The Detroit Demolition was a women's

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

team based in the

Detroit, Michigan 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 ...

area. During their most recent season, home games were played at Franklin High School in

Livonia Livonia ( liv, Līvõmō, et, Liivimaa, fi, Liivinmaa, German and Scandinavian languages: ', archaic German: ''Liefland'', nl, Lijfland, Latvian and lt, Livonija, pl, Inflanty, archaic English: ''Livland'', ''Liwlandia''; russian: Ли ...

. They joined the

National Women's Football Association The National Women's Football Association (NWFA) was a full-contact American football league for women headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee. The league was founded by Catherine Masters in 2000, as the two benchmark teams, the Alabama Renegades ...

(NWFA) in 2002 as the Detroit Danger, winning a national championship. Their only loss that year was in the regular season to the

Cleveland Fusion The Cleveland Fusion is a women's professional American football team based in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. They play in the Women's Football Alliance. The Fusion played in the National Women's Football Association from their inception in 200 ...

by a score of 14–3.

History

Founded by entrepreneur Kris Dreyer in 2002 as a member of the National Women's Football League (NWFA), the Detroit Danger posted a 10-1 inaugural season under Head Coach Tony Blankenship, winning the national championship against the Massachusetts Mutiny 48–30. Local businessman Mitch Rosen took ownership of the Detroit Danger and changed the team's name to the Detroit Demolition prior to the 2003 season. The team continued to thrive under Head Coach Tony Blankenship, winning three more NWFA championship titles consecutively (2003–2005), going undefeated in each of those three seasons. In 2005, the team played a special

Mother's Day Mother's Day is a celebration honoring the mother of the family or individual, as well as motherhood, maternal bonds, and the influence of mothers in society. It is celebrated on different days in many parts of the world, most commonly in the ...

exhibition game at

Ford Field Ford Field is a domed American football stadium located in Downtown Detroit. It primarily serves as the home of the Detroit Lions of the National Football League (NFL), as well as the annual Quick Lane Bowl college football bowl game, state champ ...

, home of the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North Division. The team play their home games at Ford ...

. In 2006, the Demolition sought membership into the

Independent Women's Football League The Independent Women's Football League (IWFL) was the first Women's American football league established by women players for women players. The league was founded in 2000, began play in 2001, and played its last season in 2018. Members of th ...

(IWFL) and was subsequently accepted. Detroit reached the 2006 IWFL championship game but were upset by the

Atlanta Xplosion The Atlanta Xplosion, known as the Atlanta Ravens for the year of 2011, was a football team in the Independent Women's Football League. Based in Atlanta, Georgia, the Xplosion played their home games in nearby Smyrna, Georgia at Campbell High Sch ...

21–14. It was only the team's second loss in the franchise's five-year history. Jeff "J.R." Rose took a controlling interest in the ownership of the franchise amidst financial struggles for the team following the 2006 season. The Detroit Demolition bounced back to win the 2007 IWFL championship game, taking the title back from Atlanta Xplosion 17–7. With a stream of player retirements — including star quarterback Kim Grodus — and the rising competitiveness of its IWFL opponents like the

Chicago Force The Chicago Force was a women's American football team. Founded in 2003 by Lisa Cole, the team played at De La Salle HS & St. Rita HS – both on Chicago's South side; Lane Stadium at Lane Technical College Prep High School, Holmgren Athletic Com ...

, D.C. Divas and

Pittsburgh Passion The Pittsburgh Passion is a women's American football team based in the Pittsburgh metropolitan area. The franchise was formed in March 2002 and is currently owned by Teresa Conn, Anthony Misitano, and the estate of Franco Harris. The team is a ...

, the team's fortunes on the field fell. The Demolition posted a 7–2 record in 2008 and a 4–4 record in 2009. Al Seden, who took over team ownership in 2009, was unable to launch a 2010 season. The Demolition played their home games at Livonia Franklin High School and Livonia Stevenson High School.

Legacy

The franchise was the first in the modern era of women's pro football (1999–present) to win five national championships, and are the only team to win four in a row. They hold the record on consecutive wins with 50.

Season-By-Season

, - , colspan="6" align="center" , Detroit Danger (NWFL) , - , 2002 , , 10 , , 1 , , 0 , , 1st Great Lakes , , Won League Quarterfinal (

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...

)
Won League Semifinal (

Pensacola Pensacola () is the westernmost city in the Florida Panhandle, and the county seat and only incorporated city of Escambia County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 54,312. Pensacola is the principal ci ...

)
Won NWFL Championship (Massachusetts) , - , colspan="6" align="center" , Detroit Demolition (NWFA) , - , 2003 , , 11 , , 0 , , 0 , , 1st Northern Great Lakes , , Won Northern Conference Semifinal (

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

)
Won Northern Conference Championship (

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

)
Won NWFA Championship (

) , - , 2004 , , 11 , , 0 , , 0 , , 1st Northern Great Lakes , , Won Northern Conference Semifinal (

Columbus Columbus is a Latinized version of the Italian surname "''Colombo''". It most commonly refers to: * Christopher Columbus (1451-1506), the Italian explorer * Columbus, Ohio, capital of the U.S. state of Ohio Columbus may also refer to: Places ...

)
Won Northern Conference Championship ( D.C.)
Won NWFA Championship (

Oklahoma City Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, it ranks 20th among United States cities in population, a ...

) , - , 2005 , , 11 , , 0 , , 0 , , 1st Northern , , Won Northern Conference Semifinal ( Southwest Michigan)
Won Northern Conference Championship ( D.C.)
Won NWFA Championship (

) , - , colspan="6" align="center" , Detroit Demolition (IWFL) , - , 2006 , , 10 , , 1 , , 0 , , 1st Western Midwest , , Won Western Conference Semifinal (

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

)
Won Western Conference Championship (

Sacramento ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...

)
Lost IWFL Championship (

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

) , - , 2007 , , 10 , , 1 , , 0 , , 1st Western Midwest , , Won Western Conference Semifinal (

Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more ...

)
Won Western Conference Championship (

Sacramento ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...

)
Won IWFL Championship (

) , - , 2008 , , 7 , , 2 , , 0 , , 2nd Eastern Midwest , , Lost Eastern Conference Semifinal (

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

) , - , 2009 , , 4 , , 4 , , 0 , , 3rd Eastern Mid-Atlantic , , -- , - !Totals , , 74 , , 9 , , 0 , colspan="2", (including playoffs)

Season schedules

2009

References

{{WSFL American football teams in Detroit American football teams established in 2002 2002 establishments in Michigan