New Orleans Thunder

The New Orleans Thunder were a professional American football team that played during the 1999 season as part of the Regional Football League. They played their home games at Tad Gormley Stadium in City Park in New Orleans.

New Orleans Thunder
Founded1998
Folded1999
LeagueRegional Football League
Based inNew Orleans, Louisiana
StadiumTad Gormley Stadium
OwnerLeon Fulton[1]
Head coach

The team was announced as one of the league's charter members on November 12, 1998.[2] For their lone season, Rex Stevenson would serve as head coach for the preseason and first two games before being replaced with former New Orleans Saints player Buford Jordan.[3][4] The team was quarterbacked by Doug Coleman,[5] who had played for the Eastern New Mexico Greyhounds of NCAA Division II.[6]

Although the team was scheduled to play a 12-game regular season,[7] poor attendance and sagging revenues would prove too much for the new league. The Thunder lost each of their first six games,[8] then had a game cancelled due to financial constraints, before winning their final game. As a result, the team finished with a record of 1–6 for its lone season. After the season, the team looked at relocating to Birmingham, Alabama,[9] however the move never came to fruition as both the team and the league were disbanded.

The Thunder played in the only RFL game ever televised, on May 8, 1999, in Alabama against the eventual-champion Mobile Admirals. The contest was shown on WHNO, a mainly-religious station in New Orleans.

1999 season schedule
DateOpponentSiteW/LScoreAttnd.Ref.
April 18Mobile AdmiralsHomeL14–42500[10][4]
April 25Ohio CannonAwayL0–34[4]
May 2Mississippi PrideHomeL14–304,000[5]
May 8Mobile AdmiralsAwayL6–2310,146[11]
May 16Shreveport KnightsHomeL14–31125[12][13]
May 22Houston OutlawsAwayL12–311,500[14]
May 29Ohio CannonHome—cancelled—[15]
June 5†Mississippi PrideAwayW12–72,700[16]

† The June 5 game was originally scheduled to be against the Shreveport Knights, in Shreveport.[17]

References
  1. Hogan, Nakia (April 5, 1999). "Knights: Shreveport wins opener". The Times. Shreveport, Louisiana. p. 23. Retrieved January 30, 2019 – via newspapers.com.
  2. "League". Remember the RFL. Retrieved January 25, 2019 – via Google Sites.
  3. Williams, Darrell (April 28, 1999). "Former Saint Jordan to coach Thunder". The New Orleans Times-Picayune. p. D4.
  4. McCloskey, John (April 28, 1999). "New Orleans replaces coach with former Saints running back". The Times. Shreveport, Louisiana. p. 28. Retrieved January 25, 2019 – via newspapers.com.
  5. "Pride pounces on Thunder for 1st RFL victory". The Clarion-Ledger. Jackson, Mississippi. May 3, 1999. p. 17. Retrieved January 25, 2019 – via newspapers.com.
  6. Pasqua, Peter Silas (June 27, 2014). "Set in stone: Coleman to be inducted into American Football Association Hall of Fame". postsouth.com. Retrieved January 28, 2019.
  7. "Shreveport Knights schedule". The Times. Shreveport, Louisiana. April 5, 1999. p. 23. Retrieved January 26, 2019 – via newspapers.com.
  8. "RFL Standings". Pensacola News Journal. Pensacola, Florida. May 28, 1999. p. 50. Retrieved January 28, 2019 – via newspapers.com.
  9. Crowley, Gene (July 1999). "Will Birmingham join the Regional Football League?". birminghamprosports.com. Retrieved 2007-03-26.
  10. "Admirals silence Thunder". Pensacola News Journal. Pensacola, Florida. April 19, 1999. p. 27. Retrieved January 25, 2019 – via newspapers.com.
  11. Dominitz, Nathan (May 9, 1999). "Admirals run past Thunder". Pensacola News Journal. Pensacola, Florida. p. 44. Retrieved January 25, 2019 – via newspapers.com.
  12. McCloskey, John (May 17, 1999). "Philyaw, Knights struggle early but finish strong". The Times. Shreveport, Louisiana. p. 15. Retrieved January 24, 2019 – via newspapers.com.
  13. McCloskey, John (May 17, 1999). "Knights Report". The Times. Shreveport, Louisiana. p. 17. Retrieved January 24, 2019 – via newspapers.com.
  14. Richards, Joey D. (May 27, 1999). "Santa Fe's Wylie finds a football home with the Outlaws". The Daily News. Galveston, Texas. p. 22. Retrieved January 25, 2019 – via newspapers.com.
  15. "Knights fall to Houston". The Times. Shreveport, Louisiana. June 1, 1999. p. 14. Retrieved January 23, 2019 – via newspapers.com.
  16. Goolsby, Henry (June 6, 1999). "Thunder rumbles past Pride". The Clarion-Ledger. Jackson, Mississippi. p. 27. Retrieved January 26, 2019 – via newspapers.com.
  17. Goolsby, Henry (June 9, 1999). "Pride relishes change to apprehend Outlaws". The Clarion-Ledger. Jackson, Mississippi. p. 23. Retrieved January 23, 2019 – via newspapers.com.
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