The Louisiana Bayou Beast were a team in the

Professional Indoor Football League The Professional Indoor Football League (PIFL) was a professional indoor football league that played four seasons from 2012 to 2015. Like the Lone Star Football League, the PIFL was mainly composed of teams formerly part of Southern Indoor Foot ...

(PIFL) in 1998, in the

Indoor Professional Football League The Indoor Professional Football League (IPFL) was the new incarnation of the Professional Indoor Football League (PIFL), which started in 1998. Two of its teams (the Madison Mad Dogs and the Green Bay Bombers) left the league and their owner, K ...

(IPFL) in 1999, and reincarnated in 2001 in the

National Indoor Football League The National Indoor Football League (NIFL) was a professional indoor football league in the United States. For their first six years, the league had teams in markets not covered by either the Arena Football League or its developmental league, A ...

(NIFL). The Bayou Beast franchise was owned by James (Sr.) and Carolyn Shiver, who currently own and operate the NIFL which is based in

Lafayette, Louisiana Lafayette (, ) is a city in the U.S. state of Louisiana, and the most populous city and parish seat of Lafayette Parish, located along the Vermilion River. It is Louisiana's fourth largest incorporated municipality by population and the 234th- ...

. The Bayou Beast competed in the PIFL in 1998, playing their home games at the

Pete Maravich Assembly Center The Pete Maravich Assembly Center is a 13,215-seat multi-purpose arena in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The arena opened in 1972. It is home to the Louisiana State University Tigers and Lady Tigers basketball teams, the LSU Tigers women's gymnastics ...

on the

LSU Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 near ...

campus in

Baton Rouge Baton Rouge ( ; ) is a city in and the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-sma ...

. The team colors were red, black, and white. In 1999, the PIFL changed its name to the IPFL, and the Beast changed arenas, moving to the

Riverside Centroplex Raising Cane's River Center (originally named the Riverside Centroplex and later the Baton Rouge River Center) is an entertainment complex in downtown Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Opened in 1977, the complex includes: an arena, ballroom, exhibition cent ...

in downtown Baton Rouge for that season. After two seasons, the Bayou Beast moved to

Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandria ...

. and were renamed the

Louisiana Rangers Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

for the IPFL 2000 season. The team was reincarnated in 2001 for the

, and based in

Monroe, Louisiana Monroe (historically french: Poste-du-Ouachita) is the eighth-largest city in the U.S. state of Louisiana, and parish seat of Ouachita Parish. With a 2020 census-tabulated population of 47,702, it is the principal city of the Monroe metropolita ...

. Following that season, the franchise folded.

1998 PIFL season

The Bayou Beast played its inaugural game on the road against the

Madison Mad Dogs The Madison Mad Dogs were an indoor football team that played in the Professional Indoor Football League ( PIFL) in 1998, and in the Indoor Football League (IFL) in 1999 & 2000. The Mad Dogs franchise was owned by Keary Ecklund. The team office w ...

on April 10, 1998. They won the game 36–28 in front of a crowd of 4,283. The team logo, consisting of a raging "Beast" busting through his football uniform, known as "Blitz". Some spectators said that the "Bayou Beast" logo (Blitz) looked like "a raccoon on steroids". In their first year, they won 13 out of 14 games (losing only to the

Colorado Wildcats The Colorado Wildcats was a team in the Professional Indoor Football League (PIFL) in 1998. The Wildcats franchise was owned by Gary Kozacek, who also was head coach/owner of the same Wildcats team for the previous 9 years, as they competed in sem ...

41–49 on May 9, 1998) to win the PIFL's first regular season title. With a 10-game win streak to end the season, the Bayou Beast were seeded in the #1 position with the home field advantage throughout the playoffs.

PIFL Playoff Semifinals

Their first playoff game would be against the #4 ranked

. A couple of key events took place before the opening kickoff of this game. First, the

, home arena of the Bayou Beast, could not be used since it was previously booked for that weekend. A deal was worked out with the

to host the Beast's first playoff game. Secondly, the owner of the

was financially strapped by the end of the season and was about to forfeit their playoff appearance rather than pay travel costs to Baton Rouge. The Shivers, the Bayou Beast owners, offered to pay travel expenses for the Wildcats to compete against the Beast. This would also be their chance to avenge the only loss of the season by defeating them in the playoffs. The Bayou Beast did just that by winning 67–51.

