Massachusetts Pirates

The Massachusetts Pirates are a professional indoor football team of the Indoor Football League based in Worcester, Massachusetts, with home games at the DCU Center.[1] The Pirates began play in the 2018 season as a member of the National Arena League (NAL).

Massachusetts Pirates
Established 2017 (2017)
Play in Worcester, Massachusetts
at the DCU Center
MassPiratesFootball.com
Massachusetts Pirates logo
League/conference affiliations
Team colorsTeal, navy, gold, white
       
MascotArthur
Personnel
Owner(s)Hassan Yatim
Jawad Yatim
PresidentJawad Yatim
General managerJawad Yatim
Head coachPatrick Pass
Team history
  • Massachusetts Pirates (2018–present)
Championships
League championships (0)
Conference championships (0)
Division championships (0)
Playoff appearances (2)
NAL: 2018, 2019
Home arena(s)

The Pirates are the third indoor/arena team to call Worcester home, following the Massachusetts Marauders of the Arena Football League (1994) and the New England Surge of the Continental Indoor Football League (2007–2008)

History

After numerous speculation beforehand, the Pirates were officially announced as members of the NAL on November 15, 2017.[1] The team began play in the 2018 season. The Pirates won their inaugural game, played at the DCU Center on April 7, defeating the Maine Mammoths 51–24. They were led most of the season by quarterback Sean Brackett until the second-to-last regular season game where he was injured for the remainder of the season in a 46–35 loss to the Jacksonville Sharks, who then took over the top seed in the NAL. Darron Thomas started the following week in 67–7 win over the win-less Lehigh Valley Steelhawks; following a Sharks loss to the Mammoths the Pirates secured the top seed and a home game in the 2018 playoffs. The team finished their inaugural season with a regular season record of 11–5 but lost the semifinal playoff game to the Columbus Lions 50–36. After the season, inaugural head coach Ameer Ismail was hired as the head coach of the San Diego Strike Force expansion team in the Indoor Football League,[2] but then joined the NAL's Carolina Cobras instead.[3]

For the 2019 season, offensive coordinator Anthony Payton was named the head coach.[4] The team finished in third place with an 8–6 record and qualified for the playoffs. They lost the semifinal game to the Carolina Cobras 30–26.

Following the 2019 season, the NAL announced it was creating a new league via a merger with Champions Indoor Football. The Pirates announced it did not agree with the merger and withdrew from the league.[5] Head coach Payton then left to become head coach of the Carolina Cobras. Two weeks after the announced merger, it was dissolved and the Pirates rejoined the NAL.[6] The 2020 season was then cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic making arena's unavailable. The team was removed from the NAL when it was not offered an extension on its initial three-year membership agreement[7] while the team was openly looking to join other leagues.[8]

On August 19, 2020, the Pirates announced that they were joining the Indoor Football League for the 2021 season as its first East Coast-based team, and had signed a three-year lease extension with the DCU Center.[9]

Personnel

Current roster
Massachusetts Pirates roster
Quarterbacks
  • 15 Alejandro Bennifield

Running backs

  • 28 Mitchell Bell FB
  • 00 Justin Stockton

Wide receivers

  • 00 Darren Carrington II
  • 00 Antwane Grant
  • 81 Thomas Owens
  • 00 Ron’Quavion Tarver
 Offensive linemen
  • 00 Kendall Baker
  • 00 Wilson Bell
  • 00 Kendall Calhoun
  • 00 Jakobi Smith
  • 00 Chasz Wright

Defensive linemen

  • 00 Youhanna Ghaifan
  • 95 Willie Yarbary
 Linebackers
  • 47 Nick Haag
  • 52 Kavika Luafatasaga

Defensive backs

  • 23 Lawrence Austin
  • 00 Cheatham Norrils
  • 00 Kiante Northington
  • 00 Santos Ramirez
  •  3 Chucky Williams

Special teams

  • 00 Gabriel Rui K
 Reserve lists
  • Currently vacant
  • Rookies in italics
  • Roster updated November 3, 2020
  • 32 Active, 0 Inactive

→ More rosters

Management
  • Hassan Yatim – Owner
  • Jawad Yatim – Owner and president

Statistics

Season-by-season results
League champions Playoff berth League leader
Season League Regular season Postseason results
FinishWinsLossesTies
2018 NAL1st1150Lost semifinal (Columbus) 50–36
2019 NAL3rd860Lost semifinal (Carolina) 30–26
2020 NALSeason cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic
Totals 19110All-time regular season record (2018–2019)
02—All-time postseason record (2018–2019)
19130All-time regular season and postseason record (2018–2019)

Head coaches

Note: Statistics are correct through the 2019 National Arena League season.

Name Term Regular season Playoffs Awards
WLTWin%WL
Ameer Ismail20181150.68801
Anthony Payton2019860.57101

References
  1. "The Massachusetts Pirates, a new arena league football team, to play at Worcester's DCU Center". MassLive.com. November 15, 2017.
  2. "Indoor Football League takes flight in America's Finest City with the San Diego Strike Force". San Diego Strike Force. December 17, 2018.
  3. "2018 NAL Coach of the Year joins Cobras". Carolina Cobras. January 5, 2019.
  4. "Pirates Name Payton Head Coach - Gilliam Defensive Coordinator". Pirates. January 7, 2019.
  5. "Pirates Weigh Anchor from NAL/CIF Partnership". Massachusetts Pirates. September 26, 2019.
  6. "Pirates Return to NAL for 2020". Massachusetts Pirates. October 10, 2019.
  7. "NAL Update: Massachusetts Pirates". National Arena League. July 14, 2020. Retrieved July 29, 2020.
  8. "Indoor football: Massachusetts Pirates continue to focus forward". Telegram & Gazette. June 23, 2020.
  9. Bonner, Michael (2020-08-19). "'An anchor team to build towards': Worcester Pirates become first east-coast team to join Indoor Football Leage, ink 3-year extension at DCU Center". The Republican. Retrieved 2020-08-19.
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