Savannah Steam

Savannah Steam

Founded	2013
Current season	2016
League	X-League (2014) AIF (2015–2016) EIF (Beginning in 2017)
Division	Southern (2016)
Team history	Pennsylvania Steam (2014) Savannah Steam (2014–present)
Based in	Reading, Pennsylvania (2014) Richmond Hill, Georgia (2014–2015) Savannah, Georgia (2016–present)
Arena	DeVaul Henderson Park (2015) Savannah Civic Center (2016)
Colors	Red, White, Black, Grey
Owner(s)	Bobby Dammarell
Head coach	Bobby Dammarell
General Manager	Jenny Dammarell
Playoff berths	(1) (2016)
Website	Steam website

The Savannah Steam are a professional indoor football team based in Savannah, Georgia. The Steam are currently announced as a member of Elite Indoor Football (EIF) for 2017.

The Steam joined X-League Indoor Football in 2013, as the Pennsylvania Steam based in Reading, Pennsylvania. Midway through the 2014 season, the Steam were sold to a Georgia ownership group, who moved the franchise to Savannah during the regular season. Following the 2014 season, the Steam joined American Indoor Football (AIF) for the 2015 season. After the 2016 season, the AIF folded leaving the Steam to search for a new league.

The Steam most recently played their home games at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Arena at the Savannah Civic Center. However, the City of Savannah has stated in 2016 that the Steam cannot return unless they pay all money owed to the city prior to returning.

Franchise history

It was announced in October 2013, that the Pennsylvania Steam would be joining X-League Indoor Football for its inaugural 2014 season, playing their home games at Santander Arena in Reading, Pennsylvania under head coach Shane Houser.^[1]

2014 season

After playing one road game as the Pennsylvania Steam, the franchise was sold by Missouri Sports Holdings to an ownership group led by Bobby Dammarell in Savannah, Georgia. The team played their remaining three road games as the Savannah Steam, while the four home games that were scheduled to take place in Reading, Pennsylvania were cancelled and counted as wins for the opposing teams.^[2][3][4]

2015 season

It was announced in December 2014, that the Savannah Steam were joining American Indoor Football for the 2015 season, playing their home games at Tiger Arena.^[5] However, the Steam eventually played their home games at DeVaul Henderson Park, an outdoor park in Richmond Hill, Georgia. They finished the regular season 5-2, failing to qualify for the playoffs.

2016 season

For 2016, the Steam announced that they would be playing at the Savannah Civic Center.^[6] The team would run into severe financial troubles during this season with over $20,000 owed in rent for the use of the Civic Center and several unpaid sponsors. Eventually, the unpaid sponsors took their claims to the local sheriff's department in order to initiate an investigation and obtain the fees they were owed.^[7] In June 2016, general manager Jenny Dammarrel, wife of owner/head coach Bobby Dammarrel, first filed for Chapter 13 bankruptcy and then was later jailed after being charged with deposit account fraud for bad checks issued to players and staff.^[8] Despite the 2016 season's financial difficulties, a 3-5 record, and no wins over another AIF team (one forfeit win, one loss reversed based on ineligible players, and one win over a local semi-professional team), the Steam were still invited to the AIF playoffs against the Florida Tarpons. The Steam replaced the Myrtle Beach Freedom when the Freedom were asked to play against the West Michigan Ironmen when they lost their playoff opponent.

2017 season

On July 18, 2016, the AIF announced it had ceased operations. On August 4, the Steam announced they were accepted into the new Elite Indoor Football.^[9] In fact, Elite Indoor Football is based at the same office in the Savannah suburb of Ellabell^[10] and its President is Robert Dammarell,^[11] also owner of the Steam, indicating that (like the Cape Fear Heroes did in creating Supreme Indoor Football) Dammarell and the Steam created their own league.

