MINNEAPOLIS — Minnesota's new Arena Football League (AFL) team is kaput almost before it got started.
On Tuesday, Minnesota Myth President and Team Owner Diana Hutton said in a statement on social media, "The promise of bringing another professional team to Minnesota was bright and filled with hope. The vision of the Minnesota Myth was to build a team focused on community engagement and bringing people together to celebrate not only football but also connection and community. Unfortunately, the effort was lost in the waves of negative chatter and misinformation that plagued social media, led by intentional efforts from non-supportive teams within the league and other individuals."
The news was confirmed after much speculation following the cancellation of Monday's scheduled Minnesota Myth game against the Albany Firebirds. Albany posted the announcement on its social media accounts but did not give a specific reason why. The game was originally slated to take place at Target Center on Saturday but was moved to Albany due to the Timberwolves' NBA Western Conference semifinals against Denver.
There were also several reports from the past day or two, including one from UFL insider Luke Miller, saying the Myth's owner sent an email telling the players to go home.
On social media, several Myth players posted that they are now free agents. This all comes a week after the team's head coach, former U of M and Canadian Football League great Rickey Foggie resigned.
Moe Strong, 29, played just two games with the team before he and his teammates were told to pack up. He said the writing had been on the wall for the past couple of weeks.
"We asked for our pay and they just kept pushing it. We just kind of put our faith in them," Strong said. "It's definitely hard. Financially, it's hard. And then mentally, it kind of puts your confidence down."
Strong estimates about 70% of the team moved to Minnesota from other states.
"Left their jobs, left their families, left everything that they were doing in their normal day lives to sacrifice for this opportunity," Strong said.
Strong said landing a spot on the Minnesota Myth was a dream come true. Strong grew up in Anoka and now lives in Minnetonka. He's also a father to five.
"This was the ideal place to be for... my dreams and my goals in life," Strong said.
But Strong said he is still waiting to be paid $2,000 for the first two games he played. According to Strong, Minnesota Myth also put in an estimated $2,000 merchandise order through his small business, Staroze LLC but then canceled the order when he was halfway through it. Strong is still hoping to recoup $700 from the order.
Several AFL teams have folded or suspended operations in the last few weeks — including the Georgia Force, Philadelphia Soul and Iowa Rampage. Iowa owners posted a statement on X blaming the league and in particular, Commissioner Lee Hutton III, for a succession of broken promises that included a failure to pay players and deliver uniforms and game equipment.
Lee Hutton, a prominent Twin Cities attorney, is a frequent legal analyst for KARE 11. On Tuesday, it was announced that ex-Tennessee Titans head coach Jeff Fisher is taking over as the interim AFL commissioner.
Prior to the announcement, Lee told KARE 11 in a statement, "The promise of arena football still exists but can only be sustainable for the fans when everyone is included to make the sport better. My efforts to do so are not stalled because of a few that conspire to interrupt progress."
Lee's wife, Diana Hutton, is president and team owner of the Minnesota Myth. Arena Insider also reported that Diana sent an email to players on Monday telling them to go home immediately after an attempt to secure additional funding for the team came up short.
“The timing to finalize the deal cannot be done within the next two days,” read an excerpt of the email shared by Arena Insider. “This has also been delayed due to the negative publicity surrounding our team and the league’s lack of support. As their main purpose seems to be to sabotage this team in order to force my husband to resign as commissioner of the AFL. They even made changes to the schedule without any notification to us.”
Strong, who is now looking for other opportunities, including the Duluth Harbor Monsters, said, "If they would've done their part better, we would have done ours even greater."
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