PIFL Championship Game

The only PIFL Championship game was hosted in Baton Rouge, back in the

. It pitted the #1 Louisiana Bayou Beast versus the second-seeded

who had defeated their sister team (both teams owned by Keary Ecklund), the #3

Green Bay Bombers The Green Bay Bombers was an indoor football team that played in the Professional Indoor Football League (PIFL) in 1998, and in the Indoor Football League (IFL) in 1999 and 2000. The Bombers franchise was owned by Keary Ecklund. The team office w ...

46–19. Louisiana quarterback Doug Coleman hit receiver Derrick Fobb with a 20-yard touchdown pass with no time remaining to give the Louisiana Bayou Beast the inaugural Professional Indoor Football League championship by a 42-41 margin. Coleman fumbled the snap on the big play but managed to pick up the ball and run out of trouble before spotting Fobb alone in the end zone. Matt Huerkamp, the league's top kicker, nailed the extra point for the win. Coleman's throw, his fourth scoring toss of the evening, came one play after Madison was penalized for a facemask penalty, giving the Bayou Beast one final untimed down. Madison had taken a 41–35 lead with just 18.3 seconds remaining on a Raymond Philyaw to Mandrell Dean strike. On the play, Dean leaped between two defenders to pull down what at the time looked like the decisive score. Following the Mad Dogs' touchdown, Coleman hit Michael Lewis with a throw to set the Bayou Beast up in Madison territory. The

defense stiffened, first coming up with a sack and then pressuring Coleman into an incomplete pass. The failed pass attempt would have been the final play of the game; however, an incidental facemask penalty gave Louisiana one last shot.

Louisiana Bayou Beast 1998 PIFL schedule

*March 28† –

Texas Bullets The Texas Bullets were a team in the Professional Indoor Football League (1998), Professional Indoor Football League (Professional Indoor Football League (1998), PIFL) in 1998. The Bullets franchise was owned by Wayne Stigler, who also was the te ...

39, at Louisiana Bayou Beast 62 *April 4† –

Utah Catzz The Utah Catzz was a team in the United States Professional Indoor Football League ( PIFL) in 1998. The Catzz franchise was owned by Michael & Carla Curran, who also started a farm club for the Catzz, the Salt Lake Lions (semi-pro football team). ...

42, at Louisiana Bayou Beast 40 † Pre-Season PIFL games *April 10 – Louisiana Bayou Beast 36, at

28 *April 19 –

33, at Louisiana Bayou Beast 67 *May 9 – Louisiana Bayou Beast 41, at

49 *May 16 – Louisiana Bayou Beast 44, at

14 *May 23 –

51, at Louisiana Bayou Beast 56 *May 30 – Louisiana Bayou Beast 57, at

40 *June 6 –

Honolulu Hurricanes The Honolulu Hurricanes was a Professional Indoor Football League (1998), Professional Indoor Football League (PIFL) team based in Honolulu, Hawaii, that competed in the 1998 season. According to the team's media guide, the ownership partners &nd ...

59, at Louisiana Bayou Beast 69 *June 13 – Louisiana Bayou Beast 40, at

37 *June 20 –

16, at Louisiana Bayou Beast 43 *June 27 –

22, at Louisiana Bayou Beast 29 *July 4 –

Minnesota Monsters The Minnesota Monsters were an indoor football team based in Falcon Heights, Minnesota. The Monsters were charter members of the original Professional Indoor Football League (PIFL) in 1998. The Monsters franchise was owned by Robert and Joann Edw ...

at Louisiana Bayou Beast – Minnesota forfeits *July 4 – Syracuse Blitz 18, at Louisiana Bayou Beast 39‡ ‡ this game scheduled as an exhibition game to replace the forfeit *July 11 –

22, at Louisiana Bayou Beast 31 *July 19 – Louisiana Bayou Beast at

– Minnesota forfeits *August 2 – Louisiana Bayou Beast 52, at

29 PLAYOFFS *August 9 –

51, at Louisiana Bayou Beast 67 PIFL CHAMPIONSHIP *August 15 –

41, at Louisiana Bayou Beast 42

1999 IPFL season

In 1999, the Beast started off with a new arena

, two new head coaches (Jeff Majors & Chris Carrier

a new general manager, GM (Les Crooks, formerly GM of the

ECHL The ECHL (formerly the East Coast Hockey League) is a mid-level professional ice hockey league based in Shrewsbury, New Jersey, with teams scattered across the United States and Canada. It is a tier below the American Hockey League (AHL). The E ...

