The Story And Significance Of Morris (Red) Badgro - NFL Champion And Receptions Co-Leader in 1934

Morris Hiram "Red" Badgro was an American professional football and baseball player. He played as an end in the National Football League. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1981.

A native of Orillia, Washington, he attended the University of Southern California (USC) where he played baseball, basketball, and football. He then played nine seasons of professional football for the New York Yankees (1927–1928), New York Giants (1930–1935), and Brooklyn Dodgers (1936). He was selected as a first-team All-Pro in 1931, 1933, and 1934. He scored the first touchdown in the first NFL Championship Game and was a member of the 1934 New York Giants team that won the second NFL Championship Game.

Badgro also played professional baseball as an outfielder for six years from 1928 to 1933, including two seasons in Major League Baseball for the St. Louis Browns (1929–1930). After his career as an athlete was over, Badgro served as a football coach for 14 years, including stints as the ends coach for Columbia (1939–1942) and Washington (1946–1953).

Badgro played 10 seasons of professional football. During the 1927 season, he appeared in 12 games for the New York Yankees. The Yankees folded after the 1928 season, and Badgro opted to focus on professional baseball. He did not play professional football in 1929.

After playing Major League Baseball in 1929 and 1930, Badgro qualified as a free agent in professional football and signed with the New York Giants for $150 a game. He gained his greatest acclaim as the starting left end for the Giants from 1930 to 1935. He was regarded as a sure-tackling defender and an effective blocker and talented receiver on offense. Giants coach Steve Owen said of Badgro: "He could block, tackle, and catch passes equally well. And he could do each with the best of them."

In 1930, he appeared in 17 games at left end, 14 as a starter, and was selected by the Green Bay Press-Gazette as a second-team end on the 1930 All-Pro Team.

In 1931, he appeared in 13 games, 11 as a starter, and was selected by the NFL as a first-team end on the official 1931 All-Pro Team.

In 1932, he appeared in 12 games, 11 as a starter.

In 1933, he appeared in 12 games, 10 as a starter, and was selected by the Chicago Daily News as a second-team end on the 1933 All-Pro Team. He helped lead the Giants to the 1933 NFL Championship Game where he scored the first touchdown in the first NFL Championship Game, a 29-yard touchdown on a pass from Harry Newman.

In 1934, he appeared in 13 games, all as a starter, for the Giants team that won the 1934 NFL Championship Game. He was selected by the NFL and the Chicago Daily News as a first-team end on the 1934 All-Pro Team. He also led the NFL with 16 receptions.

Playing against the Boston Redskins in 1935, Badgro blocked a punt, and teammate Les Corzine returned it for a go-ahead touchdown.

Badgro also played professional baseball. He played minor league ball in 1928 for the Tulsa Oilers in the Western League and the Muskogee Chiefs in the Western Association, compiling a .351 batting average in 513 at bats. He also played for the Milwaukee Brewers of the American Association in 1929.

In June 1929, Badgro made his major league debut with the St. Louis Browns. Over the 1929 and 1930 season, he appeared in 143 games, 80 of them as a right fielder and 13 as a center fielder. He compiled a .257 batting average in 382 major league at-bats and appeared in his final major league game on September 18, 1930.

Badgro continued to play in the minor leagues for several years, including stints with the Wichita Falls Spudders of the Texas League (1931–1932) and Seattle Indians of the Pacific Coast League (1933).

In 1937, Badgro returned to USC to finish the credits he needed to graduate. At the same time, he was a member of Howard Jones' football coaching staff at USC, responsible for working with USC's frosh players.

In June 1938, Badgro was hired as the football coach at Ventura High School in Ventura, California. He also coached football, baseball, and basketball for Ventura Junior College.

In June 1939, he was hired as an assistant coach (responsible for ends) under Lou Little at Columbia. He remained at Columbia through the 1942 season.

In 1944, Badgro was employed in a Seattle war plant.

In February 1946, Badgro was hired as an assistant football coach at the University of Washington. When Howard Odell took over as Washington's head coach, he retained Badgro as his ends coach. Badgro was again retained when John Cherberg took over as head coach in 1953. He resigned his coaching post at Washington in January 1954 in order to pursue private business in Kent, Washington.

Badgro was married to Dorothea Taylor. After retiring from football, Badgro worked for the Department of Agriculture in the State of Washington.

In 1967, Badgro was inducted into the Washington State Sports Hall of Fame. Badgro was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1981 at age 78. At that time, he was the oldest person to be inducted into the Hall of Fame.

Badgro died in July 1998 at age 95 in Kent, Washington. He had been hospitalized after a fall.

The History Of The Arena Football League

The Arena Football League (AFL) can refer to one of three successive professional indoor American football leagues in the United States. The first of these was founded in 1986, and played its first official games in the 1987 season, running for 22 consecutive seasons until going bankrupt following the 2008 season. The second league, consisting largely of teams from the first AFL and arenafootball2 (a minor league majority-owned by the first AFL), purchased the first league's assets out of bankruptcy and resumed play in 2010 as a continuation of the first AFL; this second AFL ran for ten further seasons, before again going bankrupt following the 2019 season. A third AFL, which is not directly connected to the previous two iterations of the league but claiming their histories and trademarks, intends to launch in 2024.

The AFL played a formerly proprietary code known as arena football, a form of indoor American football played on a 66-by-28 yard field (about a quarter of the surface area of an NFL field), with rules encouraging offensive performance, resulting in a typically faster-paced and higher-scoring game compared to NFL games. The sport was invented in the early 1980s and patented by Jim Foster, a former executive of the United States Football League (USFL) and the NFL. Each of the league's 32 seasons culminated in the ArenaBowl, with the winner being crowned the league's champion for that season.

From 2000 to 2009, the AFL had its own developmental league, the af2. The AFL played 22 seasons from 1987 to 2008; internal issues caused the league to cancel its 2009 season, though the af2 did play. Later that year both the AFL and af2 were dissolved and reorganized as a new corporation comprising teams from both leagues, and the AFL returned in 2010. The league's average game attendance after returning in 2010 was approximately 9,500.

The league historically had a nationwide footprint, and was recognized as the most prominent professional indoor football league in North America, offering higher payment, more widespread media exposure, and a longer history than competing leagues. From a high of 19 teams in 2007, the league contracted to a low of four teams in 2018, all in the northeastern United States. There were six teams playing in 2019, the league's final season.

On October 29, 2019, league commissioner Randall Boe confirmed reports that the league had discontinued operating teams in local markets for the 2020 season. Four weeks later on November 27, league commissioner Boe announced via Twitter that the league as a whole had filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, dissolving the league for the second time.

On February 1, 2023, a new ownership group that had acquired the league's trademarks and social media accounts announced another revival of the league, with intent to resume play in 2024.
Jim Foster, a promotions manager with the National Football League, conceived of indoor football while watching an indoor soccer match at Madison Square Garden in 1981. While at the game, he wrote his idea on a 9 x 12 envelope, with sketches of the field and notes on gameplay. He presented the idea to a few friends at the NFL offices, where he received praise and encouragement for his concept. After solidifying the rules and a business plan, and supplemented with sketches by a professional artist, Foster presented his idea to various television networks. He reached an agreement with NBC for a "test game".

Plans for arena football were put on hold in 1982 as the United States Football League was launched. Foster left the NFL to accept a position in the USFL. He eventually became executive vice-president with the Chicago Blitz, where he returned to his concept of arena football. In 1983, he began organizing the test game in his spare time from his job with the Blitz. By 1985, the USFL had ceased football operations and he began devoting all his time to arena football, and on April 27, 1986, his concept was realized when the test game was played.

The test game was played in Rockford, Illinois, on April 27, 1986 at the Rockford MetroCentre. Sponsors were secured, and players and coaches from local colleges were recruited to volunteer to play for the teams, the Chicago Politicians and Rockford Metros, with the guarantee of a tryout should the league take off. Interest was high enough following the initial test game that Foster decided to put on a second, "showcase" game. The second game was held on February 27, 1987, at the Rosemont Horizon in Chicago with a budget of $20,000, quintuple the $4,000 for the test game. Foster also invited ESPN to send a film crew to the game; a highlights package aired on SportsCenter.

