Roster
| 2014 Georgia Fire roster | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Quarterbacks
Running Backs
Wide Receivers
| Offensive Linemen
Defensive Linemen
| Linebackers
Defensive Backs
Kickers
| Injured Reserve
Exempt list
Failure to report-exempt
Rookies in italics | |||
| 2014 Georgia Fire season | |
|---|---|
| Owner | PIFL |
| Head coach | Cosmo Dematteo |
| General manager | Jeff Gonos |
| Home field | Forum Civic Center |
| Results | |
| Record | 4–8 |
| Conference place | 3rd |
| Playoff finish | did not qualify |
The 2014 Georgia Fire season was the first season as a professional indoor football franchise and their first in the Professional Indoor Football League. One of 8 teams that competed in the PIFL for the 2014 season.
With complications surrounding the Albany Panthers franchise for the 2014 season, the Professional Indoor Football League (PIFL) introduced the Fire to replace the Panthers for the 2014 season. With the league running the team, PIFL Executive Director, Jeff Ganos was named the franchise's general manager and Cosmo DeMatteo was named the team's innaurgal head coach on February 27, 2014. [1] With the season starting on April 5, 2014, the Fire were given the Panthers roster, where players who didn't wish to play for the new franchise, refused to report. [2] In the first game in franchise history, the Fire knocked off defending PIFL Champions, the Alabama Hammers by a score of 57–55. [3] The Fire finished the season 4–8, failing to make the playoffs.
Key: Win Tie Loss Bye
All start times are local to home team
| Week | Day | Date | Kickoff | Opponent | Results | Location | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Score | Record | ||||||
| 1 | BYE | ||||||
| 2 | Saturday | April 5 | 7:30pm | Alabama Hammers | W 67–65 | 1–0 | Forum Civic Center |
| 3 | Friday | April 11 | 7:30pm | at Columbus Lions | L 34–71 | 1–1 | Columbus Civic Center |
| 4 | BYE | ||||||
| 5 | Saturday | April 26 | 7:00pm | at Columbus Lions | L 41–63 | 1–2 | Columbus Civic Center |
| 6 | Saturday | May 3 | 7:30pm | Nashville Venom | W 49–42 | 2–2 | Forum Civic Center |
| 7 | Saturday | May 10 | 7:05pm | at Nashville Venom | W 58–56 | 3–2 | Nashville Municipal Auditorium |
| 8 | Saturday | May 17 | 7:05pm | at Harrisburg Stampede | L 64–72 | 3–3 | Giant Center |
| 9 | Saturday | May 24 | 7:00pm | at Alabama Hammers | L 21–39 | 3–4 | Von Braun Center |
| 10 | Sunday | June 1 | 1:00pm | Richmond Raiders | L 53–72 | 3–5 | Forum Civic Center |
| 11 | Saturday | June 7 | 7:30pm | Nashville Venom | L 39–73 | 3–6 | Forum Civic Center |
| 12 | Saturday | June 14 | 7:30pm | Lehigh Valley Steelhawks | L 57–63 OT | 3–7 | Forum Civic Center |
| 13 | Saturday | June 21 | 7:00pm | at Trenton Freedom | W 52–49 | 4–7 | Sun National Bank Center |
| 14 | Friday | June 27 | 7:30pm | Columbus Lions | L 55–69 | 4–8 | Forum Civic Center |
| 2014 Georgia Fire roster | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Quarterbacks
Running Backs
Wide Receivers
| Offensive Linemen
Defensive Linemen
| Linebackers
Defensive Backs
Kickers
| Injured Reserve
Exempt list
Failure to report-exempt
Rookies in italics | |||
2014 Professional Indoor Football League | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | Overall | Conference | |||||||||
| W | L | T | PCT | W | L | T | PCT | ||||
| National Conference | |||||||||||
| y-Trenton Freedom | 8 | 4 | 0 | .667 | 6 | 2 | 0 | .750 | |||
| x-Lehigh Valley Steelhawks | 6 | 6 | 0 | .500 | 5 | 3 | 0 | .625 | |||
| Richmond Raiders | 5 | 7 | 0 | .417 | 3 | 5 | 0 | .375 | |||
| Harrisburg Stampede | 4 | 8 | 0 | .333 | 2 | 6 | 0 | .250 | |||
| American Conference | |||||||||||
| y-Nashville Venom | 10 | 2 | 0 | .833 | 6 | 2 | 0 | .750 | |||
| x-Columbus Lions | 7 | 5 | 0 | .583 | 5 | 3 | 0 | .625 | |||
| Georgia Fire | 4 | 8 | 0 | .333 | 3 | 5 | 0 | .375 | |||
| Alabama Hammers | 4 | 8 | 0 | .333 | 2 | 6 | 0 | .250 | |||
The Indoor Football League (IFL) began in 1999 as an offshoot of the troubled Professional Indoor Football League. Keary Ecklund, the owner of the Green Bay Bombers and Madison Mad Dogs, left the PIFL after its first, financially troubled, season to start his own league. Unlike the PIFL, the IFL was an "entity league"; teams were owned by the league and franchised out to management groups. NFL Hall-of-Famer Kellen Winslow was brought in as commissioner. The league was successful enough for a major expansion in 2000. Expansion was done regionally to cut down on travel expenses. Hence, the majority of the teams were in the Midwest. Their championship game was known as the Gold Cup.
The Indoor Professional Football League (IPFL) was the new incarnation of the Professional Indoor Football League (PIFL), which started in 1998. Two of its teams left the league and their owner, Kerry Ecklund, founded the Indoor Football League in 1999. The IPFL led a troubled three-year existence, and died after its 2001 season, with its most successful teams joining up with the National Indoor Football League.
