Grand Rapids Dragons

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Designed by tusk

The Grand Rapids Dragons (based in Grand Rapids, Michigan) were established in the UFFL in 2014. Their team colors are green, black (and sometimes red or yellow). Although they have not won any championships, they did well in the years under quarterback Terence Curran. The Dragons were known historically for being the friendliest towards accepting and drafting female athletes.

Twitter Account: @GRDragons_UFFL

Conference / Division Continental West
Home City Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA
Stadium Meijer Field (The Dragon's Lair)
Conference Championships 1 (2015)
FurBowl Championships 0


Management

Franchise Manager (IRL) Lazarus_Otter (FA)
General Manager (IC) Mara Cuthbert (Otter - Eurasian)
Head Coach Artemis McKeegan (Dragon, western)
Offensive Coordinator Harrison Bell (Zebra)
Defensive Coordinator Sierra Holden (Lion)
Special Teams Coordinator Kristiana Jakobsen (Norwegian elkhound)
GM Spreadsheet -Link here-

Stadium Capacity: 71,350
Colors*: Dark Myrtle Green (#183116), Red (#FF0000), Golden Yellow (#FFDF00), Ivory White (#FFFFF0)

2014 Season

Football in the West Michigan region was starting to build momentum with the Grand Rapids Foxes when the FAFF was forced to cease operations, and the unsuccessful merger of FAFF with the FFL left open a void in furry football.  When the United Furry Football League was announced, it was unknown whether or not the franchise would carry over as the previous ownership had intended to sell the franchise when it was clear that the previous league would not survive.

The franchise was purchased by Crocosaur Sports and Entertainment Ventures at a discounted price (which still to this day remains undisclosed) at the decision of rock 'n roll megastar Croco Chilton.  One of the first decisions made was a rebranding of the franchise, and various team names were thrown around and suggested before it would eventually be left to the fans.  Out of thousands of entries, there were several who chose Dragons and management decided upon that name.  "Dragons are fierce and noble creatures," the press release said, "who are diligent and steadfast, holding their ground on the defensive and never yielding an inch, while at same time attacking with unrelenting precision and fury.  Those are the principles upon which we shall build our club."

A new stadium would be built in the heart of downtown Grand Rapids to be ready for the 2014 season and named after the Meijer Brothers, a pair of influential business leaders and philanthropists native to the area who own and run a successful supermarket chain throughout the Great Lakes region.  With the excitement building to a fevered pitch, it wouldn't be until Week 3 that Meijer Field would see its first regular season game against the California Dons.  And while the first points of the new stadium would go to the Dons on a touchdown pass from Darnell Paige to Koriun Masquarde, the Grand Rapids faithful were starting to warm up to their new home.  The first points for the home team would come on an Earl Holley field goal, while the first Dragons touchdown would have to wait until the 4th quarter, when Vern McCauley, filling in for the injured Terence Curran, threw at 28-yard pass to Nathanael Mullen.  And even though the Dragons would lose by the score of 30-25, a few of the Dons players said after the game that it was a tough victory.  "They did a good job," one offensive lineman said, "It was loud, their fans were really in it, and we really had to work for that one."

The Dragons would lose five of their first six games, but a bright spot in that time would be the emergence of defensive end Tim Gorman as one of the fledgling UFFL's elite pass rushers.  Starting the year on the practice squad, the feline got his break when starter Stephen Stovall went down with an injury and needed several weeks to recover.  He filled in admirably during the slump, but it was when the Dragons snapped the streak with an impressive 29-0 victory against the Outlaws in Chicago that Gorman's star rose.  He terrorized the Outlaws' tackles and recorded three sacks in the win, and got to the quarterback several other times as the league took notice. Gorman followed that up with 6 tackles, including 2 for losses, and a fumble recovery in the 27-24 win against the in-state rival Downriver Waves.  But the team couldn't recapture the momentum and ended up finishing the season at 6-10, with the first victory at Meijer Field not coming until Week 13, a 34-31 thriller against the Baltimore Ponies where a healthy Curran threw for 251 yards and 2 touchdowns, while running back and fan favorite Dusty Copperfield picked up 85 yards on the ground and scored twice, and had a 23-yard reception in the game as well.

