Minnesota Fighting Pike Explained

Minnesota Fighting Pike
Founded:1996
Folded:1996
City:Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota
Colors:Green, gold, white
Coach:Ray Jauch
Owner:Tom Scallen
President:Tom Scallen
League:Arena Football League
  • American Conference (1996)
Team History:
  • Minnesota Fighting Pike (1996)
No Conf Champs:0
Conf Champs:Prior to 2005, the AFL did not have conference championship games
No Div Champs:0
No Wild Card Champs:0
No League Champs:0
No Playoff Appearances:0
Arena Years:

The Minnesota Fighting Pike were an Arena football team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. They joined the Arena Football League (AFL) in 1996 as an expansion team. The Fighting Pike were the first ever attempt at an arena/indoor football team in the state of Minnesota. The owner of the Fighting Pike was Tom Scallen. The Fighting Pike played at the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The team colors were green and gold. In a 2012 AFL Poll, the Fighting Pike were voted as the 8th greatest nickname in AFL history.[1]

Franchise history

In November 1995, the announced that they would be nicknamed the "Fighting Pike" and that Art Haege was named the team's head coach.[2]

During the team's first tryout, Haege walked out, stating he was going "Back to Iowa." The next day, Haege faxed in his resignation to team owner Tom Scallen.[3] [4]

The Pike were 0-7 at home, and the average attendance for the seven home games was 8,894.[5]

The roster was full of players who had played at the University of Minnesota or other Minnesota colleges and universities. Tony Levine, a former Golden Gopher, joined the team and received 8 passes for a total of 83 yards and 1 touchdown. Former Gopher Rickey Foggie was the quarterback and he struggled adapting to the Arena Football League after many years in the Canadian Football League. Once during the season he was benched in favor of Southwest State's Jeff Loots, who threw four interceptions in a game. Loots was playing on his third expansion team in three seasons. Another player from Southwest State was Alvin Ashley. The best-known ex-Pike is kicker Mike Vanderjagt, later a star in the CFL and NFL.

Ray Jauch was the head coach. He was assisted by John Coatta Jr. on offense and Frank Haege on defense.

The team's lack of exposure or advertising was the key reason for the team's folding at the end of the 1996 season. The team did not have a regional television deal to promote their games or have the games advertised in newspapers and other media.

The Pike's final game of the season against the Memphis Pharaohs was played in Tupelo, Mississippi, because the Pharaohs had been evicted from their arena.

The Pike's official mascot was a giant Pike named "Tackle." He was known to "dive" into a promotional hot tub at the arena.

Legacy

In 2024, a revival of the Arena Football League brought it the Minnesota Myth, a team which played only two games (one at Target Center) before folding themselves.

Players

Final roster

Coaches

Coaching staff

1996 season results

Arena Bowl ChampionsConference ChampionsDivision ChampionsWild Card BerthLeague Leader
SeasonTeamLeagueConferenceDivisionRegular seasonPostseason results
FinishWinsLossesTies
19961996AFLAmericanWestern4th4100
Totals4100All-time regular season record (1996)
00-All-time postseason record (1996)
4100All-time regular season and postseason record (1996)
DateOpponentHome/AwayResult
April 27Texas TerrorAwayW 36–24
May 4Iowa BarnstormersHomeL 43–59
May 10St. Louis StampedeHomeL 22–59
May 18Albany FirebirdsAwayL 30–85
May 24Tampa Bay StormHomeL 16–41
May 31Anaheim PiranhasHomeL 23–49
June 7Arizona RattlersHomeL 27–59
June 15Florida BobcatsAwayL 28–63
June 28Milwaukee MustangsHomeL 49–61
July 5Connecticut CoyotesAwayW 44–40
July 12Orlando PredatorsAwayL 12–56
July 19Texas TerrorHomeL 51–54
July 26San Jose SaberCatsAwayW 40–31
August 3Memphis PharaohsAwayW 50–25

Statistics

Team leaders

Offense

Passing

Place Player Name Completions Attempts Comp% Yards TD's INT's Rating
1 224 443 50.6% 2269 40 16 73.1
2 40 75 53.3% 484 7 8 57.2

Rushing

Place Player Name Car Yards Avg TD's
1 22 26 1.2 0
2 11 19 1.7 0
3 5 18 3.6 0
4 17 17 1 4
5 6 12 2 0
6 3 12 4 0
7 8 9 1.1 0
8 2 8 4 0
9 1 2 2 0
10 1 2 2 0
11 3 −2 −0.7 0

