Columbus Lions

Columbus Lions
Current season
Established 2006
Play in Columbus Civic Center
in Columbus, Georgia
ColumbusLions.net
HelmetLogo
League/conference affiliations

World Indoor Football League (2007)
American Indoor Football Association (2008–2009)

  • Western Conference (2008)
    • South Division (2008)
  • South Division (2009)

Southern Indoor Football League (2010–2011)

  • Eastern Conference (2011)
    • South Division (2011)

Professional Indoor Football League (2012–2015)

  • American Conference (2014)

American Indoor Football (2016)

  • Southern Division (2016)

National Arena League (2017–present)

Team colors Blue, Black, Silver, White
                   
Mascot Leo the Lion
Personnel
Owner(s) Rick Jacobson
Skip Seda
Duke Liberatore
Jan McBarron
Keith Norred
John Hargrove
Kike Seda
Head coach Jason Gibson
Team history
  • Columbus Lions (2007–present)
Championships
League championships (3)
SIFL: 2010
PIFL: 2015
AIF: 2016
NAL: 0
Conference championships (0)
Division championships (3)
AIFA: 2009
SIFL: 2011
AIFA: 2016
NAL: 0
Playoff appearances (9)
WIFL: 2007
AIFA: 2008, 2009
SIFL: 2010, 2011
PIFL: 2012, 2014, 2015
AIFA: 2016
NAL: 0
Home arena(s)

The Columbus Lions are a professional indoor football team based in Columbus, Georgia and a founding member of the National Arena League (NAL) for the 2017 season. The Lions were founded in 2006 as an expansion team of the World Indoor Football League (WIFL). After the WIFL went under in 2007, the Lions joined the American Indoor Football Association (AIFA) where they played for two seasons. When the AIFA broke apart, the Lions joined the Southern Indoor Football League (SIFL). The Lions joined the Professional Indoor Football League (PIFL) in 2012 when the Southern Indoor Football League (SIFL) teams split up into two new leagues. After the 2015 season, the PIFL broke apart, and the Lions joined American Indoor Football for 2016.

In their ten years of existence, the Lions have compiled a record of 83-37 with division championships in 2009, 2011 and 2016. They have made three championship appearance during the 2010 season where they defeated the Louisiana Swashbucklers in President's Cup II,[1] in 2015 when they defeated the Richmond Raiders in PIFL Cup IV and in 2016 where they defeated the West Michigan Ironmen in the AIF Championship Game.

History

The Lions' inaugural game on February 26, 2007 was marred by tragedy when opposing defensive back Javon Camon of the Daytona Beach Thunder was killed after a hard but clean hit by Lions fullback Cedric Ware during the fourth quarter.[2][3]

For the Lions' impressive inaugural season, head coach Jason Gibson won the league's inaugural Coach of the Year Award.

Following the Lions' 2015 PIFL Cup IV Championship, the Lions moved to American Indoor Football.[4]

The Lions move to the AIF proved to be fruitful for the Lions, and they completed the regular season 8-0 and won the 2016 AIF Championship Game with a perfect record.[5] One week after winning the championship, the Lions announced they were leaving the AIF for the 2017 season.[6]

In July 2016, Lions' owners Skip Seda and his father, Keke Seda, announced the formation of a new league called the Arena Developmental League to begin play in spring 2017.[7] They named former Canadian Football League, Arena Football League, and af2 coach John Gregory as the league's commissioner. In November 2016, they changed the name of the new league to National Arena League.

Players of note

Current roster

Columbus Lions roster
Quarterbacks
  • -- Mason Espinosa

Running Backs

  • Currently vacant

Wide Receivers

  • -- Donovan Campbell
  • -- Michael Doherty
  • -- Brandon Ojikutu
  • -- Josh Young
Offensive Linemen
  • Currently vacant

Defensive Linemen

  • Currently vacant
 Linebackers
  • Currently vacant

Defensive Backs

  • -- James Ester
  • -- Sayyid Muhammad
  • -- Marte Sears

Kickers

  • -- Lindsey Wolfe
Injured Reserve
  • Currently vacant

Refuse to Report

  • Currently vacant

Exempt

  • Currently vacant

Rookies in italics
Roster updated November 1, 2016
9 Active, 0 Inactive

→ More rosters

Awards and honors

The following is a list of all Lions players who have won league awards:

