The Indiana Firebirds were a team in the

Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 season, making it the third longest-running professional football league in ...

. The team was based in

Indianapolis, Indiana Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Mar ...

. Home games were played at the

Conseco Fieldhouse CNO Financial Group, Inc. (formerly Conseco, Inc. (from Consolidated National Security Corporation)) is a financial services holding company based in Carmel, Indiana. Its insurance subsidiaries provide life insurance, annuity and supplemental ...

, also the home of the

Indiana Pacers The Indiana Pacers are an American professional basketball team based in Indianapolis. The Pacers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The Pacers were first estab ...

of the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball sports league, league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues i ...

and

Indiana Fever The Indiana Fever are an American professional basketball team based in Indianapolis, playing in the Eastern Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The team was founded before the 2000 season began. The team is owned ...

of the

Women's National Basketball Association The Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) is an American professional basketball league. It is composed of twelve teams, all based in the United States. The league was founded on April 22, 1996, as the women's counterpart to the Nati ...

History

Albany Firebirds (1990–2000)

The team was founded in

Albany, New York Albany ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of New York, also the seat and largest city of Albany County. Albany is on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River, and about north of New York Cit ...

as the Albany Firebirds, and played in Albany from 1990 to 2000. At that time, home games were played at the Knickerbocker Arena (now known as the MVP Arena). The team's original ownership group was headed by Joe O'Hara, owner of the

Continental Basketball Association The Continental Basketball Association (CBA) (originally known as the Eastern Pennsylvania Basketball League, and later as the Eastern Professional Basketball League and the Eastern Basketball Association) was a men's professional basketball mi ...

Albany Patroons The Albany Patroons are a professional basketball team that plays in The Basketball League (TBL). Previously, the team competed in the Continental Basketball Association (CBA) and in the United States Basketball League (USBL). The Patroons won ...

, who would later become the AFL's second commissioner. In 2020, he revealed that he originally wanted to call the team the Nighthawks, but league founder Jim Foster wanted that nickname for a future team he planned to own after his tenure as commissioner. After getting off the phone with Foster while in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

, he happened to see a

Pontiac Firebird The Pontiac Firebird is an American automobile that was built and produced by Pontiac from the 1967 to 2002 model years. Designed as a pony car to compete with the Ford Mustang, it was introduced on February 23, 1967, five months after GM's ...

driving down the highway and decided to go with that name. The Firebirds were very successful during their tenure in Albany. They won six division titles, made nine playoff appearances, and won the 1999 ArenaBowl championship.

Indiana Firebirds (2001–2004)

On October 19, 2000, the Firebirds announced they would be relocating to

Indianapolis Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion ...

. After the move, the Firebirds competed in the Central Division of the AFL's American Conference. The Firebirds were not as successful in Indianapolis as they were in Albany, missing the playoffs twice in four seasons after having made the playoffs in all but two of their first 11 seasons. The 2004 Firebirds just missed the playoffs after a disappointing 0–5 start. However, they finished the season winning eight of their last eleven games and were considered by some a potential contender for the 2005 Arena Bowl championship led by 2004 Rookie of the Year

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Am ...

Zachary Paget. However, in early September 2004, Firebirds owner Dave Lageschulte announced that his company, Lags Football LLC, would cease all business operations for the Firebirds. Lageschulte had been actively, but unsuccessfully, pursuing local investors to purchase the Firebirds since he had assumed ownership in 2002. On September 20, 2004, the date of the announced sales deadline, the Arena Football League announced the termination of the Firebirds franchise and that the players would be made available to continuing AFL teams in a

dispersal draft A dispersal draft is a process in professional sports for assigning players to a new team when their current team ceases to exist or is merged with another team. Like most other sports drafts, most dispersal drafts are conducted in North America. ...

. However, within the week the team was purchased by Scott and Todd Hines, who run H3 Sportsgear, a sportsgear company based in Indianapolis. With AFL approval, it was hoped that the Firebirds could remain operational in Indianapolis. However, this bid floundered due to concerns that the low sale price would devalue the worth of the other 18 franchises. The former Firebirds players were made available in the dispersal draft conducted on October 14, 2004, marking the end of one of the AFL's longest-running franchises.

