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The Cleveland Thunderbolts were a professional American football
American football

American football, known in the United States and Canada simply as football, is a competitive team sport known for mixing strategy with physical play....
 team in the Arena Football League
Arena Football League

The Arena Football League was founded in 1987 in sports as an American football arena football. The AFL's attendance increased dramatically over its last few years, rising to an average of 12,415 people per game in 2007, and 12,957 per game in 2008, but the increases were accompanied by greatly increased expenses and debt, leading to the can...
.

blished as the Columbus Thunderbolts and playing its home games at the Ohio Expo Center Coliseum
Ohio Expo Center Coliseum

The Ohio Expo Center Coliseum is a 7,000-seat multi-purpose arena located at the Ohio Expo Center and State Fairground in Columbus, Ohio. It was built in 1918....
, the team relocated to Cleveland
Cleveland, Ohio

Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, the most populous county in the state. The municipality is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately 60 miles west of the Pennsylvania border....
 after a winless single season in the Arena Football League
Arena Football League

The Arena Football League was founded in 1987 in sports as an American football arena football. The AFL's attendance increased dramatically over its last few years, rising to an average of 12,415 people per game in 2007, and 12,957 per game in 2008, but the increases were accompanied by greatly increased expenses and debt, leading to the can...
 in 1991
1991 Arena Football League season

The 1991 Arena Football League season was the 5th season of the Arena Football League. The league champions were the Tampa Bay Storm, who defeated the Massachusetts Marauders in ArenaBowl V....
.

Perhaps the highlight of the team's one year in Columbus
Columbus, Ohio

Columbus is the Capital , the largest, and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Ohio. Located near the Geographic centers of the United States, Columbus is the county seat of Franklin County, Ohio, although parts of the city also extend into Delaware County, Ohio and Fairfield County, Ohio counties....
 was the play of quarterback Major Harris
Major Harris

Major Harris is a former college football quarterback for West Virginia University during the 1980s. Harris was a 1989 All American and finished third and fifth in the Heisman Trophy voting in 1988 and 1989, respectively....
, who rushed for 429 yards during that season, an achievement given the predominance of passing in the play of the AFL.






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The Cleveland Thunderbolts were a professional American football
American football

American football, known in the United States and Canada simply as football, is a competitive team sport known for mixing strategy with physical play....
 team in the Arena Football League
Arena Football League

The Arena Football League was founded in 1987 in sports as an American football arena football. The AFL's attendance increased dramatically over its last few years, rising to an average of 12,415 people per game in 2007, and 12,957 per game in 2008, but the increases were accompanied by greatly increased expenses and debt, leading to the can...
.

History


Columbus Thunderbolts

Established as the Columbus Thunderbolts and playing its home games at the Ohio Expo Center Coliseum
Ohio Expo Center Coliseum

The Ohio Expo Center Coliseum is a 7,000-seat multi-purpose arena located at the Ohio Expo Center and State Fairground in Columbus, Ohio. It was built in 1918....
, the team relocated to Cleveland
Cleveland, Ohio

Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, the most populous county in the state. The municipality is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately 60 miles west of the Pennsylvania border....
 after a winless single season in the Arena Football League
Arena Football League

The Arena Football League was founded in 1987 in sports as an American football arena football. The AFL's attendance increased dramatically over its last few years, rising to an average of 12,415 people per game in 2007, and 12,957 per game in 2008, but the increases were accompanied by greatly increased expenses and debt, leading to the can...
 in 1991
1991 Arena Football League season

The 1991 Arena Football League season was the 5th season of the Arena Football League. The league champions were the Tampa Bay Storm, who defeated the Massachusetts Marauders in ArenaBowl V....
.

Perhaps the highlight of the team's one year in Columbus
Columbus, Ohio

Columbus is the Capital , the largest, and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Ohio. Located near the Geographic centers of the United States, Columbus is the county seat of Franklin County, Ohio, although parts of the city also extend into Delaware County, Ohio and Fairfield County, Ohio counties....
 was the play of quarterback Major Harris
Major Harris

Major Harris is a former college football quarterback for West Virginia University during the 1980s. Harris was a 1989 All American and finished third and fifth in the Heisman Trophy voting in 1988 and 1989, respectively....
, 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
Michael Bishop (football player)

Michael Paul Bishop is a professional football quarterback who is currently a free agent. He was drafted in the seventh round of the 1999 NFL Draft by the New England Patriots....
 ran for 459 yards.

