Now comes the hard part: Winning.
By Delorean Fleetwood
Athens, GA: The Indoor Football League introduced the newest member of the league during an introductory press conference. The team based out of Akins Ford Arena will be known as the Athens Crush. Among the ownership group is NFL Hall of Famer Jerome “The Bus” Bettis, Georgia Bulldogs legend David Pollock, and Atlanta Falcons standout Brian Jordan.
Safe to say, the new IFL team’s identity had a few callbacks to older teams in the sport’s past. The beastly hand grabbing an A is a callback to the old Orlando Predators. As for the name? The AFL (and IFL for that matter), had a team by that name. The Predators are long considered one of the very best in sport. Their history is rivaled by few (their rivals, the Tampa Bay Storm is one of them)
The original Colorado Crush played in the Arena Football League from 2003-08, making the postseason in five of the six years they played at the Pepsi Center in Denver. Only in their inagural season did they miss the Arena Bowl Playoffs. The team would go on to win Arena Bowl XIX against (ironically) the Georgia Force, 51-48, in front of 10,822 at the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, on June 12th, 2005.
The team was named in large part, thanks to the legendary defense the Broncos had back in the 1980’s, the Orange Crush. The name was also attributed to the jerseys worn by Denver in those days, up until the team changed them in 1997. The second team that played under the Crush name, was based 50 miles north in Loveland, Colorado. They played as the Colorado Ice from 2006-2015.
After the original trademark for the Crush expired in 2014, the team would play under the Crush name for the team’s final two seasons in 2016 and 2017. The IFL team made the postseason in six of their 11 seasons, yet never won a playoff game. The team missed the playoffs in their last three seasons, including both as the Crush.
CRUSHING THE OPPOSITION?
The Bus knows what it takes to win a championship. He won Super Bowl XL in his final game as a player. He played under the legendary Head Coach, Bill Cowher during his time in Pittsburgh. The Steelers are owned by one of the greatest in all of professional sports, the Rooney Family. He had arguably one of the greatest situations a pro football player could have from top to bottom.
The Eastern Conference is arguably the deeper and more challenging Conference in the IFL. With teams such as the two time defending Conference champions, the Green Bay Blizzard, Jacksonville, Quad City, and Tulsa, Athens will certainly have their work cut out for them in their inagural 2027 campaign. But Athens has the recipe they need for long term success.
It all starts with a star studded front office. In a city that’s crazy about Georgia Bulldogs football (and a little nuts for their Athens Rock Lobsters hockey), Athens has a chance to Crush (yes, pun intended) the process on their way to becoming IFL National Champions in the near future. Athens will be a hit. Look for the Crush to be a fixture in the IFL.
Go to athenscrush.com for all the latest info and team news.
For more information on the Indoor Football League go to goifl.com for all the latest.
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