed a three-year contract. "I was unemployed, we had just bought a new house - I had to keep a smile on my face.

"You can only get the kids fired up at the breakfast table so many times. I'm living life again."

But was it hard to sign with a new Rush ownership group in a new league?

"This is the ownership group that wanted to play arena football," Hohensee said.

The original ownership group of the Rush, which plans on returning to Chicago in 2011 as part of a different league, was not pleased to see the AF One's Rush introduce Thursday at Ditka's, saying their right to use "Rush" was premature because the deal in which AF One purchased the AFL's assets in bankruptcy court hasn't been closed yet,

"Until that happens, they have no right to do what they've done," said part owner Alan Levin. "It's tasteless and in bad form.

"They're trying to capitalize on what we've done in this market, which I guess is a tribute to us."

Levin indicated his ownership group is committed to having a team in the area in 2011.

"We're coming back and we're coming back strong," he said.

If that's the case, that would mean three Chicago indoor football teams - including the Chicago Slaughter of the Continental Indoor Football League - could be running in 2011.

"I doubt that," Niro said of the possibility. "But we like competition, we'll see what happens."

The new Rush group has set up its offices in Schaumburg. For information on the league or tickets, visit arenarush.com or arenafootballone.com.