Fundidores de Monterrey (English: ''Monterrey Smelters''), officially Fundidores, are an

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 wi ...

team based in Monterrey,

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

. The Fundidores compete in the

Liga de Fútbol Americano Profesional The Liga de Fútbol Americano Profesional (Professional American Football League), commonly known simply as LFA, is a professional american football spring league in Mexico, founded in 2016. Starting with four teams, the LFA has since expanded t ...

(LFA), the top American football league in Mexico. The team plays its home games at the

Estadio Banorte Estadio Dorados is a stadium with a capacity of 21,000 seats. Is home of the team Dorados de Sinaloa. The stadium was inaugurated on August 9, 2003 in a match played between Dorados de Sinaloa and Cobras de Ciudad Juárez. The final score was Dora ...

History

Origins

Monterrey has an important

tradition. It is home of two of the most popular college football teams: the Auténticos Tigres of the Autonomous University of Nuevo León and the

Borregos Salvajes The ''Borregos Salvajes ITESM'' (in English: Wild Rams) is the name of all the cultural, artistic and sports teams that represent the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education (ITESM) in various disciplines, such as sports, theatre, ...

of the

Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey (ITESM) ( en, Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education), also known as Tecnológico de Monterrey or just Tec, is a secular and Mixed-sex education, coeducational private ...

. The city was also home for a short time to the Mexico Golden Aztecs of the Continental Football League. In the late 90s, Monterrey had a semi-professional team playing in the Liga Nacional Master (Master National League), Cerveceros de Monterrey (Monterrey Brewers), who were national champions in 1995.

Early years

The Fundidores (Spanish for smelters or founders) were founded in September 2016 as part of the 2017 LFA's expansion, this expansion also included another team in the North of Mexico: the

Dinos de Saltillo Dinos de Saltillo (English: ''Saltillo Dinos'') are an American football team based in Saltillo, Mexico. The Dinos compete in the Liga de Fútbol Americano Profesional, the top American football league in Mexico. The team plays its home games at ...

. The name is a reference to the city's Steel Foundry Company, that operated from 1900 to 1986 in what is now the Fundidora Park. The team debuted at the

in the 2017 season. On week 2, at the game against the

Dinos In the typology of ancient Greek pottery, the ''dinos'' (plural ''dinoi'') is a mixing bowl or cauldron. ''Dinos'' means "drinking cup," but in modern typology is used (wrongly) for the same shape as a '' lebes'', that is, a bowl with a spherica ...

, former NFL player,

Chad Johnson Chad Ochocinco Johnson (born Chad Javon Johnson; January 9, 1978), known from 2008 to 2012 as Chad Ochocinco, is a former American football wide receiver. He played college football for Santa Monica College and Oregon State University, and pl ...

, made its debut (and only appearance) with the team and scored on a 41-yard touchdown reception to help the Fundidores win the game. Monterrey ended the season with a 2–5 record, not qualifying for the playoffs. For the 2018 season, the Fundidores failed again to qualify for the playoffs after finishing with a 2–5 regular season record.

Carlos Strevel era (2020–present)

Carlos Strevel was presented as head coach of the Fundidores ahead of the 2020 season. Strevel had previous experience as coach and administrator for several youth and college football programs in Mexico, most notably with the

Borregos Salvajes CEM The Borregos Salvajes CEM (English: ''CEM Wild Rams''), or simply Borregos CEM, was an American football team representing the State of Mexico campus of the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education (ITESM). The Borregos Salvajes co ...

. In December 2020, Strevel felt into coma derived from

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

complications. After recovering, Strevel returned to the Fundidores training camp in 2022, once the LFA authorized the 2022 season to be played. Strevel led the Fundidores to their first

Tazón México The Tazón México (English: Mexico Bowl) is the annual championship game of the Liga de Fútbol Americano Profesional, the highest level of professional American football in Mexico. As with the Super Bowl, Roman numerals are used to identify each ...

championship in 2022, after defeating the Gallos Negros de Querétaro 18–14 in the Tazón México V, played in

Tijuana Tijuana ( ,"Tijuana"
(US) and < ...

Stadiums

For their first season in

, the Fundidores played their home games at the

Estadio Tecnológico The Estadio Tecnológico was a multi-purpose stadium located in Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico, located on the campus of the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education (ITESM). It hosted football and American football games during ...

which had been used previously for football matches by

C.F. Monterrey Club de Fútbol Monterrey, often known simply as Monterrey or their nickname Rayados, is a Mexican professional football club based in Monterrey, Nuevo León which currently plays in Liga MX, the top tier of Mexican football. Founded on 28 ...

, but, in that moment, Fundidores were the only tenant, since Monterrey had already moved to the

Estadio BBVA Bancomer The Estadio BBVA, nicknamed "El Gigante de Acero" (Spanish for "The Steel Giant"), formerly known as the Estadio BBVA Bancomer, is a stadium developed by FEMSA and C.F. Monterrey in Guadalupe, Greater Monterrey. The stadium replaced the Estadio ...

. On 9 April 2017 Fundidores played their last match at

before it was demolished. For the 2018 season, Fundidores moved to Estadio Nuevo León Unido, a stadium with a 1,500 spectators capacity and artificial turf owned by the

Government of Nuevo León A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...

. In 2020, the team moved to Estadio Borregos, with a capacity of 10,057 spectators, a major upgrade, since Estadio Nuevo León Unido could only accommodate 1,500 people. The stadium is owned by the

and it is used by college football team

Borregos Salvajes Monterrey The Borregos Salvajes Monterrey (English: ''Monterrey Wild Rams'') team represents the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education (variously Tec de Monterrey or ITESM) in the sport of American football. The Borregos Salvajes are one of ...

. The Fundidores debuted in their new stadium on 14 February 2020 in a match against rivals

in the Clásico del Norte (Northern Classic), where they lost 15–23.

Rivals

Dinos de Saltillo

Fundidores and Dinos are from northern Mexico and were divisional rivals since the establishment of the divisional system in the LFA in 2017, which was later discarded in 2022. The rivalry between the two cities,

Saltillo Saltillo () is the capital and largest city of the northeastern Mexican state of Coahuila and is also the municipal seat of the municipality of the same name. Mexico City, Monterrey, and Saltillo are all connected by a major railroad and highwa ...

and Monterrey, dates back to the times of the Liga Nacional de Futbol Americano (National American Football League) in the late 90s, when both cities had fierce matches between their two teams: the Dinosaurios (Dinosaurs) and the Cerveceros (Brewers). The rivalry goes beyond the gridiron, since both teams fight season after season to get the best college players from Nuevo León and Coahuila. The rivalry is known as Clásico del Norte (Northern Classic).

Roster

Staff

Season-by-season

Championships

Tazón México championships

Notable players

– WR (2017, one game) * José Carlos Maltos – K (2017–2019) * René Brassea – OL (2019) *

Kasey Peters Kasey Peters (born May 20, 1987) is an American football quarterback. He played college football at Saddleback, Santa Ana, Grand Valley State and Rocky Mountain. He was a member of the Tri-Cities Fever, New Mexico Stars, West Texas Wildcatters ...

– QB (2019) * Jalen Conwell – RB (2020) *

Shelton Eppler Shelton Eppler is an American football quarterback for the Fundidores de Monterrey of the Liga de Fútbol Americano Profesional (LFA). Eppler was a three-year letter winner at Navasota High School in Navasota, Texas. As a junior, he was named t ...

– QB (2022) League MVP

References

{{Fundidores de Monterrey Liga de Fútbol Americano Profesional teams 2016 establishments in Mexico American football teams established in 2016 Sports teams in Monterrey