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The Chicago Bruisers were a professional
arena football Indoor American football, or arena football, is a variation of gridiron football played at ice hockey-sized indoor arenas. While varying in details from league to league, the rules of indoor football are designed to allow for play in a smaller ...
team based in
Rosemont, Illinois Rosemont is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. Located immediately northwest of Chicago, as of the 2010 census it had a population of 4,202. The village was incorporated in 1956, though it had been settled long before that. Whi ...
. They were founded in
1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, ...
as a charter member of the
Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 season, making it the third longest-running professional football league in ...
(AFL). They played their home games at
Rosemont Horizon Allstate Arena is a multi-purpose arena in Rosemont, Illinois, United States. It is located near the intersection of Mannheim Road and Interstate 90, adjacent to the city limits of Chicago and O'Hare International Airport. The facility opened in ...
.


History


Founding (1987)

The Bruisers were an outgrowth of the
Chicago Politicians The Chicago Politicians were a team formed in 1986 by Arena Football League founder Jim Foster to play an initial "test game" in Rockford, Illinois, at the MetroCentre. They were defeated by the Rockford Metros, 30–18. The test was deemed s ...
, a team put together by Jim Foster to play an exhibition game to prove the feasibility of the sport the previous year. The team logo depicted a
bulldog The Bulldog is a British breed of dog of mastiff type. It may also be known as the English Bulldog or British Bulldog. It is of medium size, a muscular, hefty dog with a wrinkled face and a distinctive pushed-in nose.Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine ...
linebacker and
WSCR WSCR (670 AM) – branded as 670 The Score – is a commercial sports radio station licensed to serve Chicago, Illinois, servicing the Chicago metropolitan area and much of surrounding Northern Illinois, Northwest Indiana and parts of the Milwa ...
host
Doug Buffone Douglas John Buffone (June 27, 1944 – April 20, 2015) was an American football linebacker in the National Football League. Buffone, the son of a coal miner (whose parents were Italian immigrants from the southern province of Cosenza, regione di ...
. The Bruisers were part of the 1987 "Showcase Game", losing to the
Miami Vise The Miami Vise were an arena football team formed by Arena Football League (AFL) founder Jim Foster for the purposes of playing a "showcase game" on February 27, 1987, at the Rosemont Horizon against the Chicago Bruisers. Chicago's Eddie Phillip ...
by a score of 33–30. The Bruisers took a chance with a young team that averaged 25 years of age. The Bruisers' lost their first game in franchise history, 44–52 in overtime, to the Denver Dynamite. The Bruisers struggled in their second game, giving up 45 points in the first half before losing 23–60 to the Pittsburgh Gladiators. Despite getting off to a 2–3 start, the Bruisers had an opportunity to make it to
ArenaBowl I Arena Bowl '87 (or Arena Bowl I) was the Arena Football League's first Championship Game. It was played on August 1, 1987, at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In the game, the #2 Denver Dynamite defeated the #1 Pittsburgh Gladiators b ...
with a win in the final week of the season against the Dynamite. The Bruisers however would lose 35–52. They finished with a record of 2–4 and failed to qualify for the playoffs. The Bruisers' play-by-play announcer on radio and TV for all three of their seasons was Les Grobstein and their color commentator was Chicago Bears tight end Emery Moorehead.


Moss and ArenaBowl II (1988)

The Bruisers, like the Pittsburgh Gladiators but unlike the other two charter teams, the Denver Dynamite and the Washington Commandos, returned to play in the
1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Bicenten ...
season. In February, the team hired Perry Moss as the franchise's second coach. Moss also served as general manager. The team competed in ArenaBowl II that year, losing 24–13 to the
Detroit Drive The Massachusetts Marauders were a professional arena football team that was based in Worcester, Massachusetts. They were a member of the Arena Football League (AFL) from 1988 to 1994. The team was established in Detroit in 1988, as the Detroit ...
.


End of the Bruisers (1989)

The Bruisers would be disbanded after competing in the
1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress Street Viaduct, Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxo ...
season. The final two games they played were in exhibition games overseas against the
Detroit Drive The Massachusetts Marauders were a professional arena football team that was based in Worcester, Massachusetts. They were a member of the Arena Football League (AFL) from 1988 to 1994. The team was established in Detroit in 1988, as the Detroit ...
in
Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...
and then
London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
in October 1989. The rights to the Bruisers name and history were purchased by
Arena Football 1 The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 Arena Football League season, 1987 season, making it the third longest-running ...
in December 2009, along with the rest of the Arena Football League. There was a possibility that the AF1's new expansion team in Chicago would adopt the Bruisers name, but said team instead decided to adopt the identity of the
Chicago Rush The Chicago Rush were a professional arena football team based in Rosemont, Illinois. The team played at the Allstate Arena from 2001 to 2013. They were a member of the Central Division of the National Conference of the Arena Football League ( ...
instead. Since the Rush and the Bruisers never played at the same time, it was conceivable that the new Rush would adopt the history of both the old Rush and the Bruisers.


