Tampa Bay Storm

The Tampa Bay Storm are a member franchise of the Arena Football League.

History

Along with their traditional rivals, the Orlando Predators, they share the Arena record for the longest tenure by a franchise in a single market area. They are also the last of the original four franchises (the Chicago Bruisers, Denver Dynamite and Washington Commandos were the other three) to have operated in continuous existence from the formation of the league in 1987 until the present.

Pittsburgh Gladiators (1987-1990)

The franchise was originally known as the Pittsburgh Gladiators, and were one of the original four AFL teams formed in 1987. The Gladiators participated in Arena Bowls I and III, losing both.

Tampa Bay Storm (1991-present)

The team moved from Pittsburgh to St. Petersburg in 1991, with the team taking on the "Storm" nickname. The Las Vegas franchise has since taken up the "Gladiators" nickname (see Las Vegas Gladiators), but with no link to the Pittsburgh franchise's history or records.

The Storm won the ArenaBowl in its first Tampa Bay season (1991) and have won four subsequent championships (1993, 1995, 1996, and 2003). Up to the 2006 season, the Storm had qualified for the playoffs in every season of their Tampa Bay existence.

The team played in the former Florida Suncoast Dome in St. Petersburg (now called Tropicana Field) from 1991-1996, becoming its first regular team sports tenant. Since 1997, the team has played its home games in the St. Pete Times Forum (previously the Ice Palace) which is located in Tampa.

The Storm compete in the Southern Division of the National Conference. They are coached by Tim Marcum, who is widely regarded as the greatest coach in Arena Football history.

On December 23, 2004, Sports Illustrated wrote in its 'The 10 Spot' feature that the AFL's players' union filed a greivance against the Storm. The reason: Seven of the Storm's players claimed that some of the diamonds in their 2003 AFL championship rings were fake. Six of the seven players had left the team after the 2003 season. The Storm acknowledged that some of the rings did, in fact, include cubic zirconia instead of diamonds- and that different players received greater amounts of diamonds in their rings based on their contributions that season.

The Storm ended the 2006 season with a 7-9 record (4th in their Division), ending a 19-year streak of playoff appearances, dating back to their days as the Pittsburgh Gladiators and the start of the Arena Football League.

The team's current mascot is a dog named Storm Dawg.

Season-by-season

Pittsburgh Gladiators 1987 4 2 0 1st Lost ArenaBowl I (Denver Dynamite) 1988 6 6 0 3rd Lost Week 1 (Detroit Drive) 1989 3 1 0 2nd Lost ArenaBowl III (Detroit Drive) 1990 3 5 0 4th Lost Week 1 (Detroit Drive) Tampa Bay Storm 1991 8 2 0 2nd Won ArenaBowl V 1992 9 1 0 2nd Southern Lost Week 2 (Orlando Predators) 1993 9 3 0 2nd NC Won ArenaBowl VII 1994 7 5 0 2nd NC Lost Week 1 (Massachusetts Marauders) 1995 10 2 0 1st NC Southern Won ArenaBowl IX 1996 12 2 0 1st NC Southern Won ArenaBowl X 1997 8 6 0 2nd NC Southern Lost Week 2 (Arizona Rattlers) 1998 12 2 0 1st NC Southern Lost ArenaBowl XII (Orlando Predators) 1999 11 3 0 1st NC Southern Lost Week 1 (Orlando Predators) 2000 8 6 0 3rd NC Southern Lost Week 2 (Orlando Predators) 2001 10 4 0 2nd NC Southern Lost Week 2 (Indiana Firebirds) 2002 6 8 0 3rd NC Southern Lost Week 2 (San Jose SaberCats) 2003 12 4 0 1st NC Southern Won ArenaBowl XVII 2004 9 7 0 3rd NC Southern Lost Week 1 (San Jose SaberCats) 2005 10 6 0 3rd NC Southern Lost Week 1 (Georgia Force) 2006 7 9 0 4th NC Southern -- Totals 185 98 0 (including playoffs)

Head coaches

1987-1990: Joe Haering, 15-13
1989: Darrel Jackson, 1-1
1991: Fran Curci, 8-2
1992-1994: Lary Kuharich, 25-9
1995-?: Tim Marcum, 107-49
2005-2006: Dave Ewart, 3-2

Ewart served as head coach for 2 games in 2005 and 3 games in 2006 while Marcum served a suspension.

Notable Players

External links

Arena Football League teams | Sports in Tampa | Tampa Bay Area | 1987 establishments