Following the successes of his trial-run games, Foster moved ahead with his idea for arena football. He founded the Arena Football League with four teams: the Pittsburgh Gladiators, Denver Dynamite, Washington Commandos, and Chicago Bruisers. Foster appointed legendary Darrel "Mouse" Davis, godfather of the "run and shoot" and modern pro offenses, as executive director of football operations. Davis hired the original coaches and was the architect of the league's original wide-open offensive playbooks.

The first game in Arena Football League history was played on June 19, 1987, between the Gladiators and Commandos at Pittsburgh Civic Arena in front of 12,117 fans. The game was deliberately not televised so that it could be analyzed and any follies and failures would not be subject to national public scrutiny. Following the inaugural game, tweaks and adjustments were made, and the first season continued. The Dynamite and Bruisers played in the first-ever televised AFL game the next night, on June 20, 1987, at the Rosemont Horizon in suburban Chicago on ESPN with Bob Rathbun and Lee Corso calling the play-by-play. The broadcast showed a short clip of the Commandos-Gladiators game. Each team played six games, two against each other team. The top two teams, Denver and Pittsburgh, then competed in the first-ever AFL championship game, ArenaBowl I.

On September 30, 1987, Foster filed an application with the United States Patent and Trademark Office to patent his invented sport. The patent application covered the rules of the game, specifically detailing the goalposts and rebound netting and their impact on gameplay. Foster's application was granted on March 27, 1990. The patent expired on March 27, 2007.

From its inception, the AFL operated in a state of semi-obscurity; many Americans had heard the term "arena football" but knew little to nothing about the league itself.

From the 1987 season until the late 1990s, the most exposure the league would receive was on ESPN, which aired tape-delayed games, often well after midnight, and often edited to match the allotted time slot. The league received its first taste of wide exposure in 1998, when Arena Bowl XII was televised nationally as part of ABC's old Wide World of Sports.

On July 23, 1989, much of America learned of the AFL for an unintended reason, when the Pittsburgh Gladiators' head coach, Joe Haering, made football history by punching commissioner Jim Foster during a game with the Chicago Bruisers. The national media ran with the story, including a photo in USA Today. The game was played between the two teams in Sacramento's ARCO Arena, as part of the AFL's 'Barnstorming America' tour. Foster had walked onto the field of play to mediate an altercation between the two teams when Haering, a former NFL assistant, punched him in the jaw. Haering was suspended without pay.

One of the league's early success stories was the Detroit Drive. A primary team for some of the AFL's most highly regarded players, including George LaFrance and Gary and Alvin Rettig, as well as being a second career chance for quarterback Art Schlichter, the Drive regularly played before sold-out crowds at Joe Louis Arena, and went to the ArenaBowl every year of their existence (1988–1993). The AFL's first dynasty came to an end when their owner, Mike Ilitch (who also owned Little Caesars Pizza and the Detroit Red Wings) bought the Detroit Tigers and sold the AFL team.

Although the Drive moved to Massachusetts, becoming the Massachusetts Marauders for the 1994 season, the AFL had a number of other teams which it considered "dynasties" between 1994 and 2016. The most successful of these were the Tampa Bay Storm and their arch-rival the Orlando Predators, as well as the San Jose SaberCats and their rivals, the Arizona Rattlers. Among those four teams, they won 14 of 22 ArenaBowls in that time span and appeared in all but two.

In 1993, the league staged its first All-Star Game in Des Moines, Iowa, the future home of the long-running Iowa Barnstormers, as a fundraiser for flood victims in the area. The National Conference defeated the American Conference 64–40 in front of a crowd of 7,189. The second All-Star event was in October 2013, with two games, the first in Honolulu, Hawai'i, the second being in Beijing, China.

While some teams have enjoyed considerable on-field and even financial success, many teams in the history of the league have enjoyed little success either on or off of the field of play. There were a number of franchises which existed in the form of a series of largely-unrelated teams with little to no continuity of either coaching staffs or players under numerous management groups until they folded. One example of several which could be cited is the New York CityHawks, whose owners transferred the team from New York City to Hartford to become the New England Sea Wolves after two seasons, then after another two seasons were sold and became the Toronto Phantoms, which lasted another two seasons until folding. There are a number of reasons why these teams failed, including financially weak ownership groups, lack of deep financial support from some owners otherwise capable of providing it, lack of media exposure, and the host city's evident lack of interest in its team or the sport as a whole.

The year 2000 brought heightened interest in the AFL. Then-St. Louis Rams quarterback Kurt Warner, who was MVP of Super Bowl XXXIV, was first noticed because he played quarterback for the AFL's Iowa Barnstormers. While many sports commentators and fans continued to ridicule the league, Warner's story gave the league positive exposure, and it brought the league a new television deal with TNN, which, unlike ESPN, televised regular season games live. While it was not financially lucrative, it helped set the stage for what the league would become in the new millennium. Also, the year also brought a spin-off league, the af2, intended to be a developmental league, comparable to the National Football League's NFL Europe. There was a lot of expansion in the 2000s. Expansion teams included the Austin Wranglers, Carolina Cobras, Los Angeles Avengers, Chicago Rush, Detroit Fury, Dallas Desperados, Colorado Crush, New Orleans VooDoo, Philadelphia Soul, Nashville Kats, Kansas City Brigade, New York Dragons and Utah Blaze. Some of these teams, including the Crush, Desperados, Kats, and VooDoo, were owned for at least part of their existence by the same group which owned the NFL teams in their host cities, after NFL resolution to allow league owners to own the individual AFL clubs. Also, on February 8, 1999, the NFL purchased, but never exercised, an option to buy a major interest in the AFL (49.9%). Of all of these teams, only the Philadelphia Soul were still playing in the AFL in their last season before folding.

In 2003, the season expanded to 16 games. There were also several rule changes in this period. In 2005, players were no longer allowed to run out of bounds. The only way for a player to go out of bounds presently is if he is tackled into or deliberately contacts the side boards. This was also the first year the ArenaBowl was played at a neutral site. In 2007, free substitution was allowed, ending the "iron man" era of one-platoon football; also, games ending in ties were abolished. The next season, in 2008, the "jack" linebacker was allowed to go sideboard to sideboard without being penalized.

After 12 years as commissioner of the AFL, David Baker retired unexpectedly on July 25, 2008, just two days before ArenaBowl XXII; deputy commissioner Ed Policy was named interim commissioner until Baker's replacement was found. Baker explained, "When I took over as commissioner, I thought it would be for one year. It turned into 12. But now it's time."

In October 2008, Tom Benson announced that the New Orleans VooDoo were ceasing operations and folding "based on circumstances currently affecting the league and the team". Shortly thereafter, an article in Sports Business Journal announced that the AFL had a tentative agreement to sell a $100 million stake in the league to Platinum Equity; in exchange, Platinum Equity would create a centralized, single-entity business model that would streamline league and team operations and allow the league to be more profitable. Benson's move to shut down the VooDoo came during the Platinum Equity conference call, leading to speculation that he had folded because of the deal.

Because of the sudden loss of the New Orleans franchise, the league announced in October that the beginning of the free agency period would be delayed in order to accommodate a dispersal draft. Dates were eventually announced as December 2 for the dispersal draft and December 4 for free agency, but shortly before the draft the league issued a press release announcing the draft had been postponed one day to December 3. Shortly thereafter, another press release announced that the draft would be held on December 9 and free agency would commence on December 11. However, the draft still never took place, and instead another press release was issued stating that both the draft and free agency had been postponed indefinitely. Rumors began circulating that the league was in trouble and on the verge of folding, but owners denied those claims. It was soon revealed the players' union had agreed to cut the salary cap for the 2009 season to prevent a total cessation of operations. However, the announced Platinum Equity investment never materialized.

Although the af2 played its tenth season in 2009, a conference call in December 2008 resulted in enough votes from owners and cooperation from the AFLPA for the AFL to suspend the entire 2009 season in order to create "a long-term plan to improve its economic model." In doing so, the AFL became the second sports league to cancel an entire season, after the National Hockey League cancelled the 2004–05 season because of a lockout. The AFL also became the third sports league to lose its postseason (the first being Major League Baseball, which lost its postseason in 1994 because of a strike). Efforts to reformat the league's business model were placed under the leadership of Columbus Destroyers owner Jim Renacci and interim commissioner Policy.

