The is a professional
Indoor Football team based in
Odessa, Texas . The team's nickname is a tribute to the oil industry, which has been the source of Odessa's wealth over the past century.
The team began operations in
2004 as a charter member of the
Intense Football League (IFL). In
2005 , the IFL folded; its four remaining teams joined the
NIFL . For the
2006 season, the IFL was resurrected, and the Odessa Roughnecks returned to their original league.
The team plays its home games at
Ector County Coliseum in Odessa. The team's owner is
Tommy Benizio and its head coach is Chris Williams (former head coach of the
Tennessee Valley Vipers of the
Af2 and was the Roughnecks first head coach). The 2007 season is Coach Williams's fourth season with the Roughnecks. He replaced Mike Esposito, who was fired halfway through the 2006 season on June 12, 2006.
Despite the coaching change in the middle of the season, the Roughnecks won its first championship in 2006 at Intense Bowl 2 by beating the
Corpus Christi Hammerheads 97-56, which is an
IFL record for most points scored by one team in a game. The team finished with an overall record of 14-2.
(from the teams website http://www.roughnecksifl.com)
In 2003, the nearly 20 year old Arena Football League that had been only in major markets like New York and Chicago, was now spreading across the nation in small to middle sized cities. Jerry Jones of the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys kicked off his AFL franchise in Dallas and secured the rights to every smaller market in the state of Texas with a suitable arena for indoor football. When Jones couldn’t be reached to discuss selling these rights, a new league was formed throughout the state. In August of 2003, Chad Dittman, President of the fledgling Intense Football League announced that Odessa would be one of the sites for his new professional indoor football league.
Through prayer shortly after, Abby and Tommy Benizio decided to purchased the franchise and moved to the Permian Basin along with their pet prairie dogs. By the close of 2003, the franchise creatively announced the name of “Roughnecks” along with the unveiling of a logo fit for the community and a mascot whom has become a staple in both Odessa and Midland known as Digger.
The team kicked off on May 8th, 2004 under the direction of head coach Chris Williams who lead the team to a 9-7 record and home field advantage in the playoffs. Lubbock defeated Odessa in overtime just one game shy of the championship but the season did not end without the success of leading the IFL in attendance and having promoted more players to the next level than any other team in the league.
This success became well known throughout the national football community, and along with the hard work of the teams coaches, Odessa enjoyed a very rare undefeated regular season in the National Indoor Football League in 2005. Despite losing one game shy of the championship again, the Roughnecks were once more atop of their league in attendance, successfully hosted the first ever NIFL All-Star Game, and could boast a 16-1 overall record.
With the opportunity to freshen things up, the Roughnecks assisted in the reformation of the IFL. With a history of great success in the franchise and a great spirit of enthusiasm in the offices and locker room, 2006 turned out to be the team’s best season yet.
The Roughnecks have the longest regular season winning streak in professional football history with 27 straight regular season victories. The record was broken with a 55-35 win over the
Laredo Lobos in Odessa on June 17, 2006, giving the Roughnecks 26 straight regular season wins. The streak began with a 20-0 victory against the
San Angelo Stampede on July 31, 2004, in
San Angelo, Texas and ended at 27 wins with a 70-63 loss against the
Louisiana Swashbucklers on July 1, 2006, in
Lake Charles, Louisiana . In 1925, the
Canton Bulldogs of the
National Football League , lead by
Jim Thorpe , lost after 25 straight regular season games. In 1992, the
Quad City Steamwheelers of the
Af2 lost after 24 straight regular season games.
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"6" align="center" '''Odessa Roughnecks (IFL)'''
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"http://wwwinformationdelightinfo/information/entry/Lubbock_Gunslingers" class="copylinks">L Lone Stars )
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"6" align="center" '''Odessa Roughnecks (NIFL)'''
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"http://wwwinformationdelightinfo/information/entry/Beaumont_Drillers" class="copylinks">Beaumont )<br>Won Pacific Conference Semifinal ( Corpus Christi )<br>Lost Pacific Conference Final ( Tri-Cities )
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"6" align="center" '''Odessa Roughnecks (IFL)'''
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"http://wwwinformationdelightinfo/information/entry/Louisiana_Swashbucklers" class="copylinks">Louisiana )<br>Won Intense Bowl II ( Corpus Christi )
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"http://wwwinformationdelightinfo/information/entry/Louisiana_Swashbucklers" class="copylinks">Louisiana )
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"2" (including playoffs)
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"wikitable"
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