New England Steamrollers
Arena football team
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The New England Steamrollers were an Arena Football League team based in Providence, Rhode Island. The team played in the AFL's 1988 season. The Steamrollers were one of four teams to enter the AFL in 1988, and along with the New York Knights and Los Angeles Cobras were folded following the season.
in Providence, Rhode Island
| New England Steamrollers | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| |||
| General information | |||
| Founded | 1988 | ||
| Folded | 1988 | ||
| Headquartered | Providence Civic Center in Providence, Rhode Island | ||
| Colors | Black, orange, white | ||
| Personnel | |||
| Owners | Frank J. Russo Robert Andreoli | ||
| Head coach | Babe Parilli | ||
| Team history | |||
| |||
| Home fields | |||
| |||
| League / conference affiliations | |||
| Arena Football League (1988) | |||
The Steamrollers were based out of Providence, Rhode Island and played their home games at the Providence Civic Center. They were the first professional football team of any kind to play in Providence since the Providence Steam Roller folded in 1933 and the first non-minor league professional sports franchise to play in the city since the NBA's Providence Steamrollers folded in 1949.
The coach of the Steamrollers was former Boston Patriots All-Pro quarterback Babe Parilli.
History
In 1988, Concert and fight promoter, Frank J. Russo, and jeweler, Robert Andreoli, purchased a limited partnership from the Arena Football League to own the rights to a Providence, Rhode Island team.[1] The team's first move was the hiring of Head Coach, Babe Parilli in March.[2][3] After a 3-9 season, the Steamrollers didn't achieve the dollar amount that Russo and Andreoli thought they would, and the franchise folded.[4]
Notable players
Roster
| 1988 New England Steamrollers roster | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Quarterbacks
Wide receivers/Defensive backs
|
Running backs/linebackers
Offensive linemen/Defensive linemen
|
Wide receivers/linebackers
Kickers Rookies in italics | ||||
Arena Football League Hall of Famers
| New England Steamrollers Hall of Famers | ||||
| No. | Name | Year inducted | Position(s) | Years w/ Steamrollers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 68 | Sylvester Bembery | 2011 | OL/DL | 1988 |
All-Arena players
The following Steamrollers players were named to All-Arena Teams:
- WR/DB Jim Hockaday
- OL/DL Sylvester Bembery, Kevin Murphy
Head coaches
| Name | Term | Regular season | Playoffs | Awards | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | L | T | Win% | W | L | |||
| Babe Parilli | 1988 | 3 | 9 | 0 | .250 | 0 | 0 | |
Season-by-season
| Season | W | L | T | Finish | Playoff results |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1988 | 3 | 9 | 0 | 5th | -- |