Hitmen a Big Hit

As the owner of the Muskego Hitmen semi-pro football team, Nick Seliger is asked one question much too often for his liking.

“You wouldn’t believe how many people come up to us and say, ‘Muskego has a semi-pro team?’ ” said Seliger, a 1999 MHS graduate. “And this is our ninth season. We’ve really been working hard this year on getting our name out there in the community.”

A member of the Ironman Football League, the Hitmen have been one of the league's most successful franchises since joining in 2003. Now in its 16th season, the ever-growing IFL consists of 10 teams who play a summer schedule from June until late August.

The season culminates with an Ironbowl, which the Hitmen won in 2004. They were also the runner-up in 2003 and 2007.

"This league has just exploded," said Seliger, noting that the IFL switched to 11-man football with NFL rules on a regulation 100-yard field in 2004.

The Hitmen opened the season with a 57-12 victory over the Milwaukee Storm on June 11 at Muskego's InPro Stadium. They followed that up with a 42-16 victory over the host Shorewood Monarchs on Jun. 18.

In a battle between two undefeated teams, Muskego lost to the powerful Madison Mustangs, 24-10, on Saturday night at Middleton High School. The Mustangs have now won 40 games in a row -- the longest winning streak in the country in semi-pro football.

After playing at Hart Park in Wauwatosa on July 9, the Hitmen return home to face the Greendale Panthers 7 p.m. Saturday, July 16.

 Muskego's 51-player roster features former high school and college standouts, who play strictly for the love of the game instead of a paycheck.

"Our players actually pay a small fee to play with us," Seliger said. "We rely heavily on sponsorships from around the community (to cover the costs of equipment, the field and insurance)."

In their nine seasons, the Hitmen have posted a sparkling record of 62-27-1.

"This is our ninth season and we've never missed the playoffs," said Seliger, whose team has captured six conference championships. "We've definitely put together a really good team this year. When we first started playing, it was 90 percent guys from Muskego. We've come a long way. Now, a lot of guys want to play for the Hitmen because we've been very successful over the years."

As it turns out, the moniker "Hitmen" has been a perfect fit.

"We went through a lot of different names, a lot of brainstorming,” Seliger recalled. “We were all former Muskego football players. We wanted to make sure that we sounded tough.

“That’s kind of what Muskego football is all about. We weren’t always the fastest or the biggest guys. We won games because we were tough.”