Colorado Crush (IFL)

{{short description|Indoor football team}} {{for|the defunct Arena Football League franchise|Colorado Crush}} {{Use American English|date=March 2026}} {{Use mdy dates|date=May 2025}} {{Infobox indoor American football team | name = Colorado Crush | current = | logo = ColoradoCrush.png | founded = {{start date|2006}} | folded = {{end date|2017}} | city = Budweiser Events Center<br>in Loveland, Colorado | misc = {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20161129191637/http://coloradocrushfootball.com/home/ ColoradoCrushFootball.com]}} | uniform = | colors = Navy blue, orange, Carolina blue, white<br />{{color box|#00274B}} {{color box|#E46F3B}} {{color box|#77B6D7}} {{color box|white}} | coach = Marvin Jones | owner = Project Fanchise | chairman = | president = | general manager = | mascot = Ambush | cheerleaders = Titan Dolls | nicknames = | league = United Indoor Football (2007–2008) * Western Division (2007–2008) Indoor Football League ({{IFL Year|2009}}–{{IFL Year|2017}}) * Intense Conference (2009) ** Pacific Division (2009) * United Conference (2010) ** Central West Division (2010) * Intense Conference (2011–2017) ** Mountain West Division (2011) | team_history = *Colorado Ice (2006–2015) *Colorado Crush (2016–2017) | no_league_champs = | no_conf_champs = | no_div_champs = 1 | league_champs = | conf_champs = | div_champs = '''Mountain West:''' 2011 | playoff_appearances = '''UIF:''' 2007, '''IFL:''' 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 | no_playoff_appearances = 6 | arena_years = *Budweiser Events Center (2007–2017) }}

The '''Colorado Crush''' were a professional indoor football team. The Crush played its home games at the Budweiser Events Center in Loveland, Colorado, outside Fort Collins.

The Crush began play in 2007 as the '''Colorado Ice''', an expansion member of United Indoor Football (UIF) and joined the Indoor Football League as part of the UIF-Intense Football League merger of 2009. Ahead of the 2016 season, the team changed its name to the '''Colorado Crush''', after the John Elway-owned team of the same name that played in the Arena Football League from 2003 until its suspension of operations in 2008. Despite the same name, this Crush organization is not connected to the original.<ref name="crushbegin">{{cite web | url=http://goifl.com/sports/fball/2014-15/releases/20150715zpxpvt | title=Introducing the Colorado Crush | publisher=Indoor Football League | work=GoIFL.com | date=July 15, 2015 | accessdate=July 15, 2015 | archive-date=July 16, 2015 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150716150020/http://goifl.com/sports/fball/2014-15/releases/20150715zpxpvt | url-status=dead }}</ref>

==History== In July 2006, Colorado real estate executive, Danny DeGrande, was awarded an expansion franchise of United Indoor Football to begin play in 2007.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.denverpost.com/ci_4066645?source=rss |title="Ice" to join Colorado's team ranks |author=Andy Vuong |date=July 18, 2006 |publisher=The Denver Post |work=www.denverpost.com |accessdate=April 9, 2014}}</ref> The Ice were a sub-.500 team during their first four years of existence but still managed to make the playoffs twice in 2007 and 2009.

On April 1, 2010, Tom Wigley was announced as the new owner of the Ice.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.oursportscentral.com/services/releases/colorado-ice-announces-new-owner/n-3983517 |title=Colorado Ice Announces New Owner |date=April 1, 2010 |publisher=OurSports Central |work=www.oursportscentral.com |accessdate=February 18, 2017}}</ref> The 2011 season saw an overhaul of the team's roster and a reversal of its fortunes as the Ice began the season with seven straight wins and finished with an 11–3 record plus the Mountain West Division title and their first winning season. The Ice fell to the Tri-Cities Fever in the first round of the playoffs. This was Collins Sanders' last season as head coach before his promotion to general manager in 2012.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.reporterherald.com/ci_18433579 |title=Ice make changes; O'Neal new head coach |author=Mike Brohard |date=July 7, 2011 |publisher=Loveland Reporter-Herald |work=www.reporterherald.com |accessdate=April 9, 2014}}</ref>

In 2012, Heron O'Neal was hired as head coach. They recorded an 8–6 record and reached the playoffs but lost to the Tri-Cities Fever in the first round. O'Neal returned as head coach for 2013 and a strong start with three consecutive home wins. Both of the Ice's 2012 All-IFL Team players returned for the 2013 season.

