Fort Wayne Fusion

The Fort Wayne Fusion was a 2007 af2 (Arena Football League's minor league) expansion team in the Midwest Division of the American Conference. They played their home games at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum in Fort Wayne, Indiana, which was the former home of the defunct National Indoor Football League/United Indoor Football franchise, the Fort Wayne Freedom.

Fort Wayne Fusion
Established 2006 Folded 2007 Played in Allen County War Memorial Coliseum in Fort Wayne, Indiana
League/conference affiliations
af2 (2007) American Conference (2007) Midwest Division (2007)
Current uniform
Team colors	Burnt orange, regal purple, pearl white
Personnel
Owner(s)	af2
General manager	Mike McCaffrey
Head coach	Eddie Brown
Team history
Fort Wayne Fusion (2007)
Championships
League championships (0)
Conference championships (0)
Division championships (0)
Home arena(s)
Allen County War Memorial Coliseum (2007)

After only one year of existence, the Fusion folded and a new version of the Fort Wayne Freedom was formed for the Continental Indoor Football League.

History

The franchise was announced in November, 2006 as an expansion team of the af2. Jeremy Golden was announced as the team's owner and general manager, and secured a lease with Allen County War Memorial Coliseum for home games.^[1] The team also announced that Arena Football League legend, Eddie Brown, would be the team first head coach.^[1] In January, the team named Mike McCaffrey as the team's General Manager to handle day-to-day operations for the Fusion.^[2] In February, the team announced the team colors would be Burnt Orange, Regal Purple and Pearl White.^[3] With the team struggling to find a quarterback through their exhibition games, the Fusion traded for Cody Hodges of the Oklahoma City Yard Dawgz.^[4] The Fusion played their first game in the af2 on March 31, 2007, against the Green Bay Blizzard, who were the then-defending American Conference champions.^[5] In July, 2007, the news surfaced that Owner Jeremy Golden had been removed as the owner of the Fusion by af2 Commissioner, Jerry Kurz.^[6] The Fusion finished the season 5–11,^[7] but with the loss of Golden during the season, the Fusion playing again in 2008 was very remote.^[8] In October, the city learned that Kurz had determined that the Fusion would not return in 2008.^[9]

2007 Schedule

The Fort Wayne Fusion's schedule for the 2007 season is as follows: (Home Games in bold)

Date	Opponent	Time (Eastern)	Location	Result	Record
Saturday, March 31, 2007	vs. Green Bay Blizzard	7:00 PM	Allen County War Memorial Coliseum	W (36–28)	1–0
Saturday, April 7, 2007	@ Bossier-Shreveport Battle Wings	8:00 PM	CenturyTel Center	L (52–67)	1–1
Sunday, April 15, 2007	vs. Spokane Shock	4:00 PM	Allen County War Memorial Coliseum	W (63–56)	2–1
Saturday, April 21, 2007	@ Manchester Wolves	7:05 PM	Verizon Wireless Arena	L (41–54)	2–2
Saturday, April 28, 2007	vs. Albany Conquest	7:00 PM	Allen County War Memorial Coliseum	L (21–35)	2–3
Saturday, May 5, 2007	@ Cincinnati Jungle Kats	7:30 PM	U.S. Bank Arena	L (32–35)	2–4
Friday, May 11, 2007	vs. Louisville Fire	7:30 PM	Allen County War Memorial Coliseum	L (42–48)	2–5
Saturday, May 19, 2007	BYE WEEK
Saturday, May 26, 2007	vs. Tennessee Valley Vipers	7:00 PM	Allen County War Memorial Coliseum	W (56–33)	3–5
Saturday, June 2, 2007	@ Albany Conquest	4:00 PM	Times Union Center	L (33–77)	3–6
Friday, June 8, 2007	vs. Quad City Steamwheelers	7:30 PM	Allen County War Memorial Coliseum	L (47–64)	3–7
Saturday, June 16, 2007	@ Louisville Fire	7:00 PM	Freedom Hall	W (52–34)	4–7
Friday, June 22, 2007	@ Green Bay Blizzard	8:30 PM	Resch Center	L (28–54)	4–8
Saturday, June 30, 2007	vs. Cincinnati Jungle Kats	7:00 PM	Allen County War Memorial Coliseum	W (47–25)	5–8
Saturday, July 7, 2007	vs. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Pioneers	7:00 PM	Allen County War Memorial Coliseum	L (47–48)	5–9
Saturday, July 14, 2007	@ Tennessee Valley Vipers	8:30 PM	Von Braun Center	L (48–61)	5–10
Saturday, July 21, 2007	BYE WEEK
Thursday, July 26, 2007	@ Quad City Steamwheelers	8:30 PM	iWireless Center	L (55–56)	5–11

Season-by-season

Season records

Season	W	L	T	Finish	Playoff results
2007	5	11	0	4th AC Midwest	--

Final roster

Fort Wayne Fusion roster
Quarterbacks 15 Blayne Baggett 12 Joe Micco Fullbacks  9 Tyus Jackson FB/LB 30 Joe Johnsonbaugh FB/LB Wide receivers  8 Jonathan Graham 11 Jermaine Jackson 25 Cesare Manning 17 Mario Pratcher		Offensive linemen 65 Lenard Black 66 Randy Degg 99 A. J. Lindsay 72 Stephenol Santos 97 Lou Vega Defensive linemen 95 Ernest Bentz 91 Darian Tate 33 Ken West		Linebackers 11 Jermaine Jackson  9 Tyus Jackson 30 Joe Johnsonbaugh Defensive backs 14 Arthur Berlanga  2 Derek Brown  1 Derrick Simmons  3 Nate Williams Special teams  6 Kyle Hooper K		Injured reserve 14 Barry Drakeford DB (IR)  3 R. J. Harvey KR (IR) 10 Cody Hodges QB (IR) 93 Patrick P'au (IR) 21 Jamal Rufu DB (IR)  1 Tyrone Walker WR (IR)  4 Terell White (IR) 89 Rodney Wormley DL (IR) rookies in italics Roster updated July 15, 2007 21 Active, 8 Inactive

Coaches of note

Head coaches

Note: Statistics are correct through the end of the 2007 af2 season.

Name	Term	Regular Season				Playoffs		Awards
		W	L	T	Win%	W	L
Eddie Brown	2007	5	11	0	.313	0	0

Coaching staff

Fort Wayne Fusion staff
	Front office General manager – Mike McCaffrey Asst. General Manager – Elvis Ahlborn Team services – Greg Moyer Radio play-by-play – Dean Jackson[10] Head coach Head coach – Eddie Brown Offensive coaches Offensive Coordinator –			Defensive coaches Defensive coordinator – Tony Henderson

See also

• History of sports in Fort Wayne, Indiana