Resurrection of the Albany Firebirds name

After the move of the Albany Firebirds AFL franchise to Indiana, an AF2 team called the

Albany Conquest The Albany Firebirds were a professional arena football team of the AF2 based in Albany, New York. Albany was granted an expansion team in 2002 and began play as the Albany Conquest. The Firebirds played their home games at the Times Union Cente ...

took to the field to replace the arena football void left by the departure of the Firebirds. After eight seasons and troubles with fielding a winning team in recent seasons, Conquest owner

Walter Robb Walter Robb is an American businessman. He has been the Co-CEO of Whole Foods Market with John Mackey since 2010 and he joined the Whole Foods Market Board of Directors at that time as well. Early life Robb was born and raised on the East Coast ...

contemplated shutting down the Conquest franchise. Then, on Friday, October 3, 2008, Robb announced the return of the team for the 2009 season but renamed as the

Albany Firebirds The Indiana Firebirds were a team in the Arena Football League. The team was based in Indianapolis, Indiana. Home games were played at the Conseco Fieldhouse, also the home of the Indiana Pacers of the National Basketball Association and Indiana ...

in the hopes of "re-branding" the team.

Season-by-season

, - , colspan="6" style="text-align:center;", Albany Firebirds , - , 1990 , , 3 , , 5 , , 0 , , 5th , , – , - , 1991 , , 6 , , 4 , , 0 , , 4th , , Lost Week 1 (

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...

37–35) , - , 1992 , , 5 , , 5 , , 0 , , 3rd Northern , , Lost Week 1 (

Dallas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County ...

48–45) , - , 1993 , , 5 , , 7 , , 0 , , 5th NC , , Lost Week 1 (

Tampa Bay Tampa Bay is a large natural harbor and shallow estuary connected to the Gulf of Mexico on the west-central coast of Florida, comprising Hillsborough Bay, McKay Bay, Old Tampa Bay, Middle Tampa Bay, and Lower Tampa Bay. The largest freshwater ...

48–34) , - , 1994 , , 10 , , 2 , , 0 , , 1st NC , , Won Week 1 (

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Veg ...

49–30)
Lost Week 2 (

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

40–33) , - , 1995 , , 7 , , 5 , , 0 , , 1st NC Eastern , , Won Week 1 (

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

51–49)
Lost Week 2 (

56–49) , - , 1996 , , 10 , , 4 , , 0 , , 1st NC Eastern , , Won Week 1 (

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee i ...

70–58)
Lost Week 2 (

Iowa Iowa () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wiscon ...

62–55) , - , 1997 , , 6 , , 8 , , 0 , , 3rd NC Eastern , , – , - , 1998 , , 10 , , 4 , , 0 , , 1st NC Eastern , , Lost Week 1 (

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delawa ...

66–59) , - , 1999 , , 11 , , 3 , , 0 , , 1st NC Eastern , , Won Week 1 (

Grand Rapids Grand Rapids is a city and county seat of Kent County in the U.S. state of Michigan. At the 2020 census, the city had a population of 198,917 which ranks it as the second most-populated city in the state after Detroit. Grand Rapids is the ...

55–45)
Won Week 2 (

73–47)
Won

ArenaBowl XIII Arena Bowl XIII was the 1999 edition of the Arena Football League (1987–2008), Arena Football League's championship game. The game was played on August 21, 1999, at the Firebirds' home arena, the Times Union Center (then known as the Pepsi Arena ...

(

Orlando Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures re ...

59–48) , - , 2000 , , 9 , , 5 , , 0 , , 1st NC Eastern , , Lost Week 2 (

53–50) , - , colspan="6" style="text-align:center;", Indiana Firebirds , - , 2001 , , 9 , , 5 , , 0 , , 2nd AC Central , , Won Week 1 ( Carolina 58–41)
Won Week 2 (

68–31)
Lost Week 3 (

83–70) , - , 2002 , , 7 , , 7 , , 0 , , 3rd AC Central , , Lost Week 1 (

47–46) , - , 2003 , , 6 , , 10 , , 0 , , 4th AC Central , , – , - , 2004 , , 8 , , 8 , , 0 , , 3rd AC Central , , – , - !Totals , , 121 , , 91 , , 0 , colspan="2", (including playoffs)

Notable players

Arena Football Hall of Famers

Individual awards

All-Arena players

The following Firebirds players were named to All-Arena Teams: *QB

Tom Porras Tom Porras (born March 28, 1958) is an American former gridiron football player. He played as a quarterback in the Canadian Football League (CFL) from 1985 to 1994 for four teams. Previously, he played in the United States Football League (USFL ...

