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Fort Wayne Fusion

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Fort Wayne Fusion
Established 2006
Folded 2007
Played in Allen County War Memorial Coliseum
in Fort Wayne, Indiana
League/conference affiliations
af2 (2007)
  • American Conference (2007)
    • Midwest Division (2007)
Current uniform
Team colorsBurnt orange, regal purple, pearl white
     
Personnel
Owner(s)af2
General managerMike McCaffrey
Head coachEddie Brown
Team history
  • Fort Wayne Fusion (2007)
Championships
League championships (0)
Conference championships (0)
Division championships (0)
Home arena(s)

The Fort Wayne Fusion was a 2007 af2 (Arena Football League's minor league) expansion team in the Midwest Division of the American Conference. They played their home games at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum in Fort Wayne, Indiana, which was the former home of the defunct National Indoor Football League/United Indoor Football franchise, the Fort Wayne Freedom.

After only one year of existence, the Fusion folded and a new version of the Fort Wayne Freedom was formed for the Continental Indoor Football League.

History

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The franchise was announced in November, 2006 as an expansion team of the af2. Jeremy Golden was announced as the team's owner and general manager, and secured a lease with Allen County War Memorial Coliseum for home games.[1] The team also announced that Arena Football League legend, Eddie Brown, would be the team first head coach.[1] In January, the team named Mike McCaffrey as the team's General Manager to handle day-to-day operations for the Fusion.[2] In February, the team announced the team colors would be Burnt Orange, Regal Purple and Pearl White.[3] With the team struggling to find a quarterback through their exhibition games, the Fusion traded for Cody Hodges of the Oklahoma City Yard Dawgz.[4] The Fusion played their first game in the af2 on March 31, 2007 against the Green Bay Blizzard, who were the then-defending American Conference champions.[5] In July, 2007, the news surfaced that Owner Jeremy Golden had been removed as the owner of the Fusion by af2 Commissioner, Jerry Kurz.[6] The Fusion finished the season 5-11,[7] but with the loss of Golden during the season, the Fusion playing again in 2008 was very remote.[8] In October, the city learned that Kurz had determined that the Fusion would not return in 2008.[9]

2007 Schedule

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The Fort Wayne Fusion's schedule for the 2007 season is as follows: (Home Games in bold)

Date Opponent Time (Eastern) Location Result Record
Saturday, March 31, 2007 vs. Green Bay Blizzard 7:00 PM Allen County War Memorial Coliseum W (36-28) 1-0
Saturday, April 7, 2007 @ Bossier-Shreveport Battle Wings 8:00 PM CenturyTel Center L (52-67) 1-1
Sunday, April 15, 2007 vs. Spokane Shock 4:00 PM Allen County War Memorial Coliseum W (63-56) 2-1
Saturday, April 21, 2007 @ Manchester Wolves 7:05 PM Verizon Wireless Arena L (41-54) 2-2
Saturday, April 28, 2007 vs. Albany Conquest 7:00 PM Allen County War Memorial Coliseum L (21-35) 2-3
Saturday, May 5, 2007 @ Cincinnati Jungle Kats 7:30 PM U.S. Bank Arena L (32-35) 2-4
Friday, May 11, 2007 vs. Louisville Fire 7:30 PM Allen County War Memorial Coliseum L (42-48) 2-5
Saturday, May 19, 2007 BYE WEEK
Saturday, May 26, 2007 vs. Tennessee Valley Vipers 7:00 PM Allen County War Memorial Coliseum W (56-33) 3-5
Saturday, June 2, 2007 @ Albany Conquest 4:00 PM Times Union Center L (33-77) 3-6
Friday, June 8, 2007 vs. Quad City Steamwheelers 7:30 PM Allen County War Memorial Coliseum L (47-64) 3-7
Saturday, June 16, 2007 @ Louisville Fire 7:00 PM Freedom Hall W (52-34) 4-7
Friday, June 22, 2007 @ Green Bay Blizzard 8:30 PM Resch Center L (28-54) 4-8
Saturday, June 30, 2007 vs. Cincinnati Jungle Kats 7:00 PM Allen County War Memorial Coliseum W (47-25) 5-8
Saturday, July 7, 2007 vs. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Pioneers 7:00 PM Allen County War Memorial Coliseum L (47-48) 5-9
Saturday, July 14, 2007 @ Tennessee Valley Vipers 8:30 PM Von Braun Center L (48-61) 5-10
Saturday, July 21, 2007 BYE WEEK
Thursday, July 26, 2007 @ Quad City Steamwheelers 8:30 PM iWireless Center L (55-56) 5-11

