The Massachusetts Pirates are a professional
indoor football team of the
Indoor Football League
The Indoor Football League (IFL) is a professional indoor American football league created in 2008 out of the merger between the Intense Football League and United Indoor Football. It has one of the largest number of currently active teams amon ...
based in
Worcester, Massachusetts
Worcester ( , ) is a city and county seat of Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. Named after Worcester, England, the city's population was 206,518 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the second-List of cities i ...
, with home games at the
DCU Center
The DCU Center (originally Centrum in Worcester, formerly Worcester's Centrum Centre and commonly Worcester Centrum) is an indoor arena and convention center complex in downtown Worcester, Massachusetts. The facility hosts a variety of events, ...
.
The Pirates began play in the 2018 season as a member of the
National Arena League (NAL).
The Pirates are the third indoor/arena team to call Worcester home, following the
Massachusetts Marauders
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 ...
of 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 ...
(
1994
File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...
) and the
New England Surge of the
Continental Indoor Football League (
2007
File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...
–
2008
File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...
)
History
After numerous speculation beforehand, the Pirates were officially announced as members of the NAL on November 15, 2017.
[ The team began play in the 2018 season. The Pirates won their inaugural game, played at the ]DCU Center
The DCU Center (originally Centrum in Worcester, formerly Worcester's Centrum Centre and commonly Worcester Centrum) is an indoor arena and convention center complex in downtown Worcester, Massachusetts. The facility hosts a variety of events, ...
on April 7, defeating the Maine Mammoths
The Maine Mammoths were a professional indoor American football, indoor football team that was a member of the National Arena League (NAL) for the 2018 season. Based in Portland, Maine, the Mammoths played their home games at the Cross Insurance ...
51–24. They were led most of the season by quarterback Sean Brackett
Sean Brackett (born November 3, 1991) is a former American football quarterback and current quarterbacks coach for the Massachusetts Pirates of the Indoor Football League (IFL). He played college football at Columbia University.
Early life
A two ...
until the second-to-last regular season game where he was injured for the remainder of the season in a 46–35 loss to the Jacksonville Sharks, who then took over the top seed in the NAL. Darron Thomas started the following week in 67–7 win over the win-less Lehigh Valley Steelhawks; following a Sharks loss to the Mammoths the Pirates secured the top seed and a home game in the 2018 playoffs. The team finished their inaugural season with a regular season record of 11–5 but lost the semifinal playoff game to the Columbus Lions 50–36. After the season, inaugural head coach Ameer Ismail was hired as the head coach of the San Diego Strike Force
The San Diego Strike Force is a professional indoor football team based in San Diego, California. It is a member of the Indoor Football League and began play in 2019 at Pechanga Arena in the city's Midway district. It is the second professional ...
expansion team in the Indoor Football League
The Indoor Football League (IFL) is a professional indoor American football league created in 2008 out of the merger between the Intense Football League and United Indoor Football. It has one of the largest number of currently active teams amon ...
, but then joined the NAL's Carolina Cobras instead.
For the 2019 season, offensive coordinator Anthony Payton was named the head coach. The team finished in third place with an 8–6 record and qualified for the playoffs. They lost the semifinal game to the Carolina Cobras 30–26.
Following the 2019 season, the NAL announced it was creating a new league via a merger with Champions Indoor Football. The Pirates announced it did not agree with the merger and withdrew from the league. Head coach Payton then left to become head coach of the Carolina Cobras and was replaced by Patrick Pass
Patrick Pass (born December 31, 1977) is an American football coach and former fullback, who is currently the director of football personnel development for the Massachusetts Pirates of the Indoor Football League. He was drafted by the New Eng ...
. Two weeks after the announced merger, it was dissolved and the Pirates rejoined the NAL. The 2020 season was then cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
making arenas unavailable. The team was removed from the NAL when it was not offered an extension on its initial three-year membership agreement while the team was openly looking to join other leagues.
On August 19, 2020, the Pirates announced that they were joining the Indoor Football League
The Indoor Football League (IFL) is a professional indoor American football league created in 2008 out of the merger between the Intense Football League and United Indoor Football. It has one of the largest number of currently active teams amon ...
for the 2021 season as its first East Coast-based team and had signed a three-year lease extension with the DCU Center. The Pirates finished in second place following the regular season and defeated the regular season champion, the Arizona Rattlers
The Arizona Rattlers are a professional indoor American football team based in Phoenix, Arizona. They are currently members of the Indoor Football League (IFL). The Rattlers were founded in 1992 as an expansion team in the Arena Football League ...
, in the United Bowl to win their first league championship.
In 2022, head coach Pass transitioned to become the director of football personnel development for the Pirates and defensive coordinator Rayshaun Kizer
Rayshaun Kizer (born February 3, 1985) is an Defensive Coach for the Duke City Gladiators of the Indoor Football League. He was the former Head Coach and Defensive Coordinator of the Massachusetts Pirates of the Indoor Football League. He is al ...
was promoted to head coach. The Pirates finished the season with a record of 11-5 in the regular season and fell to the Quad City Steamwheelers in the first round of the IFL playoffs in OT 39-38. Four players were selected to the All-IFL team at the end of the season. Defensive back Aarion Maxey-Penton and wide receiver Thomas Owens received First All-IFL team honors while defensive lineman Da'Sean Downey and offensive lineman Roubbens Joseph received Second All-IFL team honors.
Personnel
Current roster
Management
* Hassan Yatim – Owner
* Jawad Yatim – Owner and president
Statistics
Season-by-season results
Head coaches
''Note: Statistics are correct as of the 2022 Indoor Football League season.''
References
External links
Massachusetts Pirates official site
{{Worcester, Massachusetts
2017 establishments in Massachusetts
American football teams established in 2017
American football teams in Massachusetts
Defunct National Arena League teams
Indoor Football League teams
Sports teams in Worcester, Massachusetts