SONNY DAYS CUMBIE ENJOYING LIFE IN L.A. AND SUCCESS WITH THE AVENGERS.

Byline: JUSTIN FRANK

Special to the Daily News

There are no plays off for Avengers quarterback Sonny Cumbie. He doesn't have the luxury of taking a snap and shoving it into the gut of a tailback half the time, then watch the rest of the play, gather himself and jog back to the huddle.

Cumbie plays quarterback in the Arena Football League, where a team lives and dies at the position. A shorter and more narrow field to work with forces the ball into the quarterback's hands almost every play.

"There are no breaks in this game," said Cumbie, who has passed for 4,370 yards -- fourth-most in the AFL -- and 83 touchdowns this season. "You have to be mentally sharp on every play here. You're basically throwing the ball on every snap."

Cumbie, who is in his second season with the Avengers and first full season as a starter, didn't come to the AFL without some idea of a heavy workload. Cumbie was the centerpiece in the pass-happy offense at Texas Tech. In 2004 he passed for 4,724 yards and 32 touchdowns, good enough for sixth all-time for a NCAA Division I-AA season.

"This offense is pretty similar to what we were using at Tech," Cumbie said. "We threw the ball on every almost every down there too, but it's the type of throws you make here that are the difference."

The throws in the AFL that Cumbie speaks about are compared by Avengers head coach Ed Hodgkiss to a golfer deciding what club to use.

"You almost have to use your golf ability," Hodgkiss said. "You have to decide whether you are going to use your 5- or 7-iron for a pass. You have to be that precise to play quarterback in this league."

Hodgkiss says that Cumbie, 25, is way ahead of the learning curve as an AFL quarterback.

"It takes at least three or four years to become a solid quarterback in this league," Hodgkiss said. "It takes these guys a while. But when you look at Sonny's stats, he appears to be right there already. Granted, there are still things we want him to do more consistently."

Coming to L.A. also gave Cumbie -- who played college ball and still lives in Lubbock, Texas -- quite a culture shock.

"Obviously it's a lot different here from Texas," Cumbie said. "(In Texas) there's a 'good ol' boy' culture, where everybody knows each other and is friendly and even if they don't know you people are very respectful. Here, there are so many people and everyone does their own thing, which I like too."

Cumbie says he enjoys the sixth months of the year in which he lives in Southern California.

"The weather is amazing, that's for sure," Cumbie said. "It is great to be able to come here, relax and focus on football."

While most AFL players have a pipe dream of parlaying their success into an NFL career, Cumbie just tries to focus on what is in front of him now.

"Sure, the NFL is always in the back of your mind," Cumbie said. "But I enjoy being here and I am focused on making this team and myself better here. There is no other place I'd rather be right now."

Cumbie has all the leadership qualities you would expect in a quarterback, Hodgkiss said.

"He has all those senses," Hodgkiss said. "But the one thing he has more that stands out to me is the fact he cares so much. That, to me, is he most important quality. He really, really cares about his teammates and winning."

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CAPTION(S):

2 photos, box

Photo:

(1 -- color) no caption (Avengers)

(2 -- color) no capiton (Sonny Cumbie)

Photos by Edna T. Simpson/Daily News

Box:

AVENGERS vs. UTAH