The AFA’s farewell

The original United States Football League played its inaugural season 40 years ago, ushering in three springs of big budget football that was far better than the NFL wanted you to believe. But 1983 was also the last waltz for the American Football Association, a minor league circuit that spent seven seasons in relative obscurity.

Its final game, however – an American Bowl clash between the homestanding Carolina Storm and San Antonio Bulls on July 23 – makes for an interesting footnote. While one team was kinda/sorta “promoted” to the USFL, the other joined a new professional league that never got off the ground.

By the time the AFA reached the end of the 1983 campaign, it was obvious it wouldn’t return in 1984. The new USFL had completed its first season, making a splash by luring established players from the NFL and signing up-and-coming stars. A national TV contract with ABC also made it a serious player on the national stage.

The AFA, on the other hand, was a revolving door of franchises that paid players very little; one percent of the home gate was the standard for most teams. But despite the low budgets and low profile, there were some good players and quality teams throughout its seven-year run. The last two standing in the final season were the Storm and Bulls, who were making a high-profile exit with their championship game appearance.  

San Antonio had long been a staple of non-NFL pro football, including a franchise in the ill-fated World Football League’s second season (the 1975 San Antonio Wings).

The city was represented by the Charros in the AFA from 1977-81, and the Bulls from 1982-83. Oilman Clinton Manges owned the franchise, and angled to trade up once the USFL was formed. AFA Commissioner Roger Gill – who also just happened to be general manager and head coach of the Bulls in 1983 – was willing to help.

“We’re using our team this summer as a training camp for the USFL,” Gill said in an interview with the Austin American-Statesman on June 17. “We have about 62 players, dress out 45 for games, and we get inquiries all the time from players who want to come out and try to make the team, because they know they’ll be in the USFL next year.

“I would say 10 or 12 will probably make our USFL team.”

Two weeks before the American Bowl, the USFL officially announced that Manges’ team would, indeed, be part of the growing league in 1984. Jacksonville – one of six expansion clubs in year two – had already secured the nickname “Bulls,” however.

Meanwhile, an entity called the International Football League was unveiled at a New York press conference on June 30, and Charlotte was announced as one of its flagship franchises. While it would play a spring schedule like the USFL, it had plans for expansion to Australia and Japan in 1985. By early July, the Storm was already touting its move to the IFL. And the day before the AFA title clash, it was reported that Roman Gabriel was closing in on an agreement to be the new head coach, replacing Steve Patton.

“I’m going to be involved next year,” Patton told the Charlotte Observer. “But knowing we need a national person as head coach, my position will be changed.”

Patton said he was in favor of the move.

“He’s a good, quality person – the kind of person I could be involved with,” Patton said. “The IFL needs name coaches, especially in a city that doesn’t have the recognition of a Los Angeles or a Miami.”

Other franchises in the IFL’s first year were to be placed in New York, Los Angeles, Honolulu, Houston, Chicago, Milwaukee, Miami, San Jose, Omaha and cities in Tennessee and Ohio.

As for the final American Bowl, it was a blowout; Carolina won, 39-0, in front of 4,626 people at Memorial Stadium. The Storm (originally knowns as the Carolina Chargers) finished 7-0 and ended their AFA run with two titles and a 20-game winning streak dating back to 1982.

Unfortunately for the champions, their impressive victory over the Bulls was not a springboard to even better days in a better league.

Failure to land a television partner forced the IFL to put their league “on hold,” and that hold continues into the summer of 2023.

The remnants of the Bulls, however, were reborn as the San Antonio Gunslingers, who played in the USFL in 1984 and 1985.

Eventually, of course, Charlotte won the ultimate professional football promotion, beginning play in the NFL in 1995.

San Antonio, meanwhile, went on to field teams in the World League of American Football, Canadian Football League, Alliance of American Football and XFL 3.0. In 2005, the city hosted the New Orleans Saints for four games due to the after effects of Hurricane Katrina.

As for the AFA, it served as a nice bridge between the WFL and USFL. Existing in an era before indoor football, it provided welcome opportunities and good competition for players who failed to earn spots on NFL and CFL rosters.

It never found a place in the spotlight, but it also deserves more credit than it received.