The Milwaukee Mustangs were a professional

arena football Arena football is a variety of gridiron football designed to be played indoors. The game is played on a smaller field than American or Canadian football, designed to fit in the same surface area as a standard North American ice hockey rink, an ...

team based in

Milwaukee Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

. They were members 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 Arena Football League season, 1987 season, making it the third longest-runnin ...

(AFL), which they joined in 2010 during the league's restructuring. They 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 ...

in downtown Milwaukee. The team began play in 2009 as the Milwaukee Iron, and competed in

af2 The AF2 (often styled as af2, and short for arenafootball2) was the Arena Football League's developmental league; it was founded in 1999 and played its first season in 2000. Like its parent AFL, the AF2 played using the same arena football r ...

, the AFL's developmental league. They joined the AFL after the league's restructuring in 2010. On January 27, 2011, the team officially changed its name to the Mustangs, after an older team that had played in the AFL from 1994 to 2001. Their final head coach was

Bob Landsee Robert John Landsee (March 21, 1964 – January 20, 2024) was an American professional football player and coach. He played college football for the Wisconsin Badgers and was selected in the sixth round of the 1986 NFL draft by the Philadelphia ...

. The Mustangs were dormant for the 2013 season. In October 2013, the rights to the franchise were sold to

Terry Emmert Terry W. Emmert is an American businessman, entrepreneur and sports franchise owner from Clackamas, Oregon, a suburb of Portland. He is the founder and owner of Emmert International, an engineering and transport service company, the Internatio ...

, who subsequently started the

Portland Thunder The Portland Steel were a professional arena football team based in Portland, Oregon and members of the Arena Football League (AFL). The team started as the Portland Thunder, joining the AFL in 2014 as an expansion team along with the Los Ange ...

Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

. In 2018, the Milwaukee Mustangs'

intellectual properties Intellectual property (IP) is a category of property that includes intangible creations of the human intellect. There are many types of intellectual property, and some countries recognize more than others. The best-known types are patents, co ...

were acquired by Counterbalance Sports & Entertainment, LLC, ("CSE") the sports-entertainment division of Counterbalance Group Inc. Counterbalance Sports began using the Milwaukee Iron / econdMilwaukee Mustangs branding in 2021.

History

Milwaukee Iron

The Milwaukee Iron were announced as an af2 expansion team in March 2008 when the team's ownership group announced a three-year lease agreement to play at the Bradley Center beginning with the 2009 season. The announcement came the day before 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. ...

kicked off play in the

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

at Milwaukee's US Cellular Arena. Milwaukee had been without an arena football team since the Milwaukee Mustangs of the Arena Football League folded in 2001 after not being allowed to play at the Bradley Center. The Iron played its first game on Thursday, March 12, 2009, a 60–0 exhibition shutout of the New Zealand Overstayers at the Bradley Center. They opened the regular season on Friday, March 27, 2009, when they played host to the

Iowa Barnstormers The Iowa Barnstormers are a professional indoor football team based in Des Moines, Iowa, that competes in the Indoor Football League (IFL). They play their home games at Wells Fargo Arena, known in indoor football circles as "The Well". Sever ...

. The Iron lost 60–38. The Iron entered the Arena Football League in 2010. The team finished the year 11–5 and won the Midwest Division.

Milwaukee Mustangs

The team changed its name to the Mustangs on January 27, 2011. The name "Mustangs" was chosen as it was the name of the original franchise that existed from 1994 to 2001. The team's dancers were called the Fillies. The Mustangs were covered locally by

WAUK WAUK (540 AM broadcasting, AM) is a progressive talk radio station city of license, licensed to Jackson (village), Wisconsin, Jackson, Wisconsin, and serving the Milwaukee metropolitan area. Branded ''The Sha 101 FM'', a reference to the statio ...

(540 ESPN MILWAUKEE) and Time Warner Cable Sports 32. On October 2, 2013, the AFL announced that an ownership group led by Portland businessman Terry W. Emmert has been approved by the AFL's board of directors to purchase a majority of the Milwaukee Mustangs and relocate the team to

. The team began regular season play as the

in 2014 at the

Moda Center Moda Center, formerly known as the Rose Garden, is the primary indoor sports arena in Portland, Oregon, United States. It is used for basketball, rodeos, circuses, conventions, ice shows, concerts, and dramatic productions. The arena has a capa ...

(20,636), home of the NBA's Portland Trail Blazers.

Season-by-season

Players of note

Final roster

Retired uniform numbers

Individual awards

All-Arena players

The following Mustangs players were named to

All-Arena An All-Arena Team, an all-star team consisting of the best players of their position was selected every season in the Arena Football League (AFL). Teams * 1987 All-Arena Team, 1987 * 1988 All-Arena Team, 1988 * 1989 All-Arena Team, 1989 * 1990 Al ...

Teams: * QB

Chris Greisen Christopher J. Greisen (born July 2, 1976) is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL), NFL Europe, Arena Football League (AFL), and United Football League (UFL). He is the current co ...

(1) * WR Tiger Jones (1) * DL

Khreem Smith Khreem Smith (born July 7, 1979) is a former gridiron football defensive lineman. He was signed by the Baltimore Ravens as an undrafted free agent in 2004. He played college football at Oklahoma State. Smith has also played for the Memphis Xplo ...

(1), Luis Vasquez (1) * LB Marcus Everett (1) * DB Andre Jones (1)

All-Ironman players

The following Mustangs players were named to All-Ironman Teams: * WR/LB Marcus Everett (1)

Coaches of note

Head coaches

Final staff

Notes

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Milwaukee Mustangs (2009-12) 2009 establishments in Wisconsin 2012 disestablishments in Wisconsin American football teams established in 2009 American football teams disestablished in 2012