High hopes for the AFL waned when interim commissioner Ed Policy announced his resignation, citing the obsolescence of his position in the reformatted league. Two weeks later, the Los Angeles Avengers announced that they were formally folding the franchise. One month later, the league missed the deadline to formally ratify the new collective bargaining agreement and announced that it was eliminating health insurance for the players. Progress on the return stalled, and no announcements were made regarding the future of the league.

On July 20, 2009, Sports Business Journal reported that the AFL owed approximately $14 million to its creditors and was considering filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. In early August 2009, numerous media outlets began reporting that the AFL was folding permanently and would file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. The league released a statement on August 4 to the effect that while the league was not folding, it was suspending league operations indefinitely. Despite this, several of the league's creditors filed papers to force a Chapter 7 liquidation if the league did not do so voluntarily. This request was granted on August 7, though converted to a Chapter 11 reorganization on August 26.

Following the suspension of the AFL's 2009 season, league officials and owners of af2 (which had played its season as scheduled) began discussing the future of arena football and the two leagues. With its 50.1 percent ownership of af2, the AFL's bankruptcy and dissolution prompted the dissolution of af2 as well. That league was formally considered disbanded on September 8, 2009, when no owner committed his or her team to the league's eleventh season by that deadline.[citation needed] For legal reasons, af2 league officials and owners agreed to form a new legal entity, Arena Football 1 (AF1), with former AFL teams the Arizona Rattlers and Orlando Predators joining the former af2.

All assets of the Arena Football League were put up for auction. On November 11, 2009, the new league announced its intention to purchase the entire assets of the former AFL; the assets included the team names and logos of all but one of the former AFL and af2 teams. The lone exception was that of the Dallas Desperados; Desperados owner Jerry Jones had purposely designed the Desperados' properties around those of the Dallas Cowboys, making the two inseparable. The auction occurred on November 25, 2009. The assets were awarded to Arena Football 1 on December 7, 2009, with a winning bid of $6.1 million.

On February 17, 2010, AF1 announced it would use the "Arena Football League" name. The league announced plans for the upcoming season and details of its contract with NFL Network to broadcast AFL games in 2010. AF1 teams were given the option of restoring historical names to their teams. In addition to the historical teams, the league added two new expansion franchises, the Dallas Vigilantes and the Jacksonville Sharks.

For the 2011 season, the Philadelphia Soul, Kansas City Brigade, San Jose SaberCats, New Orleans VooDoo, and the Georgia Force returned to the AFL after having last played in 2008. However, the Grand Rapids Rampage, Colorado Crush, Columbus Destroyers, Los Angeles Avengers, and the New York Dragons did not return. The league added one expansion team, the Pittsburgh Power. Former Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Lynn Swann was one of the team's owners. It was the first time the AFL returned to Pittsburgh since the Pittsburgh Gladiators were an original franchise in 1987 before becoming the Tampa Bay Storm. The Brigade changed its name to the Command, becoming the Kansas City Command. Even though they were returning teams, the former af2 Bossier–Shreveport Battle Wings moved to New Orleans as the Voodoo, the identity formerly owned by New Orleans Saints owner Tom Benson. The former af2 Alabama Vipers moved to Duluth, Georgia, to become the new Georgia Force (the earlier franchise of that name having been a continuation of the first Nashville Kats franchise). On October 25, 2010, lt was announced that the Oklahoma City Yard Dawgz would not return.[citation needed] The Milwaukee Iron also changed names to the Milwaukee Mustangs, the name of Milwaukee's original AFL team that had existed from 1994 to 2001.

In 2012, the AFL celebrated its silver anniversary for its 25th season of operations. The season kicked off on March 9, 2012. The Tulsa Talons moved to San Antonio, Texas, and Jeffrey Vinik became owner of the Tampa Bay Storm. The Dallas Vigilantes were left off the schedule for the 2012 season with no announcement from the management, and the team was subsequently quietly folded with no formal announcement ever being released. The AFL postponed the free agency period to October 31 due to Hurricane Sandy, noting that the National Football League was simultaneously doing the same thing with regard to its trade deadline.

It was announced on December 12, 2012, that the AFL had reached a partnership agreement with NET10 Wireless to be the first non-motorsports-related professional sports league in the United States to have a title sponsor, renaming it the NET10 Wireless Arena Football League. The redesigned website showed the new logo which incorporated the current AFL logo with the one from NET10 Wireless. The title sponsorship agreement ended in 2014 after a two-year partnership.

In 2013, the league expanded with the addition of two new franchises to play in 2014, the Los Angeles Kiss, owned by Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley of the rock band Kiss, and the Portland Thunder.

In 2014, the league announced the granting of a new franchise to Mötley Crüe frontman Vince Neil, previously part-owner of the Jacksonville Sharks. That franchise, the Las Vegas Outlaws, played their home games at the Thomas & Mack Center, previously home to the Las Vegas Sting and Las Vegas Gladiators. After 20 years as a familiar name to the league, an AFL mainstay, the Iowa Barnstormers, departed the league to join the Indoor Football League. The San Antonio Talons folded on October 13, 2014, after the league (which owned the team) failed to find a new owner. On November 16, 2014, despite a successful season record-wise, the Pittsburgh Power became the second team to cease operations after the 2014 season. This resulted from poor attendance. It was later announced by the league that the Power would go dormant for 2015 and were looking for new ownership. No new ownership group ever materialized, however.

Jerry Kurz also stepped down as commissioner of the AFL as he was promoted to be the AFL's first president. Former Foxwoods CEO Scott Butera was hired as his successor as commissioner.

On August 9, 2015, ESPN reported that the New Orleans VooDoo and Las Vegas Outlaws had ceased operations. On September 1, 2015, the Spokane Shock officially left the AFL and joined the IFL under the new name Spokane Empire, becoming the fifth active AFL/af2 franchise to leave for the IFL since the 2009 AFL bankruptcy (Iowa Barnstormers, Tri-Cities Fever, Green Bay Blizzard, and Arkansas Twisters left previously).

On November 12, the league announced the defending champion San Jose SaberCats would be ceasing operations due to "reasons unrelated to league operations". A statement from the league indicated that the AFL was working to secure new, long-term owners for the franchise. This left the AFL with eight teams for 2016.

On January 6, 2016, the league took over "ownership and operational control" of the Portland Thunder from its previous owners. The AFL stated this move was made after months of trying work out an arrangement "to provide financial and operational support." On February 3, 2016, it was announced that the franchise would start from scratch and no longer be called the "Thunder" as the name and trademarks belong to former franchise owner Terry Emmert (similar to the Jerry Jones move with the Desperados). AFL commissioner Scott Butera announced that a new identity would be announced at a later date. On February 24, 2016, the Thunder were rebranded as the Portland Steel.

The league's 2016 schedule, announced on the league's website on December 10, 2015, showed an eight-team league playing a 16-game regular season over 18 weeks, with two bye weeks for each team, one on a rotational basis and the other a "universal bye" for all teams during the Independence Day weekend, the first weekend in July. All teams qualified for the postseason, meaning that the regular season served only to establish seeding.

On February 10, 2016, The Washington Post and radio station WTOP-FM first broke the story that Monumental Sports & Entertainment (Ted Leonsis, chairman), which also owns the NHL's Washington Capitals, NBA's Washington Wizards, and WNBA's Washington Mystics, were "close to a deal" in bring a new expansion franchise to the Verizon Center. On March 10, 2016, AFL commissioner Scott Butera announced that the deal was finalized and that the new Washington, D.C., team would begin play in 2017. On July 14, 2016, the team name was revealed as the Washington Valor. There was also talk for franchises to return to San Antonio and St. Louis as well as a potential new team for Sacramento. However, when the 2017 schedule was announced, there was no mention of any San Antonio, St. Louis, or Sacramento teams.

