The 1996 Albany Firebirds season was the seventh season for the Albany Firebirds. They finished the 1996 Arena Football League season 10–4 and finished the season with a loss in the semifinals of the playoffs to the Iowa Barnstormers.
Schedule Regular season Week Date Opponent Results Game site (attendance)Final score Team record 1 Bye 2 May 4 Charlotte Rage W 63–32 1–0 Knickerbocker Arena (13,029) 3 May 10 at San Jose SaberCats L 40–69 1–1 San Jose Arena (15,561) 4 May 18 Minnesota Fighting Pike W 85–30 2–1 Knickerbocker Arena (11,712) 5 May 24 at Connecticut Coyotes W 58–26 3–1 Hartford Civic Center (7,539) 6 June 1 St. Louis Stampede L 56–66 3–2 Knickerbocker Arena (12,015) 7 June 8 Memphis Pharaohs W 67–21 4–2 Knickerbocker Arena (11,764) 8 June 15 at Iowa Barnstormers L 46–55 4–3 Veterans Memorial Auditorium (11,411) 9 June 21 at Charlotte Rage W 88–36 5–3 Charlotte Coliseum (6,898) 10 June 29 Connecticut Coyotes W 59–45 6–3 Knickerbocker Arena (11,117) 11 July 6 Orlando Predators W 53–41 7–3 Knickerbocker Arena (11,079) 12 July 12 at Tampa Bay Storm L 52–65 (OT) 7–4 ThunderDome (13,202) 13 July 20 at Florida Bobcats W 66–63 8–4 West Palm Beach Auditorium (3,601) 14 July 27 Texas Terror W 86–24 9–4 Knickerbocker Arena (12,345) 15 August 2 at Milwaukee Mustangs W 54–49 10–4 Bradley Center (16,411)
Playoffs The Firebirds were awarded the No. 4 seed in the AFL playoffs. Round Date Opponent Results Game site (attendance)Final score Playoff record Quarterfinals August 10 (5) Milwaukee Mustangs W 70–58 1–0 Knickerbocker Arena (11,613) Semifinals August 17 at (1) Iowa Barnstormers L 55–62 1–1 Veterans Memorial Auditorium (11,411)
Standings
Awards Position Player Award All-Arena team Offensive specialist Eddie Brown Offensive Player of the Year 1st Wide receiver/defensive back David McLeod Defensive Player of the Year 2nd Kicker Pete Elezovic Kicker of the Year 2nd Quarterback Mike Perez - 2nd Offensive/defensive lineman Jerome Brown - 2nd
References