Fort Wayne Fusion

Last updated
Fort Wayne Fusion
Established 2006
Folded 2007
Played in Allen County War Memorial Coliseum
in Fort Wayne, Indiana
FortWayneFusionaf2logo.JPG
League/conference affiliations
af2 (2007)
  • American Conference (2007)
    • Midwest Division (2007)
Current uniform
Team colorsBurnt orange, regal purple, pearl white
   
Personnel
Owner(s) af2
General managerMike McCaffrey
Head coach Eddie Brown
Team history
  • Fort Wayne Fusion (2007)
Championships
League championships (0)
Conference championships (0)
Division championships (0)
Home arena(s)

The Fort Wayne Fusion was a 2007 af2 (Arena Football League's minor league) expansion team in the Midwest Division of the American Conference. They played their home games at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum in Fort Wayne, Indiana, which was the former home of the defunct National Indoor Football League/United Indoor Football franchise, the Fort Wayne Freedom.

Contents

After only one year of existence, the Fusion folded and a new version of the Fort Wayne Freedom was formed for the Continental Indoor Football League.

History

The franchise was announced in November, 2006 as an expansion team of the af2. Jeremy Golden was announced as the team's owner and general manager, and secured a lease with Allen County War Memorial Coliseum for home games. [1] The team also announced that Arena Football League legend, Eddie Brown, would be the team first head coach. [1] In January, the team named Mike McCaffrey as the team's General Manager to handle day-to-day operations for the Fusion. [2] In February, the team announced the team colors would be Burnt Orange, Regal Purple and Pearl White. [3] With the team struggling to find a quarterback through their exhibition games, the Fusion traded for Cody Hodges of the Oklahoma City Yard Dawgz. [4] The Fusion played their first game in the af2 on March 31, 2007 against the Green Bay Blizzard, who were the then-defending American Conference champions. [5] In July, 2007, the news surfaced that Owner Jeremy Golden had been removed as the owner of the Fusion by af2 Commissioner, Jerry Kurz. [6] The Fusion finished the season 5-11, [7] but with the loss of Golden during the season, the Fusion playing again in 2008 was very remote. [8] In October, the city learned that Kurz had determined that the Fusion would not return in 2008. [9]

2007 Schedule

The Fort Wayne Fusion's schedule for the 2007 season is as follows: (Home Games in bold)

DateOpponentTime (Eastern)LocationResultRecord
Saturday, March 31, 2007vs. Green Bay Blizzard 7:00 PM Allen County War Memorial Coliseum W (36-28)1-0
Saturday, April 7, 2007@ Bossier-Shreveport Battle Wings 8:00 PM CenturyTel Center L (52-67)1-1
Sunday, April 15, 2007vs. Spokane Shock 4:00 PM Allen County War Memorial Coliseum W (63-56)2-1
Saturday, April 21, 2007@ Manchester Wolves 7:05 PM Verizon Wireless Arena L (41-54)2-2
Saturday, April 28, 2007vs. Albany Conquest 7:00 PM Allen County War Memorial Coliseum L (21-35)2-3
Saturday, May 5, 2007@ Cincinnati Jungle Kats 7:30 PM U.S. Bank Arena L (32-35)2-4
Friday, May 11, 2007vs. Louisville Fire 7:30 PM Allen County War Memorial Coliseum L (42-48)2-5
Saturday, May 19, 2007BYE WEEK
Saturday, May 26, 2007vs. Tennessee Valley Vipers 7:00 PM Allen County War Memorial Coliseum W (56-33)3-5
Saturday, June 2, 2007@ Albany Conquest 4:00 PM Times Union Center L (33-77)3-6
Friday, June 8, 2007vs. Quad City Steamwheelers 7:30 PM Allen County War Memorial Coliseum L (47-64)3-7
Saturday, June 16, 2007@ Louisville Fire 7:00 PM Freedom Hall W (52-34)4-7
Friday, June 22, 2007@ Green Bay Blizzard 8:30 PM Resch Center L (28-54)4-8
Saturday, June 30, 2007vs. Cincinnati Jungle Kats 7:00 PM Allen County War Memorial Coliseum W (47-25)5-8
Saturday, July 7, 2007vs. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Pioneers 7:00 PM Allen County War Memorial Coliseum L (47-48)5-9
Saturday, July 14, 2007@ Tennessee Valley Vipers 8:30 PM Von Braun Center L (48-61)5-10
Saturday, July 21, 2007BYE WEEK
Thursday, July 26, 2007@ Quad City Steamwheelers 8:30 PM iWireless Center L (55-56)5-11

