The 2006 Great Lakes Indoor Football League season was the first season of the

Great Lakes Indoor Football League The Continental Indoor Football League (CIFL) was an indoor football league based along the Midwestern United States region that played nine seasons from 2006 to 2014. It began play in April 2006 as the Great Lakes Indoor Football League (GLI ...

(GLIFL). The league was founded in 2005 by brothers Eric and Jeff Spitaleri and their friend Cory Trapp. The league's first franchise accepted was the

Lehigh Valley Outlawz The Lehigh Valley Outlawz were a professional indoor football team based in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. The team began play as a semi-pro team in the Labelle Community Football League as the ''Philly Outlawz''. The team was later a charter member of ...

, who joined in late June, 2005. It cost a new owner a $15,000 franchising fee, with a capped salary of $5,400 per team, per week, with no player earning more than $300 per game. While trying to attract teams, the league agreed to arena contracts before securing owners in efforts to attract owners in those specific market areas. They reached agreements with markets in

Danville, Illinois Danville is a city in and the county seat of Vermilion County, Illinois. As of the 2010 census, its population was 33,027. As of 2019, the population was an estimated 30,479. History The area that is now Danville was once home to the Miami, K ...

Battle Creek, Michigan Battle Creek is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan, in northwest Calhoun County, Michigan, Calhoun County, at the confluence of the Kalamazoo River, Kalamazoo and Battle Creek River, Battle Creek rivers. It is the principal city of the Battle C ...

Rochester, New York Rochester () is a City (New York), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, the county seat, seat of Monroe County, New York, Monroe County, and the fourth-most populous in the state after New York City, Buffalo, New York, Buffalo, ...

Port Huron, Michigan Port Huron is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of St. Clair County. The population was 30,184 at the 2010 census. The city is adjacent to Port Huron Township but is administered separately. Located along the St. Clair ...

Toledo, Ohio Toledo ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Lucas County, Ohio, United States. A major Midwestern United States port city, Toledo is the fourth-most populous city in the state of Ohio, after Columbus, Cleveland, and Cincinnati, and according ...

and

Marion, Ohio Marion is a city in and the county seat of Marion County, Ohio, Marion County, Ohio, United States. The municipality is located in north-central Ohio, approximately north of Columbus, Ohio, Columbus. The population was 35,999 at the 2020 United S ...

. Of those markets, the league was able to sell ownership to four of them. In December, it was finalized that the league would begin with 6 teams in their inaugural season, with teach team playing a 10-game season over a 12-week span. On April 7, 2006, the league held its first-ever games with the Battle Creek Crunch hosting the

Port Huron Pirates The Port Huron Pirates were a professional indoor American football, indoor football team based in Port Huron, Michigan. The team was a charter member of the Great Lakes Indoor Football League (GLIFL) joining the league in 2006 Great Lakes Indoor ...

and the

Rochester Raiders The Rochester Raiders were a professional indoor football team based in the Rochester, New York area. They played their home games at Bill Gray's Regional Iceplex in Rochester. The Raiders were previously a member of the Continental Indoor Foot ...

hosting the New York/New Jersey Revolution. The Crunch were defeated 62-22 by the Pirates, and the Raiders defeating the Revolution 71-13. The league's first ever playoff format was a 4-team set up with the #1 seed hosting the #4 seed, and the #2 seed hosting the #3 seed. The semifinals featured a pair of blowout games, with Port Huron and Rochester advancing to

Great Lakes Bowl I The CIFL Championship Game was the annual championship game of the Continental Indoor Football League (CIFL). In 2006, it was the meeting of the two semifinal game winners. Following the 2007 and 2008 season, the game was between the Great Lakes D ...

, which was to be played at

McMorran Arena McMorran Arena is an entertainment complex in Port Huron, Michigan consisting of a 4,800-seat multi-purpose arena and a theater. It was designed by Alden B. Dow and built in 1960 for $3.5 million (equivalent to $ million today). The exterior of ...

as Port Huron was the #1 seed on July 22. The Pirates were able shut down the Raiders' offense for most of the second half earning a 40-34 victory for the Port Huron, thus completing the first ever undefeated season in league history. At the conclusion of the first season, the league also put together an All-Star Game at Stabler Arena, where they split up 3 teams each for an East vs. West matchup. The West, dominated with a roster full of Port Huron's championship team.

Standings

* ''Green indicates clinched playoff berth'' * ''Grey indicates best regular season record''

Playoffs

All-Star game

*Located at the Stabler Arena in

Bethlehem, Pennsylvania Bethlehem is a city in Northampton and Lehigh Counties in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania, United States. As of the 2020 census, Bethlehem had a total population of 75,781. Of this, 55,639 were in Northampton County and 19, ...

on August 5, 2006.

2006 award winners

*Most Valuable Player (Vincent Cleveland Memorial Trophy) - Matt Cottengim,

*Offensive Player of the Year - Matt Cottengim,

*Quarterback of the Year - Matt Cottengim,

*Running Back of the Year - Rayshaun Askew,

*Wide Receiver of the Year - Maurice Jackson,

*Defensive Player of the Year - Eddie Bynes,

*Linebacker of the Year - Ed Chan, NY/NJ Revolution *Defensive Back of the Year - Eric Gardner, Battle Creek Crunch *Return Man of the Year - Darius Smith,

*GLIFL All-Star Game MVP - Shane Franzer,

*Coach of the Year - Brian Hug,

References

External links

CIFL Website

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