Heron O'Neal returned as head coach for a third season in 2014.<ref>{{cite news |newspaper=Fort Collins Coloradoan |location=Fort Collins, CO |publisher=Gannett Company |title=Colorado Ice announce 2014 coaching staff |url=http://www.coloradoan.com/article/20130905/SPORTS/309050063/Briefs-Colorado-Ice-announce-2014-coaching-staff |date=September 6, 2013 |accessdate=January 29, 2014}}</ref> From 2011 to 2014, the team made the playoffs for four straight seasons but remained winless in the postseason. They competed Intense Conference Championship game in back-to-back seasons, losing both to the Nebraska Danger.

On July 15, 2015, the Colorado Ice became the new Colorado Crush one year after the trademark for the original AFL franchise name expired. On March 7, 2016, owner Thomas Wigley announced the team was for sale after he was diagnosed as terminally ill.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.oursportscentral.com/services/releases/colorado-crush-owner-ill-team-for-sale/n-5108671 |title=Colorado Crush Owner Ill, Team for Sale |publisher=OurSportsCentral |date=March 7, 2016}}</ref> Wigley assured that the team would finish 2016 season, but due to his health he would not be able to continue operations himself. In October 2016, the Crush's new owners were announced as Project FANchise,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.goifl.com/sports/fball/2015-16/releases/20161020t06be6 |title=Colorado Crush Acquires New Ownership |date=October 17, 2016 |publisher=OurSports Central |work=www.goifl.com |accessdate=March 10, 2017 |archive-date=March 12, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170312055743/http://www.goifl.com/sports/fball/2015-16/releases/20161020t06be6 |url-status=dead }}</ref> a group that also started the 2017 expansion Salt Lake Screaming Eagles. Project FANchise-owned teams planned to be operated in conjunction with fan input by allowing them vote on every aspect of the team including hiring the head coach, signing players, and calling plays.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.oursportscentral.com/services/releases/project-fanchise-launches-first-ever-fan-run-pro-sports-team/n-5129780 |title=Project FANchise Launches First-Ever Fan-Run Pro Sports Team |publisher=OurSports Central |date=April 21, 2016}}</ref> Due to purchasing the team late in the offseason, this system was not implemented for the Crush in the 2017 season. However, during their first season under Project FANchise, it was announced that FANchise was planning its own league for the 2018 season, called the Interactive Football League, and would not be operating any teams in the Indoor Football League.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-football-video-games-can-get-more-realistic-real-humans-1492713713?tesla=y |title=How Can Football Video Games Get More Realistic? Real Humans |newspaper=The Wall Street Journal |date=April 20, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.oursportscentral.com/services/releases/weekly-sports-league--franchise-report/n-5252016 |title=WEEKLY SPORTS LEAGUE & FRANCHISE REPORT |publisher=OurSports Central |date=April 24, 2017}}</ref> After the 2017 season ended, the Crush website was shut down and no formal announcement on the team's future was made.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.coloradoan.com/story/sports/2017/09/27/colorado-crush-indoor-football-franchise-apparently-folds/708227001/ |title=Colorado Crush indoor football franchise apparently folds |work=Coloradoan |date=September 27, 2017}}</ref>

==Players== {{seealso|Category:Colorado Crush (IFL) players}}

===Awards and honors=== The following is a list of all Ice/Crush players who have won league Awards

===All-IFL players=== The following Ice players were named to All-IFL teams: * '''QB''' Willie Copeland (1) * '''WR''' Kyle Kaiser (4), Demarius Washington (1) * '''OL''' Collin Cordell (1), Michael Trice (2), James Atoe (1) * '''DL''' Gabe Knapton (1), Michael Stover (1), Jason Jones (1) * '''LB''' Landon Jones (1) * '''LB/DB''' Joe Thornton (1) * '''DB''' Idly Etienne (1), Jovan Jackson (1), Corey Sample (2), Rashard Smith (1) * '''K''' Aric Goodman (1) * '''KR''' Daniel Lindsey (1) * '''Ironman''' Eryk Anders (1)

===Individual awards=== {{col-begin}} {{col-3}}

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" |- | colspan="4" style="{{NFLPrimaryStyle|Colorado Crush}};"| '''Defensive Rookie of the Year''' |- ! style="width:50px; {{NFLAltPrimaryStyle|Colorado Crush}};"| Season ! style="width:150px; {{NFLAltPrimaryStyle|Colorado Crush}};"| Player ! style="width:100px; {{NFLAltPrimaryStyle|Colorado Crush}};"| Position |- |{{IFL Year|2010}}||Landon Jones<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.oursportscentral.com/services/releases/colorado-ice-linebacker-named-ifl-defensive-rookie-of-the-year/n-4034160 |title=Colorado Ice Linebacker Named IFL Defensive Rookie of the Year |date=June 23, 2010 |publisher=OurSports Central |work=www.oursportscentral.com |accessdate=February 18, 2017}}</ref>||LB |}

