Former Star takes on AFL

During the football team's 2006 Ivy League Championship season, newspapers focused mostly on the contributions of Princeton's high-powered offense and its headline-grabbing cast of quarterbacks, wide receivers and running backs.

Few, however, showered attention on players like William "J.J." Artis '07, the Tigers' star defensive back. Artis and fellow defensive back Tim Strickland '07 combined for six interceptions in 2006, effectively shutting down opponents' passing games with their tight coverage. The Princeton secondary struggled for much of the 2007 season after both All-Ivy defensive backs graduated.

It was not until this past fall when the media and fans finally realized the impact of Artis' graduation. Assistant coach Eric Jackson, however, understood Artis' importance all along.

"That kid was just a dominant player," Jackson said. "He was pretty much just our stopper."

Artis is still a stopper — just not for the Tigers. Since leaving Princeton, Artis has made the transition from college football to the Arena Football League (AFL) — the world's largest indoor football league and the second largest professional football league in the world by attendance, after the NFL. The former Tiger now plays for the league's New York Dragons franchise.

Artis characterizes his decision to pursue a career in professional sports a "no-brainer."

"I wasn't quite done playing football," Artis explained. "[This way], I can continue playing the sport I love and get paid to do it."

Artis grew up in rural Stantonsburg, N.C., and attended Goldsboro High School, an inner-city school in nearby Goldsboro, N.C. At Goldsboro, he played basketball, tennis and football. Though he collected varsity letters in all three sports, he stood out in football.

As a running back for the Goldsboro Cougars, he rushed for 1,800 yards, with 700 of those yards coming in his senior season. His performance as a defensive back attracted scholarship offers from major Division I schools. But Artis turned down the scholarships to play for Princeton, becoming one of the first Goldsboro High graduates to attend an Ivy League school.

"I think it's a testament to J.J. that he came out of there," Jackson said.

Artis adjusted quickly to college football, starting eight varsity games his freshman year — a rare feat at Princeton.

He established himself as one of the league's most dominant defensive backs his sophomore season, playing through a shoulder injury to make six pass breakups and record 56 tackles. He started 10 games but only allowed one complete pass all season. His size — six feet, 190 pounds — and strength made him a challenging opponent for the Ivy League's generally undersized wide receivers.

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But Jackson says that Artis' style of bump-and-run coverage could thwart even the league's biggest and most physical receivers.

"He could lock anyone up in the league," Jackson said. "He was a physical player, but he was also mentally tough, because playing bump-and-run during a game can be really stressful."

A hernia slowed Artis down during his junior season, but he remained a significant force in the Tiger secondary, racking up nine pass breakups, two interceptions, one fumble recovery and 37 tackles.

As a senior, Artis was named first-team All-Ivy and helped lead one of the most successful secondaries in Princeton history. Overall, he allowed only four touchdowns in his four-year college career.

In May 2007, before Artis graduated, the Dragons awarded him a spot on their practice squad. The next month, he was officially signed.

The transition from college to arena football, however, has not been easy. AFL players are much stronger and faster than their collegiate counterparts, and the AFL's rules make the same quite different from conventional football as well.

For example, wide receivers are allowed to begin forward motion before the snap as long as they stay behind the line of scrimmage — in other words, receivers get a running head start. In addition, the AFL regulation field is 50 yards long instead of 100, which — combined with the added speed of professional athletes —completely changes the routes that receivers can run.

Finally, the time between snaps is short, speeding up the game for spectators but making it that much more exhausting for Artis.

"The biggest challenge is the speed difference," Artis said. "The speed is much quicker, so the angles are completely different. You have to adjust your movement according to [the receivers'] speed."

Artis hopes that his experience in the AFL will someday provide a springboard for him to enter the NFL Draft. Though he acknowledges that he's not yet ready to make that leap, he's found the perfect job to improve his skills.

"I have a lot of confidence that I can play in the NFL," Artis said, "so I just want to take advantage of every opportunity I have to advance to the next level. I want to become a student of the game."