American Football Association (1977–1983)

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The American Football Association (AFA) was a professional American football minor league that operated from 1977 to 1983.

Contents

The AFA was concentrated in the southern United States and served as the second tier of professional football between the World Football League, which folded in 1975, and the United States Football League, which began play in 1983. Unlike the WFL or USFL, the AFA always fashioned itself as a minor league, and never planned to rival the National Football League for "major league" status. [1] Players were paid one percent of gross gate revenue, which often meant players were paid only menial sums for their service (often comparable to minimum wage for three hours of work), and the league struggled to acquire recognizable players. [2]

The league played its games on Saturday nights [1] in the summer (beginning its season Memorial Day weekend and ending in August) to avoid direct competition against other football in the fall, a move that foreshadowed the USFL's similar spring football schedule. The AFA ended operations in 1983, unable to take advantage of the strike that hit the NFL the year prior or weather the competition from the USFL.

Teams and cities represented

StateCityTeam(s)
Oklahoma Tulsa Oklahoma Thunder
Tulsa Mustangs [3]
Alabama Birmingham Alabama Vulcans
Alabama Magic [4]
Kentucky Louisville Kentucky Trackers
Florida Jacksonville Jacksonville Firebirds
Jacksonville Sunbirds
Orlando Orlando Americans
North Carolina Charlotte Carolina Chargers [lower-alpha 1]
Texas San Antonio San Antonio Charros
Austin Austin Texans
Dallas Dallas Wranglers
Burleson Fort Worth Wranglers
Houston Houston Hotshots
Houston Armadillos
Arkansas Little Rock Arkansas Diamonds
Mississippi Jackson Mississippi Stars
Virginia Norfolk Virginia Hunters
Louisiana Shreveport Shreveport Steamer [lower-alpha 2]
West Virginia Charleston West Virginia Rockets [lower-alpha 3]
Illinois Chicago [lower-alpha 4] Chicago Fire [lower-alpha 5]

Many nicknames came from previous leagues, with minor alterations to avoid trademark disputes: the Steamer, Vulcans and Fire all took their names from WFL teams, while the Rockets borrowed their moniker from a Continental Football League and United Football League team of the same name.

The operations were often fly-by-night, with most teams lasting only one season (or less) before folding, and players played for a paycheck equal to one percent of the net gate receipts after expenses (In August 1980, Shreveport Times sports reporter Ron Higgins estimated the average Steamer game check to be about $35 per man).

Despite its minor-league status, the league's teams often were able to secure leases for unusually large stadiums, often those used by the WFL and the USFL: the Orlando Americans, in their lone season, played in the 70,000-seat Citrus Bowl, while the Vulcans and Magic played at similarly-sized Legion Field, Houston played at 73,000 seat Rice Stadium, and the Fire played at Soldier Field. [9] The Mustangs played at 30,000-seat Skelly Stadium. The Jacksonville Firebirds played in the Gator Bowl.

History

The AFA was founded in May 1977 and began to play that summer. It was formed to take advantage of the places where the WFL was the most popular, while avoiding the overspending that led to that league's demise. [1]

Billy Kilmer, the former NFL quarterback (and coach of the AFA's Shreveport Steamer in 1979), [10] was named commissioner in 1981. Kilmer lasted one season as commissioner, working unpaid, during which he encountered numerous problems in the AFA, including a scandal in San Antonio which a player named Robert Lee Johnson misrepresented himself as former NFL offensive lineman Randy Johnson. The Carolina Chargers, one of the league's more successful and stable teams, dropped out of the league mid-season but re-emerged in 1982 under new ownership as the Carolina Storm. [11]

In 1982, with former San Antonio Wings executive Roger Gill at the helm, the league attempted to expand northward by absorbing other semi-pro teams in Buffalo, New York, Racine, Wisconsin and Canton, Ohio. [9]

The USFL's securing of a TV contract, especially after the AFA had failed to do so (the AFA was only able to get a few of its teams onto local cable stations, still a nascent technology at the time), led to the AFA eventually declining into semi-pro status and folding after its 1983 season. [2]

The AFA lasted six seasons, one of the longest runs of a minor professional football organization in the sport's history, and considered the strongest league in the era between the WFL and the USFL. [12] The development of arena football and its numerous imitators has effectively reduced most outdoor leagues to amateur or semi-pro status.

The modern American Football Association, a sanctioning body for semi-pro and amateur football, is unrelated to the former AFA.

