Montgomery Bears

The Montgomery Bears were a professional indoor football team that played their home games at the Garrett Coliseum in Montgomery, Alabama. They are a member of the American Indoor Football Association. The team began play as the Montgomery Maulers of the National Indoor Football League and won the Atlantic Conference Central Division Championship in 2005. The 2005 season ended in the conference playoff semifinals of the Rome Renegades, who went on to appear in the NIFL Championship Indoor Bowl V.

Montgomery Bears
Established 2005
Folded 2007
Played in Montgomery, Alabama
at the Garrett Coliseum
League/conference affiliations
American Indoor Football Association (2005-2007)
Team colorsBrown, Red, Black
     
Personnel
PresidentMichael Mink, John Morris
Head coachCarlos Clayton
Team history
  • Montgomery Bears (2005-2007)
Championships
League championships (0)
Conference championships (0)
Division championships (0)
Home arena(s)

The team folded in October 2007.

Entire team fired

Late in April 2006, the second year of the club's existence, Donald Jackson, an attorney representing members of the team said the club had not paid the players, staff or coaches in more than a month. The team's owner (Jamie LaMunyon) made national news on April 27, 2006, by terminating the contracts of all players and announcing that replacements would be hired.

New ownership

On May 3, 2006, the Maulers came under new ownership. After losing five of their first six games, the team has rallied under new management, winning five of the next six (the lone defeat was a 1-point overtime loss in an away game). The Maulers showed their renewed tenacity most recently in the Osceola rematch. After a downed Montgomery player was speared in the back of the head (with no penalty having been assessed), the teams broke out into a 17-minute bench clearing brawl resulting in 19 players being ejected. Montgomery managed to overcome a 15-point deficit in the fourth quarter to pull off the 1 point win. Although this was officially the second time these teams have played, the first meeting was actually fielded by players from the SSFL's Gulf Coast Raiders (a team owned by Michael Mink) due to the previously mentioned contract disputes. Following the loss, Michael Mink and John Morris decided to become more involved with arena football and purchased the Maulers franchise with Mink becoming head coach and Morris becoming general manager. Subsequently, a number of Raiders players have been signed to the Maulers roster, which has brewed speculation that the Raiders will be used as a farm team for the Maulers.

2006 playoffs

Following a drumming by the top ranked Fayetteville Guard, the Maulers were 6-7 overall and surprisingly made the playoffs. Tied for 7th place in the conference with the Charleston Sandsharks who was scheduled in the final game of the regular season, the winner was to receive the final playoff spot (only 6 teams per conference would qualify). The Maulers lost the game 28-39, but Charleston's general manager Al Bannister had already stated the organization would skip the playoffs and focus on next season. It was noticed that the official NIFL web site had an asterisk by the team's name and stated no team with outstanding operational items (stats) would be eligible for the playoffs. Later, it was revealed the franchise had cheated by using at least six illegal players and also had outstanding fines due to administrative issues (not exchanging film with opponents or keeping statistics at home games). Subsequently, the Sandsharks were banned from the playoffs for the infractions, with the Maulers being awarded the sixth Atlantic conference spot. However this all proved academic as the Maulers lost in the first week of the playoffs on July 8 at Lakeland. Falling behind 27-0 in the first quarter, Montgomery stormed back but could not make the comeback falling 70-62; they ended their season 7-8.

After the 2006 season, the team announced they were changing their name to the Montgomery Bears and moving to the American Indoor Football Association.

