Orlando Thunder
Encyclopedia
The Orlando Thunder was a member of the World League
of American Football
from 1991 to 1992 (known as NFL Europe
from 1995 onwards). The team played their games in the 70,000 seat Citrus Bowl
, and was coached by Don Matthews
in 1991 and Galen Hall
in 1992. The team's most visible point was their colors - the League wanted to develop new colors which hadn't been used for teams before, hence the vermilion and green that the Raleigh-Durham Skyhawks
wore, and the fluorescent green jerseys that the Thunder sported.
The team's general managers were Lee Corso
and Dick Beam. In 1991 the team played to a 5-5 record, and in 1992 the team had an outstanding 8-2 record, and made it to the World Bowl II championship game before losing to the Sacramento Surge
21-17. Despite the team's success early on however, the Thunder's attendance figures fell from over 19,000 per game in its first year, to just over 16,000 per game its second year, and the team was folded.
Notable players include Kerwin Bell
and Scott Mitchell, a left-handed quarterback who went on to play in the NFL for the Miami Dolphins
and Detroit Lions
.
The team's jersey was recently voted 2nd worst football jersey of all-time by ESPN
voters.http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=lukas/060803
World League of American Football
The World League of American Football was founded in 1990 with support from the National Football League to play professional American football in North America, Europe and later possibly Asia...
of American Football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
from 1991 to 1992 (known as NFL Europe
NFL Europe
NFL Europe was an American football league which operated in Europe from 1991 until 2007. Backed by the National Football League , the largest professional American football league in the United States, it was founded as the World League of American Football to serve as a type of spring league...
from 1995 onwards). The team played their games in the 70,000 seat Citrus Bowl
Citrus Bowl
The Florida Citrus Bowl is a stadium in Orlando, Florida, USA, built for football, which currently seats around 70,000 people....
, and was coached by Don Matthews
Don Matthews
Don Matthews, a.k.a. "The Don", is a former head coach of several teams in the Canadian Football League and is the second winningest head coach in CFL history with 231 wins...
in 1991 and Galen Hall
Galen Hall
Galen Samuel Hall is an American college and professional football coach and former player. He is a native of Pennsylvania, and an alumnus of Penn State University, where he played college football...
in 1992. The team's most visible point was their colors - the League wanted to develop new colors which hadn't been used for teams before, hence the vermilion and green that the Raleigh-Durham Skyhawks
Raleigh-Durham Skyhawks
The Raleigh–Durham Skyhawks were an American football team headquartered in Raleigh, North Carolina that played for one season in 1991 in the World League of American Football . The name was inspired by the Wright brothers' flights on the Outer Banks of North Carolina...
wore, and the fluorescent green jerseys that the Thunder sported.
The team's general managers were Lee Corso
Lee Corso
Leland "Lee" Corso is a sports broadcaster and football analyst for ESPN. He has been featured on ESPN's College GameDay program since its inception and he appeared annually as a commentator in EA Sports' NCAA Football through NCAA Football 11...
and Dick Beam. In 1991 the team played to a 5-5 record, and in 1992 the team had an outstanding 8-2 record, and made it to the World Bowl II championship game before losing to the Sacramento Surge
Sacramento Surge
The Sacramento Surge was a professional American football team that played in the World League of American Football in 1991 and 1992. The team played its first season at Hughes Stadium in Sacramento, and the second season in Hornet Stadium on the Sacramento State University campus. It was owned...
21-17. Despite the team's success early on however, the Thunder's attendance figures fell from over 19,000 per game in its first year, to just over 16,000 per game its second year, and the team was folded.
Notable players include Kerwin Bell
Kerwin Bell
Kerwin Douglas Bell is an American college and professional football coach and former player who was a quarterback in the National Football League , World League of American Football and the Canadian Football League for fourteen seasons in the 1980s, 1990s and early 2000s...
and Scott Mitchell, a left-handed quarterback who went on to play in the NFL for the Miami Dolphins
Miami Dolphins
The Miami Dolphins are a Professional football team based in the Miami metropolitan area in Florida. The team is part of the Eastern Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
and Detroit Lions
Detroit Lions
The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit, Michigan. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League , and play their home games at Ford Field in Downtown Detroit.Originally based in Portsmouth, Ohio and...
