Birmingham Thunderbolts

The Birmingham Thunderbolts were a professional football team as part of the XFL's single season in 2001. Playing their home games in Legion Field, the Bolts missed the playoffs in their lone season with a final record of 2-8.

The XFL

The XFL was developed in a partnership between Vince McMahon's WWF and NBC. The league was formally announced on February 3, 2000, with its partnership with NBC announced on March 29. The league was a spring American football league which had 8 teams playing a 10-game regular season. Teams were aligned into two divisions:

Eastern Division: Birmingham Thunderbolts, Chicago Enforcers, New York/Mew Jersey Hitmen, Orlando Rage

Western Division: Las Vegas Outlaws, Los Angeles Xtreme, Memphis Maniax, San Francisco Demons

The regular season began on Saturday, February 21, 2001 and run through Sunday, April 8. The season would be without any bye weeks. On each weekend two games were played on Saturday nights and two again played on Sunday with one in the afternoon and one in the evening.

The playoff format consisted of the top two teams in each division. The semifinal playoff games took place on the weekend of April 14-15. The two teams emerging from the XFL semifinal playoffs met at the end of the season in The Big Game At The End. The lone championship game was held on April 21, 2001, in Los Angeles' Memorial Coliseum with the Los Angeles Xtreme defeating the San Francisco Demons for the only XFL championship.

Rules unique to the XFL included no fair catches on punts and kickoffs for the receiving team, no kicking of extra points after touchdowns, allowing a catch to be made with only one foot in-bounds, a shorter, 35 second play clock, and tweaks in overtime rules making them more similar to the college format without sudden-death. Additionally, the XFL was also known for the new camera angles and vantage points seen by television viewers. Some of these new techniques are now used in NFL and college broadcasts.

Additionally, players received bonuses for winning. For each victory during the regular season, players would divide $100,000 in bonus money. For the league champions, a $1 million bonus was divided evenly amongst players.

2001 Thunderbolts

Inception

The team was owned by a partnership between World Wrestling Federation Entertainment, Inc. and NBC. Birmingham was announced as a XFL city on August 1, 2000. The name of the team, announced later that August, was initially to be the Birmingham Blast. However it was then changed to Thunderbolts after the Blast moniker did not have a warm reception with the community due to the events of the civil rights movement and the 1998 abortion clinic bombing.

The team's colors were purple, yellow, and white. Their logo was a stylized 'B' with six lightning bolts extending from it. The team was frequently referred to by fans and the media as the Bolts, with most team merchandise only using the Bolts moniker in lieu of Thunderbolts.

The general manager was Tim Berryman with Bob Gates serving as Director of Player personnel. Gerry Dinardo served as head coach. The team was assembled in October that year with the initial practices occurring on November 8.

It was announced on December 11 that all radio broadcasts would be on Classic Rock WZRR-FM 99.5. Rick Burgess and Bill Bussey of the Rick & Bubba Show served as the teams play-by-play announcers along with Jim Dunaway.

Game Results

Date	Result	Score	Opponent	Location
February 4, 2001	L	22-20	Memphis Maniax	Legion Field
February 11, 2001	W	19-12	New York/New Jersey Hitmen	Giants Stadium
February 18, 2001	W	14-3	Chicago Enforcers	Legion Field
February 24, 2001	L	30-6	Orlando Rage	Citrus Bowl
March 3, 2001	L	39-10	San Francisco Demons	Pac Bell Park
March 11, 2001	L	35-26	Los Angeles Xtreme	Legion Field
March 17, 2001	L	34-12	Las Vegas Outlaws	Sam Boyd Stadium
March 25, 2001	L	13-0	Chicago Enforcers	Soldier Field
March 31, 2001	L	29-24	Orlando Rage	Legion Field
April 8, 2001	L	22-0	New York/New Jersey Hitmen	Legion Field

Team Leaders

• Rushing Yards: 539, James Bostic
• Receiving Yards: 827, Stepfert Williams
• Passing Yards: 1238, Casey Weldon

Coaching Staff

Name	Position Coached
Gerry Dinardo	Head Coach
Dave Arslanian	Offinsive Coordinator/Quarterbacks
Paul Arslanian	Linebackers
Mark Brady	Wide Receivers
Lionel James	Running Backs
Curley Hallman	Co-Defensive Coordinator/Defensive Backs
Woodrow Lowe, Jr.	Defensive Assistant
Rick Rhoades	Offensive Line
Don Wnek	Co-Defensive Coordinator/Defensive Line

Roster

Number	Player	Position	College
1	Andy Russ	K	Mississippi State
3	Anthony Derricks	CB	Mississippi State
4	Damon Gourdine	WR	San Diego State
5	Brad Palazzo	K	Tulane
7	Jay Barker	QB	Alabama
11	Casy Weldon	QB	Florida State
13	Graham Leigh	QB	New Mexico
16	Mark Washington	QB	Jackson State
18	Keith Franklin	OLB	South Carolina
21	David Knott	S	Mississippi
23	Sedrick Curry	CB	Texas A&M
24	Eric Hickson	RB	Kansas State
26	Carlos Jones	CB	Miami
27	Chris Shelling	DB	Auburn
28	Troy Davis	RB	Iowa State
31	Duane Butler	S	Illinois State
32	Curtis Alexander	RB	Alabama
33	James Bostic	RB	Auburn
34	Billy Gustin	DB	Purdue
35	Tony McCall	CB	North Carolina
36	Fred White	CB	Tennessee
37	Eric Sloan	CB	Troy State
38	Calvin Jackson	S	Auburn
42	Nicky Savoie	TE	LSU
44	Fred Perry	OLB	Southern Arkansas
50	James Willis	LB	Auburn
53	Alonzo Gilbert	OG	North Carolina State
55	Patrick Scott	OLB	South Carolina State
56	Malcolm Hamilton	LB	Baylor
57	Dion Foxx	OLB	James Madison
58	Charles Peterson	DE	Hampton
59	Jamie Heiner	LB	Northern Colorado
60	Mike Mihelic	OG	Indiana
61	Justin Burroughs	C	North Carolina State
63	Antonio Flemming	OG	Georgia
65	Ryan Thomassie	C	LSU
66	Matt Hogg	OG/C	Youngstown State
70	Jason McDonald	OT	Alabama
71	Michael Lies	OL	Kansas
75	Allen Mogridge	C	North Carolina
77	Mike Edwards	OG	Nevada
78	Ozell Powell	OT	Alabama
79	Ed King	OL	Auburn
80	Stepfert Williams	WR	Louisiana-Monroe
81	Kaipo McGuire	WR	BYU
82	Quincy Jackson	WR	Alabama
83	Joe Douglass	WR	Montana
84	Steve Smith	WR	Utah State
85	Kevin Drake	WR	UAB
86	Ed Smith	TE	No College
87	Scott Thompson	TE	Fresno State
88	Jahine Arnold	WR	Fresno State
89	Alex Hass	TE	Minnesota
90	Jarett Loggins	DT	Northern Arizona
91	Alton Weaver	DT	Oklahoma State
92	Kendrick Burton	DE	Alabama
94	Johnny Mitchell	DT	LSU
95	Quinton Reese	DE	Auburn
96	Jimmy Brumbaugh	DT	Auburn
98	Cedric Pittman	DE	Nevada
99	Eric Kerley	DT	Alabama

References

• Birmingham Thunderbolts (2001) Birmingham Thunderbolts 2001 Inaugurral Media Guide.

External Links

• Birmingham Thunderbolts on BirminghamProSports.com
• Birmingham Thunderbolts tribute site