Empire’s old guy Josh Ferguson still playing like a youngster
Josh Ferguson set aside professional football for two seasons but never completely left the game behind.
Ferguson played four Arena Football League seasons, including two with the Spokane Shock in 2011-12. He spent the last two years working in Spokane, staying in shape in case another football opportunity came his way.
He attended most Shock home games last season, an experience he called “bittersweet. I’m enjoying watching the game but I can’t be out there.”
Ferguson is out there again this season, playing defensive back and an occasional snap or two at running back for the Spokane Empire in the Indoor Football League. And he’s still working full-time, making him perhaps the busiest player on the roster. He puts in three 12-hour shifts at the juvenile detention center, usually Sunday-Tuesday from 4 p.m. to 4 a.m.
Team meetings usually start at 9 a.m. so sleep sometimes gets lost in the shuffle.
“It’s great being on the field again,” Ferguson said. “Game night is the best. All the sleep I’m missing, everything, it’s all worth it on game night.”
And one of the biggest reasons for that, beyond Ferguson’s love for the game, is the presence of 3-year-old daughter Mia in the stands. When Ferguson stopped playing football after spending the 2013 AFL season with Utah, he found work in Spokane to stay close to Mia.
“That’s my seed, my little one, the little me,” said Ferguson, who shares custody with Mia’s mother. “There’s no way I was leaving.
“Now when I tell her I have to go to work, she automatically assumes it is football. Before it was daddy’s job. She loves it.”
Ferguson kept football in the back of his mind, even while sitting out the 2014-15 seasons. The organization’s decision to drop from the AFL to the IFL meant virtually every player who had worn a Shock uniform wasn’t going to return but it had the opposite effect on Ferguson.
“I knew there was no way I could leave to play,” Ferguson said. “If I was going to play, this is where it was going to be, no matter what league they were in.”
The 5-foot-8, 185-pound Ferguson turns 31 in June, a few months before veteran receiver Carl Sims. Ferguson is believed to be the oldest player on the roster but he doesn’t feel like it. He didn’t take up football until his freshman year of high school. He also sat out two seasons so his body has experienced less wear and tear.
Empire coach Adam Shackleford knew all about Ferguson, dating back to recruiting him following his playing days at UTEP.
“The first day I saw him play (in training camp) is what I saw on film when he was in the AFL,” Shackleford said. “He still has it.
“He’s savvy and smart. Not only is he a good athlete, there’s times I wonder if he’s running the right coverage but he’s good at disguising things. He baits the quarterback. He has a maturity about him the other guys really respect. He doesn’t play like he’s an older guy. He plays like he’s 23 or 24 and flying around.”
Ferguson has picked up the IFL game quickly. It’s a different style of arena ball, more like the outdoor game compared to the pass-happy AFL.
Still, some AFL habits are hard to break. In the season opener, Tri-Cities attempted a field goal, prompting Ferguson to sprint back to get in position for the possibility of the ball rebounding off the net. Except the IFL doesn’t have nets beyond the uprights.
“It was wide left. I’m chasing it down like it’s going to come off the net, everybody else just stood there watching,” Ferguson said. “It was just instinct from doing that for four years. You turn and run.”
Ferguson doesn’t know how long he’ll keep juggling work and football. He does know it’s important for him to do both right now.
“I love to compete no matter what I do,” he said. “I love it, the fellowship with the guys, the experience, the interaction with the fans.
“I’m just enjoying everything I do. I’ll have to hang this up eventually but I’m going to do this as long as I competently can. Hopefully we’ll get a championship, that’s the ultimate goal.”