Orlando Thunder

The Orlando Thunder was a member of the World League of American Football from 1991 to 1992 (known as NFL Europe from 1995 onwards). The team played their games in the 70,000 seat Florida Citrus Bowl, and was coached by Don Matthews in 1991 and Galen Hall in 1992. The team's most visible point was their colors – the League wanted to develop new colors which hadn't been used for teams before, hence the vermilion and green that the Raleigh-Durham Skyhawks wore, and the fluorescent green jerseys that the Thunder sported.

Orlando Thunder
Founded1991
Closed1992
Based inOrlando, Florida
LeagueWorld League of American Football (NFL Europe)
ColorsLime Green, Royal Blue, Light Blue, Yellow, White[1]
         
Franchise recordRegular Season: 13–7
Postseason: 1–1

The team's general managers were Lee Corso and Dick Beam. In 1991 the team played to a 5–5 record, and in 1992 the team had an outstanding 8–2 record, and made it to the World Bowl II championship game before losing to the Sacramento Surge 21–17. The Thunder's attendance figures fell from over 19,000 per game in its first year to just over 16,000 per game in 1992. The team folded after the 1992 season with the rest of the WLAF's North American operations. The league would later use the team's name (but not its colors or history) for the Berlin Thunder.

Notable players include Kerwin Bell and Scott Mitchell, a left-handed quarterback who went on to play in the NFL for the Miami Dolphins and Detroit Lions and Dan Sileo, who went on to become a famous sports talk radio host.

In 2006, readers of ESPN's Uni Watch column voted the team's jersey 2nd worst football jersey of all-time.[2]

Season-by-season
Season League Regular season Postseason
Won Lost Ties Win % Finish Won Lost Win % Result
1991 WLAF 5 5 0 .500 2nd (North American East) – – — —
1992 WLAF 8 2 0 .800 1st (North American East) 1 1 .500 Lost to Sacramento Surge in World Bowl '92
Total 13 7 0 .650 1 1 .500

1991 season
1991 Orlando Thunder season
General managerLee Corso & Dick Beam
Head coachDon Matthews
Home fieldFlorida Citrus Bowl
Results
Record5-5
Division place2nd (North American East)
Playoff finishDid not qualify
Pro BowlersN/A

Staff
1991 Orlando Thunder staff
Front office
  • Majority Owner – Raj Bhathal
  • General Manager – Lee Corso
  • Director of Player Personnel – Jeff Beathard

Head coaches

Offensive coaches

 Defensive coaches
  • Defensive Coordinator – Dan Daniel
  • Defensive Line – Pete Catan

Strength and conditioning

Roster
1991 Orlando Thunder roster
Quarterbacks

Running Backs

  • 25 Myron Jones
  • 21 Eric Mitchell
  • 27 Carl Painter KR
  • 37 Tommie Stowers FB

Wide Receivers

Tight Ends

  • 80 Dennis Smith RB/TE
  • 85 Dewayne Harrison
 Offensive Linemen
  • 65 Doug Aronson G
  • 73 John Durden T
  • 61 John Guerrero G
  • 52 Rodney Lossow C
  • 77 Mike Withycombe T

Defensive Linemen

  • 72 Robert Presbury DE
  • 70 Winfred Bryant DE
  • 94 Charles Jackson NT
  • 91 Duane Duncum OLB/DE
 Linebackers
  • 57 Wayne Davis ILB
  • 55 Matt Devine ILB
  • 56 Wayne Dickson OLB
  • 95 Willie Walker OLB
  • 58 Greg Carpenter MLB

Defensive Backs

  • 26 Brian Covington CB
  • 24 Bob Flenoid CB
  • 23 Mike Nettles S
  • 42 Billy Owens S
  • 31 Rob Sterling S
  • 20 Erroll Tucker CB/PR

Special Teams

 Operation Discovery
  • 94 Helmut Joder DE Germany
  • 82 Steffen Nagurski WR Germany
  • 53 Dirk Reessing LB Germany


Rookies in italics

Results
Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance
1 March 25 San Antonio Riders W 35–34 1–0 Florida Citrus Bowl 21,714
2 March 30 Raleigh–Durham Skyhawks W 58–20 2–0 Florida Citrus Bowl 20,811
3 April 6 at London Monarchs L 12–35 2–1 Wembley Stadium 35,327
4 April 14 at Barcelona Dragons L 13–33 2–2 Montjuic Stadium 40,875
5 April 21 Birmingham Fire L 6–31 2–3 Florida Citrus Bowl 21,249
6 April 27 at New York/New Jersey Knights L 6–42 2–4 Giants Stadium 30,046
7 May 4 Frankfurt Galaxy L 14–17 2–5 Florida Citrus Bowl 11,270
8 May 11 Sacramento Surge W 45–33 3–5 Florida Citrus Bowl 20,048
9 May 20 at Raleigh–Durham Skyhawks W 20–14 4–5 Carter–Finley Stadium 4,207
10 May 27 at Montreal Machine W 33–27 (OT) 5–5 Olympic Stadium 23,493

1992 season
1992 Orlando Thunder season
General managerLee Corso & Dick Beam
Head coachGalen Hall
Home fieldFlorida Citrus Bowl
Results
Record8-2
Division place2nd (North American East)
Playoff finish1-1 (.500), Lost to Sacramento Surge in World Bowl '92
Pro BowlersN/A

Results
Week Opponent Results Game site
Final score Team record
1 Ohio Glory W 13–9 1–0 Florida Citrus Bowl
2 at Montreal Machine L 29–31 1–1 Olympic Stadium
3 at Ohio Glory W 28–3 2–1 Ohio Stadium
4 New York/New Jersey Knights W 39–21 3–1 Florida Citrus Bowl
5 Montreal Machine W 16–8 4–1 Florida Citrus Bowl
6 at Frankfurt Galaxy W 38–0 5–1 Waldstadion
7 at San Antonio Riders W 39–21 6–1 Bobcat Stadium
8 London Monarchs W 9–0 7–1 Florida Citrus Bowl
9 at Birmingham Fire L 23–24 7–2 Legion Field
10 Barcelona Dragons W 13–10 8–2 Florida Citrus Bowl
Postseason
Semifinal Birmingham Fire W 45–7 9–2 Florida Citrus Bowl
World Bowl Sacramento Surge L 17–21 9–3 Olympic Stadium

Staff
1992 Orlando Thunder staff
Front office
  • Majority Owner – Raj Bhathal
  • Chief Operating Officer/General Manager – Dick Beam
  • Director of Player Personnel – Pete Levine
  • Director of Public Relations - John Giantonio

Head coaches

Offensive coaches

 Defensive coaches


Roster
1992 Orlando Thunder roster

Quarterbacks

Running backs

Wide receivers

Tight ends

  • 89 Michael Titley

Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

Linebackers

Defensive backs

Special teams

  •  1 Tracy Bennett K
  • 88 Geep Chryst LS
  •  2 Ray Criswell P
 Operation Discovery

Rookies in italics

Orlando Thunder Cheerleaders 1991

References
  1. "Team Colors – WLAF". SSUR.org. Retrieved January 16, 2010.
  2. "ESPN.com: Page 2 : The ugliest ducklings in sports". www.espn.com.
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