Current Roster | All-Time Roster
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Sylvester Bembery Offensive Lineman/Defensive Lineman
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| Photo by Chris Arnold |
Height: 6-3
Weight: 285
Date of Birth: 3/1/65
College: Central Florida
Year-by-Year:
1988: Debuted as a rookie with the New England Steamrollers in the club's first and only season...Tallied 8.5 sacks in 12-game season.1990: Came back to Arena Football with his coach from New England, Rick Buffington, when the Albany Firebirds were founded in March of that year...Named to the All-AFL first team...Led the league in sacks with six in the eight-game season...Named the Firebirds' Ironman of the Year...Set the league record for safeties in a game (2).
1991: Named to the All-AFL team for the second consecutive year... Second in the league with career-high 8.5 sacks, a total which ranks third in AFL history for a single season.
1992: For the third consecutive year, made the All-AFL team at OL/DL...Led Firebirds in sacks with six; he also notched 16 tackles and seven assists.
1993: For first time since 1988, Bembery was not named to the All-Arena Football team...Helped key Albany to their third consecutive postseason appearance.
1994: A tumultuous offseason saw his rights transferred from Albany to Massachusetts before he finally landed in Tampa Bay in the March trade that also saw George LaFrance join the Storm... Finished the year with just one sack, but saw duty at tight end as the eligible receiver, catching eight passes for 56 yards and two touchdowns...Helped key a Storm comeback against Fort Worth (6/4) by blocking a Trey Weir field goal attempt out of the end zone for a safety...Caught touchdown passes against Cleveland (6/11) and Milwaukee (7/9).
1995: Named to All-AFL second team...Tied for team lead with four sacks...Had best game against Connecticut (7/21), recording two sacks for 13 yards, a a tackle and one pass defensed ...Notched a sack of Troy Kopp in playoff win over Memphis (8/12)...recovered fumbles in back-to-back weeks against Las Vegas (6/2) and Miami (6/10)...Had season-high three tackles against Las Vegas (6/24).
1996: Due to personal committments and injury, he missed three of the first four games of the season...Came alive against Arizona (7/27), posting two sacks, forcing a fumble and adding two tackles...The forced fumble against the Rattlers was his first since joining the Storm...Named to All-AFL second team for second consecutive year.
1997: Continues to be a solid player in the AFL in his ninth season...Missed the first game at Arizona but saw substantial action in the last 13 games of the season...Had a season-best four tackles at Orlando (6/27)...Posted his first sack of the season against New Jersey (6/14); he also added half a sack against Anaheim (7/12)...Named Ironman of the Game against New York after posting a tackle, batting down a pass and playing a superb game on offense, keeping QB Peter Tom Willis from aggravating his rib injury...Also came close to scoring a safety on three separate occasions and was in the face of CityHawk QB Mike Perez all night...Tied for the team lead in passes defensed in the playoffs with three; Jack Kellogg shared the lead with Bembery...Led Storm linemen with four tackles in the postseason.
1998: Was having another solid season until the 11:26 mark of the second quarter of the Storm's Week Eight win over Albany on June 20...On a pitchout to Firebird FB/LB Chad Dukes, he fell to the ground, suffering a right knee injury...Further tests indicated that he had torn two ligaments in his knee---the anterior cruciate and the medial collateral...Underwent surgery on July 29...Received an honor just before the playoffs, as he was named to the league's All- ArenaBowl team...Played both ways but did not post any statistical numbers at San Jose (5/1)...Made his first tackle of the season against Nashville (5/9) and consistently pressured Kats QB Andy Kelly...Started and posted two tackles and an assist against Houston (5/16)...Did not record any stats at Florida (5/23) and New Jersey (5/30)... Posted one unassisted tackle against New York (6/6)...Returned to his former residence when the Storm took on Orlando (6/12) but did not record any stats.
1999: In testament to the wonders of modern science and his own intestinal fortitude, Bembery returned to the lineup, completely healed from that devastating injury and defusing any rumors of impending retirement...In his first game back (4/24), appropriately against Albany, his former team and the team against which he injured his knee, he posted two solo tackles...One week later at Milwaukee (4/29), he added four total tackles---including two solo stops---and broke up two passes...Notched two assists and turned in a solid, fairly mistake-free two way game against Florida (5/15).
Career Highlights: Named to the AFL's Tenth Anniversary Team...All-time AFL leader in sacks with 39...Named lineman of the year at Central Florida in 1987.
AFL Statistics
1999 GAME-BY-GAME RECEIVING Date Opponent REC YDS AVG LG TD ---------------------------------------------- 4/24 Albany 0 0 0.0 0 0 4/29 Milwaukee 0 0 0.0 0 0 5/15 Florida 0 0 0.0 0 0 ---------------------------------------------- SEASON TOTALS 0 0 0.0 0 0 DEFENSE Date Opponent TKL AST SKS YDS FF-FR INT YDS TD ------------------------------------------------------------- 4/24 Albany 2 0 0 0 0-0 0 0 0 4/29 Milwaukee 2 2 0 0 0-0 0 0 0 5/15 Florida 0 2 0 0 0-0 0 0 0 ------------------------------------------------------------- SEASON TOTALS 4 4 0 0 0-0 0 0 0 CAREER RECEIVING Year Team REC YDS AVG LG TD ---------------------------------------------- 1988 New England 0 0 0.0 0 0 1990 Albany 0 0 0.0 0 0 1991 Albany 0 0 0.0 0 0 1992 Albany 2 20 10.0 13 0 1993 Albany 2 7 3.5 5 1 1994 Tampa Bay 8 56 7.0 17 2 1995 Tampa Bay 1 6 6.0 6 0 1996 Tampa Bay 0 0 0.0 0 0 1997 Tampa Bay 0 0 0.0 0 0 1998 Tampa Bay 0 0 0.0 0 0 1999 Tampa Bay 0 0 0.0 0 0 ---------------------------------------------- CAREER TOTALS 13 89 6.8 17 3 DEFENSE Year Team TKL AST SKS YDS FF-FR INT YDS TD ------------------------------------------------------------- 1988 New England 15 6 8.5 - 0-1 0 0 0 1990 Albany 15 4 6 - 0-0 0 0 0 1991 Albany 19 2 8.5 - 2-0 0 0 0 1992 Albany 16 7 6 - 0-0 0 0 0 1993 Albany 13 4 1.5 10 0-0 0 0 0 1994 Tampa Bay 9 3 1 3 0-1 0 0 0 1995 Tampa Bay 11 6 4 27 0-1 0 0 0 1996 Tampa Bay 10 1 3 17 1-0 0 0 0 1997 Tampa Bay 12 8 1.5 13 0-0 0 0 0 1998 Tampa Bay 4 3 0 0 0-0 0 0 0 1999 Tampa Bay 4 4 0 0 0-0 0 0 0 ------------------------------------------------------------- CAREER TOTALS 128 48 39 70 3-3 0 0 0