The Green Bay Blizzard is a professional indoor football team based in Ashwaubenon, Wisconsin, founded in 2003. The Blizzard began play in the Indoor Football League in 2010, after having played the previous seven seasons in af2, the now-defunct minor league of the Arena Football League. They play their home games at the Resch Center in Ashwaubenon, Wisconsin. The team's logo represents Bruiser, the team mascot.
Video Green Bay Blizzard
History
2003
The Blizzard started out as an af2 expansion team in 2003 with Jose Jefferson as the team's head coach. The team finished an abysmal 2-14, last in the National Conference Midwest Division. They only averaged 2,957 fans a game.
2004
At the beginning of the 2004 season, the Blizzard replaced Jose Jefferson with former Green Bay Packers linebacker Brian Noble. Despite the team improving during the 2004 season, the Blizzard finished 6-10.
2005
In 2005, the team moved from the National Conference to the American Conference of AF2. The Blizzard became a member of the American Conference's East division. The team also replaced Noble with veteran AFL Bob Landsee. The team continued their trend of improvement in 2005 finishing 9-7, good for 3rd in the East Division, and reaching the postseason for the first time. They fell in the first round to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.
2006
Blizzard head coach Bob Landsee became the first coach in team history to return for their second season. The Blizzard also came under new ownership as former coach Brian Noble lead an investment group that purchased the team. Noble became the new President of the four-year-old franchise and began a complete revitalization of the organization, drastically lowering ticket prices in an attempt to boost their average game attendance. The team set a new single game attendance record of 7,184 in the season finale against Louisville. The team experienced an improvement on the field as well, going into the final game of the 2006 regular season tied with the Louisville Fire for first in the East Division at 9-6. This set up a showdown between the two teams at the Resch Center for the East Division title, which the Blizzard won 54-53. For this, the Blizzard earned a first round bye before facing the 2005 ArenaCup Champion Memphis Xplorers in the Blizzard's inaugural home playoff game, which they won 67-50. This victory sent them on to the American Conference Championship Game vs the Florida Firecats, which they would win 60-47, capturing the conference title and sending the Blizzard on to ArenaCup VII, where they lost to the Spokane Shock 54-37.
2007
Coach Bob Landsee had difficulties resulting from surgery and was forced to take a leave of absence for the 2007 season. He was replaced by Defensive Coordinator Doug Lytle, who led the Blizzard to a 9-7 season, remaining undefeated at home yet losing all but 1 road game. The Blizzard succeeded at making the playoffs for the third consecutive year and surprised their rival and Midwest Division Champion Quad City Steamwheelers 39-34 in the first-round game. The Blizzard carried over their success at home from the regular season by defeating Louisville in the second round 37-27, but lost to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Pioneers in their second consecutive American Conference championship game, 46-43.
2008
Bob Landsee returned to coaching in 2008 and led the Blizzard to an 11-5 record and a Midwest Division title. The Blizzard set a single game record for attendance against Lexington with 7,258 and had the largest average attendance in team history with an average of 6,125 fans per game. In the first round of the playoffs the Blizzard defeated Lexington 65-37 after having lost twice to them in the regular season. The Blizzard then hosted Manchester in a second-round game, losing 55-54 on a last minute Manchester two-point conversion.
2009
After beginning the season by defeating the defending ArenaCup Champion Tennessee Valley Vipers, the Blizzard failed to capture a consecutive Midwest Division title, and finished the season 10-6, earning the #6 seed in the 2009 af2 Playoffs, which would see the Blizzard advance to their third American Conference Championship game to take on the #1 seed Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Pioneers, where they would lose 72-67.
2010: Move to Indoor Football League
Financial troubles and new ownership
In October 2009 the team announced that unless the team found additional investors that they would be forced to cease operations. The Blizzard found new investors in an ownership group named Titletown Football Group, LLC, led by Green Bay Bullfrogs president Jeff Royle, who purchased the team in late October.
