Minnesota Fighting Pike

The Minnesota Fighting Pike were an Arena football team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. They joined the Arena Football League in 1996 as an expansion team. The Fighting Pike were the first ever attempt at an arena/indoor football team in the state of Minnesota. The owner of the Fighting Pike was Tom Scallen. The Fighting Pike played at the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The team colors were green and gold. In a 2012 AFL Poll, the Fighting Pike were voted as the 8th greatest nickname in AFL history.

Franchise history

In November 1995, the announced that they would be nicknamed the "Fighting Pike" and that Art Haege was named the team's head coach.
During the team's first tryout, Haege walked out, stating he was going "Back to Iowa." The next day, Haege faxed in his resignation to team owner Tom Scallen.
The Pike were 0-7 at home, and the average attendance for the seven home games was 8,894.
The roster was full of players who had played at the University of Minnesota or other Minnesota colleges and universities. Tony Levine, a former Golden Gopher, joined the team and received 8 passes for a total of 83 yards and 1 touchdown. Former Gopher Rickey Foggie was the quarterback and he struggled adapting to the Arena Football League after many years in the Canadian Football League. Once during the season he was benched in favor of Southwest State's Jeff Loots, who threw four interceptions in a game. Loots was playing on his third expansion team in three seasons. Another player from Southwest State was Alvin Ashley. The best-known ex-Pike is kicker Mike Vanderjagt, later a star in the CFL and NFL.
Ray Jauch was the head coach. He was assisted by John Coatta Jr. on offense and Frank Haege on defense.
The team's lack of exposure or advertising was the key reason for the team's folding at the end of the 1996 season. The team did not have a regional television deal to promote their games or have the games advertised in newspapers and other media.
The Pike's final game of the season against the Memphis Pharaohs was played in Tupelo, Mississippi, because the Pharaohs had been evicted from their arena.
The Pike's official mascot was a giant Pike named "Tackle." He was known to "dive" into a promotional hot tub at the arena.

Legacy

In 2024, a revival of the Arena Football League brought it the Minnesota Myth, a team which played only two games before folding themselves.

Players

Final roster

Coaches

Head coaches

Coaching staff

1996 season results

Date	Opponent	Home/Away	Result
April 27	Texas Terror	Away	W 36–24
May 4	Iowa Barnstormers	Home	L 43–59
May 10	St. Louis Stampede	Home	L 22–59
May 18	Albany Firebirds	Away	L 30–85
May 24	Tampa Bay Storm	Home	L 16–41
May 31	Anaheim Piranhas	Home	L 23–49
June 7	Arizona Rattlers	Home	L 27–59
June 15	Florida Bobcats	Away	L 28–63
June 28	Milwaukee Mustangs	Home	L 49–61
July 5	Connecticut Coyotes	Away	W 44–40
July 12	Orlando Predators	Away	L 12–56
July 19	Texas Terror	Home	L 51–54
July 26	San Jose SaberCats	Away	W 40–31
August 3	Memphis Pharaohs	Away	W 50–25

Statistics

Team leaders

Leading rusher: Harry Jackson 22 carries, 26 yards and 0 touchdowns
Leading passer: Rickey Foggie 224-443 for 2,269 yards, 40 touchdowns and 16 interceptions.
Leading receiver: Reggie Brown 79 catches, 964 yards 17, touchdowns
Offense