Category: Alternative Football

If you just shook me from a Rip Van Winkle slumber and told me the Alabama Airborne was the newest franchise in Major League Football, I’d assume that franchise would be placed in Birmingham.

It would be a solid guess.

When MLFB was in its infancy back in 2014, “Alabama Airborne” had been trademarked by the league and officials had already stated that the Magic City was being eyed for a team.

But since MLFB originally announced its intentions we’ve had the Alliance of American Football, XFL 2.0, a minor league version of the United States Football League and – coming soon – XFL 3.0.

And considering the USFL has a team in Birmingham and the made-for-TV league looks like it’ll return for a second season, there is no room for an MLFB club in the town that has also been home to the World Football League, original USFL, World League of American Football, Canadian Football League, original XFL and AAF.

But there is room in Mobile, Alabama, where the Airborne – playing at Ladd-Peebles Stadium – hopes to take flight in a 2022 season that is scheduled to begin on August 9.

“Today I am delighted to announce Mobile as MLFB’s fourth host city,” MLFB CEO Frank Murtha said in a news release. “Mobile joins Canton (Ohio Force), Little Rock (Arkansas Attack), and Virginia Beach (Virginia Armada) as our “Core Four.” These four unbelievably supportive markets provide not only a tremendous base for this season but also a solid foundation for spring 2023 when we begin our quest to become America’s home for professional spring football.”

“While each community is unique, Mobile, Little Rock, Canton, and Virginia Beach all had what we felt were the essential ingredients for success – a tradition of supporting football, strong demographics, and suitable facilities. With the addition of Mobile to our league lineup, we genuinely believe we have found a “core” and are positioned for growth this season and beyond.”

While Birmingham certainly leads the state in the number of alternative football leagues it has been involved with, the Port City has been part of the outdoor pro gridiron party before, too.

The Mobile Tarpons played in the North American Football League in 1965 and 1966, with the Tarpons finishing as league runners-up in 1965.

The city’s most recent “major” minor league football team was the Mobile Admirals, who claimed the one and only Regional Football League championship in 1999.

Twenty-three years later, Alabama’s fourth most populous city is back in the football business.

Jerry Glanville is the biggest name in the league and will serve as Airborne head coach, with his staff consisting of Daniel Kuhn (assistant to the head coach); Jeff Reinebold (quarterback and wide receivers); Kris Cinkovich (offensive line); Robert Lyles (defensive line and linebackers); Kim McCloud (defensive backs); and Jesse Thompson (special teams).

Glanville was the first coach announced by the league back in March.

“Every MLFB player was an outstanding college player,” Glanville said after he was hired. “Our goal is to help them grow into a professional player and improve their skills and play, increasing their opportunities to join the NFL.

“Watching them grow and improve is the joy of teaching and coaching.”

Murtha said the 80-year-old Glanville was the perfect choice to help get the league up and running.

“We needed to find a coach that has the experience not only in football, but in league development,” Murtha said. “Jerry Glanville fills that criteria perfectly. Not only does he know football and coaching as well as anyone on the planet, but he has also been involved in the early life of start-up leagues.

“Having coached at all levels of football including the NFL, Coach Glanville brings a wealth of knowledge to MLFB.”

On Friday morning, Mobile was also tapped as the host city for MLFB training camp, which begins July 18.

“MLFB’s core mission is to provide personal and professional growth opportunities for football players, coaches, trainers, and front office personnel,” MLFB senior vice president of football operations Mike McCarthy said in a statement. “Today’s announcement of Mobile as MLFB’s initial training camp shows our determination to deliver on this. With a centralized training camp, savings are realized on travel costs, camp operations, administrative overhead, and more. Another advantage is that all four head coaches can perform player evaluations simultaneously, resulting in fewer talented players slipping through the cracks.”

Two facilities will be used, with Alabama and Ohio sharing one and Arkansas and Virginia the other.

Anyone familiar with my World Football League obsession knows that in 1974 I cheered for the Birmingham Americans because they were my hometown team.

I also had a soft spot for the Southern California Sun; any club that wears magenta jerseys and orange pants is worthy of my respect and admiration.

But I also had more than a passing interest in the New York Stars, because they had a few former New York Jets on their team and the Jets were my favorite NFL franchise.

But did you know that eight years earlier a different version of the New York Stars was supposed to debut in the Continental Football League?

Not only that, they were set to play at little Downing Stadium, which was the poorly-lit, Randalls Island home of the WFL Stars.

Here’s the scoop:

The Continental Football League was formed in 1965 with visions of becoming a third major league. But its inaugural season featured the Charleston (West Virginia) Rockets, Ft. Wayne Warriors, Hartford Charter Oaks, Newark Bears, Philadelphia Bulldogs, Providence (Rhode Island) Indians, Richmond Rebels, Springfield (Massachusetts) Acorns, Toronto Rifles and Wheeling (West Virginia) Ironmen. Aside from Philadelphia and Toronto, the COFL wasn’t located in major North American media markets.

A New York franchise would be a game changer, and on February 11, 1966, the league granted one to theater and television producer Fred Finklehoffe.

“I consider pro football one of the most interesting aspects of show business,” Finklehoffe told the Associated Press. “I consider this an off-Broadway football team. I hope to make Broadway soon.”

The stadium at Randalls Island was chosen because it seated 21,000 and there were plans to add an additional 4,000 seats.

Considering his industry ties, giving the team the nickname “Stars” made perfect sense. Finklehoffe, along with writing partner Irving Brecher, had been nominated for an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for Meet Me in St. Louis, and he’d also penned a pair of scripts for Dean Martin/Jerry Lewis comedies.

