1991 Tampa Bay Storm
1991 Tampa Bay Storm
To help with public relations, the team signed Buccaneers great Lee Roy Selmon as a Special Assistant for Community Involvement. The volunteer position would also see Selmon work with the team's linemen as a coach. Bob Gries said, "Because of his name and his active role in the community, Lee Roy brings something to the team that nobody else can." Speaking of Arena football, Selmon said, "I'm going to be learning the game along with everybody else. I'll help where I can with the blocking and tackling techniques because that doesn't change much from the NFL to this game."
By the time the Storm opened the season they were more like an expansion team. Only former Penn State lineman Tom Gizzi remained from the 3-5 Pittsburgh team of the previous season. A couple of other former Gladiators, WR/DB Brad Calip and WR/DB Thomas Monroe, did spend some time on Tampa Bay's roster, but all three would not be around in 1992. The new players included LB/FB Adrain Wright, who scored a touchdown for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers strike replacement team in 1987 and lineman Carl Watts, who was in the 1990 Tampa Bay Buccaneers training camp as a free agent safety. Another player with local ties was WR/DB Stevie Thomas, who went to Bethune-Cookman College and is a City of St. Petersburg police officer when not playing football. After playing with the Orlando Thunder of the World League, and being cut by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in June, Thomas joined the Storm at mid-season.
Chip Ferguson took the early lead for the team's starting quarterback position. He had played at Florida State and spent one year with the CFL Calgary Stampede. Former University of Mississippi QB John Darnell was penciled in as number two and Jay Gruden was thought to be the third string quarterback. Gruden attended Tampa Chamberlain High School and set numerous school records at the University of Louisville, but his professional experience was limited to a tryout with the World league Barcelona Dragons.
On May 24, a preseason game in Jacksonville marked the first time the team took to the carpet. The Storm were behind 23-7 at half, before three second half touchdown passes by Jay Gruden lead them to 37-30 victory over the New Orleans Night. Chip Ferguson was nursing a sore knee, and John Darnell was not available due to personal reasons, so Gruden started the team's first regular season game at the Florida Suncoast Dome.
On June 1, about 3,000 advance tickets were sold for the first game for the
Tampa Bay Storm and the visiting Orlando Predators. A late arriving walk-up
crowd caused a backlog at the ticket windows and the start of the game was
delayed by about fifteen minutes. The largest crowd for an AFL franchise's
opening game at that point, 10,354, got the first look at the Storm's red and
blue Zubaz striped uniforms. With Orlando up 6-0 in the first quarter, John
"Bo" Wright ran 2 yards for the first touchdown in Storm history. Wright ran
for another score in the second quarter and caught a pass for a TD in the
second half. Jay Gruden (25 of 39 for 229 yards with 2 interceptions) threw
for two scores and, even though the fans were chanting "We want Chip" in the
third quarter, he would become the team's regular starter. Predators
quarterback Reggie Collier threw for 252 yards and seven touchdowns. Orlando
lead at the half 26-17 and won the game 51-38. Team owner Bob Gries talked
about opening night. "I'm disappointed at the outcome, but that's momentary.
I'm ecstatic with the crowd. I think the game was everything we promised. You
can hear about it and see it on TV, but until you come here in person, you
can't appreciate the fun."
The next Saturday, the Storm posted the first victory in team history at the Fairgrounds Coliseum in Columbus. The Storm lead 14-12 at the half, then out scored the Thunderbolts 39-6 after the break. Chip Ferguson came off the bench to throw three touchdown passes. Lynn Bradford rushed for 45 yards, and three second half TDs, in the 53-12 victory. Lineman Tom Gizzi, who recorded two of the Storm's three sacks, said "Our coaches put a lot of emphasis on defense this week." Bradford noted "That first win is so important."
At the Louisiana Superdome, Lynn Bradford opened the scoring with a league
record 43 yard touchdown run and finished with 69 yards rushing in the game
against the Night. Jay Gruden threw for two touchdowns, Chip Ferguson threw
for a score and Anthony Howard had two touchdown receptions. Tampa Bay beat
New Orleans 27-17.
