The Cleveland-Pittsburgh football rivalry will be moving indoors when the Pittsburgh Power will begin play in the Arena Football League for the 2011 season.
The Pittsburgh Power will begin play in the Arena Football League for the 2011 season, one of four expansion teams joining the league for next season. The other expansion teams are Kansas City, San Jose, and Philadelphia. It is the largest single-season expansion in AFL history. The Cleveland Gladiators were one of the 15 teams that played last season after the league shut down for the 2009 season with financial problems.
The Power, with former Steelers wide receiver Lynn Swann as part of the ownership group, will carry on a Pittsburgh tradition by wearing black and gold colors. They will play their home games in the new Consol Energy Center, which opened this week. The NHL's Pittsburgh Penguins operate the new arena but are not part of the Power ownership.
Pittsburgh was one of the four original AFL franchises in 1987 and hosted the league's first game, before relocating to Tampa Bay in 1991.
The nickname for the original team?
The Gladiators.
League honors: Three Cleveland Gladiators earned All-Arena honors for the past season. Wide receiver Ben Nelson and offensive lineman Adam Tadisch were named to the All-Arena first team, and defensive lineman Anthony Hoke was named to the second team.