Baton Rouge Kingfish The Baton Rouge Kingfish were a minor professional ice hockey team in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, as a member of the East Coast Hockey League. The franchise arrived in Baton Rouge in 1996 after relocating from Erie, Pennsylvania, where they had played ...

a local television and production deal to air the games tape-delayed along with a weekly coach's show, ''Wall2Wall Football'' (KTTE 11 – Ind. Baton Rouge), and a kiosk at the local mall selling IPFL and Bayou Beast merchandise (Cortana Mall). Then the wheels started to fall off. The Beast lost their season opener on the road to the

Mississippi Firedogs Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Mississ ...

35–45 in front of a crowd of 5,138. Then, the new GM left the team and the production company was dropped after they failed to record the first home game correctly. The Beast media relations director took over as Interim G

until the position was filled with Ted "Rock" Knapp from

Houston, Texas Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

br>
After trying Co-Head Coaches for the '99 Bayou Beast, the team had a 2–5 record going into an off week. During that off time, Ted "Rock" Knapp was promoted to Head Coach/General Manager of the Bayou Beast and Coaches Majors and Carrier were terminated.

Chris Beard spinal cord injury

The first game for the "Rock" as head coach of the Bayou Beast was at home against the

Texas Terminators ''This team is not to be confused with the softball team in Texas.'' The Texas Terminators was an indoor football team that played in the Indoor Professional Football League (IPFL) in 1999. The Terminators franchise was owned by Jeff Parnell. T ...

. During the game, when Chris Beard tackled Texas wideout Cory Caesar, Beard's head snapped back. This broke his neck and he was not able to move. He laid motionless for 30 minutes on the field. His condition was unknown to other players and spectators after his being taken to Our Lady of the Lake Hospital. During the delay, both the Louisiana Bayou Beast and the Texas Terminators got together at midfield, kneeled, and prayed for Beard. The next day, Beard underwent a seven-hour surgery to his neck. He was in

intensive care Intensive care medicine, also called critical care medicine, is a medical specialty that deals with seriously or critically ill patients who have, are at risk of, or are recovering from conditions that may be life-threatening. It includes pro ...

at the hospital. The hit left him paralyzed in his arms and legs

Dr. Steven Bailey performed the surgery and said his diagnosis was undetermined at this time. Television station

WAFB WAFB (channel 9) is a television station A television station is a set of equipment managed by a business, organisation or other entity, such as an amateur television (ATV) operator, that transmits video content and audio content via radio ...

9 (

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainmen ...

– Baton Rouge) reported that Beard's neck may have been injured on an earlier play and showed a film clip of it on their 10pm local news. Additionally, throughout the game, Beard had failed to attach his chin strap on his helmet. It is undetermined if it was attached on the play he was injured or injured more severely by not having it attached. A trust fund was set up at a local bank for donations to help with the hospital costs

Longest game in IPFL history

The next Bayou Beast game, against arch-rival

Mississippi Fire Dogs The Mississippi Fire Dogs were a professional indoor American football team based in Biloxi, Mississippi. They played their home games at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum. They were a charter member of the Indoor Professional Football League. They p ...

at home, was dedicated to Chris Beard. The Beast would donate 25% of all ticket sales (till the end of the season) into the Chris Beard trust fun

Replica jerseys of Beard's and other merchandise were sold to raise money for the fund, and a giant six-foot "Get Well" card was signed at the gate by all who attended this game. The team asked the league if they could remove the "Beast" logo from the side of their helmets for the rest of the '99 IPFL season, as their tribute to Chris. The league denied their request for the logo but granted permission for the removal of the yellow stripe on the top of the helmet. From that game on, every Bayou Beast game would be played without a stripe on the helmet. The Bayou Beast won with a 31-yard Field goal (football), field goal by Mike Shafer during the second overtime period, making this the longest

IPFL The Indoor Professional Football League (IPFL) was the new incarnation of the Professional Indoor Football League (PIFL), which started in 1998. Two of its teams (the Madison Mad Dogs and the Green Bay Bombers) left the league and their owner, ...

game ever played

Third head coach change during 1999 season

On July 13, the Bayou Beast released head coach Ted "Rock" Knapp. No reason was given. Knapp had a record of 2-3 as head coach and 3-5 since joining the Bayou Beast as the general manager. The following day, Barrett Murphy was named the new head coach of the Louisiana Bayou Beast. Barrett brought back Jeff Majors as the offensive coordinator, and Gary Frank remained with the team as linesman coach. The first test for Murphy and the Bayou Beast was a heartbreaking loss to the first place

, 16–23. The lost gave Texas the 1999

regular season championship title, home field advantage as host of the 1999

championship game, and knocked the Bayou Beast out of the playoff race. Barrett ended with an overall record of 2–2 in the last four games of the season.

