1999 Tampa Bay Storm
1999 Tampa Bay Storm
Tampa Bay lost a couple of players to the NFL. Defensive Player of the Year Johnnie Harris was signed by the Oakland Raiders and defensive back Corey Dowden signed with the expansion Cleveland Browns. Players lost to the Buffalo Destroyers in the AFL expansion draft included Lynn Rowland, Wayne Williams and Antoine Worthman. Kicker Bjorn Nittmo was waived.
New faces included former Buccaneers wide receiver Charles Wilson, who lead the Bucs with six touchdown catches in 1994. The seven year NFL veteran, he spent time with Green Bay and the Jets as well, played college ball at Memphis State. Defensive back Tommy Henry, who attended Florida State and played six seasons in the CFL, and Troy State place kicker Matt Huerkamp joined the team. While many of the big names returned, half of the opening day roster was comprised of AFL rookies. On injured reserve were running back Steve Lee and defensive back Tony Covington, both former Buccaneers. Covington started at safety for the Bucs in 1992 and Lee, who was traded several weeks later, was a late cut in the Bucs 1998 training camp.
On April 24, the season opened at the Ice Palace. 10,436 fans saw Peter Tom
Willis (27 of 42 with 4 touchdowns and an interception) throw for a career high
321 yards. George LaFrance caught a pair of scoring passes, Lawrence Samuels
grabbed eleven passes for 114 yards with one TD and Charles Wilson caught his
first AFL touchdown pass. Andre Bowden and Les Barley each ran for a score.
It was not enough, as Mike Pawlawski (23 of 37 for 369 yards with 5 TDs and an
INT) passed for the most yardage against a Storm defense. Eddie Brown had a
career high 213 yards receiving, the most the Storm had allowed to a single
player. Brown hauled in three touchdown passes, including the game winner with
46 seconds left. The Firebirds 390 total yards were the most the Storm had
allowed. The home team had a chance, at the Albany 3 yard line, but time
expired with Tampa Bay still having a time out remaining. Tim Marcum said of
the clock mismanagement at the end of a 49-42 defeat: "It was a poor job of
coaching. I take full responsibility."
The following Thursday in Milwaukee, P.T. Willis (16 of 30 for 283 yards and an INT) threw six touchdown passes. George LaFrance was on the receiving end of three of the scores and Melvin Cunningham, a rookie out of Marshall, caught his first professional touchdown. Stevie Thomas hauled in a long TD pass and returned an interception 34 yards for a score. The Storm was penalized a dozen times, but Robert "Pig" Goff recorded two of the defense's four quarterback sacks in a 49-42 victory.
After a bye week, the Storm got off to a slow start against Florida at the Ice Palace. The Bobcats lead 6-0 after the first quarter, but the home team reeled off the next 36 points. Florida lost four of five fumbles and was held to the lowest point total in team history. Les Barley ran for two scores, giving him 60 TDs for his career, and also sacked quarterback Fred McNair in the end for a safety. George LaFrance caught two touchdown passes in the 43-12 victory. The game saw the Storm become the first AFL franchise to draw one million fans.
When Nashville came to town, the Storm turned the ball over four times and was
penalized eleven times. Tampa Bay rookie Jason Dulick, out of the University
of Illinois, caught his first pro TD pass in the second quarter. Les Barley
had some key runs, including what proved to be the winning score, but it was
the defense that saved the day with three goal line stands. The smallest home
crowd in team history, 8,689, saw the Storm beat the Kats 41-34.
George LaFrance scored his 200th career touchdown to give the Storm a 10-3 lead after one quarter in Nashville. Peter Tom Willis (17 of 31 for 237 yards with an INT) threw for five scores with Jason Dulick catching three touchdown passes. A 43-32 victory gave the Storm a four game winning streak. Tim Marcum said of a defense that did not allow the Kats to score a first half touchdown, "They played hard."
At Grand Rapids, Peter Tom Willis (24 of 37 with 3 TDs) threw for 302 yards, Andre Bowden ran for three touchdowns and Stevie Thomas caught a team record tying dozen passes for 135 yards. Rampage quarterback Craig Kusick (23 of 40 for 243 yards) connected on six scoring passes, with Thomas Bailey grabbing three of them, and the home team prevailed. A 46-44 win gave Grand Rapids its first victory over Tampa Bay.