.
The team's jersey was recently voted 2nd worst football jersey of all-time by ESPN
ESPN
Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....
voters.http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=lukas/060803
Season-by-season
| Season | Division | Regular season | Post season results | Awards | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Finish | |||||||||
| Orlando Thunder | |||||||||
| 1991 1991 WLAF season The 1991 WLAF season was the inaugural season of the World League of American Football. The league champions were the London Monarchs, who defeated the Barcelona Dragons in World Bowl '91.-Standings:* * Division winners... |
North American East | 2nd | 5 | 5 | 0 | .500 | — | — | |
| 1992 | North American East | 1st | 8 | 2 | 0 | .800 | Won Semifinal (Fire Birmingham Fire The Birmingham Fire was a professional American football team based in Birmingham, Alabama that played in the World League of American Football in 1991 and 1992. The team played at Legion Field, and it made the playoffs in both seasons.... ) 45–7 Lost World Bowl '92 World Bowl II World Bowl '92 was the WLAF's second championship game, played on June 6, 1992 at Olympic Stadium in Montréal, Quebec, Canada. 43,789 witnessed the matchup between the Sacramento Surge and the Orlando Thunder.... (Surge Sacramento Surge The Sacramento Surge was a professional American football team that played in the World League of American Football in 1991 and 1992. The team played its first season at Hughes Stadium in Sacramento, and the second season in Hornet Stadium on the Sacramento State University campus. It was owned... ) 17–21 |
Galen Hall Galen Hall Galen Samuel Hall is an American college and professional football coach and former player. He is a native of Pennsylvania, and an alumnus of Penn State University, where he played college football... (Coach of the Year) |
|
| Total | 13 | 7 | 0 | .650 | (1991–1992, includes only regular season) | ||||
| 1 | 1 | 0 | .500 | (1991–1992, includes only playoffs) | |||||
| 14 | 8 | 0 | .636 | (1991–1992, includes both regular season and playoffs) | |||||
Results
| Week | Date | Opponent | Results | Game site | Attendance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Final score | Team record | |||||
| 1 | Monday, March 25 | San Antonio Riders San Antonio Riders The San Antonio Riders were a professional American football team that played in the WLAF in 1991 and 1992. The team played in the Alamo Stadium in 1991 and then were forced to move to Bobcat Stadium on the campus of Southwest Texas State University in San Marcos, Texas, 45 miles northeast of San... |
W 35–34 | 1–0 | Florida Citrus Bowl Citrus Bowl The Florida Citrus Bowl is a stadium in Orlando, Florida, USA, built for football, which currently seats around 70,000 people.... |
21,714 |
| 2 | Saturday, March 30 | Raleigh–Durham Skyhawks | W 58–20 | 2–0 | Florida Citrus Bowl | 20,811 |
| 3 | Saturday, April 6 | at London Monarchs 1991 London Monarchs season The 1991 London Monarchs season was the inaugural season for the team in the World League of American Football.-Staff:-Roster:-Schedule:-Standings:... |
L 12–35 | 2–1 | Wembley Stadium | 35,327 |
| 4 | Sunday, April 14 | at Barcelona Dragons 1991 Barcelona Dragons season The 1991 Barcelona Dragons season was the inaugural season for the team in the World League of American Football.-Staff:-Roster:-Schedule:-Standings:... |
L 13–33 | 2–2 | Montjuic Stadium Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys is a stadium in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Originally built in 1927 for the 1929 International Exposition in the city , it was renovated in 1989 to be the main stadium for the 1992 Summer Olympics... |
40,875 |
| 5 | Sunday, April 21 | Birmingham Fire Birmingham Fire The Birmingham Fire was a professional American football team based in Birmingham, Alabama that played in the World League of American Football in 1991 and 1992. The team played at Legion Field, and it made the playoffs in both seasons.... |
