History
The franchise was created in 2001, the second year of the af2. Olson's first successful move as owner operator was to bring in local football star Kevin Porter to coach the upstart team. Porter, an alumnus of Auburn University, and the Kansas City Chiefs was also an arena football veteran. Under his leadership, the inaugural team made the playoffs and was named "Expansion Franchise of the Year" by the league. He went on to coach the New Orleans VooDoo and Kansas City Brigade of the AFL.
Two seasons later, Porter led the Knights to the ArenaCup, af2's championship game, where the Knights lost to the Tulsa Talons 58–40. Afterwards, he left for the parent AFL and a number of his players followed.
Porter was replaced by AFL veteran Mike Hold. Despite his success with other franchises, Hold did not have as good a fortune in Macon. In 2005, after a bad start, Hold was replaced by Derek Stingley.
Stingley took a club that had fallen to 2–5 and, by season's end, managed to get them into the playoffs. The Knights however, lost to the Louisville Fire in the opening round.
After the 2006 season, the team announced they would be shutting down operations. [1] However, on October 10, 2008, the Macon Telegraph reported that an investor is "deeply interested" in relaunching the Knights franchise in Macon, as early as 2009, but no later than 2010. [2]
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.
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The Columbus Wardogs were an arena football team in af2 that played their home games in the Columbus Civic Center in Columbus, Georgia, from 2001 through 2004. The franchise was relocated as the Mississippi Headhunters for the 2006 season, but did not play any games.
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The Stockton Lightning were a professional arena football team based in Stockton, California. They were members of the Western Division of the National Conference of the arenafootball2 (af2). The Lightning joined af2 2006 as an expansion team. They played their home games at Stockton Arena in Stockton, California and were coached by Chad Carlson. The Stockton Lightning were owned by Michael Reinsdorf.
The Cincinnati Swarm was a professional arena football franchise based in Cincinnati, Ohio. They were members of the Midwest Division of the National Conference of the af2. The Swarm joined the af2 as an expansion franchise in 2003 along with the Green Bay Blizzard. In 2003, the Swarm went 7–9, second in the Midwest Division. Despite their modest record, and finishing second in their division, they failed to make the playoffs. Cincinnati's attempt at arena football failed, and the Swarm folded after one year due to poor attendance. Ten years earlier, Cincinnati was home to the Cincinnati Rockers from 1992 to 1993, and like the Swarm, they folded shortly after their inception. Despite the Swarm's failure, the city of Cincinnati would get another af2 franchise in the form of the now-defunct Cincinnati Jungle Kats, who suffered the same fate as the Swarm.
Rickey Foggie is an American former gridiron football quarterback. Foggie was the starting quarterback for the Minnesota Golden Gophers for four seasons, before going on to play professionally in the Canadian Football League (CFL) and Arena Football League (AFL). Foggie is currently the head football coach for the Minnesota Myth AFL team.
Derek Stingley Sr. is an American football coach. Prior to his coaching career, he had a nine-year playing career in the Arena Football League.
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.
Kyle Rowley is an American former arena football quarterback. He also played in the former af2. He played college football at Brown.
The Georgia Doom were a professional indoor football team based out of Macon, Georgia. They play their home games at Macon Coliseum. They started as a midseason road team filling in for the folded Dayton Wolfpack in the National Arena League in 2017 before becoming a charter member of the American Arena League in 2018. The team suspended operations during the 2019 season.
