The Continental Indoor Football League (CIFL) was an indoor football league based along the Midwestern United States region that played nine seasons from 2006 to 2014. It began play in April 2006 as the Great Lakes Indoor Football League (GLIFL). It was formed by Jeff Spitaleri, his brother Eric, and a third member, Cory Trapp, all from the Canton, Ohio, area.
The Marion Mayhem were a professional indoor football team based in Marion, Ohio. The team was a charter member of the Great Lakes Indoor Football League (GLIFL), later renamed the Continental Indoor Football League (CIFL), joining in 2006 as an expansion team. The Mayhem were the first professional indoor football team to be based in Marion, but were the second pro football team to be based in the area since the NFL's Oorang Indians. The team folded during the 2010 season due to financial problems. The Owners of the Mayhem were Michael Burtch and Stanley Jackson. They played their home games at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Marion, Ohio.
The CIFL championship game was the annual championship game of the Continental Indoor Football League (CIFL). In 2006, it was the meeting of the two semifinal game winners. Following the 2007 and 2008 season, the game was between the Great Lakes Division champion and the Atlantic Division champion. In 2009 the league was divided into an East and West Division.
Lorenzo Cavelle Styles is an American former professional football player who was a linebacker for six seasons with the Atlanta Falcons and St. Louis Rams of the National Football League (NFL). He spent half a season as the head coach of the Marion Blue Racers. His sons are Lorenzo, Sonny, and Spencer Helms.
The Cincinnati Commandos were a professional indoor football team based in Cincinnati, Ohio. The team suspended operations for the 2013 season, with hope of returning in 2014. They began play in 2010 as an expansion team in the Continental Indoor Football League before moving to the United Indoor Football League in 2012. The Commandos then left the UIFL after winning Ultimate Bowl II and re-joined the CIFL, but never took the field after its announcement. The Commandos were the fifth arena or indoor football in Cincinnati, after the Cincinnati Rockers, Cincinnati Swarm, Cincinnati Marshals, and Cincinnati Jungle Kats. The owners of the Commandos are Dennis Whitman and Paul Napier. The Commandos played their home games at Cincinnati Gardens.
The Fort Wayne FireHawks were a professional indoor football team based in Fort Wayne, Indiana. The team joined the Continental Indoor Football League as an expansion team during the 2010 season. The FireHawks were the fourth attempt at indoor football in Fort Wayne after the original Fort Wayne Freedom, Fort Wayne Fusion, and the second Fort Wayne Freedom. The Owner of the FireHawks was Championship Sports Enterprises LLC. The FireHawks played their home games at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum.
The 2011 Continental Indoor Football League season was the league's sixth overall season. The regular season started on Saturday, February 26, with the expansion Port Huron Predators defeating the expansion Indianapolis Enforcers 69-12, and ended with the 2011 CIFL Championship Game on June 11, 2011, at the Cincinnati Gardens in Cincinnati, Ohio, where the Cincinnati Commandos defeated the Marion Blue Racers 44-29 to clinch their second consecutive CIFL Championship.
The 2010 Fort Wayne Firehawks season was the first season for the Continental Indoor Football League (CIFL) franchise. In November 2009, the FireHawks were announced as the successor team to the Fort Wayne Freedom. Owners J. Michael Loomis and John Christner purchased the assets left from the Freedom franchise, who had played the two seasons before the FireHawks were announced. Christner's first action as General Manager was naming former Freedom head coach Willie Davis as the team's first head coach. On December 9, 2009, it was confirmed that Loomis and Christner would take over the entities that used to run the Freedom. Before the season started, the team announced they had signed Katie Hnida as the team's placekicker. Hnida is best known for becoming the first woman to score a point in an NCAA football game and speaking out during the recruiting scandal at her first school, the University of Colorado.
The 2010 Cincinnati Commandos season was the 1st season for the Continental Indoor Football League (CIFL) franchise. The Commandos were able to finish the season with a 9–1 record, and qualified for the playoffs as the 1st seed, where they went on to defeat the Wisconsin Wolfpack in the CIFL Championship Game.
The 2011 Cincinnati Commandos season was the 2nd season for the Continental Indoor Football League (CIFL) franchise.
The 2010 Chicago Cardinals season was the third season for the Continental Indoor Football League (CIFL) franchise, but the team's first as the Chicago Cardinals after relocating from Milwaukee where they were known as the Milwaukee Bonecrushers. The Cardinals were able to finish the season with an 0-10 record, and failed to qualify for the playoffs. The Cardinals replaced the Slaughter in the CIFL, after the Slaughter left that league for the IFL due to a dispute with CIFL management. The Cardinals were formerly known as the Milwaukee Bonecrushers, also of the CIFL, and relocated to Villa Park in 2010. The Cardinals use their name with permission from the original National Football League team, now known as the Arizona Cardinals.
