New England Surge
Encyclopedia
The Surge played home games at the DCU Center
DCU Center
The DCU Center is an indoor arena and convention center complex, located in downtown Worcester, Massachusetts....
in downtown Worcester, Massachusetts
Worcester, Massachusetts
Worcester is a city and the county seat of Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. Named after Worcester, England, as of the 2010 Census the city's population is 181,045, making it the second largest city in New England after Boston....
.. On April 24, 2007, only four games into the team's first season, head coach Rick Buffington was fired, replaced by team president Roy Lucas Jr..
The team shut down its operations after the 2008 season.
Season-by-season
|-|2007 || 8 || 4 || 0 || 2nd Atlantic || Won AD Semifinal (Lehigh Valley
Lehigh Valley Outlawz
The Lehigh Valley Outlawz are a former professional Indoor Football League team. They played their home games at the Stabler Arena on the campus of Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.- History :...
)
Lost AD Championship (Rochester
Rochester Raiders
The Rochester Raiders are a professional indoor football team based in the Rochester, New York area. They are currently a member of the Indoor Football League and play their home games at the Dome Arena in the suburb of Henrietta...
)
|-
|2008 || 8 || 3 || 0 || 1st Atlantic East || Lost AD East Finals (Lehigh Valley
Lehigh Valley Outlawz
The Lehigh Valley Outlawz are a former professional Indoor Football League team. They played their home games at the Stabler Arena on the campus of Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.- History :...
)
|-
!Totals || 17 || 9 || 0
|colspan="2"| (including playoffs)
2007 season
The Surge started their inaugural season by losing their first two games before Defeating New York/New Jersey by a score of 61-6 in front of a home crowd of 4,724 fans. However following a 1-3 start, team owner Roy Lucas Jr. fired Rick Buffington and named himself as coach. The team would dramatically improve under Lucas winning 7 of their final 8 games en route to a #2 seed in the playoffs. The Surge would defeat the Lehigh Valley OutlawzLehigh Valley Outlawz
The Lehigh Valley Outlawz are a former professional Indoor Football League team. They played their home games at the Stabler Arena on the campus of Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.- History :...
58-34 in the Atlantic Division Semifinal game before losing 80-45 to the Rochester Raiders
Rochester Raiders
The Rochester Raiders are a professional indoor football team based in the Rochester, New York area. They are currently a member of the Indoor Football League and play their home games at the Dome Arena in the suburb of Henrietta...
in the Championship game.
Notable players
- Harold Shaw, former New England PatriotsNew England PatriotsThe New England Patriots, commonly called the "Pats", are a professional football team based in the Greater Boston area, playing their home games in the town of Foxborough, Massachusetts at Gillette Stadium. The team is part of the East Division of the American Football Conference in the National...
running backRunning backA running back is a gridiron football position, who is typically lined up in the offensive backfield. The primary roles of a running back are to receive handoffs from the quarterback for a rushing play, to catch passes from out of the backfield, and to block.There are usually one or two running... - Tyler Grogan, son of former New England PatriotsNew England PatriotsThe New England Patriots, commonly called the "Pats", are a professional football team based in the Greater Boston area, playing their home games in the town of Foxborough, Massachusetts at Gillette Stadium. The team is part of the East Division of the American Football Conference in the National...
quarterbackQuarterbackQuarterback is a position in American and Canadian football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive team and line up directly behind the offensive line...
Steve GroganSteve GroganSteve James Grogan is a former American football quarterback for the New England Patriots of the National Football League. Grogan played for the Patriots for his entire NFL career, from 1975 to 1990.-High school and college:... - Marc Eddy
- Derek Stephens, Born in Worcester, he played 3 years at Linebacker for the Detroit LionsDetroit LionsThe Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit, Michigan. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League , and play their home games at Ford Field in Downtown Detroit.Originally based in Portsmouth, Ohio and...
of the NFL
2008 season
The Surge would start the 2008 season with a 5-0 record, highlighted by a dramatic 49-41 victory over the Chesapeake TideChesapeake Tide
The Maryland Maniacs are an Indoor Football team based in College Park, Maryland, the team plays its home games at Cole Field House. Inaugural season home games were held at The Show Place Arena...
and a ferocious rally to defeat the Flint Phantoms
Flint Phantoms
The Flint Phantoms were a team in the Continental Indoor Football League, playing in the 2008 season. They played their home games at the Perani Arena and Event Center, which was previously home to the Indoor Football League's Flint Flames in 2000, and the playoff home for the defunct Michigan...
49-48, before losing a 62-20 game against Rochester. They would finish the season with an 8-3 record and won the Atlantic Division East regular season title. They would go into the playoffs as the #1 seed. On the eve of their semifinal playoff matchup with the Lehigh Valley Outlawz
Lehigh Valley Outlawz
The Lehigh Valley Outlawz are a former professional Indoor Football League team. They played their home games at the Stabler Arena on the campus of Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.- History :...
, Offensive Coordinator
Offensive coordinator
An offensive coordinator is a member of the coaching staff of a gridiron football team who is in charge of the offense. Generally, along with his defensive counterpart, he represents the second level of command structure after the head coach...
Jerry Snay abruptly resigned from the team, stating that he had not been paid in two years. The Surge would go on to lose the game by a score of 27-21. This would end up being the last game played by the Surge.
Team demise
After only two years in existence as a franchise the team investors stated that the Surge had lost a total of about $577,000. Still on January 29, 2009 Lucas told the Worcester Telegram and Gazette, "we can guarantee there will be indoor football in Worcester in 2009." Shortly thereafter the investors voted 5-1 to remove Lucas as president. The same investors, mostly small business owners and retirees who borrowed some of the money they put up and had no experience in professional sports, allege that Mr. Lucas buried the team with sloppy bookkeeping, poor business practices and out-of-control spending on hotel rooms, restaurant tabs, rental cars, airline tickets and marketing expenses. The Surge announced that they would be leaving the CIFL and would be starting a new league (the United States Indoor Football League) along with the Lehigh Valley OutlawzLehigh Valley Outlawz
The Lehigh Valley Outlawz are a former professional Indoor Football League team. They played their home games at the Stabler Arena on the campus of Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.- History :...
. Three other teams were announced but despite promises, the league never produced a schedule and is presumed defunct.
Reasons cited for the huge losses include the $40,000 plus tab the team ran up the first season with the Hilton Garden Inn
Hilton Garden Inn
Hilton Garden Inn is a chain of hotels trademarked by the Hilton Worldwide. Hilton Garden Inns are considered to be upscale mid-priced hotels that are designed for both business and leisure travelers. The hotel brand is similar to that of the Courtyard by Marriott brand, a key competitor...
hotel to house players, as well as money for plane tickets. Several out of state players were brought in and housed in the hotel rather than the Surge using local talent. Others cite that Lucas took on too many duties when he named himself the team’s coach and tried to handle on-field duties and the general manager’s job at the same time. Last, the Surge spent the large amount of $107,000 in advertising costs in its first season. On April 3, 2009, Lucas notified The DCU Center that it would be voiding the third and final year on its lease with the Arena. Several court cases have been filed as investors, creditors as well as players and coaches have all attempted to recover money owed to them.