Warsaw Eagles

Warsaw Eagles
Founded 1999
Based in Warsaw, Poland
Head coach Phillip Dillon
Owner(s) Paul Kusmierz, Sev Zakrzewski
League Polish American Football League
Colours Blue and Orange
         
Mascot(s) Pierzak
Polish Bowl 2006, 2008
Website warsaweagles.com

The Warsaw Eagles are an American football team in Warsaw, Poland. They play in the Polish American Football League. Paul Kusmierz is the owner of the team.

History

The team was founded in 1999 by a group of NFL enthusiasts consisting of Jędrzej Staszewski, Piotr Gorzkowski, Jan Kowalski, Grzegorz Mikuła, and Tomasz Kozankiewicz, who are considered to be the founders of the Warsaw Eagles club. In 2004 the club purchased professional sports gear for the first time to be able to spar with the very first opponent on the Polish arena - Fireballs Wielkopolska. The first game was played on December 17 of 2004 in Suchy Las near Poznań. In 2006 along with 1. KFA Wielkopolska, Pomorze Seahawks (currently Seahawks Gdynia) and The Crew Wrocław (currently Giants Wrocław), the Eagles debuted in the very first edition of the Polish American Football League and having dominated each game, won the first Championship title. The Eagles would go on to win the title again in 2008 defeating The Crew Wrocław 26:14.[1] In 2009 the team signed contracts with its first two transfer players from the United States. In the 2012/2013 season four American players play for the Eagles.[2]

Uniforms

The Warsaw Eagles’ navy blue home jersey has orange numbers, letter outlines and vertical stripes on opposite sides. The away kit consists of a white jersey with dark blue letters and numbers that have orange outlines. Players wear white socks, navy blue helmets with an Eagle head, and navy blue pants to all games.

Season-by-season records

PLFA champions (2006–2007)
PLFA I champions (2008–present) 		PLFA II champions (2008–present) Championship Game appearances
Season League Division Finish Wins Losses Ties Postseason results Ref
2006 PLFA — 1st 3 0 0 Won Polish Bowl (Seahawks) 34–6 [3]
2007 PLFA Central 1st 6 0 0 Lost Semi-Final (Miners) 13–16 [4]
2008 PLFA I — 2nd 5 2 0 Won Semi-Final (The Crew) 8–7
Won Polish Bowl (Seahawks) 26–14		 [5]
2009 PLFA I — 3rd 4 3 0 Lost Semi-Final (Miners) 26–31 [6]
2010 PLFA I — 4th 4 3 0 Lost Semi-Final (Devils) 13–54 [7]
2011 PLFA I — 3rd 7 2 0 Lost Semi-Final (Devils) 13–31 [8]

Fan Traditions

Bernie Dance

Fans of the Warsaw Eagles club have adopted the Bernie Dance (a dance style from the 1993 comedy film Weekend at Bernies II which involves loosely wobbling arms and tilting one’s head back) to celebrate each touchdown scored by their players during the game.

Eagles’ Nest (Orle Gniazdo )

An official fanclub organization called “Eagles’ Nest” composed of the team’s most devoted fans.

Stadiums

Warsaw Eagles game site locations and stadiums:

Honours

Individual Player Achievements

Video of Clarence Anderson’s (WR) 75-yard punt return from Eagles’ home game against Warsaw Spartans during the 2012/13 season has been prominently featured across all major Polish and American sports media programs including ESPN and ESPN2.

Current Staff

Front Office
Owner – Paul Kusmierz
Co-Owner – Sev Zakrzewski
General Manager - Jacek Śledziński
President of the Board - Roman Iwański

Head Coaches

Phillip Dillon - Head Coach/Defensive Coordinator
Tom Wesolowski - Offensive Coordinator/Offensive Line
Dan Miles – Assistant Coach
Tomasz Kawiarowski - Director of Player Personnel
Karol Ratyński – Physiotherapist
Artur Lubas – Strength and Conditioning
Michał Kułakowski - Mental Coach

Current Roster

QUARTERBACKS
  • 3 Shane Gimzo
  • 16 Roman Iwański

RUNNING BACKS

  • 23 Piotr Osuchowski
  • 25 Jakub Juszczak
  • 31 Maciej Wróblewski
  • 34 Witold Szpotański
  • 35 Damian Tarnowski
  • 37 Artur Góralczyk
  • 40 Dawid Więckowski
  • 45 Michał Kozdrój

WIDE RECEIVERS

  • 7 Clarence Anderson
  • 8 Marcin Łojewski
  • 11 Rafał Sokołowski
  • 19 Filip Mościcki
  • 13 Michał Jodłowski
  • 19 Tomasz Balcer
  • 21 Szymon Modzelewski
  • 81 Kuba Zduń
  • 83 Krzysztof Stojak
  • 84 Michał Śpiczko
  • 85 Marcin Jodłowski
  • 86 Tomek Sitarek

OFFENSIVE LINEMEN

  • 63 Łukasz Nowicki
  • 64 Michał Pienczak
  • 66 Łukasz Pietrzak
  • 68 Bartłomiej Struss
  • 70 Łukasz Kustra
  • 74 Mateusz Sławiński
  • 78 Maciej Król

DEFENSIVE BACKS

  • 22 Mateusz Adamczewski
  • 24 Caleb Singleton
  • 29 Szymon Pobudkiewicz
  • 30 Antoni Omondi
  • 33 Tadeusz Tarach
  • 44 Dominik Koniusz
  • 48 Radek Gołąb
  • 49 Eryk Przepiórzyński
  • 82 Łukasz Koniusz

DEFENSIVE LINEMEN

  • 56 Mateusz Mędrala
  • 57 Tomasz Szczeszek
  • 61 Radosław Wiankowski
  • 72 Krzysztof Dreger
  • 75 Robert Gieleciński
  • 77 Maciej Laskowski
  • 90 Marek Włodarczyk
  • 95 Robert Szulecki
  • 96 Grzegorz Modzelewski
  • 98 Wiktor Nowak
  • 99 Jakub Dzikowski

LINEBACKERS

  • 9 Łukasz Cackowski
  • 20 Maciej Traczyk
  • 43 Mark-Avery Airhart
  • 47 Antoni Gmurczyk
  • 50 Jan Cenkier
  • 51 Konrad Paszkiewicz
  • 54 Daniel Tarnawski

See also

References

  1. ↑
  2. ↑
  3. ↑ "PLFA 2006". pzfa.pl. Retrieved 13 Jul 2011.
  4. ↑ "PLFA 2007". pzfa.pl. Retrieved 13 Jul 2011.
  5. ↑ "PLFA I 2008". pzfa.pl. Retrieved 13 Jul 2011.
  6. ↑ "PLFA I 2009". pzfa.pl. Retrieved 13 Jul 2011.
  7. ↑ "PLFA I 2010". pzfa.pl. Retrieved 13 Jul 2011.
  8. ↑ "PLFA I 2011". pzfa.pl. Retrieved 13 Jul 2011.

External links