Tampa Bay Storm

The Tampa Bay Storm are an Arena Football League (AFL) team based in the Tampa Bay Area of Florida. They play their home games in the St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa.

The team began play in 1987 as the Pittsburgh Gladiators, one of the AFL's four charter franchises, and the only one still operating. They relocated to Tampa in 1991 and adopted their current name. They played in Tampa from 1991–2008, after which point the AFL folded, and resumed operations for the 2010 season following the league's restructuring. Together with the Orlando Predators they have been in their city for longer than any other AFL team. During their tenure they have won five ArenaBowl championships and won five conference titles. They are coached by Dave Ewart.

History
Along with their traditional rivals, the Orlando Predators, they share the Arena Football League record for the longest tenure by a franchise in a single market area. They are also the last of the original four franchises (the Chicago Bruisers, Denver Dynamite and Washington Commandos were the other three) to have operated in continuous existence from the formation of the league in 1987 until the present.

Pittsburgh Gladiators (1987–1990)
The franchise was originally known as the Pittsburgh Gladiators, and was one of the original four AFL teams formed in 1987. The team was named by Robert Ninehouser whose entry for the team name was selected in 1987. They originally played their home games at the Pittsburgh Civic Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The Gladiators participated in ArenaBowls I and III, losing both.

Tampa Bay Storm (1991–present)
The team moved from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to Tampa, Florida in 1991, with the team taking on the "Storm" nickname. The Cleveland Arena Football League franchise now bears the Gladiators name, however, the two organizations share no link in history nor records. On a semi-related note, the Tampa Bay Bandits were set to break from the United States Football League in 1986 and launch another spring football league, which could have been interpreted to mean the Arena Football League, but whatever plans there were had been scrapped when the Bandits' owner fell ill and died.

The Storm won the ArenaBowl in their first season in Tampa Bay (V) and have won four subsequent championships (VII, IX, X, and XVII). Up to the 2006 season, the Storm had qualified for the playoffs in every season but one during their time in Tampa Bay.

The team played in the former Thunder Dome in St. Petersburg (now called Tropicana Field) from 1991–1996, becoming its first regular team sports tenant. Since 1997, the team has played its home games in the St. Pete Times Forum (previously the Ice Palace) which is located in Tampa.

The Storm competed in the Southern Division of the National Conference. They were coached by Tim Marcum, who is widely regarded as the greatest coach in Arena Football history.

The Storm have a heated rivalry with the Orlando Predators known as the War On I-4. Both teams have found success and have faced each other in the ArenaBowl and playoffs numerous times.

The team's current mascot is a dog named Storm Dawg.

On December 23, 2004, Sports Illustrated wrote in its 'The 10 Spot' feature that the AFL's players' union filed a grievance against the Storm. The reason was that seven of the Storm's players claimed that some of the diamonds in their 2003 AFL championship rings were fake. Six of the seven players had left the team after the 2003 season. The Storm acknowledged that some of the rings did, in fact, include cubic zirconia instead of diamonds, and that different players received greater amounts of diamonds in their rings based on their contributions that season.

The Storm ended the 2006 season with a 7–9 record (4th in their Division), ending a 19-year streak of playoff appearances, dating back to their days as the Pittsburgh Gladiators and the start of the Arena Football League.

The Storm followed a 9–7 season and first-round playoff exit in 2007 with an 8–8 finish in 2008. They salvaged the .500 record by defeating the Los Angeles Avengers 72–47 in Tampa. There was no 2009 Arena Football League season due to the organization's ongoing financial difficulties, which eventually resulted in its filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, leaving it uncertain if the Storm, arguably the most successful team in the history of any form of indoor football, would ever play another game.

