Cost of living in af2

Tucked away in Spokane Valley, a long, tree-lined driveway leads to four brick cottages that are the heart of the Hutton Settlement. On the 319-acre campus, children aged 5-18 come to live for reasons ranging from failed adoptions to poor living situations with parents or grandparents, and it is at Hutton that Jerome Stevens has helped make two houses a home.

The Spokane Shock and former Arena Football League lineman is just one of a handful of players on the defending ArenaCup champions roster that is playing professional football in the AFL’s developmental league (arenafootball2) while holding another job.

It’s no secret that the af2 isn’t where these next-level hopefuls will make their money. At $200 a week ($250 if they win), they are professional football players, without a corresponding professional football player’s salary.

It’s simply the nature of the developmental league beast.

“If you were doing this for the money in the first place, you shouldn’t be out here,” Shock defensive back Rob Keefe said.

In Stevens’ case, it’s full time at Hutton, and basically has been since he started last September. The ex-University of Washington lineman, who is inactive because of a knee injury, was waiting on a phone call from the Los Angeles Avengers, whom he played for in 2005, before joining the Shock in their inaugural season in 2006.

When the phone call didn’t come, he was contacted by former Shock coach Chris Siegfried, and the rest, he said, is history.

He joined the Shock, kept the job and lives on campus with his wife of almost a year, Nicole, serving as the social services coordinator for the two boys’ cottages.

For Stevens, working at Hutton isn’t just a job – it’s a cause – and growing up in a single-parent household, bouncing from city to city all over California has given Stevens the tools to be a role model in the lives of the children he helps raise.

“I can relate with a lot of these kids,” said Stevens “It doesn’t feel like I’m working, because really I’m just hanging out with the kids … we live here so we want the atmosphere to feel like home.”

Working a full-time schedule has been a little easier on Stevens this season, because of the MCL injury sustained early in the season, but even last year his schedule with the Shock was accommodated.

Early in the week he would work mornings, go to practice, work a few more hours at night and then he would take the weekends off to focus on the pigskin.

Last season, it was about balancing work and football. His challenge this season is not being on the field with his teammates.

“I don’t even like watching practice,” Stevens said, half-jokingly. “I miss running around. I just want to get out there and play.”

That’s a strong possibility for the playoffs, Shock coach Adam Shackleford said last week.

Stevens’ work situation is unique to the Shock, though. Beyond his position at Hutton, there are the guys on the team whose jobs simply provide supplemental income to an af2 salary.

Say you are in the market for some jewelry, you can visit your local 6-foot-3, 340-pound lineman Rico Ochoa at Harry Ritchie’s Jewelers in the Spokane Valley Mall.

Or, if your kids spend time at YMCA summer camps, they may be hanging out with receiver Raul Vijil and could spot lineman Amos Lamb – who works maintenance at the facility.

Kicker John Koker and lineman Jermaine Harris work at Northwest RV, cleaning out units for extra cash, and Ben Brown – married with two children – just got hired on at Fred Meyer.

Keefe, an af2 veteran, puts in minimal hours at Rockwood Clinic, helping out with sports camps in the sports performance program.

From his perspective, spending a lot of extra energy on another job for a couple of extra hundred dollars isn’t worth it. He’d rather save it all for the field.

“It’s a fine line because you don’t want to overdo yourself,” said Keefe, who plans on a career in football. “You don’t want to take away from your best product come game time … I’ve worked full time while playing and it’s just not worth it, it takes too much out of you.”

That’s his prerogative.

Stevens, however, believes his calling is working with children and says he thinks he will be here for some time, but if not, his job somewhere else will be similar.

“I always say that we’ll see the outcome of these kids when they leave,” he said. “Here we see the heartache, but these kids are like flowers, and they will bloom after their time spent here – I’m just trying to be a good role model and help them toward that … it’s about helping the kids.”