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The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional indoor American football league in the United States. It was founded in 1987, making it the third longest-running professional football league in North America after the Canadian Football League (CFL) and the National Football League (NFL) until the AFL closed in 2019. The AFL played a proprietary code known as arena football, a form of indoor American football played on a 66-by-28 yard field, with rules encouraging offensive performance, resulting in a faster-paced and higher-scoring game. The sport was invented in the early 1980s and patented by Jim Foster, a former executive of the United States Football League (USFL) and the NFL. Each of the league's 32 seasons culminated in the ArenaBowl, with the winner being crowned the league's champion for that season.
Arena football is a variety of eight-man indoor gridiron football. The game is played indoors on a smaller field than American or Canadian football, designed to fit in the same surface area as a standard North American ice hockey rink, resulting in a faster and higher-scoring game that can be played on the floors of indoor arenas. The sport was invented in 1981, and patented in 1987, by Jim Foster, a former executive of the National Football League and the United States Football League. The name is trademarked by Gridiron Enterprises and had a proprietary format until its patent expired in 2007.
The Cleveland Gladiators were an arena football team based in Cleveland, Ohio, United States, and members of the Arena Football League (AFL). The Gladiators played their home games at Quicken Loans Arena, which they shared with the Cleveland Cavaliers of the National Basketball Association and the Cleveland Monsters of the American Hockey League. The franchise was originally based in East Rutherford, New Jersey, and then later in Las Vegas, Nevada, before relocating to Cleveland for the 2008 AFL season. The Gladiators qualified for the playoffs eight times in their history, reaching the ArenaBowl in 2014.
The Bossier–Shreveport Battle Wings were an Arena Football League team based in Bossier City, Louisiana. They played at the CenturyTel Center in Bossier City and took their name from the metropolitan area that consists of Bossier City and neighboring city Shreveport in the Ark-La-Tex corridor. Playing in the defunct af2 from their inception in 2001 until the league's folding in 2009, the team had its best seasons in 2002, 2007, 2008, and 2009 having clinched division titles in the latter two years. They were also the only seasons in which the team had more wins than losses. In 2007, the Battle Wings clinched their first-ever playoff berth, beating the Arkansas Twisters and Rio Grande Valley Dorados before being beaten by the eventual Arena Cup champion Tulsa Talons. Despite having little success in their earlier days, the Battle Wings turned out some players who went on to appear in both the Canadian Football League and for other teams the Arena Football League, in which the team itself played for a single season after the AFL emerged from bankruptcy and resumed operations. Following the 2010 season, the team moved to New Orleans, Louisiana for the 2011 AFL season and became a successor to the New Orleans VooDoo.
Kyle Moore-Brown is a former Arena Football League offensive lineman/defensive lineman for the Albany/Indiana Firebirds and the Colorado Crush. He is currently the associate head coach and offensive line coach for the Nebraska Danger of the Indoor Football League (IFL). He was the head coach of the Cedar Rapids Titans of the Indoor Football League.
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.
Jerome Anthony Smith was an American football player and coach. Jerry was born in Dayton, Ohio and attended Chaminade High School, graduating in 1948. At Chaminade he played tight end and later in 1982 was elected to the school's Athletic Hall of Fame.
Thomas "Pepper" Johnson is an American football coach and former linebacker, who is currently the head football coach for IMG Academy. He played in the National Football League for 13 seasons, the first seven of which were for the New York Giants. He won two Super Bowls with the Giants before playing for the Cleveland Browns, Detroit Lions and New York Jets.
Bradley Donn Sellers is an American retired professional basketball player, politician, and radio host serving as the mayor of his hometown, Warrensville Heights, Ohio. Sellers is also a basketball analyst on the Cleveland Cavaliers Radio Network.
Miami Southridge Senior High School is a secondary school located in South Miami Heights, Florida. Its current principal is Humberto J. Miret. The school serves ninth through twelfth grade students in a mostly unincorporated suburban and rural area in the southern stretches of Miami-Dade County between South Miami and Homestead.
The Saginaw Sting was a professional Indoor Football team based in Saginaw, Michigan. The team was most recently a member of American Indoor Football (AIF). They began play in 2008 as an expansion team in the Continental Indoor Football League and then moved to the Indoor Football League for the 2009 season. They suspended operations for the 2010 season before becoming an inaugural member of the Ultimate Indoor Football League. The following season they were suspended by the UIFL and re-joined the CIFL under new ownership. The team has since moved to the AIF. The owners of the Sting were Stuart Schweigert, Rob Licht and Jim O'Brien. The Sting played their home games at The Dow Event Center in Saginaw, Michigan.
The Indoor Football League (IFL) is a professional indoor American football league created in 2008 out of the merger between the Intense Football League and United Indoor Football. It has one of the largest number of currently active teams among indoor football leagues. The league has operated continuously under the same name and corporate structure longer than any other current indoor football league.
Hartmeyer Ice Arena is a 3,500 seat multi-purpose arena in Madison, Wisconsin. It has ice surfaces for hockey, figure skating, and open skating, but can also have the ice removed for other events, such as indoor football.
The Chicago Mustangs are an American professional indoor soccer team based at the Now Arena in the Chicago suburb of Hoffman Estates, Illinois. They play in the Eastern Conference of the Major Arena Soccer League 2 (M2). They are also competing outdoors as members of the Midwest Premier League
Lee Johnson is an arena football coach and former offensive lineman and defensive lineman. He played his college football at the University of Missouri, and was an AFL offensive lineman and defensive lineman from 1995 to 1996. He has been a football coach since 1997. After being the defensive coordinator for the Orlando Predators from 2010 to 2011, he became the San Antonio Talons head coach in 2011.
The Portland Steel were a professional arena football team based in Portland, Oregon and members of the Arena Football League (AFL). The team started as the Portland Thunder, joining the AFL in 2014 as an expansion team along with the Los Angeles Kiss. The team played their home games at the Moda Center. They were known as the Thunder until the franchise went under league ownership in 2016 and became the Steel.
James Stanley is a former American gridiron football coach and former player. He is the Line Backers Çoach & Pass Game Analyst for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the Canadian Football League (CFL). Stanley played professional indoor football from 2004 to 2007 for various teams in the Arena Football League (AFL), AF2, National Indoor Football League (NIFL) and American Indoor Football League (AIFL) and was the first overall pick in the AIFL draft in 2005. He has coached for several teams at the high school, college, professional levels. Stanley was a linebacker coach for the Toronto Argonauts when won the 100th Grey Cup in 2012.
The Brooklyn Bolts were a professional American football team based in Brooklyn, New York City, New York. They were a charter member of the Fall Experimental Football League (FXFL), which was trying to become the developmental league for the National Football League. They played their home games at MCU Park.
The Cleveland Saints were a professional indoor football team based in Warrensville Heights, Ohio. The Saints were members of American Indoor Football (AIF). The club was established in 2014 as an expansion team for the 2015 season. The Saints played their home games at the Multiplex.
Ronald R. Selesky, Jr. is a former American football center and arena football coach. He played college football at North Central College and was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Minnesota Vikings of the National Football League (NFL). He also served as the Director of Football Operations for the Birmingham Iron of the Alliance of American Football (AAF), and held the same position with the Tampa Bay Vipers of the XFL in 2020 prior to the league folding.
References
- ↑ Front Office Staff Archived 2014-05-06 at the Wayback Machine , Team Website
- ↑ Coaching Staff Archived 2014-05-06 at the Wayback Machine , Team Website