Season Player Position Award
2010 Chris McCoy Quarterback Offensive Player of the Year
2010 Damian Daniels Defensive back Defensive Player of the Year
2010 Trey Crum Kicker Special Teams of the Year
2010 Franklin Lloyd Defensive lineman Lineman of the Year
2011 Damian Daniels Defensive back Defensive Player of the Year
2012 Maurice Dupree Wide Receiver Offensive Player of the Year
2012 London Crawford Wide Receiver Offensive Rookie of the Year
2013 Anthony Shutt Defensive Back Defensive Player of the Year
2015 Casey Kacz Quarterback Offensive Rookie of the Year[8]
2015 Terrence Ebagua Wide Receiver Most Valuable Player[9]

Statistics and records

Columbus playing the Louisiana Swashbucklers on April 14, 2012. Note the pink numbers in support of cancer awareness.[10]

Season-by-season results

Note: The Finish, Wins, Losses, and Ties columns list regular season results and exclude any postseason play.

League Champions Conference Champions Division Champions Wild Card Berth League Leader
Season Team League Conference Division Regular season Postseason Results
Finish Wins Losses Ties
2007 2007 WIFL 1st 10 4 0 Lost World Indoor Bowl I 60-63 (Augusta)
2008 2008 AIFA Western South 2nd 10 4 0 Lost Divisional Round 50-52 (Mississippi)
2009 2009 AIFA South 1st 11 3 0 Won Divisional Round 45-35 (Fayetteville)
Lost Semifinal 51-60 (Reading)
2010 2010 SIFL 2nd 8 3 0 Won Semifinal (Lafayette)
Won President's Cup II (Louisiana)
2011 2011 SIFL Eastern South 1st 11 1 0 Won Divisional 62-60 (Trenton)
Lost Eastern Conference Championship 61-75 (Albany)
2012 2012 PIFL 3rd 6 6 0 Lost Semi-final 36-60 (Albany)
2013 2013 PIFL 6th 4 8 0
2014 2014 PIFL American 2nd 7 5 0 Lost American Conference Championship 39-44 (Nashville)
2015 2015 PIFL 1st 8 3 0 Won Semifinal 69-41 (Lehigh Valley)
Won PIFL Cup IV 64-38 (Richmond)
2016 2016 AIF Southern 1st 8 0 0 Won Southern Semifinals (Stars) 49-37
Won Southern Championship (Tarpons) 79-66
Won AIF Championship Game (Ironmen) 74-32
Totals 83 37 0 All-time regular season record (2007–2016)
9 6 — All-time postseason record (2007–2016)
92 43 0 All-time regular season and postseason record (2007–2016)

* Season currently in progress

References

  1. ↑ Chris White (July 19, 2010). "SIFL CHAMPIONSHIP: Fans soak up Lions' big win". www.ledger-enquirer.com. Ledger-Enquirer. Retrieved July 8, 2014.
  2. ↑ "Indoor football player dies after head-to-head hit". www.espn.go.com. ESPN Internet Ventures. February 27, 2007. Retrieved February 27, 2007.
  3. ↑ "Daytona player dies". www.ledger-enquirer.com. Ledger-Enquirer. Retrieved February 27, 2007.
  4. ↑ Keith Groller (September 14, 2015). "Steelhawks moving to a new indoor football league for 2016". www.mcall.com. The Morning Call. Retrieved September 14, 2015.
  5. ↑ Dana Barker (June 19, 2016). "Lions capture AIF title in bizarre, blowout fashion". www.ledger-enquirer.com. Ledger-Enquirer. Retrieved June 20, 2016.
  6. ↑ "Columbus Lions leaving AIF following 2016 season". www.wltz.com. Frankly and WLTZ. June 27, 2016. Retrieved June 28, 2016.
  7. ↑ "Lions owner Seda establishes new Arena Developmental League". Ledger-Enquirer. July 7, 2016.
  8. ↑ "Lions' QB Kacz named PIFL's Offensive Rookie of the Year". www.ledger-enquirer.com. Ledger-Enquirer. July 13, 2015. Retrieved July 21, 2015.
  9. ↑ "Columbus Lions' WR Terrence Ebagua named PIFL MVP". www.ledger-enquirer.com. Ledger-Enquirer. July 19, 2015. Retrieved July 21, 2015.
  10. ↑ Matthew Hester (April 10, 2012). "Kicker Trey Crum Returns to Lions". www.proifl.com. Professional Indoor Football League. Retrieved July 8, 2014.


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