On August 17, 2016, the City of Savannah made it clear that the Steam could not return to the Civic Center for home games unless the Dammarrels paid all money owed to the city from the previous season; in any event, the Coastal Outlaws of United States Indoor Football had already secured a lease on the Savannah Civic Center.^[12]

Notable players

Current roster

Savannah Steam roster
Quarterbacks 15 Alexander Davis 11 George Grant Running Backs 24 Ken Middleton  7 Deveon Braithwaite Wide Receivers 18 Courtney Brantley  3 Lee Dorsey  8 Napoleon Scott 13 Kevin Williams		Offensive Linemen 77 E. J. Clowers 46 Shawn Martinez 72 Robert McCoy 55 Terrance Williams Defensive Linemen  9 Reggie Givens 52 Michael McCain 66 Brandon Thomas		Linebackers 44 Jarod Elser 33 Glen Pond 42 Nate Scola Defensive Backs  2 Devonte Green 10 Eric Maxwell  5 Dominique Reynolds  6 Jamahl Street Kickers Currently vacant		Injured Reserve Currently vacant Transfer List Currently vacant Refuse to Report Currently vacant Rookies in italics Roster updated May 25, 2016 22 Active, 0 Inactive → More rosters

All-League players

The following Steam players have been named to All-League Teams:

• WR Kelvin Irving (1)

Coaches

Head coaches

Note: Statistics are correct through the end of the 2016 American Indoor Football season.

Name	Term	Regular Season				Playoffs		Awards
		W	L	T	Win%	W	L
Shane Houser	2014	0	8	0	.000	0	0
Bobby Dammarell	2015-present	9	7	0	.563	0	1

Current staff

Savannah Steam staff
	Front Office Chief Executive Officer/Owner - Bobby Dammarell General Manager - Jenny Dammarell Director of Football Operations - Shawn Martinez Director of Design & Advertising - Chris Parys Director of Sales - Dewitt Maddox			Head Coach Head Coach – Bobby Dammarell Offensive Coaches Offensive Coordinator - Tario Washington Offensive Line – Myron Toles Jr Defensive Coaches Defensive Coordinator – Donterrish Prayor Special Teams Coaches Special Teams - Joe Levy Williams

Statistics and records

Season-by-season results

Note: The Finish, Wins, Losses, and Ties columns list regular season results and exclude any postseason play.

League Champions

Conference Champions

Division Champions

Wild Card Berth

League Leader

Season	Team	League	Conference	Division	Regular season				Postseason Results
					Finish	Wins	Losses	Ties
2014	2014	XLIF			5th	0	8	0
2015	2015	AIF			5th	6	2	0
2016	2016	AIF		Southern	4th	3	5	0	Lost Division Semifinals (Tarpons) 20-71
Totals						9	15	0	All-time regular season record (2014-2016)
						0	1	—	All-time postseason record (2014-2016)
						9	16	0	All-time regular season and postseason record (2014-2016)

References

1. "X-LEAGUE ADDS PENNSYLVANIA STEAM". xleaguefootball.com. October 15, 2013. Archived from the original on December 28, 2014. Retrieved December 27, 2014.
2. Rippey, Brian (April 10, 2014). "Pennsylvania Steam sold, leaves Reading". readingeagle.com. Retrieved December 27, 2014.
3. "Savannah Steam Schedule". oursportscentral.com. Archived from the original on December 28, 2014. Retrieved December 27, 2014.
4. Curl, Eric (July 8, 2014). "Pro indoor football coming to Savannah". savannahnow.com. Archived from the original on December 28, 2014. Retrieved December 27, 2014.
5. "American Indoor Football Comes to Savannah". oursportscentral.com. December 23, 2014. Archived from the original on December 28, 2014. Retrieved December 27, 2014.
6. "INDOOR FOOTBALL: Savannah Steam to play home opener at Civic Center on Saturday". www.savannahnow.com. Savannah Morning News. March 25, 2016. Retrieved March 25, 2016.
7. "Sheriff's Could Get Involved in Savannah Steam Money Troubles". WSAV News 3. May 10, 2016.
8. "Lions steer clear of troubled franchises in AIF". Ledger-Enquirer. June 28, 2016.
9. "Steam Announce Memberbership (sic) in EIF". EIF. August 4, 2016.
10. Both the Steam and EIF list the same phone number as their own.
11. http://www.eiffootball.com/about/eif-front-office.html
12. "Savannah could soon have Two Indoor Football Teams". WSAV-TV. August 17, 2016.