Boston Brawlers

Boston Brawlers
Founded2014
Folded2015
LeagueFall Experimental Football League (2014–2015)
Team historyBoston Brawlers (2014)
Mahoning Valley Brawlers (2015)
Based inBoston, Massachusetts
ArenaHarvard Stadium
ColorsMidnight Blue, Red, White
     
OwnerFall Experimental Football League
Head coachTerry Shea
General managerCory Bachman
Championships0
Conference titles0
Division titles0
Playoff berths0

The Boston Brawlers were a professional American football team based in Boston, Massachusetts. The team was based at Harvard Stadium in Boston as the Boston Brawlers, and were a charter member of the Fall Experimental Football League (FXFL), which tried to become the developmental league for the National Football League. Their primary colors were red, midnight blue and white, similar to Major League Baseball's Boston Red Sox, and its logo featured a mustachioed, bare-fisted boxer.

The team never found an owner willing to keep the team in Boston.[1] The league confirmed it would not return to Boston for the 2015 season,[2] reassigned coach Terry Shea to the Brooklyn Bolts, and relocated the franchise to Niles, Ohio, where the team was to be called the Mahoning Valley Brawlers, as the city is well known for boxing.[3] The Brawlers would have been the first outdoor professional football team to call the Mahoning Valley home since the Youngstown Patricians, a prominent team in the Ohio League of the 1910s. The team had hired Montreal Alouettes offensive coordinator Rick Worman to be head coach for the 2015 season.[4] However, on September 28, 2015, a week before the first scheduled game, the FXFL informed the Brawlers' franchisee (the Mahoning Valley Scrappers baseball team) that the Brawlers would not be taking part in the 2015 season.[5] The Scrappers indicated, while not revealing any details, that the league did not have enough money to operate four teams for the 2015 season.[6][7]

  1. ^ "In FXFL, Boston Brawlers keep NFL dreams alive". The Boston Globe. November 6, 2014. Retrieved November 6, 2014.
  2. ^ "FXFL satisfied with mini-season".
  3. ^ "FXFL franchise coming to the valley". 11 July 2015.
  4. ^ "Rick Worman Named Brawlers Head Coach for 2015 Season".
  5. ^ "Mahoning Valley Brawlers season canceled before it started". WFMJ. September 28, 2015.
  6. ^ Chapin, Doug (September 29, 2015). "Decision stuns Brawler officials". Warren Tribune Chronicle. Retrieved October 3, 2015.
  7. ^ Ex-Buc Josh Freeman tries to restart career in fledgling league. The New York Times. Retrieved October 5, 2015.