Season-by-season

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Season records
Season W L T Finish Playoff results
2007 5 11 0 4th AC Midwest --

Final roster

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Fort Wayne Fusion roster
Quarterbacks
  • 15 Blayne Baggett
  • 12 Joe Micco


Fullbacks 

FB/LB
  • 30 Joe Johnsonbaugh
FB/LB

Wide receivers

  •  8 Jonathan Graham
  • 25 Cesare Manning
  • 17 Mario Pratcher


 Offensive linemen
  • 65 Lenard Black
  • 99 A. J. Lindsay
  • 72 Stephenol Santos
  • 97 Lou Vega


Defensive linemen

  • 95 Ernest Bentz
  • 91 Darian Tate
  • 33 Ken West


 Linebackers
  • 30 Joe Johnsonbaugh


Defensive backs

  • 14 Arthur Berlanga
  •  2 Derek Brown
  •  1 Derrick Simmons
  •  3 Nate Williams


Special teams

  •  6 Kyle Hooper K


 Injured reserve
  • 14 Barry Drakeford DB (IR)
  •  3 R. J. Harvey KR (IR)
  • 93 Patrick P'au (IR)
  • 21 Jamal Rufu DB (IR)
  •  1 Tyrone Walker WR (IR)
  •  4 Terell White (IR)
  • 89 Rodney Wormley DL (IR)


rookies in italics
Roster updated July 15, 2007
21 Active, 8 Inactive

Coaches of note

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Head coaches

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Note: Statistics are correct through the end of the 2007 af2 season.

Name Term Regular Season Playoffs Awards
W L T Win% W L
Eddie Brown 2007 5 11 0 .313 0 0

Coaching staff

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Fort Wayne Fusion staff
Front office
  • General manager – Mike McCaffrey
  • Asst. General Manager – Elvis Ahlborn
  • Team services – Greg Moyer
  • Radio play-by-play – Dean Jackson[10]

Head coach

Offensive coaches

  • Offensive Coordinator –
  

Defensive coaches

  • Defensive coordinator – Tony Henderson

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b "Fusion select Select-A-Seat Night". www.oursportscentral.com. OurSports Central. December 10, 2006. Retrieved December 9, 2013.
  2. ^ "Fort Wayne Fusion name McCaffrey GM". www.oursportscentral.com. OurSports Central. January 11, 2007. Retrieved December 9, 2013.
  3. ^ "Fort Wayne Fusion unveil new logos". www.oursportscentral.com. OurSports Central. February 20, 2007. Retrieved December 9, 2013.
  4. ^ "Fusion Trades for QB". www.oursportscentral.com. OurSports Central. March 26, 2007. Retrieved December 9, 2013.
  5. ^ "The Fusion Gets It Done!!". www.oursportscentral.com. OurSports Central. March 31, 2007. Retrieved December 9, 2013.
  6. ^ Stacy Clardie (July 18, 2007). "af2 cuts tie with Fusion lead owner". www.journalgazette.net. Fort Wayne Journal Gazette. Retrieved December 9, 2013.
  7. ^ Stay Clardie (July 27, 2007). "Fusion loss caps wild year". www.journalgazette.net. Fort Wayne Journal Gazette. Retrieved December 9, 2013.
  8. ^ Stacy Clardie (August 24, 2007). "City arena football future is still clouded in mystery". www.journalgazette.net. Fort Wayne Journal Gazette. Retrieved December 9, 2013.
  9. ^ Stacy Clardie (October 5, 2007). "Death knell for Fort Wayne Fusion?". www.journalgazette.net. Fort Wayne Journal Gazette. Retrieved December 9, 2013.
  10. ^ "Fusion partners with Summit City Radio Group". www.oursportscentral.com. OurSports Central. February 21, 2007. Retrieved December 9, 2013.
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