Cleveland Thunderbolts

They operated in the Cleveland area
Greater Cleveland

Greater Cleveland is a nickname for the metropolitan area surrounding Cleveland, Ohio, Ohio.Northeast Ohio refers to a similar but substantially larger area as described below....
 for three subsequent seasons, playing their home games in the suburban Richfield Coliseum
Coliseum at Richfield

The Coliseum at Richfield was an arena located in Richfield Township, Summit County, Ohio in Summit County, Ohio, Ohio, roughly halfway between Cleveland, Ohio and Akron, Ohio....
, a considerable distance from downtown Cleveland
Downtown Cleveland

Downtown Cleveland is the central business district of the City of Cleveland, Ohio and Northeast Ohio. Reinvestment in the area in the mid-1990s spurred a rebirth that continues to this day, with over $2 billion in capital projects slated to involve the downtown area over the next few years....
, sharing it with the Cleveland Cavaliers
Cleveland Cavaliers

The Cleveland Cavaliers are a professional basketball team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They began playing in the National Basketball Association in 1970 as an expansion team and won their first Eastern Conference Championship in 2007....
 of the National Basketball Association
National Basketball Association

The National Basketball Association is North America's premier professional men's basketball league, composed of thirty teams: twenty-nine in the United States and one in Canada....
 and the Cleveland Crunch
Cleveland Force

The Cleveland Force has been the name of two indoor soccer teams based in the Richfield, Ohio area:*Cleveland Force , of the original MISL*Cleveland Force , known as the Crunch from 1989 to 2002...
 of the National Professional Soccer League. The team did somewhat better than it had in Columbus and qualified for the playoffs in the 1992
1992 in sports

Athletics...
 season, but was disbanded after the 1994
1994 in sports

Athletics...
 campaign.

For 13 years, the city of Cleveland, Ohio was without an arena football team. For 2008, the Las Vegas Gladiators franchise moved to Cleveland and became the city's newest team.

Season-by-season

|- | colspan="6" align="center" | Columbus Thunderbolts |- |1991 || 0 || 10 || 0 || 8th || -- |- | colspan="6" align="center" | Cleveland Thunderbolts |- |1992 || 4 || 6 || 0 || 4th Northern || Lost Week 1 || Orlando
Orlando Predators

The Orlando Predators are an Arena Football League team based in Orlando, Florida that was founded in 1991. Their playoff streak is currently 17 seasons in a row, becoming the ArenaBowl champions in 1998 and 2000....
 50, Cleveland 12 |- |1993 || 2 || 10 || 0 || 4th AC || -- |- |1994 || 2 || 10 || 0 || 5th AC || -- |- !Totals || 8 || 37 || 0 |colspan="2"| (including playoffs) |}

Notable players

  • George Cooper, Fullback/Linebacker 1991-92
  • Major Harris
    Major Harris

    Major Harris is a former college football quarterback for West Virginia University during the 1980s. Harris was a 1989 All American and finished third and fifth in the Heisman Trophy voting in 1988 and 1989, respectively....
    , Quarterback 1991-94
  • Anthony Howard, Wide Receiver/Linebacker 1994
  • John Kaleo
    John Kaleo

    John Kaleo is a retired American football quarterback in the Arena Football League for the Indiana Firebirds , the Cleveland Thunderbolts , the St....
    , Quarterback 1994
  • Cedric McKinnon, Fullback/Linebacker 1992-94
  • Tony Missick, Wide Receiver/Linebacker 1991-92
  • Brian Mitchell
    Brian Mitchell (kicker)

    Brian Mitchell played college football for Marshall University in 1987 and the University of Northern Iowa from 1989-1991. He holds many UNI football records and NCAA records as well including the most accurate single season kicker in NCAA college football history ....
    , Kicker 1994


External links