The Bayou Beast franchise relocates

On February 12, 2000, The Louisiana Bayou Beast

football team announced that it would relocate to

Alexandria, Louisiana Alexandria is the ninth-largest city in the state of Louisiana and is the parish seat of Rapides Parish, Louisiana, United States. It lies on the south bank of the Red River in almost the exact geographic center of the state. It is the prin ...

. and would be renamed the

for the 2000

season.

Louisiana Bayou Beast 1999 IPFL schedule

*March 20† –

at Louisiana Bayou Beast – CANCELLED *March 26† –

25, at Louisiana Bayou Beast 35 † Pre-Season IPFL games *April 8 – Louisiana Bayou Beast 35, at

45 *April 17 –

47, at Louisiana Bayou Beast 28 *April 25 –

Rocky Mountain Thunder The Indoor Professional Football League (IPFL) was the new incarnation of the Professional Indoor Football League (PIFL), which started in 1998. Two of its teams (the Madison Mad Dogs and the Green Bay Bombers) left the league and their owner, ...

32, at Louisiana Bayou Beast 34 *May 2 – Louisiana Bayou Beast 36, at

Idaho Stallions The Boise Stallions are a defunct indoor football team from Boise, Idaho. They were a charter member of the Indoor Professional Football League. They originally began as the Idaho Stallions. Throughout their three seasons, 20 year old Larry Sto ...

44 *May 8 –

45, at Louisiana Bayou Beast 46 *May 15 – Louisiana Bayou Beast 38, at

39 *May 22 – Louisiana Bayou Beast 46, at

62 *June 5 –

35, at Louisiana Bayou Beast 13 *June 12 –

29, at Louisiana Bayou Beast 31 (2OT) *June 18 – Louisiana Bayou Beast 10, at

59 *July 4 –

9, at Louisiana Bayou Beast 37 *July 10 –

Hawaii Hammerheads The Hawaii Hammerheads was an indoor American football team in the Indoor Professional Football League (IPFL) during the 1999 season. The team was owned by George Hetherington and played home games at the Neal S. Blaisdell Center in Honolulu, Hawa ...

36, at Louisiana Bayou Beast 13 *July 18 – Louisiana Bayou Beast 16, at

23 *July 24 –

34, at Louisiana Bayou Beast 51 *August 1 – Louisiana Bayou Beast 20, at

24 *August 4 – Louisiana Bayou Beast 32, at

2001 NIFL season

The team was reincarnated in 2001 in the

( NIFL) and this time based in

. The Shivers owned and operated the team and now were the owners of the NIFL, too. The Bayou Beast only managed a 1–13 record that year, even with switching head coaches in the middle of the season. After the season, due to low attendance in Monroe, the franchise was folded. Contrary to popular belief, the Bayou Beast were NOT sold, relocated to

Houma, Louisiana Houma ( ) is the largest city in, and the parish seat of, Terrebonne Parish in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is also the largest principal city of the Houma– Bayou Cane–Thibodaux metropolitan statistical area. The city's government ...

, and renamed the

Houma Bayou Bucks The Houma Bayou Bucks was a team in the National Indoor Football League (NIFL). The Bayou Bucks were officially announced as a team on December 19, 2001. The team's first GM was Travis Carrell and their first head coach was Jack Phillips Jr. The ...

for the 2002 NIFL season

Louisiana Bayou Beast 2001 NIFL schedule

*Week 1 Johnstown J Dogs vs. Louisiana Bayou Beast 55-40 *Week 2 off *Week 3 off *Week 4

vs. Louisiana Bayou Beast 56-41 *Week 5

Mobile Seagulls The Mobile Seagulls were a professional indoor football team. They were initially a member of the Indoor Professional Football League for the 2000 season before joining the National Indoor Football League for the 2001 season, their final. They pl ...

vs. Louisiana Bayou Beast 46-21 *Week 6

Tupelo FireAnts Tupelo , genus ''Nyssa'' , is a small genus of deciduous trees with alternate, simple leaves. It is sometimes included in the subfamily Nyssoideae of the dogwood family, Cornaceae, but is placed by other authorities in the family Nyssaceae. In ...

vs. Louisiana Bayou Beast 43-34 *Week 7

vs. Louisiana Bayou Beast 41-6 *Week 8 Louisiana Bayou Beast vs.

