The Cleveland Thunderbolts were an

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

Richfield, Ohio Richfield is a village in Summit County, Ohio, United States. The population was 3,648 at the 2010 census. The village and the adjacent Richfield Township are approximately equidistant between the downtown areas of Akron and Cleveland. It is ...

. The Thunderbolts were founded in 1991 and were 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 ...

(AFL). In 1994, the franchise relocated to

Columbus Columbus is a Latinized version of the Italian surname "''Colombo''". It most commonly refers to: * Christopher Columbus (1451-1506), the Italian explorer * Columbus, Ohio, capital of the U.S. state of Ohio Columbus may also refer to: Places ...

The team played for four seasons total, making the playoffs once. They played their home games in the

Richfield Coliseum Richfield Coliseum, also known as the Coliseum at Richfield, was an indoor arena located in Richfield Township, Summit County, Ohio, Richfield Township, between Cleveland and Akron, Ohio. It opened in 1974 as a replacement for the Cleveland Arena ...

. The team was moved to Cleveland by John J. Kuczek.

History

Columbus Thunderbolts

Established as the Columbus Thunderbolts and playing its home games at the Expo Coliseum, the team relocated to

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the United States, U.S. U.S. state, state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along ...

after 1991 season in the

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phi ...

. Perhaps the highlight of the team's one year in

was the play of quarterback Major Harris, who rushed for 429 yards during that season, an achievement given the predominance of passing in the play of the AFL. His record was broken however in 2005 when Michael Bishop ran for 459 yards. The team was sold to John Kuczak and relocated to Cleveland.

Cleveland Thunderbolts

The Thunderbolts operated in the Cleveland area for three seasons, playing their home games in the suburban

, a considerable distance from

downtown Cleveland Downtown Cleveland is the central business district of Cleveland, Ohio. The economic and symbolic center of the city and the Cleveland-Akron-Canton, OH Combined Statistical Area, it is Cleveland's oldest district, with its Public Square laid out ...

, sharing it with the

Cleveland Cavaliers The Cleveland Cavaliers (often referred to as the Cavs) are an American professional basketball team based in Cleveland. The Cavaliers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central ...

of the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball sports league, 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 i ...

and the Cleveland Crunch of the National Professional Soccer League. The team qualified for the playoffs in the

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment building in Amsterdam after two of its engin ...

season, but was relocated to Columbus after the

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 sank in the Baltic Sea; Nels ...

campaign. Early in the T-Bolts short existence in Cleveland, John Kuczek was implicated in a federal securities fraud case in Florida. Prior to the team's second season in 1993, Kuczek divested himself of ownership in the club and placed it in a trust for his grandchildren. Son Jeff continued as the front office leader of the organization. Kuczek was ultimately convicted on one count of the indictment. The day before he was due to begin serving his sentence in February 1995, he committed suicide in a

Salem, Ohio Salem is the largest city in Columbiana County, Ohio, with a small district in southern Mahoning County. At the 2020 census, the city's population was 11,915. It is the principal city of the Salem micropolitan area in Northeast Ohio. It is 18 ...

hotel room.

Revival of the AFL in Columbus and Cleveland

Thirteen years after the Thunderbolts played their lone season in Columbus, the city would see the AFL return when the

Columbus Destroyers The Columbus Destroyers were an Arena Football League (AFL) team based in Columbus, Ohio, with home games in Nationwide Arena. The team was founded in as the Buffalo Destroyers, based in Buffalo, New York, and relocated to Columbus in . They fol ...

relocated from Buffalo and played five seasons (2004–2008) at

Nationwide Arena Nationwide Arena is a multi-purpose arena in Columbus, Ohio, United States. Since completion in 2000, the arena has served as the home of the Columbus Blue Jackets of the National Hockey League (NHL). It is one of two facilities in Columbus, alon ...

. After a 10-year hiatus, the team was relaunched for the 2019 season. Cleveland was also without an arena football team for 13 years until the

Cleveland Gladiators The Cleveland Gladiators were an arena football team based in Cleveland, Ohio, United States, and members of the Arena Football League (AFL). The Gladiators played their home games at Quicken Loans Arena, which they shared with the Cleveland Cava ...

moved from Las Vegas in 2008. The team has been on hiatus since the 2018 season due to the renovation of

Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse is a multi-purpose arena in Cleveland, Ohio. The building is the home of the Cleveland Cavaliers of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the Cleveland Monsters of the American Hockey League (AHL). It also ...

Season-by-season

Notable players

All-Arena players

The following Thunderbolts players were named to All-Arena Teams: *OL/DL

Willie Fears Willie Bert Fears Jr. (born June 4, 1964) is a former American professional football player who was a defensive lineman in the National Football League (NFL) and the World League of American Football (WLAF). He played for the Cincinnati Bengals a ...

(1)

Notable coaches

Head coaches

''Note: Statistics are correct through the end of the

1994 Arena Football League season The 1994 Arena Football League season was the eighth season of the Arena Football League (AFL). The league champions were the Arizona Rattlers, who defeated the Orlando Predators in ArenaBowl VIII. Team movement Three expansion teams joined the ...

.''

Notes

*The team appeared on the game ''

EA Sports Arena Football ''Arena Football'' is an Arena Football League video game developed by Electronic Arts (under their EA Sports brand) for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox. It was released on February 7, 2006. The cover features quarterback John Dutton of the Colorad ...

'' as a hidden bonus team, as well as the sequel '' Arena Football: Road to Glory''.

References

External links

AFL Official Website

Columbus Thunderbolts at ArenaFan.com

Cleveland Thunderbolts at ArenaFan.com
{{Defunct Arena Football League franchises 1991 establishments in Ohio 1994 disestablishments in Ohio Defunct American football teams in Ohio