Fort Wayne Fusion
Arena football team
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 .
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)
Date
Opponent
Time (Eastern)
Location
Result
Record
Saturday, March 31, 2007
vs. 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, 2007
vs. 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, 2007
vs. 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, 2007
vs. Louisville Fire
7:30 PM
Allen County War Memorial Coliseum
L (42-48)
2-5
Saturday, May 19, 2007
BYE WEEK
Saturday, May 26, 2007
vs. 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, 2007
vs. 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, 2007
vs. Cincinnati Jungle Kats
7:00 PM
Allen County War Memorial Coliseum
W (47-25)
5-8
Saturday, July 7, 2007
vs. 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, 2007
BYE WEEK
Thursday, July 26, 2007
@ Quad City Steamwheelers
8:30 PM
iWireless Center
L (55-56)
5-11
Season-by-season
Season records
Season
W
L
T
Finish
Playoff results
2007
5
11
0
4th AC Midwest
--
Final roster
Fort Wayne Fusion roster
Quarterbacks
15 Blayne Baggett
12 Joe Micco
Fullbacks
Wide receivers
Offensive linemen
65 Lenard Black
66 Randy Degg
99 A. J. Lindsay OL/DL
72 Stephenol Santos OL/DL
97 Lou Vega OL/DL
Defensive linemen
95 Ernest Bentz
91 Darian Tate
33 Ken West
Linebackers
Defensive backs
14 Arthur Berlanga
2 Derek Brown
1 Derrick Simmons
3 Nate Williams
Special teams
Injured reserve
14 Barry Drakeford DB (IR Tooltip Injured reserve )
3 R. J. Harvey KR (IR Tooltip Injured reserve )
10 Cody Hodges QB (IR Tooltip Injured reserve )
93 Patrick P'au OL/DL (IR Tooltip Injured reserve )
21 Jamal Rufu DB (IR Tooltip Injured reserve )
1 Tyrone Walker WR (IR Tooltip Injured reserve )
4 Terell White FB/LB (IR Tooltip Injured reserve )
89 Rodney Wormley DL (IR Tooltip Injured reserve )
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 .
Name
Term
Regular Season
Playoffs
Awards
W
L
T
Win%
W
L
Eddie Brown
2007
5
11
0
.313
0
0
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
Defensive coaches
Defensive coordinator – Tony Henderson
See also
References
^ a b "Fusion select Select-A-Seat Night" . www.oursportscentral.com . OurSports Central. December 10, 2006. Retrieved December 9, 2013 .
^ "Fort Wayne Fusion name McCaffrey GM" . www.oursportscentral.com . OurSports Central. January 11, 2007. Retrieved December 9, 2013 .
^ "Fort Wayne Fusion unveil new logos" . www.oursportscentral.com . OurSports Central. February 20, 2007. Retrieved December 9, 2013 .
^ "Fusion Trades for QB" . www.oursportscentral.com . OurSports Central. March 26, 2007. Retrieved December 9, 2013 .
^ "The Fusion Gets It Done!!" . www.oursportscentral.com . OurSports Central. March 31, 2007. Retrieved December 9, 2013 .
^ Stacy Clardie (July 18, 2007). "af2 cuts tie with Fusion lead owner" . www.journalgazette.net . Fort Wayne Journal Gazette. Retrieved December 9, 2013 .
^ Stay Clardie (July 27, 2007). "Fusion loss caps wild year" . www.journalgazette.net . Fort Wayne Journal Gazette. Retrieved December 9, 2013 .
^ 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 .
^ Stacy Clardie (October 5, 2007). "Death knell for Fort Wayne Fusion?" . www.journalgazette.net . Fort Wayne Journal Gazette. Retrieved December 9, 2013 .
^ "Fusion partners with Summit City Radio Group" . www.oursportscentral.com . OurSports Central. February 21, 2007. Retrieved December 9, 2013 .
External links