The Baltimore Mariners were an indoor football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. The team was founded when the American Indoor Football Association expelled the Baltimore Blackbirds for negotiating with another league. The AIFA maintained the lease rights to 1st Mariner Arena, so the Mariners were the league's replacement. On September 3, 2010, team owner Dwayne Wells was arrested on charges of wire fraud from an engineering firm he partially owned, allegedly using embezzled money from the firm to buy stakes in the Mariners franchise. Wells forfeited his ownership of the team, causing the Mariners to fold after the 2010 season. The Southern Indoor Football League, as successor to the eastern half of the AIFA, still holds the lease on 1st Mariner Arena.
On March 21, 2010, the Mariners became the first team in AIFA history to earn a shutout win, as they won over the Fayetteville Guard 59-0.
On April 24, 2010, Baltimore continued its record-setting performances during a 91-19 home win over the Guard. They would set the team record for most points in one half (59) and the most points in one game (91).
On June 26, 2010, Baltimore became the first team in AIFA history to finish the regular season undefeated with a record of 14-0. Baltimore went on to win the AIFA Championship and complete their undefeated season with a 57-42 victory on July 25, 2010 over the Western Conference champions, the Wyoming Cavalry. In winning AIFA IV, the Mariners not only brought the city of Baltimore its first pro indoor football title, but also increased the city’s number of overall pro football championships to eight (Baltimore Colts in 1958, 1959, 1968, and 1970, Baltimore Stars in 1985, Baltimore Stallions in 1995, Baltimore Ravens in 2000, and Baltimore Mariners in 2010).
The coach of the undefeated 2010 Mariners, Chris Simpson, would move to the Richmond Raiders for the 2011 season.
In October 2011, the AIFA announced that it would include a team from Maryland, presumably the remains/continuation of the Mariners, in its 2012 relaunch.
Read more about Baltimore Mariners: Season-by-season, 2009 Season Schedule, 2010 Season Schedule
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