The team played again, as expected, but was ended following their 1988 season.

Aside from the off-field issues involving their budget, the Roger Williams College Seahawks faced problems on the field. According to a 1985 issue of “The Messenger,” the football team gave up the most points (2707) and scored the second fewest (1324) through seven games that year.

“We started to get mauled. So, that led to some issues. Year three was not a pretty year — I don’t think they won a game,” said former Athletic Director Dave Kemmy. 

The team went 0-8 that year.

According to Kemmy, the main problem the team had was the short list of people who wanted to play football for Roger Williams. The official 1983 roster had a list of 42 names. After just one year and six graduated seniors, the 1984 roster had only 28.

According to the 1988 yearbook, the team had a slight jump in numbers and gathered a squad of 34 players. Kemmy said for that year’s team, about 20 were active team members. The norm at a collegiate level is to have 11 exclusively offensive players and 11 defensive ones with a few specialty players, like a kicker and punter. With a small squad, former head coach Joe Almeida Jr. had to place his players in different positions on both sides of the ball throughout games.

“It was a catastrophe,” said Kemmy. “The coach quit, the players basically quit and the main reason why they discontinued it was because there were 20 kids. They certainly could not have a football team. With less than 50, they would be pushing it.” 

On top of all the issues the team faced with funding and on-field performance, they failed to make their mark on campus. The team played their games on the same field that the current softball and baseball teams play on. Even though the games were close by, some students who attended the college in the mid-80s had no idea that a football team ever existed.

“I don’t think there was a football team when we were there,” said Lori Raber, a student from 1986-1990.

While it may be hard to believe a football team would exist and then be forgotten about, the years that Roger Williams had a football team were certainly a forgettable period.

The other rumor that typically accompanies the fire is that the team cannot be reinstated for another century.

“I heard there was a clause that we’re not allowed to have a football team for a certain amount of years — 100 years or something,” said Gulino.

Kemmy stated that while he was the athletic director, the idea of resurrecting the team was actually briefly considered. But in the end, it came down to how much it would cost the school, not a century-long ban. The program would need to spend money on a new locker room large enough for the team, a coaching staff, equipment, uniforms and most importantly, insurance.

“Right now,” Kemmy said, “you’re talking an operating budget of $300-$350 thousand a year, which is more than the rest of our sports combined.”

For the coming academic year, Student Senate has $1,056,000.00 to distribute to clubs and organizations across campus, according to Treasurer Jordan J. Phelan. The amount of money needed to annually fund a club football comeback would take 28.4-33.1 percent of Student Senate’s current budget.