Receiving

Place Player Name Rec. Yards Avg TD's
1 79 964 12.2 17
2 69 971 14 19
3 29 230 7.9 0
4 22 275 12.5 6
5 15 164 10.9 1
6 15 128 8.5 1
7 9 96 10.6 0
8 8 83 10.4 1
9 5 22 4.4 0
10 3 43 14.3 0
11 2 53 26.5 1
12 2 23 11.5 0
13 2 15 7.5 0
14 2 14 7 0
15 1 45 45 1
16 1 14 14 0
17 1 7 7 0
18 1 5 5 0

Touchdowns

Place Player Name TD's Rush Rec Ret Pts
1 19 0 19 0 114
2 17 0 17 0 102
2 6 0 6 0 36
4 4 4 0 0 24
5 2 0 0 2 12
6 1 0 1 0 6
7 1 0 1 0 6
8 1 0 1 0 6
9 1 0 1 0 6
10 1 0 1 0 6

Defense

Place Player Name Tackles Solo Assisted Sack Solo Assisted INT Yards TD's Long
1 52.5 49 7 0 0 0 2 0 0
2 43.5 41 5 0 0 0 1 10 0
3 41 37 8 0 0 0 7 29 2
4 28.5 27 3 0 0 0 2 42 1
5 25 19 12 1.5 1 1 0 0 0
6 23 19 8 4.5 4 1 0 0 0
7 22.5 21 3 0 0 0 0 0 0
8 21.5 18 7 4 4 0 0 0 0
9 19 18 2 0 0 0 0 0 0
10 16 15 2 0 0 0 0 0 0
11 15.5 13 5 0 0 0 0 0 0
12 14.5 12 5 0 0 0 0 0 0
13 11.5 11 1 0 0 0 1 13 0
14 10 8 4 0 0 0 0 0 0
15 9.5 9 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
16 9 8 2 0 0 0 0 0 0
17 8 7 2 0 0 0 0 0 0
18 6.5 6 1 0 0 0 1 21 0
19 5 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
20 4 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
21 4 3 2 0 0 0 0 0 0
22 4 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
23 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
24 2 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
25 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
26 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
27 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
28 1.5 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
22 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
23 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
24 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Special teams

Kick return

Place Player Name Ret Yards TD's Long Avg Ret Yards TD's Long Avg
1 52 951 0
2 22 393 2
3 3 23 0
4 2 26 0
5 2 9 0
6 2 0 0
7 1 0 0

Kicking

Place Player Name Extra pt. Extra pt. Att. FG FGA Pct. Pts
1 37 43 16 52 30.8 87
2 7 10 2 6 33.3 13

1996 regular season

Week 1: vs Texas Terror

at The Summit, Houston, Texas

Attendance: 4,520

Week 2: vs Iowa Barnstormers

at the Target Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota

Attendance: 14,840

Week 3: vs St. Louis Stampede

at the Target Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota

Attendance: 8,726

Week 4: vs Albany Firebirds

at the Times Union Center, Albany, New York

Attendance: 11,712

Week 5: vs Tampa Bay Storm

at the Target Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota

Attendance: 7,781

Week 6: vs Anaheim Piranhas

at the Target Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota

Attendance: 8,117

Week 7: vs Arizona Rattlers

at the Target Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota

Attendance: 8,207

Week 8: vs Florida Bobcats

at the West Palm Beach Auditorium, West Palm Beach, Florida

Attendance: 4,450

Week 10: vs Milwaukee Mustangs

at the Target Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota

Attendance: 7,207

Week 11: vs Connecticut Coyotes

at the Hartford Civic Center, Hartford, Connecticut

Attendance: 9,249

Week 12: vs Orlando Predators

at the Amway Arena, Orlando, Florida

Attendance: 15,107

Week 13: vs Texas Terror

at the Target Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota

Attendance: 7,380

Week 14: vs San Jose SaberCats

at the HP Pavilion, San Jose, California

Attendance: 14,901

Week 15: vs Memphis Pharaohs

at the BancorpSouth Arena, Tupelo, Mississippi

Attendance: 4,520

Other media

Notes

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Top 25 Team Names in Arena Football History . February 16, 2012 . Arena Football League . www.arenafootball.com . August 17, 2012.
  2. News: Transactions . November 10, 1995 . Hartford Courant . August 13, 2012.
  3. Web site: A Return Of The Minnesota Fighting Pike? . July 5, 2007 . Real Clear Sports . www.realclearsports.com . Anthony Hall . August 13, 2012.
  4. News: Coach tells Pike: This I don't like, I'm takin' a hike; `They weren't my kind of folks,' says Haege. . https://web.archive.org/web/20160409082906/https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-62623401.html . dead . April 9, 2016 . January 17, 1996 . The Star Tribune . Dan Barrerio . August 13, 2012.
  5. Web site: Minnesota Fighting Pike history - 1996 . Arena Fan . www.arenafan.com . August 13, 2012.

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