The Los Angeles Avengers were an

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 ...

team based in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, from 2000 through 2008. They folded on April 19, 2009.

History

The Los Angeles Avengers played their home games at the

Staples Center Crypto.com Arena is a multi-purpose indoor arena in Downtown Los Angeles. Adjacent to the L.A. Live development, it is located next to the Los Angeles Convention Center complex along Figueroa Street. The arena opened on October 17, 1999; it was ...

, which is also the current home to the

Los Angeles Kings The Los Angeles Kings are a professional ice hockey team based in Los Angeles. The team competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference and was founded on June 5, 1967, after Jack Kent ...

of the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

, the

Los Angeles Lakers The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. The Lakers play their ...

and

Los Angeles Clippers The Los Angeles Clippers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Clippers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division in the league's Western Conference. The Clipper ...

of the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball 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 in the United S ...

, the

Los Angeles Sparks The Los Angeles Sparks (LA Sparks) are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Sparks compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The team was foun ...

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 Natio ...

. The team began play in the 2000 season. The Avengers competed in the Western Division of the American Conference. Since its inception in 2000, the Avengers had competed in postseason play five times. The Avengers earned American Conference wildcard playoff berths in 2002, 2003, 2004, and 2007, and won the American Conference Western Division Championship in 2005. The Avengers franchise was owned by

Casey Wasserman Casey Wasserman (born Casey Myers; June 28, 1974) is an American entertainment executive. He is the founder, chief executive officer and chairman of Wasserman; Chairman of LA28, the Organizing Committee for the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Ange ...

, grandson of the MCA head

Lew Wasserman Lewis Robert Wasserman (March 22, 1913 – June 3, 2002) was an American talent agent and studio executive, described as "the last of the legendary movie moguls" and "arguably the most powerful and influential Hollywood titan in the four decades ...

. On April 10, 2005, Avengers defensive lineman Al Lucas was injured attempting to make a tackle and later died at a nearby hospital. It is the only fatal injury incurred during a game in the history of the league. The Al Lucas Hero Award is named after him. The Avengers announced the termination of the program on April 20, 2009 after nine years of operation. Four years later, it was announced that the Los Angeles KISS would join the AFL starting in the 2014 season making them the fourth team to set up shop in the Los Angeles area. The Avengers' official mascot was a superhero-like character named T.D.

Memorable Avengers' highlights

* On Sunday, March 30, 2003, in a Week 9 road game against the

Orlando Predators The Orlando Predators were a professional arena football team based in Orlando, Florida and member of the Arena Football League (AFL). The team was most recently owned by Orlando Predators LLC, a company owned by David A. Siegel, and played its ...

, the Avengers trailed 63–58 late in the game. However, Los Angeles managed to recover an onside kick and, on the last play of the game, quarterback

Tony Graziani Anthony Robert Graziani (born December 23, 1973) is a former American football quarterback who played for the Atlanta Falcons in the National Football League (NFL), and the Los Angeles Avengers and Philadelphia Soul of the Arena Football League ...

threw a 32-yard touchdown pass that bounced off the rebound net and was caught by WR/LB Greg Hopkins, giving the Avengers a 64–63 win. * On Sunday, March 31, 2004, In the championship series taking place at Staples Center, Los Angeles, Ca. #98 John Garcia not only led the team in sacks on this day with 3 also blocked and returned a FG to win the game against the Chicago Rush. Final Score 24–26. Quarterback Tony Graziani threw for only 1 Touchdown pass and 3 INT's. * On April 10, 2005, in a game against the New York Dragons, Al Lucas tackled Corey Johnson during a kickoff return with 10:17 to go in the first quarter. Replays showed that Johnson's knee hit Lucas' helmet, and Lucas did not move again after falling to the ground. Later replays and reports showed nothing abnormal on the play. Dr. William Lang, the team physician, attempted to revive him on the field. He appeared to suffer a spinal cord injury. After being treated for approximately a half an hour at the Staples Center, Lucas was rushed to nearby California Hospital Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead at 1:28pm PDT. It is unknown whether Lucas died on the field, or after treatment failed. An autopsy revealed that he died of blunt force trauma and an upper spinal cord injury.

Season-by-season

Coaches

Notable players

Final roster

Arena Football Hall of Famers

Individual awards

Retired uniform numbers

All-Arena players

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

(1) * FB/LB Elcardos Worthen (1) * WR/DB

Kevin Ingram Kevin C. Ingram (born June 19, 1977) is an American retired professional football player, who played in the Arena Football League as a wide receiver/ defensive back for the Los Angeles Avengers. High school career At Harry S. Truman High Sc ...

(3) * WR/LB Greg Hopkins (2) * OL/DL Victor Hall (1),

Silas DeMary Silas DeMary (born December 12, 1971) is an American former offensive lineman/defensive lineman for in the Arena Football League. He played for the Carolina Cobras, Buffalo Destroyers, Los Angeles Avengers and the Cleveland Gladiators. He is mo ...

(1) * DL

(1) * OS Chris Jackson (1) * DS

Mark Ricks Mark George Ricks (July 4, 1924 – September 29, 2016) was a Republican politician from Idaho. He served as the 40th lieutenant governor of Idaho from June 2006 to January 2007. Political career Ricks' introduction to politics occurred in the ...

(1) * K

Remy Hamilton Remy Martin Hamilton (born August 30, 1974) is a former American football Placekicker, kicker who played in the National Football League (NFL) and Arena Football League (AFL). In college, he was an All-American for the Michigan Wolverines footb ...

(3) *MLB John Cook Jr (2)

All-Ironman players

The following Avengers players were named to All-Ironman Teams: * FB/LB Josh Jeffries (1) * WR/DB

(3) * DB/RB Dave Dawson (1) * WR/LB Chris Jackson (1), Greg Hopkins (2) * OL/DL Victor Hall (1), Tony Plantin (1)

All-Rookie players

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

Todd Marinovich Todd Marvin Marinovich (born Marvin Scott Marinovich on July 4, 1969) is a former American and Canadian football quarterback. He played in the National Football League (Los Angeles Raiders), Canadian Football League (Winnipeg Blue Bombers, BC Lio ...

Sonny Cumbie Sonny Jack Cumbie (born August 8, 1981) is an American football coach and former quarterback. He is the head football coach at Louisiana Tech University, a position he has held since the 2022 season. Cumbie previously served as the offensive coord ...

* WR/LB Chris Jackson * OL/DL

Arnold Miller Arnold Ray Miller (April 25, 1923 – July 12, 1985) was a miner and labor activist who served as president of the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA), AFL–CIO, from 1972 to 1979. Winning as a reform candidate, he gained positive changes f ...

* DS

Damen Wheeler Damen Keoki Wheeler (born September 3, 1977) is a former American football cornerback for the New York/New Jersey Hitmen, Jacksonville Jaguars and Los Angeles Avengers. Professional career Wheeler played one year in the XFL for the New York/New ...

* K Brian Reaves

Staff

References

External links

Los Angeles Avengers at ArenaFan
{{Defunct Arena Football League franchises 2000 establishments in California 2009 disestablishments in California Defunct American football teams in California Sports organizations established in 2000