The Houston ThunderBears were a professional arena football team based in Houston, Texas. The team finished the 2001 season as a member of the Western Division of the American Conference of the Arena Football League (AFL). The team joined the AFL in 1996 as the expansion Texas Terror. After their first two years of existence, the franchise changed their name to the Houston ThunderBears. Plagued with attendance problems through the majority of their existence, the team folded in 2001. Home games were played at the Compaq Center.
The Maverik Center, originally known as the E Center, is a 12,600-seat multi-purpose indoor arena located in West Valley City, Utah, United States. Construction on the arena started in 1996 and was completed in time to hold its first event on September 22, 1997. The arena is owned by West Valley City, and managed by Centennial Management Group. During the 2002 Winter Olympics it served as the main venue for the ice hockey events, and as the venue for ice sledge hockey during the 2002 Winter Paralympics. Today the arena is home to the Utah Grizzlies along with the Salt Lake City Stars, and it is also a major venue in the area for numerous concerts and live touring productions.
Utah Blitzz was an American professional soccer team in based in Salt Lake City, Utah that played in the USL Pro Select League. The club was founded in 2000 but folded following the 2004 season to make way for the Major League Soccer franchise, Real Salt Lake, to begin play in 2005. During its short existence the club was very successful, winning two league titles in total while finishing first or second in the Western Conference every season. The club played its home games at Rice-Eccles Stadium on the campus of the University of Utah.
Siaha Burley is an American former arena football wide receiver and former head coach. He played college football at UCF and was also the head coach of the Jacksonville Sharks from 2017 to 2019 before returning to the team for 2022.
Joseph Berton Germaine is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) and the Arena Football League (AFL). He played college football for the Ohio State Buckeyes and was selected by the St. Louis Rams in the fourth round of the 1999 NFL draft.
The Delta Center is an indoor venue in Salt Lake City. Opened in 1991, the arena is the home of the Utah Jazz of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and, starting with the 2024-25 Season, the Utah Hockey Club of the National Hockey League (NHL). Over the years, it has also hosted other professional sports teams including the Utah Blaze of the Arena Football League and the Utah Starzz of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). With a seating capacity of 18,306 for basketball, up to 16,200 for ice hockey and indoor football, and 20,000 for concerts, the arena offers space for many kinds of events. It has 56 luxury suites and 668 club seats. During the 2002 Winter Olympics, the arena hosted figure skating and short-track speed skating competitions under the name "Salt Lake Ice Center". It is expected to host the same events during the 2034 Winter Olympics.
Justin Earl Skaggs was an American football player. He played college football at Evangel University. After going undrafted in the 2001 NFL draft, Skaggs went on to have a seven-year professional football career in the National Football League (NFL), NFL Europe, and Arena Football League (AFL).
The 2008 Utah Blaze season was the third season for this Arena Football League franchise. Despite losing their first nine games, the Blaze were able to finish the regular season with six wins in their last seven games, earning them a playoff berth as the fourth seed in the American Conference. In their wild card round game, however, they were defeated by the Colorado Crush, 44–49.
Ed Ta'amu is a former American football offensive lineman. He was selected by the Minnesota Vikings in the fourth round of the 2002 NFL draft. He played college football at Utah.
Aaron Rostenbach Boone is a former American professional gridiron football wide receiver. He played college football at Kentucky. He was originally signed as an undrafted free agent by the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NFL) in 2003.
Caesar Rayford is a former American football defensive end in the National Football League (NFL) for the Dallas Cowboys. He also was a member of the BC Lions, Spokane Shock, Utah Blaze, Jacksonville Sharks, Calgary Stampeders, Montreal Alouettes, Los Angeles Kiss and Tampa Bay Storm. He played college football at the University of Washington. He is currently the defensive line and linebackers coach for the Atlantic City Blackjacks.
The Jacksonville Sharks are a professional indoor football team based in Jacksonville, Florida, playing their home games at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena. As of 2024, they are members of the Indoor Football League (IFL).
The Pittsburgh Power were a professional arena football team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The team belonged to the East Division of the American Conference in the Arena Football League. Founded in 2010, the Power was the youngest franchise in the American Conference. The team played its home games at Consol Energy Center, which they shared with the Pittsburgh Penguins of the National Hockey League. The Power shared the same color scheme as Pittsburgh's other professional sports teams, the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League, the Pittsburgh Maulers of the USFL, and the Pittsburgh Pirates of Major League Baseball.
The 2011 Utah Blaze season was the fifth season for the franchise in the Arena Football League. The team was coached by Ron James and moved back to EnergySolutions Arena for home games, after playing at Maverik Center in 2010. The Blaze finished the season 9–9, missing the playoffs.
Thomas Grady is a former American football quarterback who primarily played in the Arena Football League (AFL).
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 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.
Ron James is an American football coach. He is the head football coach for Juan Diego Catholic High School, a position he has held since 2020. He was the head coach of the Atlantic City Blackjacks of the Arena Football League (AFL) in 2019. 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.
Frank Carter is an American former professional football fullback/linebacker who played seven seasons in the Arena Football League (AFL) with the New Jersey/Las Vegas Gladiators, Nashville Kats, Utah Blaze and San Jose SaberCats. He played college football at MacMurray College. He was also a member of the Duluth-Superior Lumberjacks and Quad City Steamwheelers.