On October 12, 2016, both the Orlando Predators and Jacksonville Sharks announced their departure from the league, with Jacksonville establishing the National Arena League and the Predators, after a period of dormancy, being reclaimed by some of its former players and also joining the NAL in 2019. The next day, it was reported that the Arizona Rattlers were in the planning stages to also leave the AFL for the Indoor Football League for 2017. In the same report, it was stated the Los Angeles Kiss and Portland Steel had apparently folded after both teams failed to return calls or respond to inquiries into 2017 season ticket purchases. Later on October 13, the league held a teleconference with the remaining team owners and issued a statement the next morning declaring that the league would continue in the long-term, although the league did not expressly commit to playing in 2017 at that time. On October 14, the AFL held a dispersal draft with the five teams selecting players from the Jacksonville, Los Angeles, Orlando, and Portland rosters. The Rattlers then officially left the AFL for the IFL on October 17, leaving the AFL with four teams. They were the sixth AFL team to leave for the IFL since the 2010 relaunch. On November 14, the AFL announced that it had granted a second franchise to Washington Valor owner Ted Leonsis to be based out of Baltimore for the 2017 season, the Baltimore Brigade, bringing the league up to five teams.

On August 23, 2017, the week of ArenaBowl XXX, multiple sources revealed that the AFL planned to expand to Albany, New York, and Newark, New Jersey, for 2018. The Albany Empire was confirmed October 24, with the team owned by Hearst Communications executive George Randolph Hearst III and sharing non-football management with the Philadelphia Soul. There was never another mention of a Newark team in the offseason. On November 28, the Cleveland Gladiators announced that they would have to take a two-year leave of absence while their arena, shared with its primary tenant the NBA's Cleveland Cavaliers, was undergoing construction during the basketball offseason. The next month, the longest-tenured AFL team, with franchise roots to the inaugural AFL season, the Tampa Bay Storm, also suspended operations citing financial problems.

In February 2018, the 2018 season schedule was finalized with only the four remaining teams, matching the size of the league in the original "demonstration season" in 1987. However, the collective bargaining agreement (CBA) between the AFL and Arena Football League Players' Union (AFLPU) had expired after the 2017 season. A new agreement had not been made despite several proposals and supposed ultimatums between the two parties leading to rumors that the season and league's existence were in jeopardy. On March 16, 2018, a new deal on a four-year CBA was reached, nearly doubling player compensation and granting expanded health insurance benefits.

On March 27, 2018, the AFL announced that commissioner Scott Butera would be replaced by former AOL counsel Randall Boe prior to the 2018 season. The AFL also partnered with DraftKings to bring back AFL Fantasy Football. The league continued organizational changes for the 2019 season with Philadelphia Soul owner Ron Jaworski taking over as chairman of the executive committee, moving the league's headquarters from Las Vegas to Philadelphia, and naming John Adams as president and chief operating officer.

On December 27, 2018, the AFL introduced a new set of logos to be used beginning with the 2019 season. The league announced an expansion team in Atlantic City, New Jersey, on January 22, 2019, that was to be operated by the same ownership group as the Albany Empire. On February 7, 2019, the league re-added the Columbus Destroyers as another expansion team to bring the league back to six teams. On May 3, 2019, the AFL and ESPN Inc. announced a new media rights agreement to broadcast all games on ESPN3 with ArenaBowl XXXII to be broadcast on ESPN2.

After the season, league commissioner Boe announced the closure of all six of the league's teams. The closure came as the league re-evaluated its business model and worked to respond to a lawsuit filed against the league by its former worker's compensation insurance provider. Boe also stated that they had not made the decision to suspend operations for the entire league at that time (raising the possibility that if the league did return, it would do so under a touring model similar to the Premier Lacrosse League or basketball's BIG3) and that a decision on the league's future would most likely be announced near the end of 2019.

Approximately a month after the announcement of the closure of teams, on November 27, 2019, commissioner Boe announced via the league's Twitter account that the league would be filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy and fully cease operations, citing a lack of capital and unresolved liabilities.
A year after its second shutdown, the Arena Football League trademarks and logo were bought out by Darren Arbet in 2020. Arbet is a former San Jose SaberCats head coach and was the head coach of the Indoor Football League's Bay Area Panthers. The trademark remained inactive until 2022, when a new website was set up. The website was first noticed on December 12, 2022. Two days later, a tweet from the league account was posted under a post from Tim Capper about the death of John Gregory (head coach of the Iowa Barnstormers), reading "Our thoughts and prayers have gone out to John's family." This tweet was later deleted, along with all the other tweets the Arena Football League Twitter account had up to that point. The new management assumed control of the Instagram account on around December 27 and deleted all posts on around January 6, and then took control of the Facebook account on January 16. On January 16, 2023, after a month of the first tweet, the Twitter account posted a picture of the leagues 2003-18 logo, with the caption #NewProfilePic.

On February 1, 2023, the Arena Football League confirmed the rumors and announced its plans to return in 2024, over a year after the rights to the league were purchased by an investment group called F1 Sports & Entertainment. The relaunched league, led by chairman Chris Chetty, president Anthony Rossi, president of operations Shan Singh, and commissioner Lee A. Hutton III, will feature 16 teams playing a 10-game season over the course of the summer months, followed by a postseason format that has yet to be determined. The league returned its logo to the one used from 2003 to 2018. The new iteration of the league will feature "streaming, betting, technology, (and) virtual reality" elements, per Rossi.

In a February 2023 interview with ArenaFan.com, the commissioner revealed that there have been discussions with potential ownership groups in New Orleans to relaunch the New Orleans VooDoo. In April interview he revealed that they are looking to put teams in Philadelphia, St. Louis, Minneapolis, Salt Lake City, Phoenix and Jacksonville, while they also received offers to put a team in Mexico City. Hutton also mentioned that the league would have a salary cap of $700,000, but the league will allows additional salary spending for "franchise players".

The Story And Significance Of Jim Otto - Played 210 Consecutive Games Over 15 Seasons For The Raiders

James Edwin Otto is an American former professional football player who played as a center for the Oakland Raiders of the American Football League (AFL) and National Football League for 15 seasons. He played college football at the University of Miami for the Miami Hurricanes.

Otto was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1980, his first year of eligibility.

No National Football League team showed interest in the undersized center. Otto was drafted by the proposed Minneapolis franchise of the new American Football League. When the Minneapolis contingent reneged to accept an NFL franchise, Otto's rights defaulted to the AFL's Oakland Raiders. He then signed with the Raiders and played for the entire ten years of the league's existence and five years beyond. He was issued jersey number 50 for the AFL's inaugural season, 1960, but switched to his familiar 00 the next season. Otto worked diligently to build his body up to his playing weight of 255 pounds.

For the next 15 years, Otto was a fixture at center for the Raiders, never missing a single game due to injury, and played in 210 consecutive games. He won one AFL/AFC championship in 1967 against the Houston Oilers with the Raiders, but lost five: in 1968, 1969, 1970, 1973, and 1974 to the New York Jets, Kansas City Chiefs, Baltimore Colts, Miami Dolphins, and Pittsburgh Steelers, respectively, with all five teams winning the Super Bowl. He played alongside Gene Upshaw, another Hall of Famer, at left guard from 1967 to 1974. In the 1967 regular season, Oakland scored 468 points (33.4 points/game), leading the AFL, but lost Super Bowl II to the Green Bay Packers. In 1968, Oakland scored 453 points (32.4 points/game) in the regular season, again leading the AFL, and beat the Chiefs in the divisional round (unscheduled tiebreaker) before losing to the Jets. In the 1969 regular season, Oakland scored 377 points (26.9 points/game) to lead the AFL for the third consecutive year, and beat the Houston Oilers in the new divisional round of the AFL playoffs before losing to the Chiefs. In the 1970 regular season, the first year of the NFL-AFL merger, Oakland scored 300 points (21.4 points/game), ranking ninth in the 26-team NFL, and beat the Miami Dolphins in the AFC playoffs before losing to the Colts. The Raiders missed the playoffs for the first time in five years in 1971, despite scoring 344 points (24.6 points/game), second highest in the NFL.

The Raiders came back stronger in 1972, scoring 365 points (26.1 points/game), ranking third in the NFL, but lost 13–7 to the Pittsburgh Steelers in the divisional round of the AFC playoffs, the famous Immaculate Reception game, in which Otto also made the only pass reception of his professional career. In the 1973 regular season, Oakland scored 292 points (20.9 points/game), tenth in the NFL, and avenged their defeat to the Steelers but lost to the Dolphins. In Otto's final year, 1974, Oakland scored 355 points (25.4 points/game), leading the NFL, and avenged their playoff loss to the Dolphins but lost to the Steelers again. In 1975, he was replaced by Dave Dalby, in his fourth season out of UCLA. Otto was the last member of the Oakland Raiders inaugural team from 1960 to retire.