He was a big name who owned a team representing the Big Apple, and he started making news almost immediately. In March he signed coach Perry Moss away from Charleston, reportedly inking him to a 10-year, $500,000 contract that included the role of general manager. Moss led the Rockets to 14 consecutive victories and the inaugural COFL title in 1965.

In an interview with The Gazette (Montreal) on April 2, 1966, Moss predicted the Continental Football League would soon threaten the Canadian Football League.

“Our league is not only going to become the main football attraction in Montreal and Toronto, but it won’t be long before Vancouver joins us,” Moss told the paper. “Make no mistake about it … the Continental League will become the third major professional league in America. There’s an untapped television market and we’re going to share it. A dozen or more cities, with big area populations, are potential team outlets.

“There’s no shortage of good players coming out of U.S. colleges each year. The AFL and NFL can absorb only a limited number.”

Apparently unbeknownst to Moss, however, Finklehoffe exited the stage on the day he was interviewed by The Gazette.

After purchasing the franchise for $250,000, he sold it back to the league “because of motion picture commitments.”

Still, COFL officials announced that two other groups were bidding on the team and New York was sure to have a franchise by the start of the season, even if it wasn’t called the Stars.

That team came in the form of the Brooklyn Dodgers, who made their home on Randalls Island (a 40-minute subway ride from Brooklyn). And instead of Moss – who wound up in charge of the Orlando Panthers – the Dodgers named former New York Giants/Los Angeles Rams standout Andy Robustelli head coach.

Despite hiring baseball legend Jackie Robinson as a figurehead general manager, the team never developed a significant fan base and became a “road club” late in the season, finishing 5-9.

The Dodgers moved to Akron in 1967 and were rebranded the Vulcans, and the Continental League – which folded after the 1969 season – never became a major league and never again had a team in Gotham.

Thus, football fans in the City That Never Sleeps had to wait until 1974 before being able to cheer for the New York Stars.

But you wanna hear something weird?

The last game New York’s COFL team played at Downing Stadium was September 24, 1966, in front of 4,519 fans.

The last game its WFL team played there before moving to Charlotte was on September 24, 1974 – in front of 4,220 fans. That might not be good enough to qualify for a new edition of Strange But True Football Stories, but I think it’s a pretty good way to end this column.

With the National Spring Football League over before it even started in 1990 – and the World League of American Football a few months from kickoff – the battle to fill the spring football void should’ve been over.

It wasn’t.

Before anyone could ask, “What was the NSFL, again?” the United States Football Association entered the picture. On October 8, 1990, it was reported that the USFA would hold a news conference in Portland on October 10 to announce the Oregon city as the first member of the new league. Dick Seuss, coach of the Oregon Thunderbolts semi-pro team, was leading the Portland effort.

“I was in on the first two or three United States Football League meetings, and I think their thoughts at the time were absolutely correct,” USFA commissioner Lou Saban told The World newspaper. “We think spring football can work. Our people have learned from what happened with the USFL. We know that we’re only as strong as our weakest link.”

Saban, of course, was already well-established in the football world, having coached in the NFL, American Football League and college ranks, and earning back-to-back AFL Coach of the Year nods while guiding the Buffalo Bills in 1964 and 1965. By the time the 68-year-old assumed his USFA duties, he had held 15 different coaching posts. The last was a four-game stint with a Minor League Football System team in Georgia (the Middle Georgia Heat Wave) and the three previous to that were at the high school level.

He had developed a reputation for abruptly quitting jobs, leaving the Bills twice.

But this was a new gig and new adventure, and he hoped he could help the upstart circuit cull the best parts of the USFL.

“We’re trying to borrow from the USFL name as close as possible,” he said. “We’re still trying to establish a financial foundation. We’re still in the preliminary stage. I think within the next week or so, we’ll have a platform to work from.”

Original plans called for eight to 10 teams to play a March through early July schedule. The first franchises announced were the Portland Predators and Tampa Bay Bandits, and Saban said the league had contacted potential investors in Jacksonville, Miami, Mobile, Salt Lake City, Norfolk, Sacramento, Oakland, Fresno and Scranton.

Jim Spavital, who was coach of the World Football League’s Chicago Fire and general manager of the USFL’s Michigan Panthers, was supposed to help put together the Tampa Bay entry.

The player pool would be made up of athletes “not quite good enough for the National Football League,” Saban said.

Portland set up tryouts for October 21, and two weeks later, Tampa held its camp with Saban on hand to observe.

“I’ve been involved in football tryouts every year that I can remember for a long time,” Saban told the Tampa Tribune. “I just went through a tryout in Macon where we had 150 guys in the first camp, 100 the second and 125 in the third, and I can tell you they don’t fool you too many times.

“Usually, they can look at the guys running the 40 and doing chin-ups and know right away whether or not they’ve got a chance.”

I have no idea how any of the hopefuls fared in those events.

In fact, I don’t know much of anything involving the USFA after its initial announcement and news of the Oregon and Florida tryouts. Like many other leagues that exist only in theory, it just disappeared.

In February, 1991, Saban announced he was interested in becoming the athletic director at the University of Miami, where he coached from 1977-78. But just a couple of months later he was back coaching, this time at NAIA Division II Peru State in Nebraska. Every story I could find mentioned his job history – sometimes in great detail – but none referenced the United States Football Association or its would-be commissioner.

So we’ll never know what kind of cool rules the USFA would’ve come up with, whether it could’ve snagged a TV contract, and how it would’ve fared trying to occupy the same space as the WLAF. And that’s a shame, because I’ve always felt the rivalry between the Portland Predators and Tampa Bay Bandits could’ve been one of the best in all of sports – at least until the league folded.