The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 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 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 National Indoor Football League (NIFL) was a professional indoor football league in the United States. For their first six years, the league had teams in markets not covered by either the Arena Football League or its developmental league, AF2, however, that changed briefly with their expansion into AFL markets such as Atlanta, Denver, and Los Angeles, and AF2 markets such as Fort Myers and Houston. Green Bay Packers head coach Matt LaFleur, Buffalo Bills running back Fred Jackson, New Orleans Saints quarterback John Fourcade and Pittsburgh Steelers Super Bowl running back Bam Morris, all played in the NIFL. The league folded in 2008.
The Alabama Steeldogs, originally known as the Birmingham Steeldogs, were incorporated in 2000 as one of the charter teams in the AF2, the developmental league of the Arena Football League. Entering their eighth season as of 2007, they were the longest running of many professional football franchises in the city of Birmingham. Management announced that it would not field a team in 2008 but had hopes of returning in 2009. But the team's front office has since been dissolved, and with no announcements of further plans, the team is defunct.
Pechanga Arena is an indoor arena in San Diego, California. It is the home of the San Diego Gulls of the American Hockey League (AHL) and the San Diego Seals of the National Lacrosse League (NLL). The arena opened in 1966 and is primarily used for sports and concerts.
The Amarillo Dusters are a professional indoor football team based in Amarillo, Texas, currently a member of the National Arena League. They play their home games at the Amarillo Civic Center. The Venom began play in 2004 as a charter member of the Intense Football League, a small indoor football league based in Texas. They won the championship in their first and only season with the Intense Football League.
The San Antonio Talons were a professional arena football team based in San Antonio, Texas. They played in the Arena Football League (AFL). Their home arena was the Alamodome, following their relocation to San Antonio for the 2012 season.
The Spokane Shock were a professional indoor American football team based in Spokane, Washington, that played their home games at the Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena. The team was initially a member of arenafootball2 (af2), the Shock won division titles in all four seasons and ArenaCups in 2006 and 2009 before they joined the Arena Football League (AFL) in its 2010 relaunch. The team advanced to the playoffs three times after joining the AFL, winning ArenaBowl XXIII in their first season, making them the only arena football franchise to win both the ArenaCup and the ArenaBowl.
The Fresno Frenzy were an expansion af2 team for the 2002 season. Fresno was joined by the Albany Conquest, Bakersfield Blitz, Cape Fear Wildcats, Hawaiian Islanders, Mobile Wizards, Mohegan Wolves, New Haven Ninjas, San Diego Riptide & the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Pioneers. In 2002, they played their home games in Selland Arena, in which they finished 4–12, dead last in the Western Division of the National Conference. Despite going an even 4–4 in Fresno, they bombshelled on the road, going 0-8 that season. After the 2002 season, they folded after one year in Fresno. Arena football would return later to Fresno in 2004, when the original Bakersfield Blitz moved to Fresno, and called themselves the Central Valley Coyotes.
The Jacksonville Tomcats were an arena football team based in Jacksonville, Florida, U.S. They were an inaugural franchise in af2, the developmental league of the Arena Football League (AFL), and played for three seasons, from 2000 to 2002. They played their home games at Jacksonville Coliseum.
The New Haven Ninjas were an indoor American football team based in New Haven, Connecticut. They were an expansion team in the af2 for the 2002 season. On October 24, 2001, it was announced that Ninjas had won the name-the-team contest over Cyclones, Gladiators, Hawkeyes and ShoreDawgs. Along with the Ninjas, New Haven was joined by the Albany Conquest, Bakersfield Blitz, Cape Fear Wildcats, Fresno Frenzy, Hawaiian Islanders, Mobile Wizards, Mohegan Wolves, San Diego Riptide & the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Pioneers. New Haven played in the American Conference of the Northeast Division. In 2002, the Ninjas finished 6–10, third in the Northeast Division. Still, that wasn't enough to play football in August. After the 2002 season, the Ninjas folded because the New Haven Coliseum closed, and the experiment for arena football in New Haven was done.
