Related Research Articles
The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional indoor American football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in 1987 season 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 formerly 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.
The AF2 was the Arena Football League's developmental league; it was founded in 1999 and played its first season in 2000. Like its parent AFL, the AF2 played using the same arena football rules and style of play. League seasons ran from April through July with the postseason and ArenaCup championship in August. The AF2 continued to operate while the AFL suspended operations for its 2009 season. The league was effectively disbanded in September 2009 when no team committed to playing in 2010, but several of the stronger franchises transferred into the reconstituted AFL.
The Daytona Beach ThunderBirds were an arena football team based in Daytona Beach, Florida. They were founded in 2005 as the Daytona Beach Hawgs playing in the National Indoor Football League. In 2006, they changed their name to the Daytona Thunder and played in three different indoor football leagues over three seasons: the American Indoor Football League in 2006, the World Indoor Football League in 2007, and the AF2, the Arena Football League's developmental league, in 2008. They folded after the 2008 season. The Marquee player for the Thurnderbirds was 6'3" 230 pound Left handed Quarterback Matt Bohnet, an Eastern Michigan Graduate, who completed 160 out of 307 passes for 1,890 Yards 28 Touchdowns and 17 interceptions.
Michael Louis Hohensee is a former professional football quarterback who played in the United States Football League, Canadian Football League, National Football League and Arena Football League. He most recently the head coach of the AFL's Portland Thunder. He played college football at the University of Minnesota, and was in the AFL for two seasons, from 1987 to 1988. Hohensee has been a head coach since 1990, beginning at the Washington Commandos. He has served as head coach of eight different arena football franchises, winning ArenaBowl XX with the Chicago Rush in 2006.
Daniel Aaron Southwick is an American football quarterback who is currently a member of the Jacksonville Sharks. He played college football at Brigham Young University, Dixie State College, Oregon State University, the University of Utah and Occidental.
Darron Varnell Thomas is a former American football quarterback. He was the starting quarterback for the University of Oregon football team that reached the 2011 BCS National Championship Game and won the 2012 Rose Bowl.
Tyrone Goard is an American football wide receiver who is currently a free agent. He was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Cincinnati Bengals in 2013. He played college football at Eastern Kentucky. He has also spent time with the Pittsburgh Power, Portland Thunder, Philadelphia Soul, Winnipeg Blue Bombers, Los Angeles KISS, Portland Steel and Tampa Bay Storm.
Matthew Sauk is an arena football coach and former quarterback. He played college football at Utah State, was an af2 quarterback from 2001 to 2005, and an AFL quarterback from 2002 to 2008. He has been a football coach since 2008. After being the offensive coordinator for the Utah Blaze from 2011 to 2013, he became the Portland Thunder head coach in 2014. He was the head coach of the Salt Lake Screaming Eagles of the Indoor Football League (IFL) in 2017 and the Columbus Destroyers of the Arena Football League in 2019.
The 2014 Arena Football League season was the 27th season in the history of the league. The regular season began on March 14, 2014 and ended on July 26, 2014.
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.
The 2014 Portland Thunder season was the inaugural season for the franchise in the Arena Football League. The team was coached by Matthew Sauk and played its home games at the Moda Center. With a 5–13 record in the regular season, the Thunder qualified for the playoffs. However, they were defeated in the conference semifinals by the Arizona Rattlers by a 52–48 score.
The 2014 Arizona Rattlers season was the 23rd season for the franchise in the Arena Football League, coming off their victory in ArenaBowl XXVI, which was their second consecutive ArenaBowl championship. The team was coached by Kevin Guy and played their home games at the US Airways Center.
Shane Austin is an American football quarterback who is currently a free agent. He played college football at University of Hawai'i. Austin went undrafted in the 2012 NFL Draft and signed with the Everett Raptors of the Indoor Football League (IFL) after the draft. After starting the Raptors final games of the season, Austin was able to gain the attention of the Pittsburgh Power of the AFL. Austin was named the starting quarterback for the Power, but a broken hand caused him to miss two months of the season. Austin then was assigned to the Cleveland Gladiators where he was named the backup to Chris Dieker. With Dieker struggling for the Gladiators, Austin was given the opportunity to start and lead the Gladiators to a 14–1 record as a starter and a berth in ArenaBowl XXVII. The Gladiators lost to Arizona Rattlers in the ArenaBowl, but Austin was named Second Team All-Arena.
Douglas McNeil III is an American football wide receiver for the FCF Wild Aces of Fan Controlled Football (FCF). He has previously played for the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League (NFL) and the Portland Thunder of the Arena Football League (AFL). He attended Virginia Tech, James Madison University and Bowie State University and was a member of their football team. Over his three-year career at Bowie State, he made 84 receptions for 1,407 yards and 11 touchdowns.
Ron James is an American football coach who was most recently the head coach of the Atlantic City Blackjacks of the Arena Football League (AFL). He played college football at Siena College. He has been a football coach since 1986. Before becoming the Blackjacks' head coach for their inaugural 2019 season, James coached for the Las Vegas Gladiators from 2005 to 2006, the Utah Blaze from 2010 to 2013, the Pittsburgh Power in 2014, the Portland Steel in 2016, and the Tampa Bay Storm in 2017.
Jamar Howard is an American football wide receiver for the Jacksonville Sharks of the National Arena League (NAL). He played college Football at the University of Cincinnati before transferring to the University of Central Missouri. He has been a member of the Tri-Cities Fever, Cleveland Gladiators, Edmonton Eskimos, Portland Thunder/Steel and Jacksonville Sharks.
Terry W. Emmert is an American businessman, entrepreneur and sports franchise owner from Clackamas, Oregon, a suburb of Portland. He is the founder and owner of Emmert International, an engineering and transport service company, the International Basketball League's Portland Chinooks and the Portland Thunder professional Arena Football League team. He has two children, Terry Michael Emmert, who is vice president of Emmert International, and Christine Vessey, the Vice President of Multrec Corporation.
The 2016 Arena Football League season was the 29th season in the history of the Arena Football League. Prior to the start of the season, the league contracted to eight teams. The 16-game regular season then began on April 1, 2016 and ended on August 1, 2016. The league, however, kept its eight-team playoff format, which meant that every club qualified for the postseason.
Jarien Moreland is a former American football offensive lineman. He played college football at Southern Illinois University Carbondale and attended Glades Central High School in Belle Glade, Florida. He was a member of the Spokane Shock, Tampa Bay Storm, Spokane Empire, Portland Steel, Sioux Falls Storm, and Washington Valor.
Leonardo Bates is an American football offensive lineman who is currently a free agent. He played college football at University of Louisiana at Lafayette and attended L.W. Higgins High School in Marrero, Louisiana. He has been a member of the New Orleans VooDoo, Portland Steel and Tampa Bay Storm.
References
- General
- "Portland Thunder — Team History". Arena Fan. Retrieved February 26, 2016.
- "Portland Steel — Team History". Arena Fan. Retrieved February 26, 2016.