of the Arena Football League (AFL) in 1990 and 1991, where he was named MVP in the former en route to winning ArenaBowl IV. His AFL success was attributed to his frequent deep passes, which caught opposing defenses off guard in an era when most AFL offenses relied on short passes. Ahead the 1992 season, Schlichter was traded to the expansion Cincinnati Rockers, with league officials believing his popularity in Ohio would generate interest for the franchise. Schlichter helped lead the Rockers to the playoffs in their inaugural season, but announced he was retiring from football that October. Although he said he intended instead to focus on his radio career and curing his gambling addiction, evidence has come to light that Schlichter was forced to retire rather than face being banned from the league for betting on AFL games. Radio career While co-hosting a Rockers-focused radio show on WSAI, he did well enough that he became the station's afternoon drive-time host. He was a communications major at Ohio State and had done some radio work in his high school and college days. During this time, he appeared on The Phil Donahue Show, talking about his addiction. In 1994, he moved to KVEG in Las Vegas but was fired after a few months for stealing checks from station owner Jerry Kutner in order to get money to gamble. Extent of addiction Schlichter often stole and conned money from friends and strangers when he ran low on funds to support his gambling. He also passed bad checks, as casinos still accepted personal checks when he started gambling. He wrote that he would write a check to the casino and use the money to gamble, believing he would win enough money to pay the casino back and keep the profit, but he almost always lost. In a 2007 interview for ESPN's Outside the Lines, he estimated that he'd stolen $1.5 million over the years, if not more. Between 1987 and 1992, Schlichter was arrested three times in Ohio for passing a total of $50,000 in bad checks, but received probation or suspended sentences each time. He moved to Las Vegas in 1989 soon after marrying longtime girlfriend Mitzi Shinaver. He claims this was in hopes of getting treatment for his addiction; however, his gambling continued unabated. Schlichter ran up massive gambling debts while playing for the Detroit Drive, although general manager Gary Vitto