2011 Honors

In 2011, the
Chicago Rush The Chicago Rush were a professional arena football team based in Rosemont, Illinois. The team played at the Allstate Arena from 2001 to 2013. They were a member of the Central Division of the National Conference of the Arena Football League ( ...
celebrated its 10th season in the
Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 season, making it the third longest-running professional football league in ...
and honored the Chicago Bruisers. In the Rush home opener on March 18, 2011 against the
Philadelphia Soul Philadelphia soul, sometimes called Philly soul, the Philadelphia sound, Phillysound, or The Sound of Philadelphia TSOP, is a genre of late 1960s–1970s soul music characterized by funk influences and lush instrumental arrangements, often featu ...
, Chicago wore black uniforms similar to the Bruisers with a patch featuring the original Bruiser Bulldog. In the game, Chicago won the game 62–28. The Rush also adopted a real
bulldog The Bulldog is a British breed of dog of mastiff type. It may also be known as the English Bulldog or British Bulldog. It is of medium size, a muscular, hefty dog with a wrinkled face and a distinctive pushed-in nose.All-Arena Teams: * QB
Ben Bennett Allen Beverly Bennett II (born May 5, 1962) is a former American football quarterback in the National Football League for the Dallas Cowboys, Cincinnati Bengals and Chicago Bears. He also was a member of the Jacksonville Bulls, Chicago Bruisers, ...
(1) * FB/LB Billy Stone (1) * WR/DB Reggie Smith (2), Carl Aikens, Jr. (2) * OL/DL
Brent Johnson Brent Spencer Johnson (born March 12, 1977) is an American former professional ice hockey goaltender. He played in the National Hockey League for the St. Louis Blues, Phoenix Coyotes, Washington Capitals, and the Pittsburgh Penguins. He is curre ...
(1), Jeff Faulkner (1),
Osia Lewis Osia Lewis (December 3, 1962May 31, 2020) was an American professional arena football player who played four seasons in the Arena Football League with the Chicago Bruisers and Albany Firebirds. He played college football at Oregon State Univers ...
(1) * DS Durwood Roquemore (1) * K
Nick Mike-Mayer Nicholas Mike-Mayer (MICK-uh-myur) (born March 1, 1950) is a former American football placekicker in the National Football League from 1973–1982 for the Atlanta Falcons, Philadelphia Eagles, and the Buffalo Bills. He made the Pro Bowl in ...
(1),
Marco Morales Marco Paolo Z. Morales (born July 16, 1982), widely known as Marco Morales, is a television and film actor in the Philippines. Life and career Morales was born in Bulacan, Philippines. He started his acting career in 2007 including '' You Got ...
(1)


Other notable players

* QB
Jimbo Fisher John James "Jimbo" Fisher Jr. (born October 9, 1965) is an American college football coach and former player. He is the head coach of the Texas A&M Aggies. Previously, Fisher was the head coach at Florida State, where his team won the 2014 BCS ...
(1988) – Threw just four passes for the Bruisers. He currently serves as head coach of the
Texas A&M Aggies Texas A&M Aggies refers to the students, graduates, and sports teams of Texas A&M University. The nickname " Aggie" was once common at land-grant or "ag" (agriculture) schools in many states. The teams are also referred to as "A&M" or "Texas Agg ...
.


Notable coaches


Head coaches

''Note: Statistics are correct through the end of the 1989 Arena Football League season.''


Season-by-season

, - , 1987 , , 2 , , 4 , , 0 , , 3rd , , -- , - , 1988 , , 10 , , 1 , , 1 , , 1st , , Won Semifinals (
Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...
29-16)
Lost ArenaBowl II (
Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...
23-14) , - , 1989 , , 1 , , 3 , , 0 , , 4th , , Lost Week 1 (
Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...
43-10) , - !Totals , , 13 , , 8 , , 1 , colspan="2", (including playoffs)


Media

The Chicago Bruisers are also featured in the film '' Kinjite: Forbidden Subjects'', directed by J. Lee Thompson and starring
Charles Bronson Charles Bronson (born Charles Dennis Buchinsky; November 3, 1921 – August 30, 2003) was an American actor. Known for his "granite features and brawny physique," he gained international fame for his starring roles in action, Western, and wa ...
. The game shown sees the Bruisers visit the Los Angeles Cobras. It was released in early 1989. *The team appeared on the game '' EA Sports Arena Football'' as a hidden bonus team.


References


External links


Chicago Bruisers at ArenaFan.com
{{Defunct Arena Football League franchises American football teams established in 1987 Sports clubs disestablished in 1989 Rosemont, Illinois Bruisers Defunct Arena Football League teams American football teams in Illinois 1987 establishments in Illinois 1989 disestablishments in Illinois