The Tri-Cities Fever were a professional indoor football franchise based in Kennewick, Washington. The Fever joined National Indoor Football League (NIFL) in 2005 as an expansion team. The Fever were owned by Teri Carr. From 2005 to 2016, the Fever played their home games at the Toyota Center in Kennewick, Washington. On June 30, 2016, the team announced it would go dormant for the 2017 season and beyond.
The Erie Explosion was a professional American indoor football team based in Erie, Pennsylvania. Founded in 2007 as the Pittsburgh RiverRats, the Explosion played in the Professional Indoor Football League, the United Indoor Football League, the Southern Indoor Football League, the Continental Indoor Football League and the American Indoor Football Association and operated continuously from 2007 to 2015.
Larry Edwards is an American football linebacker for the Columbus Lions of the National Arena League (NAL). He was signed by the Bills as an undrafted free agent in 2007. He played collegiately at North Carolina.
The Richmond Raiders were a professional indoor football team located in Richmond, Virginia the Richmond Coliseum as their home arena. The Raiders began play in the 2010 as an expansion team of the American Indoor Football Association (AIFA). The Raiders moved to the Southern Indoor Football League (SIFL) when the Eastern Division of the AIFA merged with the SIFL in the winter of 2010, beginning SIFL play in the 2011 season. After just a single season in the SIFL the Raiders, along with four other members of the SIFL, became the charter members of the Professional Indoor Football League (PIFL). The team was then a member the PIFL from 2012 to 2015.
The Harrisburg Stampede were a professional indoor football team based in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. The Stampede participated in several different leagues over their history: the American Indoor Football Association in 2009 and 2010, the Southern Indoor Football League in 2011, American Indoor Football in 2012 and 2013, and the Professional Indoor Football League in what became their final season of play in 2014. The team suspended operations on December 30, 2014.
The Albany Panthers were an indoor football team based in Albany, Georgia. The team joined the Southern Indoor Football League (SIFL) during their inaugural season in 2010. When the SIFL folded, the team joined the Professional Indoor Football League (PIFL) in 2012. The Panthers' home games were played at the Albany Civic Center until 2014.
The Georgia Firebirds were a professional indoor football team based in Albany, Georgia, and played their home games at the Albany Civic Center. Previously, the Firebirds played as an outdoor football team in various semi-pro leagues before going indoor. The Firebirds joined American Indoor Football (AIF) for the 2016 season but the league folded after one season. The Firebirds then joined the new National Arena League (NAL) for the 2017 season.
The Alabama Hammers were a professional indoor football team based in Huntsville, Alabama. The team played in the Professional Indoor Football League (PIFL) from 2012 to 2015. The Hammers originally began play as an expansion team in the Southern Indoor Football League in 2011. The Hammers are the fourth indoor football team to play at the Von Braun Center; these were the Alabama Vipers of the AFL (2010), the Tennessee Valley Vipers of the af2, and the Tennessee Valley Raptors of the United Indoor Football league (2005). The owner of the Hammers is Southern Sports Entertainment, LLC. The Hammers play their home games at the Von Braun Center. Their name comes from the Yellowhammer, the state bird of Alabama.
The Professional Indoor Football League (PIFL) was a professional indoor football league that played four seasons from 2012 to 2015. Like the Lone Star Football League, the PIFL was mainly composed of teams formerly part of Southern Indoor Football League. Despite the name, this PIFL had no connections to the original Professional Indoor Football League.
The Knoxville NightHawks were a professional indoor football team based in Knoxville, Tennessee. The team was a member of the Professional Indoor Football League (PIFL). The NightHawks joined the PIFL in 2012 as an expansion team. The NightHawks were the second indoor/arena football team based in Knoxville, following the Tennessee ThunderCats which played in the Indoor Professional Football League for the 2001 season before joining the National Indoor Football League where they played the 2002 and 2003 seasons before moving to Greenville, South Carolina. The Owner of the NightHawks was Southern Sports Entertainment, LLC. The NightHawks played their home games at the James White Civic Coliseum in Knoxville, Tennessee.
The Nashville Venom were a professional indoor football team, one of eight franchises of the Professional Indoor Football League (PIFL). Based in Nashville, Tennessee, the Venom were members of the American Conference. The team began play in 2014 as an expansion team. The team played at Nashville Municipal Auditorium in Nashville, which opened in 1962.
The Georgia Fire were a professional indoor football team based in Rome, Georgia. They were members of the American Conference in the Professional Indoor Football League (PIFL) during the 2014 season.
The 2014 Professional Indoor Football League season was the third season of the Professional Indoor Football League (PIFL). The regular season began March 29, 2014, and ended on June 28, 2014. Each team played a 12-game schedule. The top 2 teams in each conference advanced to the playoffs that began on July 5. The final was played July 12, with the Nashville Venom defeating the Lehigh Valley Steelhawks to win their first league championship.
The 2014 Nashville Venom season was the first season as a professional indoor football franchise and their first in the Professional Indoor Football League (PIFL). The Venom were of eight teams competing in the PIFL for the 2014 season.
The 2013 Knoxville NightHawks season was the first season for the professional indoor football franchise and their first in the Professional Indoor Football League (PIFL). The NightHawks were one of six teams that competed in the PIFL for the 2013 season.
The 2015 Professional Indoor Football League season was the fourth and last season of the Professional Indoor Football League (PIFL). The regular season began March 27, 2015, and end on June 20, 2015. Each team played an 11 or 12-game schedule. The top 4 teams in the league advanced to the playoffs that began on June 27, 2015.
The 2015 Lehigh Valley Steelhawks season was the fifth season for the indoor football franchise, and their third in the Professional Indoor Football League (PIFL).
Warren Smith is an American football quarterback for the Jersey Flight of the National Arena League (NAL). He played college football at the University of Maine.
