Grand Rapids Dragons

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