(1), Mike Perez (2),

Mike Pawlawski Mike Pawlawski (born July 18, 1969) is a former professional football player, a quarterback in the National Football League, Arena Football League, and XFL. Born in Los Angeles, Pawlawski played college football at the University of California ...

(1) *FB/LB Chad Dukes (2),

Leroy Thompson Leroy Thompson (born January 23, 1971) is a former fullback/linebacker in the Arena Football League for 13 years. He has played for the Albany / Indiana Firebirds (1996–2004), the New Orleans VooDoo (2005) and the Columbus Destroyers (2006� ...

(1) *WR/DB

Reggie Smith Carl Reginald Smith (born April 2, 1945) is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as an outfielder and afterwards served as a coach and front office executive. He also played in the Nippon Profe ...

(1),

Fred Gayles Frederick Gayles (born May 11, 1966) is a former Arena football wide receiver/linebacker in the Arena Football League (AFL). He played college football at Western State Colorado University. In 2002, Gayles was elected into the Arena Football H ...

(1),

Merv Mosely Merv Mosely (born October 31, 1966) is a former American football player who played four seasons in the Arena Football League with the Albany Firebirds and Connecticut Coyotes The Connecticut Coyotes were an arena football franchise based in Ha ...

(2), David McLeod (1), Jay Jones (1), Evan Hlavacek (1) *WR/LB

(1), Greg Hopkins (2) *OL/DL

Sylvester Bembery Sylvester Bembery (born March 1, 1965) is a former American football lineman in the Arena Football League. Bembery, #78, was an offensive and defensive lineman for the Tampa Bay Storm from 1994–99, and once again joined the Storm for the 2001 ...

(3), Kevin Murphy (1),

Jerome Brown Willie Jerome Brown III (February 4, 1965 – June 25, 1992) was an American football defensive tackle for the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League (NFL). He played his entire five-year NFL career with the Eagles from 1987 to 1 ...

(1), Joe Jacobs (3), Jon Krick (1),

Chris Snyder Christopher Ryan Snyder (born February 12, 1981) is an American former professional baseball catcher in Major League Baseball (MLB). He played in MLB for the Pittsburgh Pirates, the Arizona Diamondbacks, the Houston Astros and the Baltimore Oriol ...

(1), Kyle Moore-Brown (1) *OS/KR

(1) *OS Eddie Brown (4) *DS

Derek Stingley Derek Stingley Jr. (born June 20, 2001) is an American football cornerback for the Houston Texans of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at LSU and was selected third overall by the Texans in the 2022 NFL Draft. Earl ...

(1),

Cornelius Coe Cornelius Coe (born September 17, 1975) is a former American football defensive specialist who played four seasons in the Arena Football League (AFL) with the Indiana Firebirds and Los Angeles Avengers. He played college football at Northern Mich ...

(1) *K Gary Gussman (1), Franco Grilla (1), Pete Elezovic (1),

Clay Rush Clay Rush (born October 27, 1973) is a former American football kicker who played in the Arena Football League (AFL) from 1999 to the original league's folding in 2008. Early years At Riverview Gardens High School in St. Louis, Missouri, Rush wa ...

(1)

All-Ironman players

The following Firebirds players were named to All-Ironman Teams: *FB/LB Chad Dukes (1), Rich Young (1) *WR/DB Evan Hlavacek (1) *WR/LB Greg Hopkins (2) *OL/DL Joe Jacobs (2),

(1)

All-Rookie players

The following Firebirds players were named to All-Rookie Teams: *QB

Adrian McPherson Adrian Jamal McPherson (born May 8, 1983) is a former gridiron football quarterback. McPherson played the majority of his professional career for the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League. He was drafted by the New Orleans Saints in ...

*FB/LB

Van Johnson Charles Van Dell Johnson (August 25, 1916 – December 12, 2008) was an American film, television, theatre and radio actor. He was a major star at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer during and after World War II. Johnson was described as the embodiment ...

*WR/DB Brett Bech *DS

Head coaches

References

External links

AFL official website

Albany Firebirds at ArenaFan.com

Indiana Firebirds at ArenaFan.com

Albany Firebirds historical site
{{Defunct Arena Football League franchises Defunct American football teams in Indiana American football teams in Indiana 1990 establishments in New York (state) 2004 disestablishments in Indiana