Season-by-season

Season records
SeasonWLTFinishPlayoff results
Montgomery Maulers (NIFL)
20058601st Atlantic CentralWon AC Quarterfinal (M. Morays)
Lost AC Semifinal (Rome)
20067702nd Atlantic EastLost AC Quarterfinal (Lakeland)
Montgomery Bears (AIFA)
20075905th Southern--
Totals21240 (including playoffs)

2007 season schedule

Date Opponent Home/Away Result
February 10 Mississippi Mudcats Away Lost 27-57
February 26 Carolina Speed Away Lost 16-48
March 17 Tallahassee Titans Away Lost 26-30
March 24 Tallahassee Titans Home Lost 34-55
April 2 Mississippi Mudcats Home Lost 37-62
April 7 Florence Phantoms Home Lost 40-46
April 14 Baltimore Blackbirds Away Won 51-22
April 21 Carolina Speed Home Won 63-34
April 28 Reading Express Away Lost 57-73
May 5 Florence Phantoms Away Won 48-40
May 12 Baltimore Blackbirds Home Won 58-11
May 19 Lakeland Thunderbolts Home Lost 32-34
May 25 Johnstown Riverhawks Home Won 32-9
June 2 Lakeland Thunderbolts Away Lost 56-72

Current roster

Name Height Weight Position School
Fred Barnett6 ft 8 in303 lbDLFaulkner
Ryan Tyrone Beneby6 ft 4 inOLASU
Dante Booker6 ft 3 in285 lbDLAuburn
Brian Bostick5 ft 11 in210 lbPKAlabama
John Campbell6 ft 2 inLB
Kevin Campbell6 ft 3 in250 lbRBTroy
Joshua J.C. Chambers6 ft 2 in280 lbDLASU
Markeith Cooper5 ft 10 inWRAuburn
Jermaine Copeland6 ft 2 inWRGrambling State
Monreko Crittenden6 ft 3 in253 lbOLAuburn
Undrae Crosby6 ft 4 in290 lbDLUAB
Silas Daniels6 ft 0 in190 lbWRAuburn
Cliff Darrington II6 ft 1 in300 lbDLLakeland High
Roosevelt Echeverry5 ft 11 inPKTuskegee
Santino Fitzpatrick6 ft 6 inDE
Reginald Glover6 ft 1 inWRASU
Tyvon Green6 ft 2 inQBStillman
Jonathan Harrell6 ft 2 in235 lbLBNorthern Iowa
Shaun Holmes5 ft 10 in202 lbWRASU
Eric Hudson6 ft 3 in230 lbLBASU
Ray Johnson6 ft 2 inDBMiles
Travis Lee6 ft 5 in290 lbDLAuburn
Deon Lewis6 ft 3 in195 lbDBASU
Quincy McCall6 ft 2 in275 lbOLASU
James Prince6 ft 1 inLBMorris Brown
J. R. Richardson6 ft 2 in228 lbQBASU
Charlie Rollins5 ft 10 in205 lbRBMiles/ASU
Nate Sconiers6 ft 4 in302 lbOLASU
Archie Smith6 ft 0 in175 lbDBASU
Clinton Smith5 ft 8 inQBASU
Wesley Smith5 ft 10 inDBWest Georgia
Craig Orlando Smith6 ft 1 inWR
Alan Thompson5 ft 9 inDBStillman
Ryan Paul Vandervort6 ft 4 inOLSamford/Delta St
Keldrick Williams5 ft 9 inRBASU

Former players

  • Jeff Aaron 6'3" 215 lb QB UAB
  • Curtis Chance 6'3" 290 lb DL USF
  • Chrys Chukwuma 6'1" 240 lb RB Arkansas
  • Tim Daniels 6'2" 265 lb DE Southern
  • Octavius "Gator" Day 5'7" 160 lb WR Gulf Coast
  • Jamaal Fletcher 6'2" 205 lb DB ASU
  • Derrick Graves 6'1" 230 lb LB Auburn
  • Antoine Hill 5'11 177 lb DB ASU
  • Roger Medlock 6'5" 320 lb OL ASU
  • Rodrice Merkerson 6'3" 220 lb WR Concordia College, Selma
  • Julius Mills 5'11" 190 lb DB ASU
  • Jay Newton 5'9" 175 lb WR ASU
  • Machion Sanders 5'9" 190 lb WR ASU
  • J.D. Verchuere 6'3" 290 lb C Gulf Coast
  • Edward Grimes III 6'3" 230 lb WR
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