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" |- | colspan="4" style="{{NFLPrimaryStyle|Colorado Crush}};"| '''Most Improved Player''' |- ! style="width:50px; {{NFLAltPrimaryStyle|Colorado Crush}};"| Season ! style="width:150px; {{NFLAltPrimaryStyle|Colorado Crush}};"| Player ! style="width:100px; {{NFLAltPrimaryStyle|Colorado Crush}};"| Position |- |{{IFL Year|2011}}||David Knighton||QB |}

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" |- | colspan="4" style="{{NFLPrimaryStyle|Colorado Crush}};"| '''Most Valuable Player''' |- ! style="width:50px; {{NFLAltPrimaryStyle|Colorado Crush}};"| Season ! style="width:150px; {{NFLAltPrimaryStyle|Colorado Crush}};"| Player ! style="width:100px; {{NFLAltPrimaryStyle|Colorado Crush}};"| Position |- |{{IFL Year|2014}}||Willie Copeland||QB |}

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" |- | colspan="4" style="{{NFLPrimaryStyle|Colorado Crush}};"| '''Offensive Player of the Year''' |- ! style="width:50px; {{NFLAltPrimaryStyle|Colorado Crush}};"| Season ! style="width:150px; {{NFLAltPrimaryStyle|Colorado Crush}};"| Player ! style="width:100px; {{NFLAltPrimaryStyle|Colorado Crush}};"| Position |- |{{IFL Year|2016}}||Demarius Washington||WR |}

==Statistics and records==

===Season-by-season results===

{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:75%;" |- | style="text-align:center; background:#fcc;"|'''League Champions''' | style="text-align:center; background:#dfd;"|'''Conference Champions''' | style="text-align:center; background:#d0e7ff;"|'''Division Champions''' | style="text-align:center; background:#96cdcd;"|'''Wild Card Berth''' | style="text-align:center; background:#c8a2c8;"|'''League Leader''' |}

{| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 95%;" |- !rowspan="2" | Season !rowspan="2" | Team !rowspan="2" | League !rowspan="2" | Conference !rowspan="2" | Division !colspan="4" | Regular season !rowspan="2" | Postseason results |- !Finish !Wins !Losses !Ties |-background:#fcc;" ! style="text-align:center;"| 2007 | style="text-align:center;"| 2007 | style="text-align:center;"| UIF | style="text-align:center;"| | style="text-align:center;"| Western | style="text-align:center; background:#96cdcd;"| 3rd | style="text-align:center;"| 6 | style="text-align:center;"| 9 | style="text-align:center;"| 0 |'''Lost''' Western Division Semifinals (Sioux Falls) 16–44 |-background:#fcc;" ! style="text-align:center;"| 2008 | style="text-align:center;"| 2008 | style="text-align:center;"| UIF | style="text-align:center;"| | style="text-align:center;"| Western | style="text-align:center;"| 4th | style="text-align:center;"| 6 | style="text-align:center;"| 8 | style="text-align:center;"| 0 | |-background:#fcc;" ! style="text-align:center;"| 2009 | style="text-align:center;"| 2009 | style="text-align:center;"| IFL | style="text-align:center;"| Intense | style="text-align:center;"| Pacific | style="text-align:center; background:#96cdcd;"| 3rd | style="text-align:center;"| 5 | style="text-align:center;"| 9 | style="text-align:center;"| 0 |'''Lost''' Wild Card (Fairbanks) 14–42 |-background:#fcc;" ! style="text-align:center;"| 2010 | style="text-align:center;"| 2010 | style="text-align:center;"| IFL | style="text-align:center;"| United | style="text-align:center;"| Central West | style="text-align:center;"| 5th | style="text-align:center;"| 2 | style="text-align:center;"| 12 | style="text-align:center;"| 0 | |-background:#fcc;" ! style="text-align:center;"| 2011 | style="text-align:center;"| 2011 | style="text-align:center;"| IFL | style="text-align:center;"| Intense | style="text-align:center; background:#d0e7ff;"| Mountain West | style="text-align:center;"| 1st | style="text-align:center;"| 11 | style="text-align:center;"| 3 | style="text-align:center;"| 0 |'''Lost''' Intense Conference Semifinals (Tri-Cities) 42–45 |-background:#fcc;" ! style="text-align:center;"| 2012 | style="text-align:center;"| 2012 | style="text-align:center;"| IFL | style="text-align:center;"| Intense | style="text-align:center;"| | style="text-align:center; background:#96cdcd;"| 4th | style="text-align:center;"| 8 | style="text-align:center;"| 6 | style="text-align:center;"| 0 |'''Lost''' Intense Conference Semifinals (Tri-Cities) 43–52 |-background:#fcc;" ! style="text-align:center;"| 2013 | style="text-align:center;"| 2013 | style="text-align:center;"| IFL | style="text-align:center;"| Intense | style="text-align:center;"| | style="text-align:center; background:#96cdcd;"| 2nd | style="text-align:center;"| 9 | style="text-align:center;"| 5 | style="text-align:center;"| 0 |'''Lost''' Intense Conference Championship (Nebraska) 50–55 |-background:#fcc;" ! style="text-align:center;"| 2014 | style="text-align:center;"| 2014 | style="text-align:center;"| IFL | style="text-align:center;"| Intense | style="text-align:center;"| | style="text-align:center;"| 1st | style="text-align:center;"| 10 | style="text-align:center;"| 4 | style="text-align:center;"| 0 |'''Lost''' Intense Conference Championship (Nebraska) 15–45 |- ! style="text-align:center;"| 2015 | style="text-align:center;"| 2015 | style="text-align:center;"| IFL | style="text-align:center;"| Intense | style="text-align:center;"| | style="text-align:center;"| 3rd | style="text-align:center;"| 6 | style="text-align:center;"| 8 | style="text-align:center;"| 0 | |- ! style="text-align:center;"| 2016 | style="text-align:center;"| 2016 | style="text-align:center;"| IFL | style="text-align:center;"| Intense | style="text-align:center;"| | style="text-align:center;"| 4th | style="text-align:center;"| 4 | style="text-align:center;"| 12 | style="text-align:center;"| 0 | |- ! style="text-align:center;"| 2017 | style="text-align:center;"| 2017 | style="text-align:center;"| IFL | style="text-align:center;"| Intense | style="text-align:center;"| | style="text-align:center;"| 4th | style="text-align:center;"| 3 | style="text-align:center;"| 13 | style="text-align:center;"| 0 | |- ! style="text-align:center;" rowspan="5" colspan="6"|Totals ! style="text-align:center;"|'''70''' ! style="text-align:center;"|'''89''' ! style="text-align:center;"|'''0''' ! style="text-align:center;" colspan="3"|'''All-time regular season record (2007–2017)''' |- style="text-align:center;" |'''0''' |'''6''' |— | colspan="3"|'''All-time postseason record (2007–2017)''' |- ! style="text-align:center;"|'''70''' ! style="text-align:center;"|'''95''' ! style="text-align:center;"|'''0''' ! style="text-align:center;" colspan="3"|'''All-time regular season and postseason record (2007–2017)''' |}

