The 2008 Philadelphia Soul season was the fifth season for the franchise. The Soul started the season by winning their first nine games. Finishing the regular season with a 13–3 record, this was the Soul's best regular season to that point in their then-short history. They won their first Eastern Division title, and went into the playoffs as the top seed in the National Conference. Against the New York Dragons, the Soul won their Divisional round game by a score of 49–48 to advance to the National Conference Championship. They won that game on July 12, 2008, against the Cleveland Gladiators, 70–35. They won ArenaBowl XXII in New Orleans on July 27, 2008, against the defending champion San Jose SaberCats.
Standings
Regular season schedule WeekDateOpponentResultRecordLocationAttendanceRecap1March 1Orlando PredatorsW 77–561–0Wachovia Center17,869Recap2March 9at Chicago RushW 60–492–0Allstate Arena16,051Recap3March 16New York DragonsW 63–423–0Wachovia Center16,102Recap4March 20at Los Angeles AvengersW 71–344–0Staples Center13,398Recap5March 29Tampa Bay StormW 59–515–0Wachovia Center16,179Recap6April 5Utah BlazeW 64–566–0Wachovia Spectrum16,390Recap7April 12at San Jose SaberCatsW 58–577–0HP Pavilion12,462Recap8April 21at Columbus DestroyersW 76–558–0Nationwide Arena14,974Recap9April 28Dallas DesperadosW 57–289–0Wachovia Spectrum15,426Recap10May 2at Cleveland GladiatorsL 55–679–1Quicken Loans Arena13,721Recap11May 12at Georgia ForceL 62–639–2The Arena at Gwinnett Center10,278Recap12May 17Columbus DestroyersW 51–4310–2Wachovia Center18,741Recap13May 22Kansas City BrigadeL 47–5410–3Wachovia Center14,473Recap14Bye Week15June 7at Dallas DesperadosW 71–6411–3American Airlines Center11,943Recap16June 14Cleveland GladiatorsW 62–6112–3Wachovia Center16,637Recap17June 22at New York DragonsW 59–3013–3Nassau Coliseum9,718Recap
Playoff schedule RoundDateOpponent (seed)ResultLocationAttendanceRecap NC Divisional July 5 New York Dragons (6) W 49–48 Wachovia Center 16,102 Recap NC Championship July 12 Cleveland Gladiators (4) W 70–35 Wachovia Center 13,389 Recap ArenaBowl XXII July 27 vs. San Jose SaberCats (A2) W 59–56 New Orleans Arena 17,244 Recap
Roster 2008 Philadelphia Soul roster Quarterbacks
Matt D'Orazio Tony Graziani
Running backs Wes Ours FB/LB Clifton Smith FB/LB
Wide receivers Larry Brackins Mike Brown WR/DB Brent Holmes Chris Jackson Sean Scott WR/LB Darius Watts WR Offensive linemen Martin Bibla Phil Bogle Mike Mabry
Defensive linemen Kevin Carberry Justin Cleveland Gabe Nyenhuis Bryan Save Linebackers Rod Davis LB Raheem Orr LB Wes Ours FB/LB Sean Scott WR/LB Clifton Smith FB/LB
Defensive backs Mike Brown WR/DB Willis Page III WR/DB Rob Keefe Eddie Moten Dee Webb
Special teams Connor Hughes K Injured players Anthony Dunn LB Kenny Henderson WR Craig Kobel LB Brian Mance DB
Exempt List
Practice squad
Regular season
Week 1: vs. Orlando Predators
Week 2: at Chicago Rush
Week 3: vs. New York Dragons
Week 4: at Los Angeles Avengers
Week 5: vs. Tampa Bay Storm
Week 6: vs. Utah Blaze
Week 7: at San Jose SaberCats
Week 8: at Columbus Destroyers
Week 9: vs. Dallas Desperados
Week 10: at Cleveland Gladiators
Week 11: vs. Georgia Force
Week 12: vs. Columbus Destroyers
Week 13: vs. Kansas City Brigade
Week 14: BYE
Week 15: at Dallas Desperados
Week 16: vs. Cleveland Gladiators
Week 17: at New York Dragons
Playoffs
National Conference Divisional: vs. (6) New York Dragons
National Conference Championship: vs. (4) Cleveland Gladiators
ArenaBowl XXII: vs. (2) San Jose SaberCats