Otto was one of only twenty players to play for the entire ten-year existence of the American Football League, and one of only three players to play in all of his team's AFL games. Otto was also selected as The Sporting News All-League center from 1960 through 1969. He was an All-Star in the first 13 of his 15 seasons – every year in the AFL from 1960 through 1969 and three of his five seasons in the NFL. He was also named the starting center on the AFL All-Time Team.

He was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1980, the first year he was eligible. In 1999, he was ranked number 78 on The Sporting News' list of the 100 Greatest Football Players. In 2019, he was revealed as being selected to the National Football League 100th Anniversary All-Time Team.

Otto's body was punished greatly during his NFL career, resulting in nearly 74 operations, including 28 on his knee (nine of them during his playing career) and multiple joint replacements. His joints became riddled with arthritis, and he developed debilitating back and neck problems. In his book, "The Pain of Glory" Otto described near-death experiences from medical procedures, including fighting off three life-threatening infections due to complications from his artificial joints. During one six-month stretch, he was without a right knee joint because he had to wait for an infection to heal before another artificial knee could be implanted. Otto eventually had to have his right leg amputated on August 1, 2007. Despite his maladies, Otto says he has no regrets and wouldn't change a thing even if given the opportunity to do it over again. He discussed his sports injuries as well as the concussions issue in a 2013 Frontline interview for "League of Denial: The NFL's Concussion Crisis".

The Story And Significance Of Bob Lilly - 7 Time All-Pro Selection At Defensive Tackle

Robert Lewis Lilly, nicknamed "Mr. Cowboy", is an American former professional football player who was a defensive tackle for the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League for 14 seasons. He played college football for the TCU Horned Frogs. Lilly was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1980 and the College Football Hall of Fame in 1981.

The Dallas Cowboys traded their first-round draft choice in the 1961 NFL draft, as part of the deal to get Eddie LeBaron from the Washington Redskins, so the Cowboys had to trade their first-round pick (#4-Gary Collins) in the 1962 NFL draft along with offensive tackle Paul Dickson, in exchange for the Cleveland Browns' first-round draft choice (13th overall) in 1961, to select Lilly, the first draft choice in franchise history.

Lilly began his career as a defensive end in 1961, but midway through the 1963, his third season, Cowboys coach Tom Landry moved him to defensive tackle. Lilly made the adjustment, becoming the main man in Dallas' vaunted "Doomsday Defense". As a tackle, Lilly was a first-team All-NFL choice every year from 1964 through 1969, then again in 1971. In 1970, the Cowboys finally made the Super Bowl, against the Baltimore Colts, only to lose the game (V), 16-13, on a field goal in the final nine seconds; after the game, he infamously tossed his helmet in the air, frustrated at the loss. In 1971, the rest of the Cowboys and he convincingly won Super Bowl VI over the Miami Dolphins, 24-3. His 29-yard sack of Dolphin quarterback Bob Griese (at the time an NFL record) is one of the most memorable plays in Super Bowl defensive history. This was the signature play of his 14-year hall-of-fame career.

Lilly was named an All-Pro seven times, and was selected to play in 11 Pro Bowl games. He was also drafted in the second round (14th overall) in the 1961 AFL Draft by the Dallas Texans (now Kansas City Chiefs). His greatest assets were his pass-rushing skills and his ability to slice plays open with his agility and instincts. He had a distinct stance, the so-called four-point stance, placing both hands on the field instead of the more usual one, generating greater force when rushing straight ahead. Lilly's agility and quickness helped him score four defensive touchdowns in his career. His first was returning an interception 17 yards in 1964. while the other three came on fumble recoveries.

What separated Lilly from other defensive tackles was his combination of agility, conditioning, and strength (although he did not start lifting weights until his sixth season in the NFL), that allowed him to make tackles from sideline to sideline. NFL Films did an eight-minute feature on Lilly and called him the "unblockable, unstoppable, force of the Doomsday Defense". He was regularly double- and triple-teamed for the majority of his career due to his impact in the games. Although the head slap was legal when he played, he never liked to use it to gain an advantage over opponents. Lilly played in 196 consecutive regular-season games. The only NFL game he missed in his career was the 1973 NFC Championship Game loss (10-27) on December 30 against the Minnesota Vikings due to a leg injury. Lilly injured his hamstring in the Cowboys victory (22-10) against the Denver Broncos on December 2. In the first play of the 1973 NFC Divisional playoff game three weeks later on December 23 versus the Los Angeles Rams (Cowboys 27-Rams 16), he reinjured the same hamstring.

Affectionately known as "Mr. Cowboy," his name was the first to be inscribed in the Dallas Cowboys Ring of Honor, above Texas Stadium and the current AT&T Stadium. The Cowboys had a Bob Lilly Day on November 23, 1975, to honor him and make Lilly the first inductee into the Ring of Honor. He has attended every ceremony for each Ring of Honor inductee since.

Lilly was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1980, his first year of eligibility, and was the first player who spent his entire career with the Cowboys to be elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He entered the Hall of Fame along with former teammate Herb Adderley (for two seasons), as well as David "Deacon" Jones and Jim Otto. The Sporting News named him a member of the All-Century NFL Team and "the greatest defensive tackle in NFL history". Lilly, Adderley, and Jones were all drafted in 1961. Tom Landry said of Lilly: "As I've said before, another Lilly won't come along in my time. We're observing a man who will become a legend". This comment is from the 1972 Street and Smith's Pro Football Yearbook. He also said that "Nobody is better than Lilly". He is a member of the National Football League 1960s All-Decade Team and National Football League 1970s All-Decade Team.

In 1999, he was ranked number 10 on The Sporting News' list of the 100 Greatest Football Players, the highest-ranking defensive lineman and the highest-ranking Cowboy. The only defensive players ranked ahead of Lilly were Dick Butkus and Lawrence Taylor. Sports Illustrated named him one of the 10 most revolutionary defensive players.

Although the Cowboys do not have a practice to retire jersey numbers, Lilly is the only player to wear #74 in team history (with the exception of preseason games).

When he began traveling with the Cowboys, Lilly regularly had his camera at his side. His interest in photography began when he was named to the College Football All-America Team in 1961, which was sponsored by Kodak. As a part of the honor, he was given a 35 mm camera and a year's supply of film by the company. Before and after games, he spent an increasing amount of time studying and photographing old sports stadiums. Lilly co-authored the 1983 book Bob Lilly Reflections with sportswriter Sam Blair, featuring scores of his black-and-white photographs of teammates in candid poses. He was also a photographer for the Texas Air National Guard where he was an airman 2nd class. Lilly spent two weeks in 1967 as part of the Texas National Guard at the Rhein-Main Air Base in West Germany.

After his retirement from professional football, Lilly moved to Waco, Texas, where he successfully operated a beer distribution business until 1982, when he saw the impact of a traffic accident caused by drunken driving and decided to sell the company and launch his landscape photography career. He lived in Las Cruces, New Mexico, from 1984 to 1989, where he opened a photo art gallery, complete with both color and black-and-white darkrooms. In 1989, he moved back to Texas, settling in Graham. As of 2016, the grandfather of 12 and great-grandfather of three lived with his wife, Ann, whom he married in 1974, in Georgetown, Texas.

The Story And Significance Of David (Deacon) Jones - Coined The Word "Sack"

David D. "Deacon" Jones was an American professional football player who was a defensive end in the National Football League for the Los Angeles Rams, San Diego Chargers, and the Washington Redskins. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1980.

Jones specialized in sacks, a term that he coined. Nicknamed "the Secretary of Defense", Jones is considered one of the greatest defensive players ever. The Los Angeles Times called Jones "most valuable Ram of all time," and former Rams head coach George Allen called him the "greatest defensive end of modern football".

