The Detroit Demolition was a women's

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

team based in the

Detroit, Michigan Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

area. During their most recent season, home games were played at Franklin High School in

Livonia Livonia, known in earlier records as Livland, is a historical region on the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea. It is named after the Livonians, who lived on the shores of present-day Latvia. By the end of the 13th century, the name was extende ...

. They joined the

National Women's Football Association The National Women's Football Association (NWFA) was a full-contact American football league for women headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee. The league was founded by Catherine Masters in 2000, as the two benchmark teams, the Alabama Renegade ...

(NWFA) in 2002 as the Detroit Danger, winning a national championship. Their only loss that year was in the regular season to the

Cleveland Fusion The Cleveland Fusion is a women's professional American football team based in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. They play in the Women's Football Alliance. The Fusion played in the National Women's Football Association from their inception in 20 ...

by a score of 14–3.

History

Founded by entrepreneur Kris Dreyer in 2002 as a member of the National Women's Football League (NWFA), the Detroit Danger posted a 10-1 inaugural season under Head Coach Tony Blankenship, winning the national championship against the Massachusetts Mutiny 48–30. Local businessman Mitch Rosen took ownership of the Detroit Danger and changed the team's name to the Detroit Demolition prior to the 2003 season. The team continued to thrive under Head Coach Tony Blankenship, winning three more NWFA championship titles consecutively (2003–2005), going undefeated in each of those three seasons. In 2005, the team played a special

Mother's Day Mother's Day is a celebration honoring the mother of the family or individual, as well as motherhood, maternal bonds, and the influence of mothers in society. It is celebrated on different days in many parts of the world, most commonly in Mar ...

exhibition game at

Ford Field Ford Field is a domed American football stadium located in Downtown Detroit. It primarily serves as the home of the Detroit Lions of the National Football League (NFL), the Michigan Panthers of the United Football League (UFL), the Mid-Americ ...

, home of the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. The team plays their home game ...

. In 2006, the Demolition sought membership into the

Independent Women's Football League The Independent Women's Football League (IWFL) was the first women's American football league established by women players for women players. The league was founded in 2000, began play in 2001, and played its last season in 2018. Members of th ...

(IWFL) and was subsequently accepted. Detroit reached the 2006 IWFL championship game but were upset by the

Atlanta Xplosion The Atlanta Xplosion, known as the Atlanta Ravens for the year of 2011, was a football team in the Independent Women's Football League. Based in Atlanta, Georgia, the Xplosion played their home games in nearby Smyrna, Georgia at Campbell High Sc ...

21–14. It was only the team's second loss in the franchise's five-year history. Jeff "J.R." Rose took a controlling interest in the ownership of the franchise amidst financial struggles for the team following the 2006 season. The Detroit Demolition bounced back to win the 2007 IWFL championship game, taking the title back from Atlanta Xplosion 17–7. With a stream of player retirements — including star quarterback Kim Grodus — and the rising competitiveness of its IWFL opponents like the

Chicago Force The Chicago Force was a women's American football team. Founded in 2003 by Lisa Cole, the team played at De La Salle HS & St. Rita HS – both on Chicago's South side; Lane Stadium at Lane Technical College Prep High School, Holmgren Athletic ...

D.C. Divas The D.C. Divas are a women's gridiron football team that plays in the Women's Football Alliance. Based in the Washington metropolitan area, the Divas play their home games at Annandale High School in Annandale, Virginia. Formerly, the Divas p ...

and

Pittsburgh Passion The Pittsburgh Passion are a women's professional American football team based in the Pittsburgh metropolitan area. The Passion compete in the Women's Football Alliance (WFA) as a member of the National Conference. Founded in 2002, the Passion ...

, the team's fortunes on the field fell. The Demolition posted a 7–2 record in 2008 and a 4–4 record in 2009. Al Seden, who took over team ownership in 2009, was unable to launch a 2010 season. The Demolition played their home games at Livonia Franklin High School and Livonia Stevenson High School.

Legacy

The franchise was the first in the modern era of women's pro football (1999–present) to win five national championships. They also held 20-year-long record of consecutive wins with 50, until the Texas Elite Spartans of the Women’s National Football Conference (WNFC) won their 51st consecutive game in 2024.

Season-By-Season

, - , colspan="6" align="center" , Detroit Danger (NWFL) , - , 2002 , , 10 , , 1 , , 0 , , 1st Great Lakes , , Won League Quarterfinal (

Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

)
Won League Semifinal (

Pensacola Pensacola ( ) is a city in the Florida panhandle in the United States. It is the county seat and only city in Escambia County. The population was 54,312 at the 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Pensacola metropolitan area, which ha ...

)
Won NWFL Championship (Massachusetts) , - , colspan="6" align="center" , Detroit Demolition (NWFA) , - , 2003 , , 11 , , 0 , , 0 , , 1st Northern Great Lakes , , Won Northern Conference Semifinal (

Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...

)
Won Northern Conference Championship (

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

)
Won NWFA Championship (

) , - , 2004 , , 11 , , 0 , , 0 , , 1st Northern Great Lakes , , Won Northern Conference Semifinal (

Columbus Columbus is a Latinized version of the Italian surname "''Colombo''". It most commonly refers to: * Christopher Columbus (1451–1506), the Italian explorer * Columbus, Ohio, the capital city of the U.S. state of Ohio * Columbus, Georgia, a city i ...

)
Won Northern Conference Championship (

D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

)
Won NWFA Championship (

Oklahoma City Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Oklahoma, most populous city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat ...

) , - , 2005 , , 11 , , 0 , , 0 , , 1st Northern , , Won Northern Conference Semifinal (

Southwest Michigan West Michigan and Western Michigan are terms for a region in the U.S. state of Michigan's Lower Peninsula. Generally, it refers to the Grand Rapids-Muskegon-Holland area, and more broadly to most of the region along the Lower Peninsula's Lake M ...

)
Won Northern Conference Championship (

)
Won NWFA Championship (

) , - , colspan="6" align="center" , Detroit Demolition (IWFL) , - , 2006 , , 10 , , 1 , , 0 , , 1st Western Midwest , , Won Western Conference Semifinal (

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

)
Won Western Conference Championship (

Sacramento Sacramento ( or ; ; ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the seat of Sacramento County. Located at the confluence of the Sacramento and American Rivers in Northern California's Sacramento Valley, Sacramento's 2020 p ...

)
Lost IWFL Championship (

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

) , - , 2007 , , 10 , , 1 , , 0 , , 1st Western Midwest , , Won Western Conference Semifinal (

Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more t ...

)
Won Western Conference Championship (

)
Won IWFL Championship (

) , - , 2008 , , 7 , , 2 , , 0 , , 2nd Eastern Midwest , , Lost Eastern Conference Semifinal (

) , - , 2009 , , 4 , , 4 , , 0 , , 3rd Eastern Mid-Atlantic , , -- , - !Totals , , 74 , , 9 , , 0 , colspan="2", (including playoffs)

Season schedules

2009

References

{{WSFL American football teams in Detroit American football teams established in 2002 2002 establishments in Michigan Women's sports in Detroit