League and coaching change
In November 2009, the team announced that they would play the 2010 season in the Indoor Football League due to AF2 filing for bankruptcy. At a team open house on November 17, 2009 the Blizzard announced their new head coach would be Rik Richards.
Possible name change
On December 5, 2009, the Blizzard announced a "Name the Team" contest. The Blizzard name and intellectual property was held by the defunct Arena Football League, which was the parent of the Blizzard's former league, af2. The assets of the former Arena Football League were purchased by the newly formed Arena Football 1. The team ownership group was still attempting to purchase the rights to the Blizzard name and had decided to continue with the "name the team" contest in case the Blizzard name was not able to be purchased, but the owners were able to acquire the Blizzard name and imagery.
2010 season
On December 15, 2009 the IFL announced the divisional alignment and schedule for the 2010 season. The Blizzard competed in the United Conference Central North Division with the La Crosse Spartans, Chicago Slaughter and Bloomington Extreme. The Blizzard won the Central North Division, but lost their first round playoff game against the Chicago Slaughter.
2011 season
For the 2011 season, the Blizzard competed in the United Conference Great Lakes Division; however, the divisional setup was unchanged from its Central North Division alignment (the Spartans, Slaughter and Extreme remaining the Blizzard's division rivals). Also unchanged was the Blizzard winning the division title; however, what changed was the Blizzard's record had improved to 11-3 and they defeated the Reading Express in their first-round playoff game. A United Bowl was not in the cards, however, as the Blizzard lost the United Conference Championship game to the eventual champions the Sioux Falls Storm.
2012 season
Because of various teams leaving the IFL, either to join other leagues or cease operations altogether, the league played the 2012 season format in two conferences with no divisions. While the Spartans had ceased operations, the Blizzard's divisional rivals the Slaughter and the newly renamed Bloomington Edge joined in the single-table United Conference along with the Reading Express, Sioux Falls Storm, Cedar Rapids Titans, Lehigh Valley Steelhawks and Omaha Beef. In this new format, the Blizzard finished 11-3 again, though this time in second place and three games behind the undefeated Storm. While the Blizzard defeated the Edge in the first round, they would again lose to the Storm for the United Conference Championship.
2013 season
With the Edge and Steelhawks leaving the IFL for other leagues and the Beef and Express suspending operations, the United Conference was reduced to five teams for the 2013 season, with the Blizzard, Slaughter, Titans, and Storm all returning and the newly renamed Texas Revolution (formerly the Allen Wranglers) moving from the Intense Conference. Junior Aumavae, a nose tackle who spent the 2012 season playing for the Blizzard, was signed by the New York Jets in late March 2013. After compiling a 1-5 record in the season's first six games, head coach Robert Fuller was replaced by defensive coordinator Chad Baldwin.
2014 season
After the 2013 season, the Chicago Slaughter moved to the Continental Indoor Football League. The United Conference continues to have 5 teams thanks to a new expansion team, the Bemidji Axemen. In September 2013, Titletown Football Group, LLC sold their majority ownership stake in the team to Larry and Kathy Treankler. The Blizzard began the 2014 season under head coach Chad Baldwin. After the team began the season 0-6, Baldwin was replaced by offensive coordinator Tommie Williams for the remainder of the season. The Blizzard introduced their current logo during this season.
2015 season
Tommie Williams had his interim tag removed and was named the head coach of the Blizzard. The Blizzard brought back veteran quarterback Donovan Porterie and traded for Carl Sims. The Blizzard won as many games as they had the previous two seasons combined, but their 6-8 record wasn't good enough to qualify for the playoffs.
2016 season
On November 3, 2015, Williams and the Blizzard agreed to part ways. On December 7, 2015, Chris Williams was hired as the head coach of the Blizzard.
Maps Green Bay Blizzard
Statistics and records
Season-by-season results
Head coach records
Note: Statistics are correct through the 2018 Indoor Football League season
Season-by-season average attendance
Notable players
Current roster
Individual awards
The following is a list of all Blizzard players who have won league Awards
Current staff
References
External links
- Official website
- FrostBite - Weekly Podcast
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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