Due to a lack of television coverage and modern scouting networks, Jones was largely overlooked during his college career. According to an NFL Films interview with writer Ray Didinger, "Deacon was discovered kinda by accident. The Rams were scouting some running backs and they found this defensive tackle who was outrunning the running backs that they were scouting." Jones was drafted in the 14th round of the 1961 NFL Draft by the Los Angeles Rams. He then earned a starting role as a defensive end and teamed with tackle Merlin Olsen to give Los Angeles a perennial All-Pro left side of the defensive line. He became a part of the Fearsome Foursome defensive line of the Rams (along with Lamar Lundy, Rosey Grier, and Olsen), which is now considered to have been one of the best defensive lines of all time.

Jones won consensus All-Pro honors five straight years from 1965 through 1969 and was second-team All-Pro in 1964, 1970, and 1972. He was also in seven straight Pro Bowls, from 1964 to 1970, and was selected to an eighth after the 1972 season with the San Diego Chargers. He was voted the team's Outstanding Defensive Lineman by the Los Angeles Rams Alumni in 1962, '64, '65, and '66. In 1971, Jones suffered a severely sprained arch, which caused him to miss four starts, and he ended the season with 4½ sacks, his career-low to that point.

Jones was traded along with Lee White and Greg Wojcik from the Rams to the San Diego Chargers for Jeff Staggs, a second-rounder in 1972 (30th overall—Jim Bertelsen) and a second and third-rounder in 1973 (31st and 60th overall—Cullen Bryant and Tim Stokes respectively) on January 29, 1972. He was named San Diego's defensive captain and led all Chargers' defensive linemen in tackles and won a berth on the AFC Pro Bowl squad. He concluded his career with the Washington Redskins in 1974. In the final game of his NFL career, the Redskins allowed him to kick the point-after-touchdown for the game's last score. Along the way, Jones was named the Associated Press NFL Defensive Player of the Week four times: week 14, 1967; week 12, 1968; week 11, 1969; and week 10, 1970.

An extremely durable player, Jones missed only six games of a possible 196 regular-season encounters in his 14 National Football League seasons.

Jones was considered by many to revolutionize the position of defensive end. He was credited with coining the phrase "sacking the quarterback". He once stated that a quarterback being sacked devastated the offense in the same way that a city was devastated when it was sacked. In 1999, Jones provided a Los Angeles Times reporter with some other detailed imagery about his forte: "You take all the offensive linemen and put them in a burlap bag, and then you take a baseball bat and beat on the bag. You're sacking them, you're bagging them. And that’s what you're doing with a quarterback."

What separated Jones from every other defensive end was his speed and his ability to make tackles from sideline to sideline, which was unheard of in his time. He also was the first pass rusher to use the head slap, a move that he said was, "to give myself an initial head start on the pass rush, in other words an extra step. Because anytime you go upside a man's head … or a woman; they may have a tendency to blink they [sic] eyes or close they eyes. And that's all I needed." "The head slap was not my invention, but Rembrandt, of course, did not invent painting. The quickness of my hands and the length of my arms, it was perfect for me. It was the greatest thing I ever did, and when I left the game, they outlawed it."

Pro Football Weekly reported he accumulated 173.5 sacks over his career. The total would be third on the all-time sack list, which would have ranked first all-time at the time of his retirement by a substantial margin. Pro-Football-Reference.com in 2021 confirmed this sack total with their research.

In 1967, Jones had 21.5 sacks in only 14 games; he tallied 22 sacks in 14 games the following year. If official, this would have stood as an NFL record until Harvey Martin's 1977 campaign in which he totaled 23 sacks. This number was also equaled by Al Baker a year later. (The term "sack" had not yet been coined at the time, and official sack statistics were not recorded by the NFL until 1982.)

Jones worked as a television actor, and appeared in numerous TV programs since the 1970s, most often appearing in cameo roles. He appeared in an episode of The Odd Couple where he and Oscar were in a television commercial selling shaving products. He appeared on The Brady Bunch, and in a Bewitched episode in 1969, he played a guard to the Giant's castle in "Sam & the Beanstalk". Jones also played himself on an episode of Wonder Woman in 1978.

In 1978, he played a Viking named Thall in The Norseman. Fellow Hall of Famer Fred Biletnikoff joined Jones in the film, also portraying a Norseman. That same year, Jones portrayed a fierce defensive lineman named Gorman in the film Heaven Can Wait.

In the series G vs E, he played himself, but as an agent of "The Corps". He also played a role in the hit show, ALF, where he played a father figure to Alf.

Jones served as a color analyst for Rams broadcasts on KMPC radio in the 1994 season, teaming with Steve Physioc and Jack Snow. In 1998, shortly before Super Bowl XXXII between the Denver Broncos and Green Bay Packers, Jones correctly predicted the Broncos, 11 1/2 point underdogs, would win the game and Terrell Davis would be named MVP of the game.

Jones worked for many companies, including the Miller Brewing Company, Haggar Clothing, Pacific Coast Medical Enterprises, and Epson America, and represented the NFL and Champion Products as spokesman for their Throwback campaigns. Jones was also chairman for AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals in their national hypertension awareness program.

NFL.com reported that Jones made several trips to Iraq to visit the U. S. military.

Jones served as the president and CEO of the Deacon Jones Foundation, an organization he founded in 1997 "to assist young people and the communities in which they live with a comprehensive program that includes education, mentoring, corporate internship, and community service."

Jones was one of the many former L.A. Rams players who disliked the team's controversial relocation to St. Louis in 1995. He was adamant in interviews and appearances that he played for Los Angeles, not St. Louis, and considered the Rams franchise there a different team that should have a different name. He participated in many grassroots efforts to bring NFL football back to L.A. and also voiced support on many new stadium proposals. The Rams eventually returned to Los Angeles in 2016 after Jones had died.

He was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility in 1980, and was named to the NFL's 75th Anniversary All-Time Team in 1994. In 1999, he was ranked number 13 on The Sporting News list of the 100 Greatest Football Players, the highest-ranked player to have played for the Rams franchise, the highest-ranked defensive end, and the second-ranked defensive lineman behind Bob Lilly. The same year, he was named by Sports Illustrated as the "Defensive End of the Century". In 2010, he was named to the inaugural class of the Black College Football Hall of Fame.

The Story And Significance Of Herb Adderly - One Of Only Four Players In Pro Football History To Play On Six World Championship Teams

Herbert Anthony Adderley  was an American professional football player who was a cornerback for the Green Bay Packers and the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League. In 1980, he was enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Adderley played college football for the Michigan State Spartans and was an All-Big Ten offensive star as a halfback. He is the only player to appear in four of the first six Super Bowls.

Adderley was selected by the Green Bay Packers in the first round of the 1961 NFL draft, the 12th overall pick. He began his professional career as a halfback on offense, but was later switched to defense because the Packers already had eventual Hall of Fame runners in Paul Hornung and Jim Taylor. Adderley was first moved to cornerback to replace injured teammate Hank Gremminger against Detroit on Thanksgiving. and made an interception that set up the game-winning touchdown.

In 1962, the move became permanent and Adderley went on to become an all-NFL selection five times in the 1960s. Packers coach Vince Lombardi remarked, "I was too stubborn to switch him to defense until I had to. Now when I think of what Adderley means to our defense, it scares me to think of how I almost mishandled him."

Adderley recorded 39 interceptions in his nine seasons with the Packers. He held the Green Bay records for interceptions returned for touchdowns in a career (seven, tied with Darren Sharper, broken by Charles Woodson), and holds the record for interceptions returned for touchdowns in one season (three, in 1965).

Adderley started for the Packers from 1961–1969, then played three seasons (1970–1972) with the Dallas Cowboys. While with the Packers, he won rings for five NFL championships and wins in the first two Super Bowls. Adderley was a factor in the Super Bowl II win over the Oakland Raiders, intercepting a pass by Raiders quarterback Daryle Lamonica in the fourth quarter and returning it 60 yards for a touchdown to put the game away. It was the first Super Bowl touchdown scored on an intercepted pass.

Herb stated that "Lombardi had certain players who he’d call into his office and talk to, others he’d talk to on the field or in the locker room. One thing I remember he said to me…He said I was the best cornerback he’d ever seen. In front of the whole team he said I was the best athlete …I’ll always remember that."