L 6–31 | 2–3 | Florida Citrus Bowl | 21,249 |
| 6 | Saturday, April 27 | at New York/New Jersey Knights New York/New Jersey Knights New York/New Jersey Knights was a franchise in the World League of American Football for the 1991 and 1992 seasons. They played in the North American East division, which they won in the 1991 season. They were coached by Mouse Davis, an architect of the Run & Shoot offense.After 1992 the NFL ... |
L 6–42 | 2–4 | Giants Stadium Giants Stadium Giants Stadium was a multi-purpose stadium, located in East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA, in the Meadowlands Sports Complex. Maximum seating capacity was 80,242. The building itself was 230.5 m long, 180.5 m wide and 44 m high from service level to the top of the seating bowl and 54 m high to... |
30,046 |
| 7 | Saturday, May 4 | Frankfurt Galaxy 1991 Frankfurt Galaxy season The 1991 Frankfurt Galaxy season was the inaugural season for the team in the World League of American Football.-Staff:-Roster:-Schedule:-Standings:-Honors:... |
L 14–17 | 2–5 | Florida Citrus Bowl | 11,270 |
| 8 | Saturday, May 11 | Sacramento Surge Sacramento Surge The Sacramento Surge was a professional American football team that played in the World League of American Football in 1991 and 1992. The team played its first season at Hughes Stadium in Sacramento, and the second season in Hornet Stadium on the Sacramento State University campus. It was owned... |
W 45–33 | 3–5 | Florida Citrus Bowl | 20,048 |
| 9 | Monday, May 20 | at Raleigh–Durham Skyhawks | W 20–14 | 4–5 | Carter–Finley Stadium | 4,207 |
| 10 | Monday, May 27 | at Montreal Machine Montreal Machine The Montreal Machine was the sole Canadian team in the World League of American Football, a springtime developmental professional league set up by the National Football League that played in 1991 and 1992. There were also three European teams and six U.S.-based teams... |
W 33–27 (OT) | 5–5 | Olympic Stadium Olympic Stadium (Montreal) The Olympic Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in the Hochelaga-Maisonneuve district of Montreal, Quebec, Canada built as the main venue for the 1976 Summer Olympics... |
23,493 |
Roster
| 1991 Orlando Thunder roster | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Quarterbacks
Running Backs
Wide Receivers
|
Offensive Linemen
Defensive Linemen
|
Linebackers
Defensive Backs
Special Teams
|
Operation Discovery
 Rookies in italics |
|||
Results
| Week | Opponent | Results | Game site | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Final score | Team record | ||||||
| 1 | Ohio Glory Ohio Glory The Ohio Glory played one season in the World League of American Football, which later became NFL Europe.Columbus, Ohio was awarded the WLAF franchise after the Raleigh-Durham Skyhawks posted an 0-10 season. Ohio didn't do much better, posting a 1-9 record after one season of play... |
W 13–9 | 1–0 | Florida Citrus Bowl Citrus Bowl The Florida Citrus Bowl is a stadium in Orlando, Florida, USA, built for football, which currently seats around 70,000 people.... |
|||
| 2 | at Montreal Machine Montreal Machine The Montreal Machine was the sole Canadian team in the World League of American Football, a springtime developmental professional league set up by the National Football League that played in 1991 and 1992. There were also three European teams and six U.S.-based teams... |
L 29–31 | 1–1 | Olympic Stadium Olympic Stadium (Montreal) The Olympic Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in the Hochelaga-Maisonneuve district of Montreal, Quebec, Canada built as the main venue for the 1976 Summer Olympics... |
|||
| 3 | at Ohio Glory | W 28–3 | 2–1 | Ohio Stadium Ohio Stadium Ohio Stadium is the home of the Ohio State Buckeyes football team and is located on the campus of The Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio. The stadium was added to the National Register of Historic Places by the National Park Service on March 22, 1974... |
|||
