The Boston Renegades are chasing another championship, but this time in a very different way
The Renegades will play the Pittsburgh Passion on Saturday for a spot in the championship game.
For six years, the Boston Renegades didn’t know how to lose. This year, they’re re-learning how to win.
Until May 18, when the Renegades lost to the St. Louis Slam, 36-27, most of the current players had never lost in a Renegades jersey. Two games later, it happened again. For the first time since 2018, the Renegades had been beaten twice in one season.
A sixth straight championship wasn’t going to come easy.
“Everyone’s trying to uphold a Renegade standard, but it’s been nice to see our team figure out how to win,” said Renegades owner Molly Goodwin.
The Renegades are 5-2 and advanced to the second round of the Women’s Football Alliance pro division playoffs with a 27-20 win over the D.C. Divas on June 29. They’ll play the Pittsburgh Passion — the team that delivered the Renegades’ second loss this season — on Saturday for a spot in the championship game.
Before falling to St. Louis, the Renegades were undefeated in four consecutive seasons and won five straight WFA championships.
For a team so used to winning, that first loss was a wake-up call.
“It was a huge shock for us, but it was a shock we needed,” said wide receiver Adrienne Smith. “The reminder is that we’re not here to necessarily have a perfect season. In the instances when that happened, that’s great. What we are most definitely still here to do is win the championship.”
For two decades, quarterback Allison Cahill was the centerpiece of Boston’s women’s tackle football scene. Cahill’s top target on the Renegades was Swiss Army knife receiver Chanté Bonds, a two-time league MVP. In the backfield, Whitney Zelee racked up 7,226 yards and 121 touchdowns in 48 career games. All three are enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Prior to the 2024 season, Cahill, Bonds, and Zelee retired, leaving the Renegades to retool their offense and figure out how to pursue a championship without some of the franchise’s cornerstones.
“They are not only all-time leaders for the Renegades, they are all-time leaders for the league, so you’re losing the best that’s ever been in those three,” Goodwin said.
The Renegades lost about 15 players in the offseason, approximately 10 more than they usually lose each year. There’s no pattern to when players might retire, as some — such as Cahill — play for decades, and others are forced into early retirement because of injuries.
At the start of this season, the team launched into rebuild mode.
Meg McFadden, who primarily played defensive back in the first two years of her career with the Renegades, took over at quarterback. Smith and fellow receiver Stephanie Pascual saw their roles change, as the offense shifted from a pass-heavy scheme to one focused on the ground game.
Because there’s no WFA draft, and tackle football isn’t available to women at lower levels, the Renegades do most of their recruiting at local colleges. They seek out all kinds of athletes, from rugby players to swimmers to field hockey players to basketball players.
But the recruiting trail this year was less fruitful than usual. Goodwin and the front office are still trying to piece together why that was the case.
“At some level, we are the victims of our own success, because we have so many people that have been here for so long,” Goodwin said. “There aren’t a lot of players that want to come here and wait in line behind the veteran in front of them.”
At the same time, the Renegades are the most successful team in WFA history, and having so many experienced players makes it easier for rookies to learn the ropes.
“It’s hard to get people caught up, especially in one season,” Pascual said. “When you come in, you’re so eager to want to play, want to hit the field, want to make that tackle. But football takes a while to understand. There’s such a steep learning curve.”
Pascual, who joined the Renegades in 2017, said she still learns something at every practice, but this season, as one of the longest-tenured players, she’s taken on more of a teaching role.
“It’s hard going from a student to a teacher when I still consider myself a student,” Pascual said.
What veterans such as Pascual and Smith are teaching the new players goes beyond X’s and O’s. To earn that sixth straight WFA title, the newest Renegades have had to learn what it takes to win — and what it means to be a Renegade.
“There is a standard that all Renegades players should be held to, and that doesn’t change just because Chanté is no longer here, because Al is no longer here, or because Whitney is no longer here,” Pascual said. “That standard is the same.”
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