The Quad City Steamwheelers are an indoor American football team that began play in 2018. They played their first season as part of the Champions Indoor Football, and then joined the Indoor Football League prior to their second season.[2] Based in Moline, Illinois, the Steamwheelers play their home games at the Vibrant Arena at The MARK. The team announced it would be dormant for the 2021 season due to the arena capacity restrictions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, but returned to play in 2022.
| Quad City Steamwheelers | |
|---|---|
 Current season | |
| Established 2017 Play in Vibrant Arena at The MARK in Moline, Illinois steamwheelersfootball.com | |
 | |
| League/conference affiliations | |
| |
Current uniform | |
| Team colors | Navy blue, gold and scarlet red |
| Personnel | |
| Owner(s) | Doug Bland |
| General manager | Destiny Brown[1] |
| Head coach | Cory Ross |
| Team history | |
| |
| Championships | |
| League championships (0) | |
| Conference championships (1) | |
| Division championships (0) | |
| Playoff appearances (4) | |
| Home arena(s) | |
| |
The Steamwheelers are named after the Quad Cities' previous team of the same name, which played in all ten of the AF2's seasons (2000–2009) and won the first two ArenaCups.
History
edit
After the original Quad City Steamwheelers folded along with the AF2, TaxSlayer Center director Scott Mullen had been in talks with various investors seeking to bring back the Steamwheelers, but none were financially secure enough to meet his standards. During 2017, a splash page emerged allegedly belonging to a revived Steamwheelers team in the CIF, however, neither Mullen nor the CIF would comment on the page.[3]
On August 15, 2017, the Center confirmed that a deal had been reached which would see the Wheelers return as members of the CIF for 2018, with a press conference taking place the following day.[4] At the press conference, the Wheelers introduced their owner/general manager Doug Bland (previously part-owner of fellow CIF team the Dallas Marshals) and head coach Cory Ross (most recently head coach for the Omaha Beef).[5]
After one season in the CIF, the Steamwheelers announced they were joining the Indoor Football League for the 2019 season.[2]
After playing only one game in 2020, the Steamwheelers' season was initially postponed and the league's season was eventually cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On October 23, 2020, the team announced that due to the restrictions on arena capacity during the pandemic, they would be dormant for at least the 2021 season.[6] In September 2021, they announced they planned to return for the 2022 season.[1]
Roster
editQuarterbacks
|
Offensive linemen
|
Linebackers
|
Reserve list
Rookies in italics → More rosters |
Statistics and records
editSeason-by-season results
edit| League champions | Conference champions | Division champions | Playoff berth | League leader |
| Season | League | Conference | Division | Regular season | Postseason results | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Finish | Wins | Losses | Ties | |||||
| 2018 | CIF | North | 3rd | 8 | 4 | 0 | Lost Conference Semifinal (Sioux City) 46–54 | |
| 2019 | IFL | 7th | 6 | 8 | 0 | |||
| 2020 | IFL | — | 1 | 0 | 0 | Season cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic | ||
| 2021 | IFL | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | Season cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic | ||
| 2022 | IFL | Eastern | 3rd | 9 | 7 | 0 | Won First Round (Massachusetts Pirates) 39–38 Won Second Round (Frisco Fighters) 48–41 Lost Championship (Northern Arizona) 45-47 | |
| 2023 | IFL | Eastern | 4th | 9 | 6 | 0 | Lost First Round (Frisco Fighters) 29-57 | |
| 2024 | IFL | Eastern | 4th | 8 | 8 | 0 | Lost First Round (Green Bay Blizzard) 23-34 | |
| Totals | 41 | 33 | 0 | All-time regular season record (2018–2020) | ||||
| 2 | 3 | — | All-time postseason record (2018–2022) | |||||
| 35 | 28 | 0 | All-time regular season and postseason record (2018–2022) | |||||
References
edit- ^ a b "Steamwheelers announce they will return for 2022 season". Quad-City Times. September 12, 2021.
- ^ a b "Quad City Steamwheelers join the IFL for 2019 season". Nebraska.tv. 7 September 2018. Retrieved September 7, 2018.
- ^ Tappa, Steve (August 1, 2017). "Steamwheelers return talk resurfaces". The Dispatch–Argus. Retrieved August 17, 2017.
- ^ Doxsie, Don (August 15, 2017). "Steamwheelers indoor football returning to Q-C". Quad-City Times. Retrieved August 17, 2017.
- ^ Doxsie, Don (August 16, 2017). "Dallas-based group bringing Steamwheelers back to life". Quad-City Times. Retrieved August 17, 2017.
- ^ "Quad City Steamwheelers cancel 2021 season". KWQC. October 23, 2020.