Montgomery Bears
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Montgomery Bears | |
 |
|
| Founded | 2005 |
| Arena | Garrett Coliseum |
| Based in | Montgomery, Alabama |
| Colors | Brown, red, black |
| League | American Indoor Football Association |
| Head coach | Carlos Clayton |
| President of Football Operations | Michael Mink, John Morris |
The Montgomery Bears are a professional indoor football team that play their home games at the Garrett Coliseum in Montgomery, Alabama. They are a member of the American Indoor Football Association. The team began play as the Montgomery Maulers of the National Indoor Football League and won the Atlantic Conference Central Division Championship in 2005. The 2005 season ended in the conference semifinals of the playoffs to the Rome Renegades, who went on to appear in the NIFL Championship Indoor Bowl V.
Contents |
[edit] Entire Team Fired
Late in April, 2006, the second year of the club's existence, Donald Jackson, an attorney representing members of the team said the club had not paid the players, staff or coaches in more than a month. The team's owner (Jamie LaMunyon) made national news on April 27, 2006, by terminating the contracts of all players and announcing that replacements would be hired. [1]
[edit] New Ownership
On May 3, 2006, the Maulers came under new ownership. After losing five of their first six games, the team has rallied under new management, winning five of the next six (the lone defeat was a 1 point overtime loss in an away game). The Maulers showed their renewed tenacity most recently in the Osceola rematch. After a downed Montgomery player was speared in the back of the head (with no penalty having been assessed), the teams broke out into a 17 minute bench clearing brawl resulting in 19 players being ejected. Montgomery managed to overcome a 15 point deficit in the fourth quarter to pull off the 1 point win. Although this was officially the second time these teams have played, the first meeting was actually fielded by players from the SSFL's Gulf Coast Raiders (a team owned by Michael Mink) due to the previously mentioned contract disputes. Following the loss, Michael Mink and John Morris decided to become more involved with arena football and purchased the Maulers franchise with Mink becoming head coach and Morris becoming general manager. Subsequently, a number of Raiders players have been signed to the Maulers roster, which has brewed speculation that the Raiders will be used as a farm team for the Maulers.
[edit] 2006 Playoffs
Following a drumming by the top ranked Fayetteville Guard, the Maulers were 6-7 overall with the surprising opportunity to still make the playoffs. Tied for 7th place in the conference with the Charleston Sandsharks whom was scheduled the final game of the regular season, the winner was to receive the final playoff spot (only 6 teams per conference qualify). The Maulers lost the game 28-39, but Charleston's general manager Al Bannister had already stated the organization would skip the playoffs and refocus its energy on next season. It was noticed that the official NIFL web site had an asterisk by the teams name and stated no team with outstanding operational items (stats) would be eligible for the playoffs. Later, it was revealed the franchise had cheated by using at least six illegal players and also had outstanding fines due to administrative issues (not exchanging film with opponents or keeping statistics at home games). Subsequently, the Sandsharks were banned from the playoffs for the infractions, with the Maulers being awarded the sixth Atlantic conference spot. However this all proved academic as the Maulers lost in the first week of the playoffs on July 8 at Lakeland. Falling behind 27-0 in the first quarter, Montgomery stormed back but could not quite complete the comeback falling 70-62, ending their season 7-8.
After the 2006 season, the team announced they were changing their name to the Montgomery Bears and moving to the American Indoor Football Association.