1977

Harry Lander and Roger Gill, from the existing San Antonio Charros amateur club, decided to create a new minor league football league and attract local investors. Five other clubs from Houston, Fort Worth, Austin, Wichita Falls, and Oklahoma City joined the Charros to establish the AFA. [13]

The plan was to play two exhibition games, and then each team would play twelve regular-season games beginning on July 2. The players were promised 1% of each game's gate receipts.

After three games (including two preseason) where they failed to score any points, the Fort Worth Stars were forced out of the league, while the Houston franchise—which had failed to secure a home stadium, pay their league dues, or secure medical insurance for their players—folded mid-August.

TeamWLTPct.PFPANotes
San Antonio Charros8001.00032981Champions
Oklahoma City Warriors430.57119273
Austin Texans440.500168177
Wichita Falls Steelers250.28574162
Houston Seagulls050.00038183Folded mid-season
Fort Worth Stars010-077Forced out of the league

The San Antonio Charros finished undefeated in the regular season and were declared league champions.

1978

The AFA entered an agreement for a loose affiliation with the California Football League for the 1978 season, that both leagues will play their normal league schedules, and at the end of the season the champions of each league will play in the "King Kong Bowl" to determine the "national champion". [12] [14] [15]

TeamWLTPct.PFPA
Shreveport Steamer910.900375161
San Antonio Charros640.600235185
Houston Titans640.600226206
Oklahoma City Stampede640.600263185
Wichita Falls Roughnecks280.200101300
Austin Texans190.100158273

Playoffs

Semi-finals
September 2 		American Bowl I
September 16
      
1 Shreveport14
4 Oklahoma City 0
1 Shreveport17*
2 San Antonio 14
2 San Antonio25
3 Houston 7

*Indicates overtime victory.

King Kong Bowl
(September 30 at State Fair Stadium)
San Jose Tigers32 vs. Shreveport Steamer 6

1979

The league grow to nine teams and had plans to divide to Eastern and Western divisions, but after Tulsa Mustangs folded the remaining teams has gone from two divisions format to one, with the top four teams making the playoffs. [12] [16]

TeamWLTPct.PFPA
Alabama Vulcans1350.722406220
San Antonio Charros1040.714405301
Carolina Chargers1250.705457277
Jacksonville Firebirds1150.687497277
Shreveport Steamer970.562387279
Mississippi Stars5110.312220386
Kentucky Trackers4120.250342544
Tulsa Mustangs140.25039120
Arkansas Champs2140.125138503

Playoffs

Semi-finals
September 15 		American Bowl II
September 29
      
1 Alabama 21
4 Jacksonville28
4 Jacksonville27
3 Carolina 7
2 San Antonio 21
3 Carolina28

1980

The AFA started the season with eight teams and split up to Eastern and Western divisions. The league revoked Kentucky Trackers license after several cases of misconduct with four remaining weeks in the regular season. The Trackers' remaining games was filled with semi-pro teams from the Atlantic Coast League and the Dixie League, but those games did not count in AFA standings. [12] [17]

Eastern Division
TeamWLTPct.PFPA
Carolina Chargers1030.769315231
West Virginia Rockets940.692294183
Jacksonville Firebirds850.615306225
Kentucky Trackers0130.000135248
Western Division
TeamWLTPct.PFPA
Shreveport Steamer910.900265122
San Antonio Charros640.600227179
Austin Texans460.400189245
Fort Worth Wranglers0100.00085307

Playoffs

Semi-finals
August 30 		American Bowl III
September 7
      
1 Carolina36
4 San Antonio 20
1 Carolina 18
3 West Virginia42
2 Shreveport 17
3 West Virginia21

1981

Billy Kilmer was introduced as the first full-time commissioner of the American Football Association. Also, for the first time, the league expended behind southern United States, when they add the Chicago Fire.The Chargers players voted to walk out on the team four games into the season, while both Shreveport Steamer and Austin Texans folded before season end, resulting in Kilmer resignation before the American Bowl. He was replaced by AFA president Roger Gill. [12]

During the season a member of the Orlando Americans admits he impersonated former NFL guard Randy Johnson to make the team. He was discovered when he couldn't crack the starting lineup. [18]

Eastern Division
TeamWLTPct.PFPA
West Virginia Rockets1110.916307144
Jacksonville Firebirds840.666228206
Virginia Hunters750.583187210
Orlando Americans570.416229202
Carolina Chargers2100.166102117
Western Division
TeamWLTPct.PFPA
Chicago Fire840.666311223
San Antonio Charros660.500276297
Shreveport Steamer660.500169182
Texas Wranglers570.416149237
Austin Texans2100.166184324

*Includes forfeit games.

