The La Mirada High School (La Mirada, CA) football team will do a little celebrating when its Quarterbacks Coach Erik Meyer returns to the sidelines. Meyer, who is an alum of the Southern California school, has been absent so far this season while playing quarterback for the San Jose SaberCats, who won the 2015 Arena Bowl championship Saturday night.
Meyer, who completed 17 of 29 passes for 204 yards and four touchdowns, was the catalyst in the 68-47 win over Jacksonville in Arena Bowl XXVIII played in Stockton, California. Meyer also ran for two scores.
While the championship was the Arena League record-tying fourth championship, it was the first AFL for Meyer, who’s professional football journey has virtually taken him around the world.
After graduating from La Mirada, Meyer, who played football and baseball for the Matadores, attended Eastern Washington University where he became one of the best quarterbacks in the country with over 10,000 yards passing in 42 games. In 2005, he won the Walter Payton Award, given to the top player in Division I-AA, which is now the Football Championship Subdivision.
Meyer’s professional career began when, as an undrafted free agent, he attended his first NFL training camp with the Cincinnati Bengals. He’s also been signed by Seattle and Oakland.
In 2007, Meyer went overseas to Germany to become the starting quarterback for the Cologne Centurions of NFL Europa before the league folded.
Canada came calling in 2009, when Meyer signed with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the Canadian Football League. Meyer’s Arena Football League career began in 2009 after he was released by the Tiger-Cats.
In 2009, Meyer played a couple of games for the Spokane Shock in Washington. He then moved-on to the Utah Blaze where he was the back-up to Tommy Grady, who was his opposing quarterback Saturday night in Arena Bowl XXVIII. Meyer was then traded back to Spokane in 2011 where he again played the role of back-up for three years.
Finally, in 2013, Meyer got his big break when he was given a chance to start for the Shock. That season he set team records with 112 touchdowns and 4,667 yards passing while leading the team to a 14-4 record. Meyer was named the Arena Football League’s Most Valuable Player and Offensive Player of the Year. He missed six games in 2014 with a broken collarbone, but still managed 2,519 yards passing with 54 touchdowns.
Last October, Meyer’s journey brought him back to his home state when he was assigned to the San Jose SaberCats.
This season, Meyer led the SaberCats to a 17-1 regular season record. The team’s three postseason wins gave San Jose 20 for the year, which is a new AFL record.
Meyer, who completed 66.9% of his passes, was fifth in the league in passing yardage with 4,057. He also tossed 93 touchdowns. In the pass-happy league, Meyer was ranked tenth in rushing with 142 yards and six touchdowns.
In addition to Meyer, La Mirada head coach Mike Moschetti, who played quarterback at the University of Colorado, also has another Arena Football league player on his coaching staff — Mike Diaz, who played four years in the AFL before retiring this year. Diaz, who played at the University of Arizona, serves as La Mirada’s offensive line coach.