===Head coach records=== {| class="wikitable" |- ! rowspan="2" style="width:140px;"|Name ! rowspan="2" | Term ! colspan="4" | Regular season ! colspan="2" | Playoffs ! rowspan="2" | Awards |- ! W ! L ! T ! Win% ! W ! L |- | style="text-align:center;"|Collins Sanders | style="text-align:center;"|2007–{{IFL Year|2011}} | style="text-align:center;"|30 | style="text-align:center;"|41 | style="text-align:center;"|0 | style="text-align:center;"|{{winperc|30|41}} | style="text-align:center;"|0 | style="text-align:center;"|3 | style="text-align:center;"| |- | style="text-align:center;"|Heron O'Neal | style="text-align:center;"|{{IFL Year|2012}}–{{IFL Year|2016}} | style="text-align:center;"|37 | style="text-align:center;"|35 | style="text-align:center;"|0 | style="text-align:center;"|{{winperc|37|35}} | style="text-align:center;"|0 | style="text-align:center;"|3 | style="text-align:center;"|IFL Coach of the Year ({{IFL Year|2014}}) |- | style="text-align:center;"|Jose Jefferson | style="text-align:center;"|{{IFL Year|2017}} | style="text-align:center;"|2 | style="text-align:center;"|6 | style="text-align:center;"|0 | style="text-align:center;"|{{winperc|2|6}} | style="text-align:center;"|0 | style="text-align:center;"|0 | style="text-align:center;"| |- | style="text-align:center;"|Marvin Jones | style="text-align:center;"|{{IFL Year|2017}} | style="text-align:center;"|1 | style="text-align:center;"|7 | style="text-align:center;"|0 | style="text-align:center;"|{{winperc|1|7}} | style="text-align:center;"|0 | style="text-align:center;"|0 | style="text-align:center;"| |}

==Radio== Games and weekly coach's show are broadcast on KFKA (1310 AM).

==References== {{reflist|30em}}

==External links== * {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20170613100241/http://coloradocrushfootball.com/home/ Colorado Crush official website]}}

Category:Colorado Crush (IFL) Category:United Indoor Football teams Category:Former Indoor Football League teams Category:Sports in Fort Collins, Colorado Category:Loveland, Colorado Category:American football teams in Colorado Category:2006 establishments in Colorado Category:American football teams established in 2006 Category:2017 disestablishments in Colorado Category:American football teams disestablished in 2017