Playoffs

Semi-finals
August 23 		American Bowl IV
August 30
      
1 West Virginia42
4 San Antonio 12
1 West Virginia29
2 Chicago 21
2 Chicago24
3 Jacksonville 17

1982

The AFA expanded to 18 teams, and split up to three divisions, while two teams (Florida Sun and Roanoke Valley Express) folded mid-season. [12] [19]

Southeastern Division
TeamWLTPct.PFPA
Carolina Storm10001.00033989
Georgia Pride640.600178179
Alabama Magic640.600209138
Tallahassee Statesmen550.500120178
Jacksonville Sunbirds370.300136225
Florida Sun*0100.0007141
Southwestern Division
TeamWLTPct.PFPA
Shreveport Americans820.800291124
Oklahoma Thunder820.800308125
Texas Wranglers820.800291124
San Antonio Bulls 460.400203195
Houston Armadillos280.20054308
Austin Texans0100.000113345
Northern Division
TeamWLTPct.PFPA
Racine Gladiators 10001.00030988
West Virginia Rockets730.700363121
Akron Bulldogs640.60022998
Roanoke Valley Express*370.30063106
Buffalo Geminis370.30093294
Virginia Chargers190.10027410

*Includes forfeit games.

Playoffs

First Round (August 7):
Racine 44 vs. Akron 6
Carolina 61 vs. West Virginia 18
Texas 17 vs. Oklahoma 14
Shreveport 42 vs. Georgia 35

Semi-finals
August 15 		American Bowl V
August 21
      
Carolina35
Racine 8
Carolina46
Shreveport 22
Shreveport30
Texas 27

1983

It was the seventh and final year of the AFA. The United Football Teams of America league champion – Oklahoma City Drillers – joined the league but later announced that they would play the season as a travelling team before folding altogether after two weeks. The majority of the teams followed, and the league decided that division champions Carolina and San Antonio would meet in the final American Bowl. [12]

The Bulls knew before season's end that they would join the United States Football League as an expansion team for the 1984 season, where they played as the San Antonio Gunslingers (as the Jacksonville Bulls had already claimed rights to the "Bulls" name). [20]

Eastern Division
TeamWLTPct.PFPA
Carolina Storm6001.00028944
Canton Bulldogs410.8008777
Charleston Rockets130.25010881
Pittsburgh Colts 150.16680236
Western Division
TeamWLTPct.PFPA
San Antonio Bulls 610.85727658
Shreveport Americans520.714237113
Baton Rouge Red Wings230.40043224
Dallas Wranglers240.333115137
Houston Mustangs040.00045159
Oklahoma City Drillers020.000796

Playoffs

Semi-finals American Bowl VI
July 23
      
Carolina
Canceled
Carolina39
San Antonio 0
San Antonio
Canceled

Notes

  1. ↑ Also known as the Carolina Storm. The Chargers/Storm were by far the most successful club in AFA history, playing in four of the league's six championship games (losing in 1979 and 1980, winning in 1982 and 1983; Charlotte was also undefeated in the latter two years). [5]
  2. ↑ Later merged with Orlando as the "Shreveport Americans".
  3. ↑ 1980 and 1981 champions. [6] [7]
  4. ↑ the AFA's largest market, and the only one in the northern US.
  5. ↑ Not to be confused with the WFL team, or the current MLS franchise. [8]

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  11. ↑ "The Evening Independent - Google News Archive Search". news.google.com. Retrieved 2023-12-26.
  12. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Bob Gill, with Tod Maher. Outsiders II: Minor League And Independent Football, 1951-1985, p. vii. St. Johann Press, 2010. ISBN   1878282654
  13. ↑ "1977 AFA Timeline". birminghamprosports.com. Retrieved 2023-12-26.
  14. ↑ "1978-1981 Shreveport Steamer". 6 May 2018.
  15. ↑ "1978 AFA Timeline". birminghamprosports.com. Retrieved 2023-12-26.
  16. ↑ "1979 AFA Timeline". birminghamprosports.com. Retrieved 2023-12-26.
  17. ↑ "1980 AFA Timeline". birminghamprosports.com. Retrieved 2023-12-26.
  18. ↑ "1981 AFA Timeline". birminghamprosports.com. Retrieved 2023-12-26.
  19. ↑ "1982 AFA Timeline". birminghamprosports.com. Retrieved 2023-12-26.
  20. ↑ "1983 AFA Timeline". birminghamprosports.com. Retrieved 2023-12-26.
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