The following week, the Storm posted their first home victory before 15,017 fans. Tampa Bay exploded for a 40-18 lead at the half, lead 53-21, then had to hold on for a 56-48 victory over Dallas. Jay Gruden threw for four scores and ran for another, Chip Ferguson threw a touchdown pass, Andre Bowden rushed for three TDs, and Lynn Bradford carried the ball a team record fourteen times. The Storm scored touchdowns on their first eight possessions in the win over the Texans. Head coach Fran Curci said the team "Looked like a machine in the first half." Jay Gruden added, "It was a blast early in the game. It was like playing Nerf football."
Stevie Thomas scored a touchdown in his Storm debut the next week in an exciting game against Albany. Jay Gruden's third touchdown pass gave the Storm a 36-26 third quarter lead, but his three interceptions helped the Firebirds take a 47-36 advantage going into the final period. Backup QB Chip Ferguson (7 of 8 for 95 yards and 2 TDs) came into the game and lead the team to three touchdowns. With 34 seconds remaining, a 27 yard TD pass to Tracey Perkins sealed a victory. Tampa Bay rushed for a team record 122 yards, with Andre Bowden running for a team record 72 yards and three touchdowns. The Storm won 57-53 in a game that saw ten lead changes. Fran Curci said afterwards, "That's the value of having two great quarterbacks. I came into this season thinking I would rotate between Gruden and Ferguson, but things were going so well I never wanted to take Jay out. But I've got to get both of them some playing time."
| When the Storm debuted, and for the first two seasons, they wore wildly
stripped "Zubaz" uniforms. The style was popular at the time and the New
Orleans Night was another AFL team that tried to capitalize on the fad.
The Zubaz brand was created by two body-builders, Dan Stock and Bob Truax, who wanted a comfortable material that would stretch while weight-lifting. The pants were originally created with a zebra print, then in almost any design imaginable. The Zubaz company, who's slogan was "Dare to be Different," sold $100 million worth of products in 1991 alone. |
The next week, a league record crowd watched the lowest scoring half in league
history at the Suncoast Dome. Jay Gruden completed just one first half pass,
and was intercepted twice, as Denver held a 3-0 lead at the break. This is the
only time Tampa Bay has not put any points on the board by halftime. The
Dynamite rushed for 111 yards, which is still a Storm record for most yards
rushing allowed, however, quarterback Mike Hold was held to 10 completions in
28 attempts. Tampa Bay picked up the pace in the second half for a 30-13
victory. Fran Curci said of the first half, "We played stinko, but we didn't
panic." Bob Gries talked of the record crowd of 24,445. "We sold 11,000
tickets just today. We didn't just break the record, we shattered it."
Next was a trip to McNichols Sports Arena and a re-match against the Dynamite. The Storm scored twice late in the second quarter and held a 27-21 halftime lead. Denver quarterback Mike Hold only threw one touchdown pass, however, he ran for three scores. The Dynamite scored 27 unanswered points in the second half and the Storm's six game winning streak came to an end 51-34. Jay Gruden tried to refocus the team. "We just need to take them one game at a time to take care of business."
The next week the Storm traveled to the Orlando Arena for the first time and it was the only game all season that Jay Gruden did not start. Chip Ferguson (6 of 15 for 80 yards with 1 TD and an INT) took over the quarterbacking duties because of a Gruden shoulder injury. Third string quarterback John Darnell also threw a touchdown pass on a fake field goal attempt. With the Tampa Bay up 16-9 in the third quarter, Darnell connected with kicker Paul Hickert for a 25 yard score. The Storm ran on 21 of their 37 offensive plays and avenged the earlier defeat to the Predators. Orlando could only generate a negative one yard rushing on fourteen carries in a 26-16 Storm victory. The 42 combined points remain the record for the least number of points scored by both teams in a Storm game. Tampa Bay also set records for fewest total yards (145), fewest passing yards (105), lowest number of pass attempts (16) and fewest pass completions (7). Ferguson said of the game, "It was fun out there."
The regular season finale took place against New Orleans on a Friday night in
St. Petersburg. The Storm scored on four of their five first half possessions
to take a 28-10 lead at the intermission. Jay Gruden had four touchdown
passes, but he also had four interceptions and was replaced late in the second
half by Chip Ferguson. Stevie Thomas scored four TDs in the 62-17 victory.
Thomas said of his big night before 21,693 fans, "I was hoping for a long time
that something like this would happen here in front of my family and friends."
It would not be the last time.