[edit] Season-By-Season
Note: W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties
| Season | W | L | T | Finish | Playoff Results |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Montgomery Maulers (NIFL) | |||||
| 2005 | 8 | 6 | 0 | 1st Atlantic Central | Won AC Quarterfinal (M. Morays) Lost AC Seimfinal (Rome) |
| 2006 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 2nd Atlantic East | Lost AC Quarterfinal (Lakeland) |
| Montgomery Bears (AIFA) | |||||
| *2007 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 8th Southern | -- |
| Totals | 16 | 21 | 0 | (including playoffs) | |
* = Current Standing
[edit] 2007 Season Schedule
| Date | Opponent | Home/Away | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| February 10 | Mississippi Mudcats | Away | Lost 27-57 |
| February 26 | Carolina Speed | Away | Lost 16-48 |
| March 17 | Tallahassee Titans | Away | Lost 26-30 |
| March 24 | Tallahassee Titans | Home | Lost 34-55 |
| April 2 | Mississippi Mudcats | Home | Lost 37-62 |
| April 7 | Florence Phantoms | Home | Lost 40-46 |
| April 14 | Baltimore Blackbirds | Away | |
| April 21 | Carolina Speed | Home | |
| April 28 | Reading Express | Away | |
| May 5 | Florence Phantoms | Away | |
| May 12 | Baltimore Blackbirds | Home | |
| May 19 | Lakeland Thunderbolts | Home | |
| May 25 | Johnstown Riverhawks | Home | |
| June 2 | Lakeland Thunderbolts | Away |
[edit] Current Roster
| Name | Height | Weight | Position | School |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fred Barnett | 6' 8" | 303 lbs | OL | Faulkner |
| Ryan Tyrone Beneby | 6' 4" | OL | ASU | |
| Dante Booker | 6' 3" | 285 lbs | DL | Auburn |
| Brian Bostick | 5' 11" | 210 lbs | PK | Alabama |
| John Campbell | 6' 2" | LB | ||
| Kevin Campbell | 6' 3" | 250 lbs | RB | Troy |
| Joshua J.C. Chambers | 6' 2" | 280 lbs | DL | ASU |
| Markeith Cooper | 5' 10" | WR | Auburn | |
| Jermaine Copeland | 6' 2" | WR | Grambling State | |
| Monreko Crittenden | 6' 3" | 253 lbs | OL | Auburn |
| Undrae Crosby | 6' 4" | 290 lbs | DL | UAB |
| Silas Daniels | 6' 0" | 190 lbs | WR | Auburn |
| Cliff Darrington II | 6' 1" | 300 lbs | DL | Lakeland High |
| Roosevelt Echeverry | 5' 11" | PK | Tuskegee | |
| Santino Fitzpatrick | 6' 6" | DE | ||
| Reginald Glover | 6' 1" | WR | ASU | |
| Tyvon Green | 6' 2" | QB | Stillman | |
| Jonathan Harrell | 6' 2" | 235lbs | LB | Northern Iowa |
| Shaun Holmes | 5' 10" | 202 lbs | WR | ASU |
| Eric Hudson | 6' 3" | 230 lbs | LB | ASU |
| Ray Johnson | 6' 2" | DB | Miles | |
| Travis Lee | 6' 5" | 290 lbs | DL | Auburn |
| Deon Lewis | 6' 3" | 195 lbs | DB | ASU |
| Quincy McCall | 6' 2" | 275 lbs | OL | ASU |
| James Prince | 6' 1" | LB | Morris Brown | |
| J.R. Richardson | 6' 2" | 228 lbs | QB | ASU |
| Charlie Rollins | 5' 10" | 205 lbs | RB | Miles/ASU |
| Nate Sconiers | 6' 4" | 302 lbs | OL | ASU |
| Archie Smith | 6' 0" | 175 lbs | DB | ASU |
| Clinton Smith | 5' 8" | QB | ASU | |
| Wesley Smith | 5' 10" | DB | West Georgia | |
| Craig Orlando Smith | 6' 1" | WR | ||
| Alan Thompson | 5' 9" | DB | Stillman | |
| Ryan Paul Vandervort | 6' 4" | OL | Samford/Delta St | |
| Keldrick Williams | 5' 9" | RB | ASU |
[edit] Former players
- Jeff Aaron 6'3" 215lbs QB UAB
- Curtis Chance 6'3" 290lbs DL USF
- Tim Daniels 6'2" 265lbs DE Southern
- Octavius "Gator" Day 5'7" 160lbs WR Gulf Coast
- Jamaal Fletcher 6'2" 205lbs DB ASU
- Derrick Graves 6'1" 230lbs LB Auburn
- Antoine Hill 5'11 177lbs DB ASU
- Roger Medlock 6'5" 320lbs OL ASU
- Rodrice Merkerson 6'3" 220lbs WR Concordia
- Julius Mills 5'11" 190lbs DB ASU
- Jay Newton 5'9" 175lbs WR ASU
- Machion Sanders 5'9" 190lbs WR ASU
- J.D. Verchuere 6'3" 290lbs C Gulf Coast
[edit] External link
| American Indoor Football Association (AIFA) | ||||||
| Northern Conference | Southern Conference | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Canton Legends | Danville Demolition | Erie Freeze | Huntington Heroes | Johnstown Riverhawks | Pittsburgh RiverRats | Reading Express | Baltimore Blackbirds | Carolina Speed | Florence Phantoms | Gulf Coast Raiders | Lakeland Thunderbolts | Mississippi Mudcats | Montgomery Bears | Tallahassee Titans | |||||
| Defunct AIFL/AIFA teams: AIFL Ghostchasers | Binghamton Brigade/Brigadiers | Carolina Ghostriders | Carolina Sharks | Chattahoochee Valley Vipers | Syracuse Soldiers | ||||||
|
||||||