Adderley had a strained relationship with Phil Bengtson by the end of the latter's second and penultimate year as Packers head coach. He accused Bengtson of keeping him off the Pro Bowl team in 1969 and requested to be traded. After a holdout and two weeks before the start of the regular season, he was sent from the Packers to the Dallas Cowboys for Malcolm Walker and Clarence Williams on September 1, 1970. He became a vital cog in its "Doomsday Defense," assisting the Cowboys to a Super Bowl appearance in V and a win in VI.

Adderley admired Packer head coach Vince Lombardi, but not Tom Landry of the Cowboys. Benched in favor of a young Charlie Waters during the middle of the 1972 season, Adderley was traded to the Los Angeles Rams in the summer of 1973. He opted not to report and retired on August 7, after a dozen seasons in the NFL.

Along with the Patriots' Tom Brady, and two Packer teammates, offensive linemen Fuzzy Thurston (Colts) and Forrest Gregg (Cowboys), Adderley is one of only four players in pro football history to play on six world championship teams. However, in a revised edition of Instant Replay, a memoir by Packer teammate Jerry Kramer, Adderley is quoted as saying, "I'm the only man with a Dallas Cowboys Super Bowl ring who doesn't wear it. I'm a Green Bay Packer."

In his 12 seasons, Adderley recorded 48 interceptions, which he returned for 1,046 yards and seven touchdowns, an average of 21.8 yards per return. He also recovered 14 fumbles (returning them for 65 yards) and returned 120 kickoffs for 3,080 yards and two scores. Adderly also ran back 7 interceptions for touchdowns in his career (not including playoffs).

Adderley was the first NFL player ever to gain more than 1,000 interception return yards. Only eight other players have achieved this since then, and all of them did so with more interceptions than Adderley.

After Adderley retired, he returned to Philadelphia to broadcast football games for Temple University and the Philadelphia Eagles. He also coached as an assistant at Temple and with the Philadelphia Bell of the World Football League under head coach Willie Wood, a Packer teammate.

Adderley was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1980. A year after his induction in Canton, Adderley became a member of the Packer Hall of Fame in 1981. He was also chosen for the AFL-NFL 1960-1984 All-Star teams.

Adderley's cousin's grandson (first cousin twice removed), Nasir Adderley, was drafted by the Los Angeles Chargers in the second round of the 2019 NFL Draft.

Adderley died on October 30, 2020 at the age of 81.

The History Of The United Football League

The United Football League (UFL) was a professional American football minor league based in the United States that began play in October 2009 and played four seasons, the final one being cut short in October 2012. The small league, which never had more than five teams playing at one time, played most of its games in markets where the National Football League had no current presence.

 Unlike most alternative professional football leagues since the 1980s, the UFL played all of its games in the traditional fall season, competing directly with the NFL, college football, and high school football.

The UFL occupied the second tier of professional football in the United States, behind the National Football League. The UFL primarily consisted of players who had previously played for an NFL team. Although the league had no connection with the NFL, and had never intended to foster any such connection, some speculated that it could have become a minor or "developmental" league for the NFL, including the UFL's own commissioner.

Early news reports had speculated that based on the UFL's initial plan the league would become a "competitor" to the NFL. The UFL seemed poised to capitalize on fan disgust with the NFL should the established league lock out its players prior to the 2011−12 season. The thought was that the NFL would fail to reach an agreement with the NFL players' union after the end of their collective bargaining agreement. This would have led to the 2011−12 NFL season being delayed or cancelled, leaving the UFL the only pro football available. The NFL did lock out their players, but the situation was resolved in July 2011, before the start of the NFL season. This negated any benefits the UFL might have hoped to reap from the labor dispute.

The league was beset by frequent operational interruptions, stemming from systemic financial shortfalls, especially from summer 2011 onward. The United Football League announced on October 20, 2012, that it was ceasing operations immediately, after four weeks of play. The official line from the league was that they intended to resume operations and complete the unfinished 2012 schedule at an unspecified time in spring 2013, then revert to a fall schedule in fall 2013 without a full off-season. This announcement, however, was met with widespread skepticism from both within and outside the league, skepticism that was proven to be warranted as the league never returned.

Over the course of the league's history, the Las Vegas Locomotives were the most successful team, winning two of the three championships, appearing in (but losing) the third, and having a perfect record for the season at the time of the cessation of operations.

The United Football League was founded by Bill Hambrecht and Tim Armstrong. The UFL initially had plans to start with eight teams with $12–20 million rosters playing in targeted sites in the fall of 2008. T. Boone Pickens and Mark Cuban had originally been in discussion with the league as potential owners, but both backed out prior to the 2009 season. On February 9, 2009, it was announced that Paul Pelosi, husband of Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, was one of four investors who had stepped forward to invest $10,000,000, plus a personal commitment to cover opening-season losses up to another $10,000,000 for a one-half interest in four franchises to play in the league's 2009 inaugural season. The league was under the overall direction of William Hambrecht, a former Wall Street figure who had sold his old firm, Hambrecht & Quist, to what was then Chase Manhattan Bank for US$1.35 billion in 1999.

Michael Huyghue, a former executive with the Jacksonville Jaguars and the head of a sports agency service, was the league's first and only commissioner.

The league had identified 21 cities that they deemed possessed strong economic bases, passionate football tradition, and a high number of average TV viewing households as potential team locations. Target markets in the US included: Austin, Birmingham, Columbus, Hartford, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Louisville, Memphis, Milwaukee, New York City, Oklahoma City, Orlando, Portland, Raleigh-Durham, Sacramento, Salt Lake City, San Antonio, and San Jose; as well as international markets in London, Mexico City and Monterrey.

With their planned launch date arriving soon and only a couple owners in hand, the UFL decided to go ahead and do a "soft launch" in 2009, similar to the one used by the Arena Football League in its inaugural season in 1987,[19] rather than delaying play another year. The soft launch called for opening the league with fewer teams than planned and playing an abbreviated schedule. They hoped a functioning league would yield the UFL a superior position for attracting potential owners over competing leagues still under development (like the New USFL, which at the time was trumpeting a spring 2010 launch).

The markets chosen for the premiere season were New York City (Sentinels), Las Vegas (Locomotives), Orlando (Florida Tuskers), and the San Francisco Bay Area (California Redwoods). The league's short schedule made the kind of expensive promotional efforts often employed with a new league cost prohibitive. Additionally, the league had a full schedule of three home games in the same stadium in only one of their selected cities, Las Vegas.

During the week of August 10, 2009, the four team names and their uniform jerseys were revealed. Each of the uniforms (and the team logos and helmets that were unveiled on October 2) incorporated the UFL's signature color scheme into their designs, including silver (primary color for the Las Vegas Locomotives), blue (Florida Tuskers), black (New York Sentinels), and lime green and white (California Redwoods). Each of the team jerseys had the same design template, complete with a horizontal arc across the top front that resembles the arc on the UFL's logo.

One of the Redwoods' games was moved to San Jose; the other two were played in San Francisco (the move to San Jose was a short-notice move due to poor attendance in San Francisco; however, the San Jose game ended up being even more poorly attended). The league was unable to secure a fiscally reasonable deal for a stadium within New York City, forcing the league to have the Sentinels play one home game each in Hartford, Connecticut; on the campus of Hofstra University in Long Island, and in New Jersey. In addition, one of the Tuskers' games was played at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida, in part because the Tuskers shared ownership that year with the Tampa Bay Rays; this was not reprised in 2010.

The Florida Tuskers finished 2009 with a 6–0 record. The Las Vegas Locomotives were next at 4–2, the California Redwoods were 2–4, and the Sentinels were last at 0–6. The Locomotives played the Tuskers in the 2009 UFL Championship Game; the Locomotives won the title on a field goal in overtime.

Before the 2010 season, the New York Sentinels permanently settled in Hartford, Connecticut, becoming the Hartford Colonials. The new name was chosen by fans through an online vote. The California Redwoods relocated to Sacramento, California, and chose the name Mountain Lions, also from a fan vote. In another change for the 2010 season, each UFL team would gain their own uniform color identity, loosening them from the standard league colors.

For 2010, the league indicated that five markets were under consideration for expansion teams: Omaha, Nebraska; San Antonio or Austin, Texas; Portland, Oregon; and Salt Lake City. On April 15, 2010.

Omaha was granted an expansion team, called the Omaha Nighthawks.

