New England Steamrollers

The New England Steamrollers were a former Arena Football League team based in Providence, Rhode Island. The team played in the AFL's 1988 season. The Steamrollers were one of four teams to enter the AFL in 1988, and along with the New York Knights and Los Angeles Cobras were folded following the season.

The Steamrollers were based out of Providence, Rhode Island and played their home games at the Providence Civic Center. They were the first professional football team of any kind to play in Providence since the Providence Steam Roller folded in 1933 and the first non-minor league professional sports franchise to play in the city since the NBA's Providence Steamrollers folded in 1949.

The coach of the Steamrollers was former Boston Patriots All-Pro quarterback Babe Parilli.

History

{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}} In 1988, Concert and fight promoter, Frank J. Russo, and jeweler, Robert Andreoli, purchased a limited partnership from the Arena Football League to own the rights to a Providence, Rhode Island team.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The team's first move was the hiring of Head Coach, Babe Parilli in March.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> After a 3-9 season, the Steamrollers didn't achieve the dollar amount that Russo and Andreoli thought they would, and the franchise folded.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Notable players

Arena Football League Hall of Famers

New England Steamrollers Hall of Famers
No.	Name	Year inducted	Position(s)	Years w/ Steamrollers
68	Sylvester Bembery	2011	OL/DL	1988

All-Arena players

The following Steamrollers players were named to All-Arena Teams:

• WR/DB Jim Hockaday
• OL/DL Sylvester Bembery, Kevin Murphy

Head coaches

Name	Term	Regular season				Playoffs		Awards
		W	L	T	Win%	W	L
Babe Parilli	Template:AFL Year	3	9	0	Template:Winperc	0	0

Season-by-season

Template:Start NFL SBS |- |1988 || 3 || 9 || 0 || 5th || -- |}

External links

• New England Steamrollers at ArenaFan.com