Season-by-season

Season records
SeasonWLTFinishPlayoff results
200751104th AC Midwest--

Final roster

Fort Wayne Fusion roster
Quarterbacks
  • 15Blayne Baggett
  • 12Joe Micco

Fullbacks

Wide receivers

Offensive linemen
  • 65Lenard Black
  • 66 Randy Degg
  • 99 A. J. Lindsay OL/DL
  • 72Stephenol Santos OL/DL
  • 97 Lou Vega OL/DL

Defensive linemen

  • 95Ernest Bentz
  • 91 Darian Tate
  • 33Ken West
Linebackers

Defensive backs

  • 14Arthur Berlanga
  •  2Derek Brown
  •  1Derrick Simmons
  •  3Nate Williams

Special teams

  •  6Kyle Hooper K
Injured reserve
  • 14Barry Drakeford DB (IR) Injury icon 2.svg
  •  3 R. J. Harvey KR (IR) Injury icon 2.svg
  • 10 Cody Hodges QB (IR) Injury icon 2.svg
  • 93Patrick P'au OL/DL (IR) Injury icon 2.svg
  • 21Jamal Rufu DB (IR) Injury icon 2.svg
  •  1Tyrone Walker WR (IR) Injury icon 2.svg
  •  4Terell White FB/LB (IR) Injury icon 2.svg
  • 89Rodney Wormley DL (IR) Injury icon 2.svg

rookies in italics
Roster updated July 15, 2007
21 Active, 8 Inactive

Coaches of note

Head coaches

Note: Statistics are correct through the end of the 2007 af2 season.

NameTermRegular SeasonPlayoffsAwards
WLTWin%WL
Eddie Brown 2007 5110.31300

Coaching staff

Fort Wayne Fusion staff
Front office
  • General manager – Mike McCaffrey
  • Asst. General Manager – Elvis Ahlborn
  • Team services – Greg Moyer
  • Radio play-by-play – Dean Jackson [10]

Head coach

Offensive coaches

  • Offensive Coordinator –
 

Defensive coaches

  • Defensive coordinator – Tony Henderson

See also

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References

  1. 1 2 "Fusion select Select-A-Seat Night". www.oursportscentral.com. OurSports Central. December 10, 2006. Retrieved December 9, 2013.
  2. ↑ "Fort Wayne Fusion name McCaffrey GM". www.oursportscentral.com. OurSports Central. January 11, 2007. Retrieved December 9, 2013.
  3. ↑ "Fort Wayne Fusion unveil new logos". www.oursportscentral.com. OurSports Central. February 20, 2007. Retrieved December 9, 2013.
  4. ↑ "Fusion Trades for QB". www.oursportscentral.com. OurSports Central. March 26, 2007. Retrieved December 9, 2013.
  5. ↑ "The Fusion Gets It Done!!". www.oursportscentral.com. OurSports Central. March 31, 2007. Retrieved December 9, 2013.
  6. ↑ Stacy Clardie (July 18, 2007). "af2 cuts tie with Fusion lead owner". www.journalgazette.net. Fort Wayne Journal Gazette. Retrieved December 9, 2013.
  7. ↑ Stay Clardie (July 27, 2007). "Fusion loss caps wild year". www.journalgazette.net. Fort Wayne Journal Gazette. Retrieved December 9, 2013.
  8. ↑ Stacy Clardie (August 24, 2007). "City arena football future is still clouded in mystery". www.journalgazette.net. Fort Wayne Journal Gazette. Retrieved December 9, 2013.
  9. ↑ Stacy Clardie (October 5, 2007). "Death knell for Fort Wayne Fusion?". www.journalgazette.net. Fort Wayne Journal Gazette. Retrieved December 9, 2013.
  10. ↑ "Fusion partners with Summit City Radio Group". www.oursportscentral.com. OurSports Central. February 21, 2007. Retrieved December 9, 2013.
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