| 4 | New York/New Jersey Knights New York/New Jersey Knights New York/New Jersey Knights was a franchise in the World League of American Football for the 1991 and 1992 seasons. They played in the North American East division, which they won in the 1991 season. They were coached by Mouse Davis, an architect of the Run & Shoot offense.After 1992 the NFL ... |
W 39–21 | 3–1 | Florida Citrus Bowl | |||
| 5 | Montreal Machine | W 16–8 | 4–1 | Florida Citrus Bowl | |||
| 6 | at Frankfurt Galaxy Frankfurt Galaxy The Frankfurt Galaxy was a professional American football team that originally played in the World League of American Football and later in the resurrected NFL Europe. The team was based in Frankfurt, Germany and played in the Commerzbank-Arena, formerly called the Waldstadion.-History:In 1991, the... |
W 38–0 | 5–1 | Waldstadion Commerzbank-Arena The Commerzbank-Arena is a sports stadium in Frankfurt, Hesse, Germany. Commonly known by its original name, Waldstadion , the stadium opened in 1925. The stadium has been upgraded several times since then; the most recent remodelling was its redevelopment as a football-only stadium in preparation... |
|||
| 7 | at San Antonio Riders San Antonio Riders The San Antonio Riders were a professional American football team that played in the WLAF in 1991 and 1992. The team played in the Alamo Stadium in 1991 and then were forced to move to Bobcat Stadium on the campus of Southwest Texas State University in San Marcos, Texas, 45 miles northeast of San... |
W 39–21 | 6–1 | Bobcat Stadium Bobcat Stadium (Texas State) Bobcat Stadium is a 16,008-seat multi-purpose stadium in San Marcos, Texas. It opened in 1981 and is home to the Texas State University Bobcats football team. It was also home of the San Antonio Riders of the World League of American Football... |
|||
| 8 | London Monarchs London Monarchs The London Monarchs were a professional American football team in NFL Europe and its predecessor league, the World League of American Football . The Monarchs played their final season in 1998 as the England Monarchs... |
W 9–0 | 7–1 | Florida Citrus Bowl | |||
| 9 | at Birmingham Fire Birmingham Fire The Birmingham Fire was a professional American football team based in Birmingham, Alabama that played in the World League of American Football in 1991 and 1992. The team played at Legion Field, and it made the playoffs in both seasons.... |
L 23–24 | 7–2 | Legion Field Legion Field Legion Field is a large stadium in Birmingham, Alabama, United States, primarily designed to be used as a venue for American football, but is occasionally used for other large outdoor events. The stadium is named in honor of the American Legion, a U.S. organization of military veterans. At its peak... |
|||
| 10 | Barcelona Dragons Barcelona Dragons The Barcelona Dragons were a team originally in the World League of American Football and later in the resurrected NFL Europe. Their home field in Barcelona was the Estadi Olímpic de Montjuic, the 1992 Olympic Stadium, and later the Mini Estadi. The Dragons were successful on the field, making it... |
W 13–10 | 8–2 | Florida Citrus Bowl | |||
| Postseason | |||||||
| Semifinal | Birmingham Fire | W 45–7 | 9–2 | Florida Citrus Bowl | |||
| World Bowl | Sacramento Surge Sacramento Surge The Sacramento Surge was a professional American football team that played in the World League of American Football in 1991 and 1992. The team played its first season at Hughes Stadium in Sacramento, and the second season in Hornet Stadium on the Sacramento State University campus. It was owned... |
L 17–21 | 9–3 | Olympic Stadium Olympic Stadium (Montreal) The Olympic Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in the Hochelaga-Maisonneuve district of Montreal, Quebec, Canada built as the main venue for the 1976 Summer Olympics... |
|||
Staff
Roster
| 1992 Orlando Thunder roster | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Quarterbacks
Running Backs
Wide Receivers
Tight Ends
|
Offensive Linemen
Defensive Linemen
|
Linebackers
Defensive Backs
Special Teams
|
Operation Discovery
Rookies in italics |
|||
 |
 |
|
|---|