In 1991, the San Antonio Riders were a founding member of the World League of American Football, the NFL's one-time spring developmental league. They competed for two seasons until the North American teams were abolished and the WLAF became entirely European. The Riders played their home games at HemisFair '91, now known as Hemisfair Center, and averaged 10,000 in attendance per game.
Following the end of the WLAF, many of its members moved on to other leagues or ceased operations altogether. The Riders went on to play several more seasons in the now-defunct United States Football League before ending their run in 1995.
In 1996, a new franchise was granted an expansion spot in the NFL and was named after it: the San Antonio Texans. They played only one season before moving to Baltimore and becoming the Ravens. The Riders had a great chance to win the championship that year but came up short against the London Warriors who had a much better record than them. The last game was held at HemisFair '91 and ended in a 38-33 victory by the London team.
The World League of American Football was not officially declared dead by any means. It survived in a reduced capacity as the XFL during 2001 and 2002 before shutting down permanently. But by the time the second incarnation came around, it wasn't considered part of the official NFL history like it is now.
The Dallas Cowboys were an expansion club in the National Football League. The St. Louis Cardinals relocated from Chicago. The Minnesota Vikings join the league as an expansion franchise in 1961. 1966: The Atlanta Falcons add another expansion team. The New Orleans Saints became the league's newest expansion franchise in 1967.
The Dallas Texans were formed from the remnants of the now-defunct New York Yankees, however they dissolved after one season and are the only NFL club to do so. As a competitor to the NFL, the American Football League (AFL) begins operations with eight clubs. The inaugural AFL-NFL championship game was held. AFC Central was established. The Boston Patriots have changed their name to the New England Patriots.
Updated on June 8, 2019 Since 1920, the National Football League has been entertaining its supporters in some way or another. Back then, there were just ten clubs in the American Professional Football Association. On June 24, 1922, the APFA was renamed the NFL and expanded to 18 clubs. As they say, the rest is history.
1920 The NFL was created in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association; two years later, it was renamed the National Football League. The Decatur Staleys (now the Chicago Bears) and the Racine Cardinals are two of its ten original clubs that still exist, albeit in different locales (now the Arizona Cardinals). The Browns joined the league in the 1950 season and were immediately successful, winning their first five games before finishing with a 7-9 record. They won their first game on September 19 by the score of 56-0 over the Cincinnati Reds and last played on December 20 lost to Buffalo 13-7 at home.
1921 The second season of the NFL began with several changes. The Rochester Jeffersons became the first club from outside of Cleveland to win the championship when they defeated the Cleveland Indians 14-12. Two other non-Cleveland teams would win championships in subsequent years: the Chicago Bears in 1922 and the Washington Redskins in 1947.
The Browns finished with a 6-4 record and met the Chicago Bears in the championship game. It was the first time two non-Cleveland teams faced off for the title. Although they were not considered one of the "big four" teams of the era, there was no denying the fact that the Browns were very competitive. They outscored their opponents by a total of 80 points and had three players selected for the All-NFL team.
The All-America Football Conference's Los Angeles Dons began play in 1946 and lasted four years until collapsing with the fall of the AAFC. The American Football League (AFL) was founded in 1960, with the Los Angeles Chargers as its first club. The Chargers remained in Los Angeles for 36 years before moving to San Diego in 1996.
The AFL was a rival league of the more established NFL. The two leagues merged following the 1966 season, with the NFL granting an expansion team to Los Angeles. The Chargers played their first game on September 19, 1967, losing to the Oakland Raiders 14-7 at Tulane Stadium in New Orleans.
Los Angeles is the only other NFL city besides Chicago to have two different teams play in a Super Bowl (1972 and 2017). The Dons were invited to join the NFL but declined due to financial difficulties.
Today, there are no professional football teams in Los Angeles. The Chargers currently play in one of the most expensive sports cities in the world. However, they do not call Los Angeles home turf anymore; they now play half of their games out of San Diego and the other half out of Mexico City. The Dons still have nostalgia value among fans of past Los Angeles teams such as the Rams and Clippers. There are also many fans that root for both the Chargers and the UCLA Bruins.
Fans of San Antonio sports should brace themselves for the future, which appears to include an NFL club. While the city already boasts five professional sports teams, a minor league, and lots of college athletics, the latest rumor is that a football club is on the way. The Houston Texans are one of the most popular teams in Texas, and they've got a huge stadium half an hour from downtown. It's not hard to see why people would want another team in South Texas.
The Spurs have won more NBA championships than anyone else, and San Antonio's NISP ratings are better than those of every other pro team in the country. But even so, there must be room for improvement if a new franchise is going to make money. The Texans' average home attendance was 12,828 in 2014, while the Spurs' crowd was 10,097. That's not very much different except that there are more people in Texas than there are people in San Antonio.
It seems unlikely that the Spurs will lose their status as top dogs anytime soon, but just in case, there's a plan B and a plan C. If one team doesn't work out, the others keep playing and fans can go elsewhere. There are cities across America that would love to have an NFL team, especially ones with big markets that need some competition.
Formation of the San Antonio Commanders Commanders Team The San Antonio Commanders were a professional American football team headquartered in San Antonio, Texas, and one of the Alliance of American Football's eight members (AAF). The league started in February 2019. The Alamodome was the team's home stadium. The Commanders finished with a 2-14 record and did not qualify for the playoffs.
The San Antonio Commanders were the second AAF team to be based in San Antonio (the first being the San Antonio Riders), and the only AAF team to be owned by an ownership group from the start. The other teams that began their inaugural seasons with a franchise are Atlanta, Birmingham, Memphis, New Orleans, Orlando, and Phoenix. The owners of the Commanders were Tom Harrison, who is also part-owner of the NFL's Indianapolis Colts, and Bruce McNamara, who served as the general manager of the Oakland Raiders during its most successful era (2002-2011).
The team was coached by Mike Riley who was hired after the conclusion of the 2018 season where he served as the offensive coordinator for the Arizona Hotshots of the NFL. He was replaced after two games of the 2019 season by former Baylor head coach Matt Rhule who was hired after the conclusion of the 2018 season where he served as the wide receivers coach for the Dallas Cowboys of the NFL.
Copyright © 2020 - 2023 Sportsmanist Inc.