The third straight road game took place in Orlando. The Storm lead 25-10 at the half, so Pat O'Hara replaced Browning Nagle at quarterback for the Predators. O'Hara did toss three second half touchdown passes, but it was not enough. Tampa Bay was lead by Charles Wilson who grabbed three TD passes, Les Barley who ran for two scores, Lawrence Samuels who returned a fumble a team record 42 yards for a score and Stevie Thomas who caught a TD pass and scored on special teams. Orlando fumbled three times and were flagged seventeen times for 94 yards. The 63-37 final was the worst home defeat for Orlando. Tim Marcum talked of the key to the victory, "We did a good job tonight putting some pressure on their quarterbacks."
The Storm returned home and for the second straight week Charles Wilson caught three touchdown passes. Tampa Bay lead 14-7 after the first quarter, then Peter Tom Willis (7 of 13 for 119 yards with 3 TDs) was knocked out of the game on a late hit near the end of the first half. Ron Adams (11 of 20 for 138 yards with a TD and 2 INTs) came in at quarterback for the Storm, but the Rattlers would pull away. Calvin Schexnayder caught ten passes for 138 yards and scored on two long TD receptions in Arizona's 60-41 victory.
Any Given Sunday is a star studded film about the stunning performance of a third string quarterback and the business side of football. Directed by Oliver Stone, the movie stars Al Pacino, Cameron Diaz, Dennis Quaid, James  Woods, Jamie Foxx, LL Cool J, Ann-Margret, Elizabeth Berkley and Charlton Heston. Famous football names appear in the 1999 release including Jim Brown, Lawrence Taylor, Terrell Owens, Irving Fryar, Ricky Watters, Barry Switzer, Y.A. Tittle, Pat Toomay, Dick Butkus, Warren Moon, Johnny Unitas and Emmitt Smith .
Several players from the Tampa Bay Storm appeared as extras, teammates or the stars' body-doubles in the movie. Pat O'Hara, Bjorn Nittmo, Robert “Pig” Goff, Nyle Wiren, Les Barley and Tracy Sanders all saw screen time. |
The Storm traveled to Buffalo for the first matchup against the winless expansion team. Since the Destroyers featured eight former Tampa Bay players, it was sort of a reunion at the Marine Midland Arena. Peter Tom Willis (17 of 29 for 223 yards) tossed five touchdown passes and helped the home team to its tenth consecutive defeat. Jason Dulick and Charles Wilson each caught a pair of TD passes. Matt Huerkamp kicked a team record 53 yard field goal and Robert "Pig" Goff closed out the scoring in the 59-14 victory with a 5 yard fumble recovery for his first AFL touchdown. Andre Bowden surpassed Major Harris on the league's all-time rushing list and moved into second place behind Les Barley.
Orlando lead 22-20 in the second quarter at the Ice Palace, before the Storm
scored 27 consecutive points and held the visitors scoreless for nearly 36
minutes. Charles Wilson caught two TD passes and Tampa Bay clinched the
Southern Division title with a 47-28 rout of the Predators. Orlando head coach
Jay Gruden said after the game, "When you're calling plays and only about 5
percent of them work, then you either had a bad game plan or they played great
defense. It was probably a combination of both."
The Storm got off to another slow start the following week and New Jersey lead 14-7 after one quarter in Tampa. Peter Tom Willis (19 of 24 for 269 yards with an INT) threw for six touchdowns with Charles Wilson and Mel Cunningham each on the receiving end of a pair of scores. The Storm would win the game going away 55-31.
As the season reached the home stretch, the Storm picked up a few players. Corey Dowden returned after being released by the Cleveland Browns. Linebacker Darion Conner, an NFL veteran who played with the Falcons, Panthers and Eagles, was also picked up off waivers from Cleveland. After a one year suspension, Wayne Walker returned to the team.
