The Milwaukee Mustangs were a professional

arena football Indoor American football, or arena football, is a variation of gridiron football played at ice hockey-sized indoor arenas. While varying in details from league to league, the rules of indoor football are designed to allow for play in a smaller ...

team based in

Milwaukee, Wisconsin Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at th ...

. The team was a member 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 ...

, playing from

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 ...

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

. The owner of the Mustangs was Andrew Vallozzi. The Mustangs played their home games at the

Bradley Center The Bradley Center (also known as the BMO Harris Bradley Center under sponsorship agreements) was a multi-purpose arena located on the northwest corner of North Vel R. Phillips Ave. and West State Streets in downtown Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United ...

History

Expansion

The team was founded in August 1993, when Andrew Vallozzi was approved by the league for expansion. The city of Milwaukee became football hungry, after renovations to

Lambeau Field Lambeau Field is an outdoor athletic stadium in the north central United States, located in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The home field of the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League (NFL), it opened in 1957 as City Stadium, replacing ...

led to speculation that the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. It ...

would soon stop playing games in Milwaukee, something they'd been doing since 1933. Later that year, the Packers would confirm the rumors and announced that their December 1994 contest at

Milwaukee County Stadium Milwaukee County Stadium was a multi-purpose stadium in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Opened in 1953, it was primarily a baseball park for Major League Baseball's Milwaukee Braves and later the Milwaukee Brewers. It was also used for Green Bay Packers ...

would be their last. For many in the Milwaukee area, the Mustangs helped fill the void left by the Packers. The team never finished lower than eighth in seasonal attendance, regularly drawing in the 14,000's and 15,000's (at a time when average attendance was approx. 8,500). The Mustangs even led the AFL in attendance in 1996.

Ending

After the 2001 season, the Mustangs lost their lease at the Bradley Center. When it was unable to find a replacement facility, the league folded the team. Milwaukee was left without an arena football team until 2008, with the formation of the

Milwaukee Bonecrushers The Chicago Knights were a professional indoor football team based in Loves Park, Illinois. The Knights were founded in 2010 as a member of the Continental Indoor Football League (CIFL), playing their home games at the Victory Sports Complex. ...

of the

Continental Indoor Football League The Continental Indoor Football League (CIFL) was an indoor football league based along the Midwestern United States region that played nine seasons from 2006 to 2014. It began play in April 2006 as the Great Lakes Indoor Football League (GLIF ...

, who played their home games at the

U.S. Cellular Arena The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. A year later, the

Milwaukee Iron Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee i ...

began play in the Arena Football 2 League across the street at te Bradley Center. In January 2011, it was announced that the Milwaukee Iron, now of the

would be changing its name to the Milwaukee Mustangs.Don Walker.
Iron will be Mustangs
. ''

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel The ''Milwaukee Journal Sentinel'' is a daily morning broadsheet printed in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where it is the primary newspaper. It is also the largest newspaper in the state of Wisconsin, where it is widely distributed. It is currently o ...

Season-by-season

Players of note

Final roster

Retired uniform numbers

''Note: These players' numbers were retired by the

in 2009''.

Arena Football Hall of Famers

Individual awards

All-Arena players

The following Mustangs players were named to All-Arena Teams: * WR/LB

Gary Compton Gary Compton (born May 9, 1968) is a former American football wide receiver and linebacker in the Arena Football League and briefly in the National Football League and World League of American Football. Compton played college football at East ...

(2) * WR/DB Sean Riley (1) * OL/DL

Ralph Jarvis Ralph A. Jarvis (born June 1, 1965) is a former American football defensive end who played one season with the Indianapolis Colts of the National Football League. He was drafted by the Chicago Bears in the third round of the 1988 NFL Draft. He pla ...

(2), Ernest Allen (1) * K

Kenny Stucker Kenny Stucker (born June 11, 1970) is a former American football placekicker who played seven seasons in the Arena Football League with the Milwaukee Mustangs, Chicago Rush, New York Dragons and Tampa Bay Storm. He played college football at ...

(2), Steve Videtich (1)

All-Ironman players

The following Mustangs players were named to All-Ironman Teams: * WR/DB Sean Riley (1) * WR/LB

(2)

All-Rookie players

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

Kevin McDougal Kevin T. McDougal (born May 29, 1972) is best known as the starting quarterback for the University of Notre Dame football team who narrowly missed winning the national championship in 1993. He is currently a real estate investor in South Flor ...

* FB/LB Odell Parks * OL/DL Mike Ivey

Head coaches

References

External links

Milwaukee Mustangs at ArenaFan.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Milwaukee Mustangs (1994-2001) Defunct Arena Football League teams Sports in Milwaukee American football teams in Wisconsin 1994 establishments in Wisconsin 2001 disestablishments in Wisconsin American football teams established in 1994 American football teams disestablished in 2001