36-40 *Week 9 Louisiana Bayou Beast vs.

Lake Charles Land Sharks The Lake Charles Land Sharks were an indoor football team. They were a charter member of the National Indoor Football League (NIFL). They played their home games at the Sudduth Coliseum in Lake Charles, Louisiana. Despite having pretty good succ ...

26-63 *Week 10 Louisiana Bayou Beast vs.

15-63 *Week 11

vs. Louisiana Bayou Beast 43-45 (only victory of season) *Week 12 Louisiana Bayou Beast vs.

Sioux Falls Storm The Sioux Falls Storm are a professional indoor football team based in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The Storm joined the original Indoor Football League as an expansion team in 1999 as the Sioux Falls Cobras, and first took the field for the 2000 ...

21-58 *Week 13

Ohio Valley Greyhounds The Ohio Valley Greyhounds were a professional indoor football team. They began play in 1999 as the Steel Valley Smash, a charter member of the IFL. After the league folded, they moved to the NIFL, became a charter member, and renamed themse ...

vs. Louisiana Bayou Beast 69-32 *Week 14

vs. Louisiana Bayou Beast 53-46 *Week 15 Louisiana Bayou Beast vs.

35-49 *Week 16

vs. Louisiana Bayou Beast 55-49

Season-by-season overall records

, - , colspan="6" align="center" , Louisiana Bayou Beast (PIFL) , - , 1998 , , 15 , , 1 , , 0 , , 1st League , , Won Semifinal (

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...

)
Won PIFL Championship (

Madison Madison may refer to: People * Madison (name), a given name and a surname * James Madison (1751–1836), fourth president of the United States Place names * Madison, Wisconsin, the state capital of Wisconsin and the largest city known by this ...

) , - , colspan="6" align="center" , Louisiana Bayou Beast (IPFL) , - , 1999 , , 6 , , 10 , , 0 , , 5th League , , -- , - , 2000 , , colspan="6" align="center" , ''played as

(NIFL)'' , - , colspan="6" align="center" , Louisiana Bayou Beast (NIFL) , - , 2001 , , 1 , , 13 , , 0 , , 6th AC Southern , , -- , - !Totals , , 22 , , 24 , , 0 , colspan="2", (including playoffs)

Bayou Beast head coaches

* 1998: Buford Jordan, 15-1 ( PIFL Head Coach of the Year) * 1999: Jeff Major & Chris Carrier, † 2-5 (week #1-7) * 1999: Ted "Rock" Knapp, 2-3 (week #9-13) * 1999: Barrett Murphy, 2-2 (week #14-17) * 2001: Don Shows, 0-7 (week #1-9) * 2001:

John Fourcade John Charles Fourcade, Jr. (born October 11, 1960) is a former professional American football quarterback in the National Football League for the New Orleans Saints and recent head coach of the New Mexico Stars of American Indoor Football. Fourc ...

, 1-6 (week #10-16) † Co-Head Coaches of the Bayou Beast

Notable Bayou Beast players

* 1998–99:

Michael Lewis Michael Monroe Lewis (born October 15, 1960) Gale Biography In Context. is an American author and financial journalist. He has also been a contributing editor to '' Vanity Fair'' since 2009, writing mostly on business, finance, and economics. H ...

(WR)‡ * 1998–99: Doug Coleman (QB) * 1998–99: Melvin Hill (QB) – PIFL League MVP for '98 * 1998–99: James Hemphill (LB) * 1998–99: Scott Leavell (QB/WR) * 1998–99: James Shiver, Jr. (WR) – son of the Bayou Beast owners * 1998: Matt Huerkamp (K)‡ * 1998: Chris Cloud (C)‡ * 1999: Derrick Fobb (WR) * 1999: Joe Valencia (WR) * 1999: Chris Beard (DB)† * 2001:

(QB) – former

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...

QB, signed to team after week #7, then promoted to head coach * 1999: Terry Ducote (QB) Player/Head Coach to finish season out † Beard was paralyzed in a game on June 6, 1999 against the

. ‡ These players were selected to the PIFL All-Star 1st Team.

References

External links

Louisiana Bayou Beast Unofficial Website
{{Indoor Professional Football League American football teams in Louisiana Bayou Beast Indoor Professional Football League teams National Indoor Football League teams Professional Indoor Football League teams Sports teams in Monroe, Louisiana American football teams established in 1998 American football teams disestablished in 2001 1998 establishments in Louisiana 2001 disestablishments in Louisiana