1987 Arena Football League season The 1987 Arena Football League season was the 1st season , also known as the " demonstration season " , of the Arena Football League . The league champions were the Denver Dynamite , who defeated the Pittsburgh Gladiators in ArenaBowl I . Events . The Arena Football League played its inaugural season in 1987 with four teams to introduce the sport to the American public . The Chicago Bruisers , Denver Dynamite , Pittsburgh Gladiators and Washington Commandos comprised the 4 - team league that ran a schedule from mid - June to August 1 . The AFL drew an impressive average of 11 , 000 fans per game and TV coverage on ESPN . The four teams Pittsburgh ( 12 , 856 ) , Denver ( 12 , 098 / game ) , Washington ( 11 , 525 ) and Chicago ( 8 , 638 ) drew fairly well in their respective facilities . Denver played out of the old McNichols Arena , Pittsburgh in the Civic Arena , Washington at the Capital Centre in Landover , Maryland and Chicago at the Rosemont Horizon in Rosemont , Illinois . The AFL kicked off on Friday , June 19 , 1987 when the host Pittsburgh Gladiators hosted the Washington Commandos at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh before 12 , 177 fans . AFL football officially began at 7 : 37 pm EDT that night when Washington ' s Dale Castro kicked the ball into the slack net ( the mesh between the field goal posts ) resulting in a touchback . The Gladiators took over on their own five - yard line . The very first play from scrimmage saw Pittsburgh quarterback Mike Hohensee hit WR / DB Russell Hairston on a 45 - yard touchdown pass ; the play would set the tone for the league ' s wide - open , high - scoring mandate that the game ' s inventor , James Foster , envisioned . The Gladiators , featuring future Arena Football League Hall of Famer Craig Walls playing against his brother Kendall , went on to win the game 48 - 46 . The head coaches of the four AFL teams in 1987 were former CFL great Ray Jauch ( Chicago ) , future longtime AFL coach Tim Marcum ( Denver ) , Joe Haering ( Pittsburgh ) and Bob Harrison ( Washington ) . Some of the notable performers for Chicago in 1987 included QB Mike Hold , FB / LB Billy Stone , WR Reggie " Super Gnat " Smith , DB Durwood Roquemore and future NFL head coach QB Sean Payton , who saw limited action during the season . The Denver Dynamite would also featured a backup QB that would go onto an NFL head coaching career : Marty Mornhinweg , who backed up Whit Taylor . Also on the Dynamite roster that year was FB / LB Rob DeVita , WR Durrell Taylor and future AFL Hall of Fame WR Gary Mullen . Continuing the theme of quarterbacks who would go onto future coaching opportunities was Gladiators QB Mike Hohensee , who yielded the starting role with Pittsburgh early in the season to Brendan Folmar . Hohensee would return to the ArenaBowl nineteen years later in July 2006 by capturing ArenaBowl XX as head coach of the Chicago Rush . Gladiators WR Russell Hairston had a 67 catches in 1987 , good for 1 , 126 yards and 18 touchdowns ( in just 6 games ) and would go onto win AFL MVP honors . Also notable on the Pittsburgh roster was DB Mike Stoops who went onto to coach the University of Arizona in 2005 . The Washington Commandos featured a high - scoring unit that had WR Dwayne Dixon ( 68 catches , 11 TDs ) and QB Rich Ingold , who led the AFL with 29 TD passes and 1 , 726 yards . ArenaBowl I that year featured the Gladiators hosting the Dynamite at Civic Arena ; the Pittsburgh fans , however , went home disappointed as the Dynamite walked away with a 45 - 16 victory , a win that was the first of seven ArenaBowl titles for Denver coach Tim Marcum .