New future
A new arena football league, originally called Arena Football 1, formed in 2009. The Storm were not one of the initial 16 teams announced. However, Bossier-Shreveport Battle Wings owner Dan Newman mentioned that the Storm were one of at least two former AFL franchises that were being negotiated with, the other being the San Jose SaberCats. The new organization bought the rights to the intellectual property, including the team names, logos, histories, and patented rules of the old AFL in a bankruptcy auction, which allowed to function essentially as a full sucessor; after this action, the name Arena Football 1 was dropped and the group resumed operating as the Arena Football League. The Storm resumed full operations for the new league's 2010 season, with some players from the former roster, and once again coached by Tim Marcum and this time owned by the Forum's primary tenant, the NHL's Tampa Bay Lightning.

The AFL released the schedule for their inaugural season on December 31, 2009. The Storm returned during the opening weekend of the season on April 3, 2010.

On February 17, 2010, it was formally announced that the AF1 had adopted the former Arena Football League name.

In the 2010 season the Storm went 11–5, finishing second in the South Division. In the playoffs, they earned a trip to ArenaBowl XXIII, but lost to the Spokane Shock 57–69.

On February 17, 2011, Tim Marcum would resign as head coach of the Storm less than a month before the 2011 season was to begin, after having the position for 15 years. He left as the AFL's all-time winningest head coach with 211 wins. Dave Ewart was named as the team's new head coach the next day.

Storm highlights

 * In a 1996 playoff game against the Arizona Rattlers the Storm had the lead late in the game but the Rattlers came down the field and scored a touchdown with little time left on the clock. Rather than try to tie the game with an extra point, Rattlers coach Danny White elected to go for the win with the two point conversion. Quarterback Sherdrick Bonner was stopped short and the Storm won the game. On the AFL's 20 Greatest Highlights this is ranked at number 10.
 * During a 1991 regular season game the Storm found themselves down 17 points against the Albany Firebirds. However they rallied late in the game to take a 57–53 lead. But it wasn't over yet as the Firebirds had five seconds left to come up with the touchdown from midfield. The Storm won the game with an interception off of the nets. On the AFL's 20 Greatest Highlights Countdown this is ranked #8.
 * ArenaBowl V found the Detroit Drive hosting the Tampa Bay Storm. With seconds left in the game quarterback Jay Gruden threw deep to Stevie Thomas in the endzone. It was complete and the Storm won the ArenaBowl. On the AFL's 20 Greatest Highlights Countdown this is ranked number 5.
 * Stevie Thomas saves the Storm: During a 1995 semifinal game between Albany and Tampa Bay Albany took a late one point lead with seconds left on the clock. On the ensuing kickoff the Storm couldn't field the ball off the nets and Stevie Thomas found himself in the very back of the endzone. Thomas broke five tackles at once coming out of the endzone and went all the way for a touchdown to give the Storm the win 56–49. They later went on to capture their 3rd ArenaBowl in 5 years. On the AFL's 20 Greatest Highlights Countdown this is at #2.

Radio and television
The Tampa Bay Storm are broadcast on Storm Radio, which has no affiliates; only a flagship which is AM 620 WDAE. The radio play-by-play announcer is local radio icon Jack Harris, and the radio color commentator is Jason Dixon who is also the director of broadcasting for the Tampa Bay Lightning. Bright House Sports Network, owned by and shown only on Bright House Networks cable systems, broadcasts all the Storm home games. Drew Felios and Mark Royals are the broadcasters.

Notable players

 * Les Barley - FB/LB
 * Sylvester Bembery - OL/DL
 * Tom Briggs - DE
 * Andre Bowden - FB/LB
 * Chris Conlin - OL
 * Jay Gruden - QB
 * Johnnie Harris - DS
 * John Kaleo - QB
 * George LaFrance - OS
 * Pat O'Hara - QB
 * Lawrence Samuels - WR/LB
 * Freddie Solomon - OS
 * Pat Sperduto - OL/DL
 * Shane Stafford - QB
 * Rod Williams - OL/DL
 * Peter Tom Willis - QB
 * Adam Gibbs - WR/QB

AFL Hall of Famers

 * Jay Gruden
 * George LaFrance
 * Tim Marcum
 * Joe March
 * Craig Walls