Birmingham Thunderbolts
The Birmingham Thunderbolts were a professional football team as part of the XFL's single season in 2001. Playing their home games in Legion Field, the Bolts missed the playoffs in their lone season with a final record of 2-8.
The XFL
The XFL was developed in a partnership between Vince McMahon's WWF and NBC. The league was formally announced on February 3, 2000, with its partnership with NBC announced on March 29. The league was a spring American football league which had 8 teams playing a 10-game regular season. Teams were aligned into two divisions:
- Eastern Division: Birmingham Thunderbolts, Chicago Enforcers, New York/New Jersey Hitmen, Orlando Rage
- Western Division: Las Vegas Outlaws, Los Angeles Xtreme, Memphis Maniax, San Francisco Demons
The regular season began on Saturday, February 21, 2001 and run through Sunday, April 8. The season would be without any bye weeks. On each weekend two games were played on Saturday nights and two again played on Sunday with one in the afternoon and one in the evening.
The playoff format consisted of the top two teams in each division. The semifinal playoff games took place on the weekend of April 14-15. The two teams emerging from the XFL semifinal playoffs met at the end of the season in The Big Game At The End. The lone championship game was held on April 21, 2001, in Los Angeles' Memorial Coliseum with the Los Angeles Xtreme defeating the San Francisco Demons 38-6 for the only XFL championship.
Rules unique to the XFL included no fair catches on punts and kickoffs for the receiving team, no kicking of extra points after touchdowns, allowing a catch to be made with only one foot in-bounds, a shorter, 35 second play clock, and tweaks in overtime rules making them more similar to the college format without sudden-death. Additionally, the XFL was also known for the new camera angles and vantage points seen by television viewers. Some of these new techniques are now used in NFL and college broadcasts.
Additionally, players received bonuses for winning. For each victory during the regular season, players would divide $100,000 in bonus money. For the league champions, a $1 million bonus was divided evenly amongst players.
Probably the most famous aspect of the league was in its allowance of players to place nicknames on the back of their game jerseys. Although no Birmingham player took advantage of this, Las Vegas' Rod Smart gained national notoriety for having He Hate Me on the back of his jersey. Others also placed nicknames on their backs, but none became as famous as Smart.
2001 Thunderbolts
Inception & Decline
The team was owned by a partnership between World Wrestling Federation Entertainment, Inc. and NBC. Birmingham was announced as a XFL city on August 1, 2000. The name of the team, announced later that August, was initially to be the Birmingham Blast. However it was then changed to Thunderbolts after the Blast moniker did not have a warm reception with the community due to the events of the civil rights movement and the 1998 abortion clinic bombing.
The team's colors were purple, yellow, and white. Their logo was a stylized 'B' with six lightning bolts extending from it. The team was frequently referred to by fans and the media as the Bolts, with most team merchandise only using the Bolts moniker in lieu of Thunderbolts.
The general manager was Tim Berryman with Bob Gates serving as Director of Player personnel. Gerry Dinardo served as head coach. The team was assembled in October that year with the initial practices occurring on November 8.
It was announced on December 11 that all radio broadcasts would be on Classic Rock WZRR-FM 99.5. Rick Burgess and Bill Bussey of the Rick & Bubba Show served as the teams play-by-play announcers along with Jim Dunaway.
After the initial success of the opening weekend which saw large crowds and respectable television ratings, both rating and crowds would see a continual decline throughout the season. On May 10, the league disbanded after completing only one season.
2001 season
2001 record (2-8-0)
- February 4: Lost 22-20 vs. Memphis Maniax.
- February 11: Won 19-12 at New York/New Jersey Hitmen.
- February 18: Won 14-3 vs. Chicago Enforcers.
- February 24: Lost 30-6 at Orlando Rage.
- March 3: Lost 39-10 at San Francisco Demons.
- March 11: Lost 35-26 vs. Los Angeles Xtreme.
- March 17: Lost 34-12 at Las Vegas Outlaws.
- March 25: Lost 13-0 at Chicago Enforcers.
- March 31: Lost 29-24 vs. Orlando Rage.
- April 8: Lost 22-0 vs. New York/New Jersey Hitmen.
Team Leaders
- Rushing Yards: 539, James Bostic
- Receiving Yards: 827, Stepfert Williams
- Passing Yards: 1238, Casey Weldon
Coaching Staff
- Gerry Dinardo, head coach
- Dave Arslanian, offensive coordinator/quarterbacks
- Paul Arslanian, linebackers
- Mark Brady, wide receivers
- Lionel James, running backs
- Curley Hallman, co-defensive coordinator/defensive backs
- Woodrow Lowe, Jr., defensive assistant
- Rick Rhoades, offensive line
- Don Wnek, co-defensive coordinator/defensive line
Roster
- Andy Russ, #1, kicker
- Anthony Derricks, #3, centerback
- Damon Gourdine, #4, wide receiver
- Brad Palazzo, #5, kicker
- Jay Barker, #7, quarterback
- Casy Weldon, #11, quarterback
- Graham Leigh, #13, quarterback
- Mark Washington, #16, quarterback
- Keith Franklin, #18, outside linebacker
- David Knott, #21, safety
- Sedrick Curry, #23, centerback
- Eric Hickson, #24, running back
- Carlos Jones, #26, centerback
- Chris Shelling, #27, defensive back
- Troy Davis, #28, running back
- Duane Butler, #31, safety
- Curtis Alexander, #32, running back
- James Bostic, #33, running back
- Billy Gustin, #34, defensive back
- Tony McCall, #35, centerback
- Fred White, #36, centerback
- Eric Sloan, #37, centerback
- Calvin Jackson, #38, safety
- Nicky Savoie, #42, tight end
- Fred Perry, #44, outside linebacker
- James Willis, #50, linebacker
- Alonzo Gilbert, #53, offensive guard
- Patrick Scott, #55, outside linebacker
- Malcolm Hamilton, #56, linebacker
- Dion Foxx, #57, outside linebacker
- Charles Peterson, #58, defensive end
- Jamie Heiner, #59, linebacker
- Mike Mihelic, #60, offensive guard
- Justin Burroughs, #61, center
- Antonio Flemming, #63, offensive guard
- Ryan Thomassie, #65, center
- Matt Hogg, #66, offensive guard/center
- Jason McDonald, #70, offensive tackle
- Michael Lies, #71, offensive line
- Allen Mogridge, #75, center
- Mike Edwards, #77, offensive guard
- Ozell Powell, #78, offensive tackle
- Ed King, #79, offensive line
- Stepfert Williams, #80, wide receiver
- Kaipo McGuire, #81, wide receiver
- Quincy Jackson, #82, wide receiver
- Joe Douglass, #83, wide receiver
- Steve Smith, #84, wide receiver
- Kevin Drake, #85, wide receiver
- Ed Smith, #86, tight end
- Scott Thompson, #87, tight end
- Jahine Arnold, #88, wide receiver
- Alex Hass, #89, tight end
- Jarett Loggins, #90, defensive tackle
- Alton Weaver, #91, defensive tackle
- Kendrick Burton, #92, defensive end
- Johnny Mitchell, #94, defensive tackle
- Quinton Reese, #95, defensive end
- Jimmy Brumbaugh, #96, defensive tackle
- Cedric Pittman, #98, defensive end
- Eric Kerley, #99, defensive tackle
References
- Birmingham Thunderbolts (2001) Birmingham Thunderbolts 2001 Inaugurral Media Guide.
External Links
- Birmingham Thunderbolts on BirminghamProSports.com
- Birmingham Thunderbolts tribute site