Craig Dominic Whelihan is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL), XFL, and Arena Football League (AFL). He played college football for the Pacific Tigers. He was selected by the San Diego Chargers in the sixth round of the 1995 NFL draft.
Darrel "Mouse" Davis is a retired American football coach and former player. A veteran coach at the high school, college, and professional levels, he last coached with Jerry Glanville at Portland State and with June Jones at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. Davis served as the head football coach at Portland State University from 1975 to 1980, compiling a record of 42–24. He has also been a head coach with the Denver Gold of the United States Football League (1985), the New York/New Jersey Knights of the World League of American Football (1991–1992), and the Detroit Fury of the Arena Football League (2001–2002) and the San Diego Riptide (2003) of the AF2. A native of Washington, Davis grew up in Oregon, where he started his coaching career as a high school football coach. Davis is now widely regarded as the 'godfather' of the run and shoot offense.
Chad Everett Dukes is a former American football running back in the National Football League for the Washington Redskins (1998–2000), San Diego Chargers (1998), St. Louis Rams (2000) and the Jacksonville Jaguars (2000) and played four games total in his NFL career. He played college football at the University of Pittsburgh. Dukes played on the Albany Firebirds (1998–1999) before his NFL career, the Colorado Crush (2004), the Manchester Wolves (2002–2003) and the Philadelphia Soul after his NFL career in the Arena Football League. Dukes won AFL Ironman of the year in 1998 when he was with the Firebirds. In 2004, he was a part of the 2004 Crush ArenaBowl XIX Championship team. In 2002, Dukes was named the defensive af2 Tough Man of the Year while playing for the Manchester Wolves in 2002.
Anthony Buich is a former American football quarterback who played one season with the Grand Rapids Rampage of the Arena Football League (AFL). He played college football at Eastern Illinois University. He was also a member of the Iowa Barnstormers, Tulsa Talons, Tampa Bay Storm, Wichita Stealth, Nashville Kats and San Diego Riptide.
Steve LeRoi Papin is a former American football offensive specialist who played seven seasons in the Arena Football League (AFL) with the San Jose SaberCats and New York Dragons. He first enrolled at West Valley College before transferring to Portland State University. He attended Piedmont Hills High School in San Jose, California. Papin was also a member of the Scottish Claymores and San Diego Riptide.
Steve "Speedy" Gonzalez is a former American football wide receiver who played one season with the Philadelphia Soul of the Arena Football League (AFL). He first enrolled at Modesto Junior College before transferring to Menlo College. Gonzalez was also a member of the San Diego Riptide, Manchester Wolves, Green Bay Blizzard and Dallas Vigilantes. He appeared on Michael Irvin's reality show 4th and Long.
The Arena Football Hall of Fame is the official Hall of Fame of the Arena Football League (AFL). The inaugural class was announced in 1998 and the Hall was not formally organized until 2011. Prior to 2011, there were four classes: 1998–2000 and then another in 2002. The Arena Football Hall of Fame is the highest honor for players, coaches, and contributors involved in the AFL. The voting process consists of fans and current Hall of Fame members voting on the finalists. The finalists are selected by the League Office in which they collect ballots from the Arena Football Hall of Fame Advisory Board, a group which consisted of former players, executives, journalists and media personnel with a long-time involvement in the league. The league began to decline in 2015, so no Hall of Fame announcements have been made since this year. The league folded for a second time in 2019. After the league's second closure, ArenaFan, a long-running fan site, announced it had taken over operations of the Arena Football Hall of Fame.
The San Diego Strike Force are a professional indoor football team based in Oceanside, California, that competes in the Indoor Football League (IFL). The team plays its home games at Frontwave Arena. The Strike Force began play in the 2019 season.
Ricardo Lee "Rico" Curtis II is a former American football wide receiver and linebacker. He played three seasons for the San Diego Riptide in the af2 from 2002 to 2004, breaking the single-season record for tackles in his first season and retiring as the league's all-time leading tackler. Curtis returned to play for the San Diego Shockwave in the National Indoor Football League (NIFL) in 2007, leading them to an NIFL title before the league folded. He played college football at San Diego State.
