# 1987 Denver Dynamite season

The 1987 Denver Dynamite season was the first season for the Denver Dynamite. Businessman and owner of the Denver Nuggets, Sidney Shlenker announced the forming of the Denver Dynamite. The franchise played in the inaugural four-team "demonstration" season of 1987. Despite the team and league's doubters, the Dynamite tied for the best record in the league with the Pittsburgh Gladiators, going 4–2. On August 1, 1987, the team participated in ArenaBowl I, which they won 45–16 over the Gladiators. The Dynamite were led on offense by quarterback Whit Taylor, and wide receiver Gary Mullen (Mullen won ArenaBowl I MVP). After winning the ArenaBowl, Head Coach Tim Marcum was named the league's first ever Coach of the Year. After leading the Dynamite to the Despite averaging the league's best attendance with over 12,000 a game, it did not return for the league's second season due to Shlenker refusing to abide by the AFL's financial rules.

## Regular season
### Schedule

| Week | Date | Opponent | Results | Results | Game site |
| Week | Date | Opponent | Final score | Team record | Game site |
| 1 | June 20 | at Chicago Bruisers | W 52–44 (OT) | 1–0 | Rosemont Horizon |
| 2 | June 27 | at Washington Commandos | L 20–36 | 1–1 | Capital Centre |
| 3 | July 3 | Washington Commandos | W 73–57 | 2–1 | McNichols Sports Arena |
| 4 | July 11 | Pittsburgh Gladiators | L 32–49 | 2–2 | McNichols Sports Arena |
| 5 | July 17 | at Pittsburgh Gladiators | W 32–31 | 3–2 | Civic Arena |
| 6 | July 24 | Chicago Bruisers | W 52–35 | 4–2 | McNichols Sports Arena |

### Standings

1987 Arena Football League standingsviewtalkedit :
| Team | W | L | T | PCT | PF | PA | PF (Avg.) | PA (Avg.) | STK |
| y-Pittsburgh Gladiators | 4 | 2 | 0 | .667 | 268 | 199 | 44.6 | 33.1 | L 2 |
| x-Denver Dynamite | 4 | 2 | 0 | .667 | 261 | 252 | 43.5 | 42 | W 2 |
| Washington Commandos | 2 | 4 | 0 | .333 | 288 | 273 | 48 | 45.5 | W 1 |
| Chicago Bruisers | 2 | 4 | 0 | .333 | 217 | 310 | 36.1 | 51.6 | L 1 |
y – clinched regular-season title
x – clinched playoff spot

## Playoffs

| Round | Date | Opponent | Results | Results | Game site |
| Round | Date | Opponent | Final score | Team record | Game site |
| ArenaBowl I | August 1 | at Pittsburgh Gladiators | W 45–16 | 1–0 | Civic Arena |

## Stats
### Offense
#### Quarterback

| Player | Comp. | Att. | Comp% | Yards | TD's | INT's | Rating |
| Whit Taylor | 76 | 138 | 55.1 | 1050 | 21 | 8 | 93.6 |
| Stuart Mitchell | 30 | 74 | 40.5 | 419 | 7 | 2 | 71.8 |
| Marty Mornhinweg | 3 | 4 | 75 | 30 | 0 | 0 | 95.8 |

#### Running backs

| Player | Car. | Yards | TD's |
| Chris Brewer | 12 | 56 | 1 |
| Durell Taylor | 8 | 39 | 0 |
| Stuart Mitchell | 13 | 34 | 3 |
| Whit Taylor | 11 | 23 | 1 |
| Richard Prather | 6 | 23 | 2 |
| Marty Mornhinweg | 1 | 9 | 0 |
| Steve Trimble | 1 | −3 | 0 |

#### Wide receivers

| Player | Rec. | Yards | TD's |
| Gary Mullen | 26 | 502 | 11 |
| Durell Taylor | 25 | 283 | 6 |
| Chris Brewer | 21 | 255 | 4 |
| Steve Trimble | 20 | 340 | 5 |
| Richard Prather | 8 | 65 | 1 |
| Richard Rodgers | 7 | 49 | 1 |
| William Cotman | 1 | 7 | 0 |
| Whit Taylor | 1 | −2 | 0 |

### Defense

| Player | Tackles | Solo | Assisted | Sack | INT | Yards | TD's |
| William Cotman | 26.5 | 24 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 0 |
| Keith Smith | 23 | 22 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Gary Mullen | 21 | 20 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 23 | 0 |
| Steve Trimble | 19 | 17 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Richard Prather | 16 | 15 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Rob DeVita | 12.5 | 9 | 7 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Clyde Skipper | 12 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 0 |
| Chris Brewer | 12 | 9 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Kelly Kirchbaum | 11 | 9 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Chuck Harris | 9 | 6 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Patrick Cain | 7 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Richard Rodgers | 6.5 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 23 | 0 |
| Larry Friday | 6.5 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jon Norris | 5 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Phil Forte | 3 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Durell Taylor | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Lazlo Mike-Mayer | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Marco Morales | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

### Special teams
#### Kick return

| Player | Ret | Yards | TD's |
| Durell Taylor | 28 | 516 | 0 |
| Chris Brewer | 7 | 85 | 0 |
| Steve Trimble | 4 | 18 | 0 |
| Gary Mullen | 2 | 18 | 0 |
| William Cotman | 1 | 30 | 0 |
| Phil Forte | 1 | 5 | 0 |
| Clyde Skipper | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Kelly Kirchbaum | 0 | 0 | 0 |

#### Kicking

| Player | FGM | 4pg | FGA | Pct. | XPM | 2pt | XPA | Pct. | Pts. |
| Marco Morales | 2 | 0 | 12 | 16.7 | 11 | 0 | 18 | 61.1 | 17 |
| Lazlo Mike-Mayer | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0.0 | 8 | 0 | 11 | 72.7 | 8 |
| Marty Coyne | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 |

## Awards

| Position | Player | Award | All-Arena team |
| Head Coach | Tim Marcum | Coach of the Year | – |
| Fullback/Linebacker | Chris Brewer | none | 1st |
| Wide Receiver/Defensive Back | Gary Mullen | none | 1st |
| Quarterback | Whit Taylor | none | 2nd |
| Fullback/Linebacker | Durell Taylor | none | 2nd |
| Offensive/Defensive Lineman | Patrick Cain | none | 2nd |
| Offensive/Defensive Lineman | Kelly Kirchbaum | none | 2nd |