The Washington Wolfpack are a professional indoor football team based in Everett in the U.S. state of

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

. They were announced as one of the inaugural teams for the revived

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 Arena Football League season, 1987 season, making it the third longest-runnin ...

(AFL), beginning play in 2024. They are now members of Arena Football One.

History

The original

(AFL) first started in 1987 and continued operating until 2009, when it went bankrupt. The league was brought back in 2010 and continued until folding a second time due to bankruptcy following the 2019 season.

Everett, Washington Everett (; ) is the county seat and most populous city of Snohomish County, Washington, United States. It is north of Seattle and is one of the main cities in the Seattle metropolitan area, metropolitan area and the Puget Sound region. Everett ...

, has had several professional indoor football teams in their history: the

Everett Hawks The Everett Hawks were a professional minor league arena football team based in Everett, Washington. The team was in existence for five years (2002–07) in three leagues, the Northwest Football League (NWFL), the National Indoor Football League ...

played in the AFL's developmental league (

AF2 The AF2 (often styled as af2, and short for arenafootball2) was the Arena Football League's developmental league; it was founded in 1999 and played its first season in 2000. Like its parent AFL, the AF2 played using the same arena football r ...

) for several years until folding in 2007, the Everett Destroyers were proposed as an inaugural member of the

Indoor Football League The Indoor Football League (IFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional indoor American football league in the United States. The league comprises 14 teams, divided equally between the Eastern Conference (EC) and Western Conference ...

(IFL) in 2009 but never played, and in 2012 the city had the

Everett Raptors The Everett Raptors were a professional indoor football team based in Everett, Washington. The Raptors were member of the Intense Conference of the Indoor Football League (IFL). They played their home games at the Comcast Arena at Everett in E ...

in the IFL.

Arena Football League (2024)

Four years after the original AFL folded for the second time, it was announced on February 1, 2023, that the league intended on relaunching in 2024. On July 18, the 16 intended market cities were announced, including Everett. Officials in several of the cities stated they were surprised at the announcement and were unaware of an AFL team coming. The manager of

Angel of the Winds Arena Angel of the Winds Arena (originally known as Everett Events Center) is a multi-purpose sports arena complex in Everett, Washington, United States, designed and developed by the Everett Public Facilities District. It opened in October 2003 an ...

, Everett's only major arena, said that he was only informed about it after the announcement was made, and after contacting Lee Hutton, AFL commissioner, received notice that the league would only reveal information "on our time". Details about the Everett team were scant in the weeks following the announcement. Eventually, an agreement with Angel of the Winds Arena was secured in late September. Everett Arena Football Club LLC was announced as the ownership group, led by Mike Thomas, the owner of the semi-pro Everett Royals. Thomas noted that he had acquired the franchise after contacting the league in hopes of getting Royals players onto the squad, only to find that the league had not yet lined up an owner for the city's team at the time. J. R. Wells, a former player for the Everett Hawks and

offensive coordinator An offensive coordinator (OC) is a Coach (sport), coach responsible for a gridiron football team's offense (American football), offense. Generally, the offensive coordinator, defensive coordinator and special teams coordinator represent the second ...

for the Royals, was announced as the team's first head coach. Several sponsorship deals were also announced, including with Major League Pizza, Tony V's Garage and Buzz Inn Steakhouse. A poll to select the team's name was held in mid-October with four options: Night Howlers, Wolfpack, Cascades and Werewolves. On October 26, the team name was officially announced as the Washington Wolfpack. The 2024 AFL season is scheduled to begin in April 2024. Their main geographic rivals in the new AFL were the

Billings Outlaws The Billings Outlaws were a professional indoor football team based in Billings, Montana. They were a member of the Indoor Football League (IFL), of which they were the 2-time defending champions. They played their home games at Rimrock Auto A ...

and the Oregon Blackbears. On April 27, 2024, the Wolfpack lost their debut game on the road 40-47 to the Blackbears. On May 12, 2024, kicker Melissa Strother made an extra point while playing for the Wolfpack, making her the first female player to score a point in the Arena Football League. Strother has since been named special teams coordinator for the team.

Arena Football One (2025–present)

On September 4, 2024, the Wolfpack joined the remaining members of the collapsed AFL in forming the new Arena Football One. They will play in the West Division along with the

and Oregon Lightning (Potential opponents the Arizona Bandits went dormant for the season). The Wolfpack's uniforms failed to arrive in time for the team's first game, forcing the Wolfpack to reuse the Everett Royals' uniforms for the first two games. Though the Wolfpack remained among the AF1's worst teams, the team upgraded its kicker position by replacing Strother with Nestor "Manny" Higuera, an alumnus of NAIA

Arizona Christian University Arizona Christian University is a private Christian university in Glendale, Arizona, United States. History Founded in 1960 as Southwestern Conservative Baptist Bible College, Arizona Christian University's original campus was located at ...

who converted from soccer and proved to be a skilled drop kicker, a valuable skill in AF1 since punting is forbidden but drop kicks score an additional point compared to place kicks and are treated as punts if they do not score. Higuera would score AF1's first drop kick field goal and would later gain viral attention (the second time in his life, following a game-winning placekick field goal at ACU in 2021) as much for his kicking skill as his unusually stout physique (the 5-foot, 5-inch kicker weighed 270 pounds).

Current roster

Staff

References

External links

*
Washington Wolfpack at ArenaFan.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Washington Wolfpack American football teams established in 2023 American football teams in Washington (state) Arena Football One (2025) teams Arena Football League (2024) teams Washington Wolfpack Sports in Everett, Washington