The 2010 Marion Mayhem season was the fifth season for the Continental Indoor Football League (CIFL) franchise, and the team's last season, as they would fail to be able to finish the season, and forfeit their last 4 games of the 2010 season. On December 24, 2009, team announced their intentions to move the Mayhem franchise to Columbus, Ohio and become the Columbus Aces before the season, citing a lack of attendance as the reason for the move. The move fell through, and the team played the 2010 season in Marion. After starting the season 3-3, the Mayhem folded, rewarding the teams that had yet to play them with victories.
The 2010 Miami Valley Silverbacks season was the fifth season for the Continental Indoor Football League (CIFL) franchise. The 2010 Silverbacks announced they will continue play in the CIFL as a full travel squad. The team named former Cincinnati Swarm (af2), Louisville Fire (af2) and Cincinnati Marshals (NIFL) assistant Brian Wells as head coach. The 2010 Silverbacks finished the regular season with, at the time, the best winning percentage in team history (.400) and their second ever playoff berth. Wells was awarded CIFL Co-Coach of the year along with Commandos Head Coach Billy Back. The Silverbacks were eliminated in the first round by the eventual CIFL Champion Cincinnati Commandos.
The 2010 Wisconsin Wolfpack season was the second season for the Continental Indoor Football League (CIFL) franchise. For 2010, the Wolfpack chose to move its home games to the Hartmeyer Arena on the northeast side of Madison. 2010 also saw the team stock its roster with more players from the nearby Wisconsin Badgers football program. Joining defensive lineman Kurt Ware and linebacker James Kamoku from the 2009 Wolfpack would be tight end Andy Crooks, safety Josh Nettles, defensive lineman Ricky Garner, offensive lineman Kenny Jones and, following a season-ending injury to quarterback Brian Ryczkowski, Matt Schabert. Under Schabert's guidance, the Wolfpack had its most successful season to date, indoor or outdoor, finishing the regular season 8-2 and becoming the only team to defeat the then-undefeated Cincinnati Commandos. The Wolfpack would win its first-ever home playoff game, beating the Fort Wayne FireHawks, 25-24, before falling to the Commandos in the 2010 CIFL Championship Game, 54-40, in Cincinnati.
The 2011 Indianapolis Enforcers season was the first season for the Continental Indoor Football League (CIFL) franchise.
Mike Anthony Tatum is an American football coach who is the head coach and offensive coordinator for the Omaha Beef of the National Arena League (NAL). He is former indoor American football wide receiver for the Nebraska Danger, Bismarck Bucks, and the Sioux Falls Storm of the Indoor Football League (IFL). He played college football at Oxnard College. He signed as an undrafted free agent with the Marion Mayhem in 2009. He played with the Mayhem until their disbanding during the 2010 season. Tatum then finished the 2010 season with the Fort Wayne FireHawks. Tatum then returned to Marion in 2011, when a new franchise called the Marion Blue Racers expanded into the CIFL. Tatum has also played for the Everett Raptors of the IFL.
Bryan Williams is a former American football defensive back. He played college football at the University of Akron.
Thomas "T.J." McKenzie is a former indoor football defensive lineman.
Derrick Crawford is a former American indoor football defensive lineman. He has most recently played for the Cincinnati Commandos of the Continental Indoor Football League. He attended Avon Park High School in Avon Park, Florida, where he was a standout at tight end being named the 1997 Florida District 12 3A Player of the Year. After a junior college career at Trinity Valley Community College, Crawford attended Texas A&M University-Commerce where he was a standout on defense, twice being named to All-Lone Star Conference Teams and named the conference's Defensive Lineman of the Year in 2003.
The Dayton Silverbacks were a professional indoor football team based in Dayton, Ohio. The team was a member of the Continental Indoor Football League (CIFL). The franchise started as the Miami Valley Silverbacks and joined the CIFL in 2007 after playing their inaugural season as an expansion team in the American Indoor Football Association. The Silverbacks were the fourth indoor football team to be based in Dayton, the first being the Dayton Skyhawks of the original Indoor Football League. The Skyhawks were followed by the Dayton Warbirds, who later became the Dayton Bulldogs, of the National Indoor Football League and the third being the Cincinnati Marshals who played their 2007 season in Dayton. The Silverbacks played their home games at Hara Arena in nearby Trotwood, Ohio.