Tampa Bay finished their inaugural season with an 8-2 record, which placed them second in the league standings to Detroit. The Storm allowed an average of 30.9 points per game, which is still a team record low. Jay Gruden (127 of 199 for 1,497 yards with 26 touchdowns and 12 interceptions) finished second in the league in passing and set the AFL record for highest completion percentage (63.8%) for a rookie season. Paul Hickert (61 points) was fourth in the league in kicking. Lynn Bradford (261 yards and 7 TDs) placed second in rushing. Bradford was named to the All-Arena League team and Fran Curci was named Coach of the Year. The team lead the Arena Football League in attendance averaging 17,094. This remains the attendance record for a first year franchise.
The Storm played their first playoff game before 18,485 fans at the Suncoast Dome and it was a re-match against Denver. The loss to Denver earlier in the season meant the Storm would not have home field advantage against Detroit if the teams met in the Arena Bowl, so the Storm was out for revenge against the Dynamite. Jay Gruden had record postseason lows in pass attempts (16) and completions (13), but did connect with Stevie Thomas on three touchdown passes. Lynn Bradford rushed for a league playoff record three touchdowns and Keith Browner sacked Denver quarterback Mike Hold twice. Hold did toss a 46 yard TD pass to Wayne Coffey, the longest against the Storm in the playoffs, but Tampa Bay got their revenge. The Storm cruised to a 28-0 lead and coasted to a 40-13 victory.
Tampa Bay headed to Detroit for their first appearance in the Arena Bowl
against the three time defending champions. The Drive were going for "Four on
the Floor" before an Arena Bowl record crowd of 20,357. Even with Jay Gruden
throwing three interceptions, and Detroit rushing for a Storm postseason record
34 yards allowed, the game was tied in the final minute. Art Schlichter (17 of
30 for 265 yards with 2 INTs) tossed four touchdown passes for the Drive and
his favorite target was Gary Mullen (7 catches for 130 yards and 2 TDs). With
the score tied 42-42, it looked as if it might take overtime to decide the
league championship. With 39 seconds left in the fourth quarter, Stevie Thomas
made a one handed grab of a 35 yard Jay Gruden touchdown pass to give the Storm
the lead. A missed extra point gave Detroit hope and the score stood at 48-42.
The Storm held on to win the league title in their first year.
Jay Gruden set Arena Bowl records with five touchdown passes and 298 yards
through the air. Stevie Thomas (5 receptions for 117 yards) was named the Most
Valuable Player. He set Arena Bowl records with four touchdown receptions and
24 points scored. Darren Willis (6 receptions for 124 yards and a TD) was
named the game's Ironman. Lineman Tom Gizzi talked of the team's effort.
"Detroit has some super, super players, but what Tampa Bay has is the best
team. That is T-E-A-M and that's why we're the champions." The next day, a
couple of hundred fans were on hand to greet the team when they returned to
Tampa International Airport. Bob Gries said "We've got the greatest fans in
the country and the greatest team."
In October, when Fran Curci resigned as head coach, Bob Gries said, "I can only thank him and congratulate him on the great effort put forth this season. He's truly a winner." Curci said he left the Storm because, "Bob is a very intense person. He feels he needs a guy full-time. I'm not willing to do that. I think this is the kind of thing that only needs to be done in five months. Crank it up and let it go." Curci continued, "I really enjoyed it this year. It was fun, but it's not like I can't live without it. I didn't miss it the last time I left." By November, Curci had agreed to become the head coach for another Arena League team, the expansion Cincinnati Rockers.
Less than a week later, Storm offensive coordinator Lary Kuharich was promoted to head coach. Kuharich's prior head coaching experience was with the Canadian Football League's British Columbia Lions from 1989-90. His father, Joe Kuharich, was once the head coach of the Chicago Cardinals, Washington Redskins and Philadelphia Eagles. Bob Gries said, "If you look at our league, there is probably not any coach today that has had as much head coaching experience as Lary. I don't know anyone better equipped to do one thing: that is help us win another championship." Kuharich commented, "This was my most rewarding season coaching football, and I've been in three professional leagues. I'm comfortable and proud to be where I am."
| Related Links |
| 1991 Tampa Bay Storm Results |
| 1991 AFL Standings |
| 1991 Tampa Bay Storm Statistics |
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