Season Record: 6-10 (3-7)

Starting Roster

The table below includes all players currently starting on the Dragons roster.


Roster
Pos # Name Species/College Ht (in) Wt (lbs) Yrs
RB 2 Oliver Smithson Otter, River / Otter State 70 195 5
K 3 Earl Holley Bilby 70 200 12
CB 4 Alex Weaver Skunk / Shrewsville 71 201 7
SS 5 Bryon Boyce 73 210 12
QB 6 Morton Ritter Horse - Arabian 76 233 9
WR 11 Carmen Grier Grebe- Black-necked / W Illinois 74 214 0
QB 12 Bobby Burnette Deer- White-tailed / Quebec Sud-est 75 190 8
WR 13 Arthur Christopher Dog - Beagle 77 220 9
P 14 Jimmy Winters Swift Fox - Colorado Mountainside 72 200 2
LB 15 Warren Rucker Squirrel - Mexican Fox 73 235 8
QB 17 Travis Lockhart Panther- Black / Arkansas PT 78 255 4
WR 19 Daniel van Baarle Mink 76 195 3
SS 21 Jennifer Rippon Stellar's Sea Eagle 72 186 3
CB 23 Colleen Kemper Albatross 73 165 4
FS 25 Zachary Robinson Ferret- Black-footed / Rootgers 74 200 14
RB 27 Luigi Ruffolo Frog, Marsh / Staten Island 74 220 9
SS 35 Robin Hagefeld Crocodile / Faxwell (FL) 71 190 0
FB 36 Wilson Nelson Jaguar 76 233 3
CB 37 Gavin Zoeter Wolverine - Indianapolis Furry Univ 73 196 2
CB 38 Larry Numbers 73 211 6
RB 39 Adam Nelson Hamster / NERCC 70 206 5
LB 42 Claire Lincoln Wake Forest 73 190 0
FS 44 Joshua Ratcliff 72 211 5
CB 47 Dallas Noonan Vanderbilt 77 229 0
T 50 Peli Grosa Bear / No College 72 300 1
LB 52 Jasper Watts Skunk - Western spotted 75 245 8
LB 55 Tomas Mercer 70 240 12
LB 58 Joey Salcedo Nevada 74 253 1
LB 59 Todd Wilson Ball State 74 237 3
G 63 Chester Dermitt Cattle- Belgian blue / TX Bovine 78 348 5
C 64 Lewis Schweig Nebraska 75 286 0
C 65 Keanu Treonday Shark - Carribean Reef / UFLA 78 335 4
T 66 Jerald Buckley Tiger - Bengal 75 290 14
G 68 Darren Hibbard Hippopotamus / Cal Fur Tech 77 335 7
DT 74 Hieronymous Jepp Orca 78 335 2
T 75 Sakira Kheiralla Silver Dragon - FCLA 79 305 2
T 76 Floyd Little Dragon-Western / Sauropsida 81 321 2
G 79 Tyrell Hutchinson Hyena / Oregon FU 74 315 4
TE 81 Karl Kratt Hyena - Spotted 72 200 8
TE 82 Winnie Odenkyrk Oklahoma State 75 259 0
TE 83 Francis Meyer Mole - Eastern 74 260 9
WR 86 Kova Lewdko Fox 70 170 7
WR 87 Royce Herndon Horse- Painted 77 226 7
TE 88 Elena Rossa Orangutan 75 227 1
DT 90 Joey Bazzoli Shark, Great White / Medley (NJ) 75 350 0
DT 91 O'Kalinga Miller Buffalo-Cape / MW Ungulate 76 320 4
DE 93 Stephan Stovall Thylacine 74 296 10
DE 95 Walter Munoz Florida A&M 75 300 3
DT 96 Adam Lanbert Swift - Chimney 72 280 9
DE 98 Jeff Reuter Illinois 74 286 3

Team Statistics

Team Yearly Stats
Season W L T Win % PF PA
2014 6 10 0 292 314
2015 10 6 0 0.625 287 233
2016 7 9 0 0.438 227 291
2017 7 9 0 0.438 300 327
2018 9 7 0 0.562 358 326
2019 3 12 1 0.219 304 405
2021 8 7 0 0.533 352 356
Total: 50 60 1 0.468 2102 1896