Columbus Lions
 | |
| Founded | 2006 |
|---|---|
| Current season | 2016 |
| League |
WIFL (2007) AIFA (2008–2009) SIFL (2010–2011) PIFL (2012–2015) AIF (2016–present) |
| Division | Southern |
| Team history | Columbus Lions (2007–present) |
| Based in | Columbus, Georgia |
| Arena | Columbus Civic Center |
| Colors |
Blue, Black, Silver, White |
| Owner(s) |
John Hargrove Keith Norred Kike Seda Skip Seda Rick Jacobson |
| Head coach | Jason Gibson |
| Championships |
(2) SIFL: 2010 PIFL: 2015 |
| Conference titles | (0) |
| Division titles |
(2) AIFA South: 2009 SIFL South: 2011 |
| Playoff berths |
(8) 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015 |
| Dancers | Lady Lions |
| Mascot | Leo The Lion |
| Website | www.ColumbusLions.net |
The Columbus Lions are a professional indoor football team based in Columbus, Georgia. They are a member of American Indoor Football (AIF). The Lions joined the Professional Indoor Football League (PIFL) in 2012 when the Southern Indoor Football League (SIFL) teams split up into two new leagues. The Lions were founded in 2006 as an expansion team of the World Indoor Football League (WIFL). After the WIFL went under in 2007, the Lions joined the American Indoor Football Association (AIFA) where they played for two seasons. When the AIFA broke apart, the Lions joined the Southern Indoor Football League (SIFL). After the 2015 season, the PIFL broke apart, and the Lions joined the AIF.
In their nine years of existence, the Lions have compiled a record of 75-37 with division championships in 2009 and 2011. They have made two championship appearance during the 2010 season where they defeated the Louisiana Swashbucklers in President's Cup II[1] and in 2015 when they defeated the Richmond Raiders in PIFL Cup IV.
History
The Lions' inaugural game on February 26, 2007 was marred by tragedy when opposing defensive back Javon Camon of the Daytona Beach Thunder was killed after a hard but clean hit by Lions fullback Cedric Ware during the fourth quarter.[2][3]
For the Lions' impressive inaugural season, Head Coach Jason Gibson won the league's inaugural Coach of the Year Award.
The Columbus Lions also have a dance team, the Lady Lions. This group is made up of seven to fifteen young women who perform jazz, hip hop, and sideline cheering during all home games.
Following the Lions' 2015 PIFL Cup IV Championship, the Lions moved to American Indoor Football.[4]
Players of note
Current roster
| Columbus Lions roster | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Quarterbacks
Running Backs
Wide Receivers
|
Offensive Linemen
Defensive Linemen
|
Linebackers
Defensive Backs
Kickers
|
Injured Reserve
Refuse to Report
Exempt
Rookies in italics | |||
Awards and honors
The following is a list of all Lions players who have won league awards:
| Season | Player | Position | Award |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Chris McCoy | Quarterback | Offensive Player of the Year |
| 2010 | Damian Daniels | Defensive back | Defensive Player of the Year |
| 2010 | Trey Crum | Kicker | Special Teams of the Year |
| 2010 | Franklin Lloyd | Defensive lineman | Lineman of the Year |
| 2011 | Damian Daniels | Defensive back | Defensive Player of the Year |
| 2012 | Maurice Dupree | Wide Receiver | Offensive Player of the Year |
| 2012 | London Crawford | Wide Receiver | Offensive Rookie of the Year |
| 2013 | Anthony Shutt | Defensive Back | Defensive Player of the Year |
| 2015 | Casey Kacz | Quarterback | Offensive Rookie of the Year[5] |
| 2015 | Terrence Ebagua | Wide Receiver | Most Valuable Player[6] |
Statistics and records
Season-by-season results
Note: The Finish, Wins, Losses, and Ties columns list regular season results and exclude any postseason play.
| League Champions | Conference Champions | Division Champions | Wild Card Berth | League Leader |
| Season | Team | League | Conference | Division | Regular season | Postseason Results | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Finish | Wins | Losses | Ties | ||||||||
| 2007 | 2007 | WIFL | 1st | 10 | 4 | 0 | Lost World Indoor Bowl I 60-63 (Augusta) | ||||
| 2008 | 2008 | AIFA | Western | South | 2nd | 10 | 4 | 0 | Lost Divisional Round 50-52 (Mississippi) | ||
| 2009 | 2009 | AIFA | South | 1st | 11 | 3 | 0 | Won Divisional Round 45-35 (Fayetteville) Lost Semifinal 51-60 (Reading) | |||
| 2010 | 2010 | SIFL | 2nd | 8 | 3 | 0 | Won Semifinal (Lafayette) Won President's Cup II (Louisiana) | ||||
| 2011 | 2011 | SIFL | Eastern | South | 1st | 11 | 1 | 0 | Won Divisional 62-60 (Trenton) Lost Eastern Conference Championship 61-75 (Albany) | ||
| 2012 | 2012 | PIFL | 3rd | 6 | 6 | 0 | Lost Semi-final 36-60 (Albany) | ||||
| 2013 | 2013 | PIFL | 6th | 4 | 8 | 0 | |||||
| 2014 | 2014 | PIFL | American | 2nd | 7 | 5 | 0 | Lost American Conference Championship 39-44 (Nashville) | |||
| 2015 | 2015 | PIFL | 1st | 8 | 3 | 0 | Won Semifinal 69-41 (Lehigh Valley) Won PIFL Cup IV 64-38 (Richmond) | ||||
| 2016 | 2016 | AIF | Southern | 6 | 0 | 0 | |||||
| Totals | 81 | 37 | 0 | All-time regular season record (2007–2016) | |||||||
| 6 | 6 | — | All-time postseason record (2007–2016) | ||||||||
| 87 | 43 | 0 | All-time regular season and postseason record (2007–2016) | ||||||||
* Season currently in progress
References
- ↑ Chris White (July 19, 2010). "SIFL CHAMPIONSHIP: Fans soak up Lions’ big win". www.ledger-enquirer.com. Ledger-Enquirer. Retrieved July 8, 2014.
- ↑ "Indoor football player dies after head-to-head hit". www.espn.go.com. ESPN Internet Ventures. February 27, 2007. Retrieved February 27, 2007.
- ↑ "Daytona player dies". www.ledger-enquirer.com. Ledger-Enquirer. Retrieved February 27, 2007.
- ↑ Keith Groller (September 14, 2015). "Steelhawks moving to a new indoor football league for 2016". www.mcall.com. The Morning Call. Retrieved September 14, 2015.
- ↑ "Lions' QB Kacz named PIFL's Offensive Rookie of the Year". www.ledger-enquirer.com. Ledger-Enquirer. July 13, 2015. Retrieved July 21, 2015.
- ↑ "Columbus Lions' WR Terrence Ebagua named PIFL MVP". www.ledger-enquirer.com. Ledger-Enquirer. July 19, 2015. Retrieved July 21, 2015.
- ↑ Matthew Hester (April 10, 2012). "Kicker Trey Crum Returns to Lions". www.proifl.com. Professional Indoor Football League. Retrieved July 8, 2014.
External links
| ||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
.svg.png){kind=small}