Fort Wayne Freedom
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| Fort Wayne Freedom | |
 |
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| Founded | 2003 |
| Folded | 2006 |
| Arena | Allen County War Memorial Coliseum |
| Based in | Fort Wayne, Indiana |
| Colors | Red, white, and blue |
| League | NIFL (2003-2004) UIF (2005-2006) |
| Succeeded by | Fort Wayne Fusion (af2) |
The Fort Wayne Freedom were a professional indoor football team. They were most recently a member of the United Indoor Football league (UIF), and played their home games at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum. In 2004, the Freedom set the single game record for attendance at 10,225. In 2005, the Freedom moved to the UIF after 2 years in the NIFL. The Freedom won the 2005 UIF Midwest Division Championship, went 14-2 in the regular season, while clinching the #1 seed in the playoffs, but lost 57-22 in the first round of the UIF Playoffs to the Tennessee Valley Raptors.
Contents |
[edit] Team History
The Freedom selected a new coach for the 2006 season, after Matt Land left the Freedom to coach Tri-State University in NCAA Division III. The Freedom selected one of their own as they signed Dan Pifer to be their new head coach. Pifer is also the offensive coordinator for NCAA Division III Tri-State under former coach Matt Land. He also was an assistant coach atoached at the University of St. Francis, a NAIA institution, and NCAA Division II Hillsdale College in Michigan. Pifer also was a high school assistant and played quarterback at the University of California in Pennsylvania. The Freedom folded after the 2006 season, and its assets were sold to Jeremy Golden, who was later awarded an af2 franchise called the Fort Wayne Fusion.
[edit] Head Coaches
[edit] Former Staff
- Head Coach - Dan Pifer
- Offensive Coordinator - Dan Pifer
- Defensive Coordinator - Mike Smith
- Offensive Line Coach / Defensive Line Coach - Toney Bergman
- Assistant Coach - Troy Abbs
[edit] Season-By-Season
Note: W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties
| Season | W | L | T | Finish | Playoff Results |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fort Wayne Freedom (NIFL) | |||||
| 2003 | 8 | 6 | 0 | 3rd Atlantic East | -- |
| 2004 | 8 | 6 | 0 | 3rd Atlantic North | Won Round 1 (Believers) Lost Semifinal (Greyhounds) |