The next week at San Jose, the Storm again found themselves trailing early. The SabreCats lead 14-0 after the first quarter, then Peter Tom Willis and Charles Wilson hooked up on three scoring passes in the second quarter. Willis (20 of 40 for 278 yards) tossed a career high seven touchdown passes and Wilson (10 receptions for 132 yards) finished the night with a career high four TD receptions. San Jose keep it close, but the Storm pulled out a 52-48 victory. Tampa Bay had become the first team in league history to post one hundred wins.
The regular season finale took place on a Monday night at the Ice Palace. The
New England Sea Wolves, last season's New York CityHawks, were the opponent.
While Charles Wilson (7 catches for 139 yards) scored on three TD passes,
Darion Conner scored his first AFL touchdown on a second quarter reception.
New England was penalized 13 times and had zero rushing yards. The Storm out
scored the Sea Wolves 24-3 in the second half and won in a rout 54-20.
Tampa Bay finished the regular season with an 11-3 record and a six game winning streak. The team secured the top seed in the playoffs and won the division title for the fourth time in five seasons. They were first in the league in scoring defense (allowing an average of 34.9 points per game), total defense (230.1 yards per game), pass defense (208.1 yards per game) and turnover margin (plus 17). The Storm were also tied for the league lead with nineteen quarterback sacks, while allowing just five sacks (second best in AFL). The six road victories tied the team record, however, the 5-2 home record was second worst in franchise history. An average of 10,695, seventh highest in the league, attended the home games.
Peter Tom Willis was the league's sixth rated quarterback (113.5) and threw a team record low eight interceptions. Les Barley was fifth in the AFL in rushing with 142 yards. Matt Huerkamp finished with the seventh highest points total for a kicker (124) and eclipsed by one the record set by Bjorn Nittmo the previous season. Huerkamp booted a team record fifteen field goals. Andre Bowden lead the league with an AFL record six fumble recoveries and was named to the All-AFL team.
Orlando, and 10,706 fans, came to the Ice Palace for the first round of the playoffs. A Charles Wilson (129 yards on a team postseason record 10 receptions) touchdown catch gave the home team the early lead. In the lowest scoring half in league postseason history, the Storm lead 10-0 at the break. Opportunities to score more points would come back to haunt Tampa Bay. Connell Maynor (12 of 23 for 179 yards) threw four second half touchdown passes, three to Barry Wagner (6 receptions for 108 yards), in the Predators comeback. Peter Tom Willis (21 of 43 for 249 yards) was intercepted three times and sacked five times in a 41-19 defeat. It was the first time in league history that the number one seed did not host the Arena Bowl and the lowest number of points scored by the Storm in a playoff game.
Almost as soon as the season ended there was talk the Storm were going to relocate to Oklahoma City. Owner Woody Kern had hinted at moving the team in the past. They were losing around $500,000 a year and he was disappointed by the attendance figures in Tampa. Kern was quoted as saying, "Personally, I like the Tampa area. This a business decision. We are exploring other options. You just can't beat your head against the wall forever."
There were rumors that Palace Sports and Entertainment (PS&E) would make an offer to buy into the team. Others said PS&E, the group that owns and operates the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Ice Palace, had filed for an expansion team to replace the Storm. Tim Marcum was steadfast, "There is not a plan that I know of to move the team. We're the Tampa Bay Storm and that's how it's going to stay."
On August 24, the official word came that the Storm were going to stay in Tampa. PS&E had agreed to purchase a minority interest in the team and handle the marketing efforts. Woody Kern said, "This is a very exciting time in our franchise. I am pleased that as we begin our tenth anniversary season, we are able to announce a new partnership with the Ice Palace, dedicated to keeping the Storm the flagship franchise of the AFL for years to come." Ice Palace and Lightning President Ron Campbell added, "I believe everyone in Tampa Bay is a winner with this announcement. The football fans keep the most successful team in the AFL in town, Storm ownership has a partner that assures the team financial stability, and the Ice Palace continues the ability to host a top echelon team that competes for a title every year." Tim Marcum concluded, "These past weeks of rumors can finally be put to rest. It's time to move forward and focus our efforts on continuing the winning tradition of the Tampa Bay Storm."
| Related Links |
| 1999 Tampa Bay Storm Results |
| 1999 AFL Southern Division Standings |
| 1999 Tampa Bay Storm Statistics |
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