1987 Chicago Bruisers season
Head coachRay Jauch
Home fieldRosemont Horizon
Results
Record2–4
Division place4th
Playoff finishdid not qualify

The 1987 Chicago Bruisers season was the first season for the arena football franchise. The Bruisers took a chance with a young team that averaged 25 years of age.[1] The Bruisers' lost their first game in franchise history, 44–52 in overtime, to the Denver Dynamite.[2] The Bruisers struggled in their second game, giving up 45 points in the first half before losing 23–60 to the Pittsburgh Gladiators.[3] Despite getting off to a 2–3 start, the Bruisers had an opportunity to make it to ArenaBowl I with a win in the final week of the season against the Dynamite.[4] The Bruisers however would lose 35–52. They finished with a record of 2–4 and failed to qualify for the playoffs.

Schedule

Week Date Opponent Results Game site
Final score Team record
1 June 20 Denver Dynamite L 44–52 (OT) 0–1 Rosemont Horizon
2 June 22 Pittsburgh Gladiators L 23–60 0–2 Rosemont Horizon
3 July 2 at Pittsburgh Gladiators L 14–49 0–3 Civic Arena
4 July 10 Washington Commandos W 37–36 1–3 Rosemont Horizon
5 July 16 at Washington Commandos W 64–61 2–3 Capital Centre
6 July 24 at Denver Dynamite L 35–52 2–4 McNichols Sports Arena

Standings

1987 Arena Football League standings
Team W L T PCT PF PA PF (Avg.) PA (Avg.) STK
y-Pittsburgh Gladiators 4 2 0 .667 268 199 44.6 33.1 L 2
x-Denver Dynamite 4 2 0 .667 261 252 43.5 42 W 2
Washington Commandos 2 4 0 .333 288 273 48 45.5 W 1
Chicago Bruisers 2 4 0 .333 217 310 36.1 51.6 L 1

y – clinched regular-season title

x – clinched playoff spot

Roster

1987 Chicago Bruisers roster
Quarterbacks

Wide Receivers/Defensive Backs

Running Backs/Linebackers

Offensive Linemen/Defensive Linemen

  • 42 Dane Griffin
  • 65 Brent Johnson
  • 60 Eric Larkin
  • -- William Logan
  • -- Mike McCurry
  • -- Mark Rodenhauser
 Wide Receivers/Linebackers

Kickers

Rookies in italics
Roster updated February 5, 2013

Stats

Offense

Passing

Player Comp. Att. Comp% Yards TD's INT's Rating
Mike Hold, Jr. 66 139 47.5 787 16 4 82
Sean Payton 5 14 35.7 47 0 3 6.3

Rushing

Player Car. Yards TD's
Billy Stone 25 139 4
Mike Hold, Jr. 25 97 2
Eddie Phillips 13 65 1
Mike McDade 1 1 0
Terry Hinn 1 0 0
Sean Payton 1 −16 0

Receiving

Player Rec. Yards TD's
Reggie Smith 18 185 3
Stephen Finch 12 160 3
Mike McDade 12 120 2
Durwood Roquemore 11 99 1
Richard Rodgers 7 135 4
Ken Sanders 3 31 1
Daryl Hart 2 57 2
Terry Hinn 2 14 0
Mike Hold, Jr. 1 12 0
Eddie Phillips 1 8 0
Billy Stone 1 7 0
Troy Hill 1 6 0

Defense

Player Tackles Solo Assisted Sack INT Yards TD's
Fred Stone 37 26 22 3 0 0 0
Durwood Roquemore 36 35 2 0 2 21 0
Daryl Hart 23.5 18 11 0 3 47 0
Terry Hinn 23 22 2 5 1 2 0
Stephen Finch 20 16 8 0 2 45 1
Brent Johnson 19 17 4 0 0 0 0
Osia Lewis 16 14 4 3 0 0 0
Richard Rodgers 16 14 4 0 0 0 0
Mike McDade 14 14 0 0 0 0 0
Troy Hill 10.5 8 5 0 0 0 0
Eddie Phillips 10.5 7 7 0 0 0 0
Mike McCurry 8.5 6 5 3 0 0 0
Dane Griffin 8 5 6 2 0 0 0
Dennis Washington 6 5 2 0 0 0 0
Reggie Smith 5 4 2 0 1 14 0
Eric Larkin 4.5 2 5 0 0 0 0
Reggie Oliver 3.5 3 1 0 0 0 0
Ken Sanders 3 3 0 0 0 0 0
Mark Rodenhauser 1 1 0 0 0 0 0
Nick Mike-Mayer 1 1 0 0 0 0 0
William Logan 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Special teams

Kick return

Player Ret Yards TD's
Reggie Smith 19 305 1
Terry Hinn 8 153 0
Stephen Finch 5 85 0
Mike McDade 4 34 0
Troy Hill 2 25 0
Richard Rodgers 2 18 0
Dennis Washington 1 9 0
Billy Stone 1 8 0
Durwood Roquemore 1 0 0
Daryl Hart 1 0 1

Kicking

Player FGM 4pg FGA Pct. XPM 2pt XPA Pct. Pts.
Nick Mike-Mayer 7 0 26 26.9 19 0 24 79.2 40
Mike Hold, Jr. 0 0 1 0.0 0 1 1 0.0 2

Awards

Position Player Award All-Arena team
Fullback/linebacker Billy Stone Ironman of the Year 1st
Offensive/Defensive lineman Brent Johnson none 1st
Kicker Nick Mike-Mayer none 1st
Wide receiver/defensive back Reggie Smith none 2nd

References

  1. ^ "And Now, Your Chicago Bruisers". Chicago Tribune. June 16, 1987. Retrieved January 31, 2013.
  2. ^ Linda Young (June 22, 1987). "So Far, So Good For Arena Football". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved January 31, 2013.
  3. ^ Linda Young (June 28, 1987). "Pittsburgh Bombs Bruisers". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved January 31, 2013.
  4. ^ "Arena Football Officials Truly A Calculating Bunch". Chicago Tribune. July 24, 1987. Retrieved January 31, 2013.
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