The Cincinnati Rockers were an arena football team based in

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

. They began play in 1992 as an

expansion team An expansion team is a new team in a sports league, usually from a city that has not hosted a team in that league before, formed with the intention of satisfying the demand for a local team from a population in a new area. Sporting leagues also ...

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 ...

and competed through the

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peace ...

season before they suspended operations due to low attendance. The Rockers played their home games at the

Riverfront Coliseum Heritage Bank Center is an indoor arena located in downtown Cincinnati, next to the Great American Ball Park. It was completed in September 1975 and named Riverfront Coliseum because of its placement next to Riverfront Stadium. In 1997, the fac ...

History

1992

The Rockers were announced in 1991 as successful restaurant owner Ted Gregory was granted the Arena league expansion the franchise. As one of four expansion teams for 1992, the Rockers sold 5,700 season tickets. In a bid to give the new franchise some credibility, the league persuaded the league's strongest team, the

Detroit Drive The Massachusetts Marauders were a professional arena football team that was based in Worcester, Massachusetts. They were a member of the Arena Football League (AFL) from 1988 to 1994. The team was established in Detroit in 1988, as the Detroit D ...

, to trade Art Schlichter to Cincinnati. Schlichter had grown up in nearby Bloomingburg and had starred at

Ohio State The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best public ...

, and still had some name recognition in the area. Additionally, the

compulsive gambling Problem gambling or ludomania is repetitive gambling behavior despite harm and negative consequences. Problem gambling may be diagnosed as a mental disorder according to ''DSM-5'' if certain diagnostic criteria are met. Pathological gambling is ...

that had derailed Schlichter's NFL career had continued unabated during his two years with the Drive, to the point that he had to leave Detroit for his own safety. Schlichter signed a one-year $40,000 contract. Soon after that, he was arrested for passing a bad check, and admitted suffering a gambling relapse. Gregory worked out a deal in which the team put most of Schlichter's paycheck into an account to pay off his gambling debts, except for $300 that they gave to his wife, Mitzi. It was to no avail; police were frequently waiting for Schlichter in the locker room. The Rockers finished their first season in the league with a surprising 7–3 record, but lost in the first round of the playoffs 41–36 to the

Tampa Bay Storm The Tampa Bay Storm were a professional arena football team based in Tampa, Florida, US. It played in the Arena Football League (AFL). Originally the team was located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and operated as the Pittsburgh Gladiators. The f ...

1993

The Rockers suffered a major blow in the 1992-93 offseason when Schlichter was forced to retire. League officials learned that Schlichter was betting on AFL games. League commissioner Joe O'Hara recalled in 2020 that when he learned this, he called Gregory and told him Schlichter had to go. Facing the prospect of being banned from the league, Schlichter was allowed to publicly save face by retiring. Even before then, the Rockers were losing patience with Schlichter's gambling; they had asked him to take a substantial pay cut to return for 1993. The team ceased operations following a 2–10 season in 1993. The team's attendance fell by almost 50%, leading to Tom Gregory's decision to drop out of the AFL for the 1994 season. Gregory attempted to find additional sponsors to re-launch the team in 1995, but he instead sold the franchise to the Hartford Sports & Entertainment Group, who moved the franchise to

Hartford, Connecticut Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since the ...

and became known as the

Connecticut Coyotes The Connecticut Coyotes were an arena football franchise based in Hartford, Connecticut. The Coyotes played in the Eastern Division of the National Conference in the Arena Football League. History On June 22, 1994, the Arena Football League aw ...

Season-by-season

, - , 1992 , , 7 , , 3 , , 0 , , 2nd Northern , , 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 in ...

41-36) , - , 1993 , , 2 , , 10 , , 0 , , 5th Am. Conf. , , – n/a – , - !Totals , , 9 , , 14 , , 0 , colspan="2", (including playoffs)

Logos & uniform

The team color scheme incorporated bright yellow and green.

Notable players

Final roster

Arena Football Hall of Famers

Other players

* Chris Barber, Defensive specialist 1992 * Tony Collins, Fullback/linebacker 1992 * Art Schlichter, Quarterback 1992 * David Smith, Fullback/linebacker 1992 * Jackie Walker, Offensive/defensive lineman 1992 * Vince Hale, Offensive/defensive lineman 1992

Notable coaches

Head coaches

''Note: Statistics are correct through the end of the

1993 Arena Football League season The 1993 Arena Football League season was the seventh season of the Arena Football League (AFL). The league champions were the Tampa Bay Storm, who defeated the Detroit Drive in ArenaBowl VII. The AFL also re-aligned to two conferences. Team movem ...

.''

Notes

* The team appeared on the game '' EA Sports Arena Football'' and '' Arena Football: Road to Glory'' as a hidden bonus team.

References

External links

Cincinnati Rockers at ArenaFan.com
{{Defunct Arena Football League franchises American football teams established in 1992 Defunct American football teams in Ohio American football teams disestablished in 1993 1992 establishments in Ohio 1993 disestablishments in Ohio