| Fort Wayne Freedom (UIF) | |||||
| 2005 | 14 | 2 | 0 | 1st Midwest | Lost Round 1 (T.V. Raptors) |
| 2006 | 4 | 11 | 0 | 4th East | -- |
| Totals | 35 | 27 | 0 | (including playoffs) | |
[edit] 2003 Season
[edit] Game-by-Game results
| Date | Opponent | Result | Record |
|---|---|---|---|
| March 22, 2003 | vs. Evansville BlueCats | W - 41-40 | (1-0) |
| March 29, 2003 | vs. Tupelo Fire Ants | W - 57-22 | (2-0) |
| April 12, 2003 | vs. Ohio Valley Greyhounds | L - 41-54 | (2-1) |
| April 19, 2003 | at Tennessee Riverhawks | L - 48-65 | (2-2) |
| April 25, 2003 | at Ohio Valley Greyhounds | L - 42-48 | (2-3) |
| May 03, 2003 | vs. Sioux Falls Storm | W - 55-19 | (3-3) |
| May 17, 2003 | vs. Myrtle Beach Stingrays | W - 51-25 | (4-3) |
| May 24, 2003 | at Evansville BlueCats | W - 62-33 | (5-3) |
| May 30, 2003 | at Lacrosse Night Train | W - 59-06 | (6-3) |
| June 06, 2003 | vs. Tennessee Riverhawks | W 74-15 | (7-3) |
| June 14, 2003 | at Sioux Falls Storm | L 49-52 | (7-4) |
| June 21, 2003 | at Myrtle Beach Stingrays | L - 41-50 | (7-5) |
| June 26, 2003 | at Lexington Horsemen | L - 43-59 | (7-6) |
| July 05, 2003 | vs. Lexington Horsemen | W - 76-62 | (8-6) |
[edit] 2004 Season
[edit] Game-by-Game results
| Date | Opponent | Result | Record |
|---|---|---|---|
| March 14, 2004 | vs. Show-Me Believers | W - 66-37 | (1-0) |
| March 20, 2004 | vs. Evansville BlueCats | W - 80-41 | (2-0) |
| April 03, 2004 | at Lexington Horsemen | L - 21-49 | (2-1) |
| April 10, 2004 | vs. Lexington Horsemen | L - 48-51 | (2-2) |
| April 24, 2004 | vs. Atlantic City CardSharks | W - 63-54 | (3-2) |
| May 01, 2004 | at Evansville BlueCats | L - 68-71 | (3-3) |
| May 08, 2004 | vs. Ohio Valley Greyhounds | W - 43-35 | (4-3) |
| May 15, 2004 | at Staten Island Xtreme | L - 41-42 | (4-4) |
| May 21, 2004 | vs. Staten Island Xtreme | W - 56-07 | (5-4) |
| May 28, 2004 | at Show-Me Believers | W - 49-35 | (6-4) |
| June 05, 2004 | at Ohio Valley Greyhounds | L - 23-52 | (6-5) |
| June 12, 2004 | at Atlantic City CardSharks | L - 27-41 | (6-6) |
| June 19, 2004 | at Tupelo Fire Ants | W - 61-40 | (7-6) |
| June 26, 2004 | vs. Carolina Stingrays | W - 48-03# | (8-6) |
# = set single game indoor football attendance record with 10,225 fans.
[edit] 2005 Season
The 2005 season was a season for the ages, and statistically is the best season the Freedom have had in franchise history. Finishing a league-best 14-2, the Freedom had high hopes as they went into the first-round of the UIF playoffs. On the other hand, the Tennessee Valley Raptors had other plans. Considering the game was in Fort Wayne, the Freedom were heavily favored, and the Raptors didn't take that into consideration when they destroyed the Freedom 57-22. A phenomenal season for the Freedom came to an end with a miserable showing in the first-round against a team that had more heart and more poise.
[edit] Game-by-Game results
| Date | Opponent | Result | Record |
|---|---|---|---|
| March 20, 2005 | vs. Ohio Valley Greyhounds | W 29-25 | (1-0) |
| April 10, 2005 | at Ohio Valley Greyhounds | W 31-20 | (2-0) |
| April 16, 2005 | vs. Black Hills Red Dogs | W - 59-34 | (3-0) |
| April 23, 2005 | at Tupelo Fire Ants | W - 51-15 | (4-0) |
| April 30, 2005 | at Sioux Falls Storm | W - 34-31 | (5-0) |
| May 07, 2005 | vs. Sioux City Bandits | W - 57-50 | (6-0) |
| May 13, 2005 | vs. Peoria Rough Riders | W - 52-32 | (7-0) |
| May 21, 2005 | at Peoria Rough Riders | W - 41-13 | (8-0) |
| May 28, 2005 | vs. Tupelo Fire Ants | W - 45-20 | (9-0) |
| June 05, 2005 | vs. Omaha Beef | W - 42-40 | (10-0) |
| June 11, 2005 | at Omaha Beef | L - 30-33 | (10-1) |
| June 18, 2005 | vs. Lexington Horsemen | L 41-58 | (10-2) |
| June 25, 2005 | at Peoria Rough Riders | W - 56-35 | (11-2) |
| July 02, 2005 | at Black Hills Red Dogs | W - 40-26 | (12-2) |
| July 08, 2005 | at Ohio Valley Greyhounds | W - 44-34 | (13-2) |
| July 17, 2005 | vs. Ohio Valley Greyhounds | W - 41-31 | (14-2) |
[edit] 2006 Season
[edit] Game-by-Game results
| Date | Opponent | Result | Record |
|---|---|---|---|
| March 25, 2006 | vs. Sioux City Bandits | W - 28-23 | (1-0) |
| April 01, 2006 | at Bloomington Extreme | W - 51-28 | (2-0) |
| April 08, 2006 | vs. Ohio Valley Greyhounds | W - 37-32 | (3-0) |
| April 15, 2006 | at Sioux City Bandits | L - 27-41 | (3-1) |
| April 22, 2006 | vs. Sioux Falls Storm | L - 44-47 | (3-2) |
| April 28, 2006 | at Lexington Horsemen | L - 65-32 | (3-3) |
| May 06, 2006 | at Sioux Falls Storm | L - 25-44 | (3-4) |
| May 12, 2006 | vs. Rock River Raptors | L - 36-49 | (3-5) |
| May 20, 2006 | vs. Evansville BlueCats | L - 31-33 | (3-6) |
| June 03, 2006 | at Ohio Valley Greyhounds | L - 29-52 | (3-7) |
| June 10, 2006 | at Evansville BlueCats | L - 37-43 | (3-8) |
| June 17, 2006 | at Rock River Raptors | L - 27-29 | (3-9) |
| June 24, 2006 | vs. Ohio Valley Greyhounds | W - 42-40 | (4-9) |
| July 01, 2006 | vs. Lexington Horsemen | L - 44-70 | (4-10) |
| July 08, 2006 | at Omaha Beef | L - 13-52 | (4-11) |
[edit] Location
The Freedom played their home games at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum, where they consistently have had high attendance numbers for games.
[edit] Fans
The Freedom Force was the official fan club of the Fort Wayne Freedom.
[edit] Freedom's death knell
The team had been heavily rumored to move to arenafootball2 for quite some time, but Coffey folded the team and sold the assets to Golden on November 10, 2006. Golden applied for and was awarded an af2, but because only the assets and not the Freedom's corporate entity were sold, the new Fort Wayne Fusion af2 franchise is not a continuation of the UIF team.[1]