Mark Cuban, who was mentioned as a potential franchise owner in the league's formative stages, loaned the league $5 million in April 2010. He did not own a franchise and he was not involved in day-to-day operations of the league nor of any of its teams. In January 2011, Cuban, the owner of the Dallas Mavericks and majority owner of HDNet (now AXS TV), a cable channel and Web-streaming service which had broadcast some games of the league's inaugural two seasons, filed a federal lawsuit against the UFL for their failure to repay the loan by the October 6, 2010, deadline.
For the 2011 season, the UFL announced the addition of a franchise in the Hampton Roads (Norfolk metro area) region of Virginia, originally owned by former CFL owner Jim Speros and managed by former NFL and USFL quarterback Doug Williams. Soon after Speros' ownership was announced, he relinquished control of the team to the league and allowed bidding to be opened again. Williams later joined his alma mater Grambling State University as their head coach, resigning as Destroyers' general manager.

The UFL announced former TD Ameritrade CEO Joe Moglia as the first head coach and president of the Destroyers in November 2010;[30] however, in January 2011, the league announced Moglia would instead coach the Omaha Nighthawks. At the same time, the Florida Tuskers ceased operations in Orlando and moved to Virginia, with Jay Gruden initially remaining as the Destroyers' coach; however, Gruden was hired the next month by the Cincinnati Bengals of the NFL.

For possible 2011 expansion, all cities that were in consideration for 2010 (Portland, San Antonio, Austin, and Salt Lake City) remained in consideration, as well as Raleigh, North Carolina; Los Angeles; and Honolulu. In regards to future expansion, Huyghue has said that they "may never have more than eight teams" depending on the league's economic situation.

The league announced it would expand into the Hampton Roads region of Virginia prior to the start of the 2011 season, giving the Virginia Destroyers time to organize. During UFL Championship Week 2010, the league announced it had a seventh franchise in place, with Huyghue indicating that it would most likely be in Los Angeles, and that the team would not be officially announced until an eighth franchise was confirmed. As events would turn out, neither franchise would materialize.

The league suffered a setback when they had to fold the Florida Tuskers in January 2011. The league moved most of the Tuskers' staff to the Destroyers and reassigned the coaching staff already in Virginia to Omaha, firing the previous Omaha coaching staff. After this, the league reduced their goal to six teams, with Portland, Oregon; Salt Lake City; and new contender Chattanooga, Tennessee, still in consideration, and Los Angeles no longer in consideration for the third consecutive year. If a sixth team had been added, the schedule for each team would have expanded to ten games.

The schedule for the 2011 UFL season, released June 9, 2011, confirmed that the league would be locked at five teams for the season, with no expansion. The 2011 season was to shift from a traditional late fall schedule to a late summer/early fall schedule beginning in August 2011 and ending in October; however, in July 2011, the UFL announced it would delay the start of its season until mid-September due to financial issues. The league was in negotiations with CBS and TNT for coverage after Versus dropped the UFL as part of its rebranding to NBC Sports Network, but was unable to get any, and the league also lost its existing television partners. After this postponement, the league confirmed it was considering even further contraction, with the Hartford Colonials potentially on the chopping block. On August 10, 2011, the UFL announced that it would "suspend operations" of the Colonials and go forward with a four-team league.

Jerry Glanville, a UFL consultant who had previously been announced as the new head coach of the now-suspended Colonials, began a listening tour of Chattanooga, Salt Lake City and Jackson, Mississippi, in October 2011 to gauge support for UFL expansion franchises. He has stated that of the three, at least "one has a UFL team and one may get a UFL team."

On October 16, 2011, immediately after each team's fourth game, numerous reports indicated that the remainder of the 2011 season had been cancelled and that the 2011 UFL Championship Game between Las Vegas and Virginia would be moved up to the date of Virginia's last home game, which would have taken place against Omaha on October 21. This is in fact what happened; in addition to the championship game between Virginia and Las Vegas, the season concluded with a third-place game (on the same day) in Omaha between the other two teams, the first such game in outdoor professional gridiron football since the demise of the NFL's old third-place game, the Playoff Bowl, which was last contested in January 1970 following the 1969 season.

Despite the difficulties of 2011, UFL officials were on record as wanting to move ahead on future plans for the league. An April 2012 Las Vegas Review-Journal report indicated that the UFL would announce plans on May 1 to field a five-team league for the 2012 season, including the four 2011 teams plus a fifth expansion team. (The Review-Journal report mentioned San Antonio, Southern California, and Portland, Oregon, were expansion candidates.) The report also indicated that the UFL was arranging a broadcast TV deal with CBS Sports Network (a deal the league had desperately sought) to go along with regional supplemental coverage. However, May 1 came and went without any official announcement by the UFL on their future plans. The league had previously entertained input on the possibility of moving from a fall schedule to the spring.

Michael Huyghue, the UFL's original commissioner, resigned from the position on January 31, 2012, citing in part the league's severe financial problems and philosophical differences with the league's owners on how to move forward. Instead, the league dispensed, at least for the time being, with a central office and owners Bill Hambrecht (Las Vegas) and Bill Mayer (Virginia) oversee the league's business operations, while Locos' coach/president Jim Fassel oversees football operations. Before the fourth season starts, a rebuilding and restocking of personnel will need to take place. To conserve much-needed funds the Virginia Destroyers relocated to much smaller office space by February 2012. The league remained silent throughout winter, spring and early summer 2012, raising fears that the league had quietly folded, in the same way the proposed All American Football League, without ever actually taking the field, had done in 2010 after repeated delays of its announced inaugural schedule. However, on July 26, 2012, news broke that the UFL would indeed play a fourth season in 2012. Terms had not been finalized, but initial plans called for four teams playing an eight-game schedule (which would require an unbalanced schedule) on Wednesdays and Fridays beginning September 19, 2012. The league did reach a deal to have their games broadcast on CBS sports. On the league's official website on August 1, 2012, an official schedule for 2012, with the September 19 starting date and each team playing an unbalanced, eight-game schedule was posted, matching the earlier speculation. As of that time, final postseason plans remained undecided; the date for the championship game, Friday, November 16, was set, although the location was not. Also left unanswered was the question of whether last season's unusual third-place game would be repeated. On September 6, a revised UFL schedule for 2012 was posted on the Omaha Nighthawks website showing the season rescheduled to begin on Friday, September 28, and end on Saturday, December 1, along with the claim that CBS Sports Network was in full concordance with this revision.

All teams but Sacramento used the same home stadiums as in 2011; the Mountain Lions moved to the Triple-A baseball stadium (Raley Field) of the Sacramento franchise of the Pacific Coast League, the Sacramento River Cats. In addition, the Las Vegas Locomotives also negotiated backup plans with Cashman Field in Las Vegas, although the team was able to play its first two home games at Sam Boyd Stadium.

On October 20, 2012, after four weeks, continued financial shortfalls, an uncertain stadium situation in Las Vegas, and dramatically reduced attendances across all four markets, the UFL ceased operations for the remainder of the 2012 season. According to head of public relations Larry Weismann, the league intended on resuming the canceled schedule some time in spring 2013, with those games counting toward the 2012 season standings, then come back yet again for the next season in fall 2013.

By spring 2013, 78 players from the 2012 season, two head coaches from 2011 and four assistant coaches from the 2012 season had sued the league ownership for failure to pay their salaries. The Destroyers' business license expired on March 1, 2013, and that team's remaining offices were closed before that date. On March 28, 2013, a report in The Wall Street Journal noted that both the spring 2013 resumption and the fall 2013 season were canceled, and that if the league were to return, it would not have been until spring 2014 at the earliest.

As of 2016, all of the remaining non-liquid assets of the league sit in a warehouse in Jacksonville, Florida, with an estimated value of $100,000. The ownership lost or settled most of the lawsuits against them in 2014. The league still owes approximately $1,000,000 to the estate of Dennis Green; under a court ruling, the league itself is liable for Green's salary, as the owners had not personally guaranteed it. Hambrecht has also allegedly not paid the 78 players who sued him for back pay, even as the players won a $2.4 million judgment against Hambrecht. Frank Vuono, an executive with the UFL in its early existence, stated that Hambrecht had simply stopped paying the league's bills.

The UFL abandoned its trademarks by 2017, when Vince McMahon filed a trademark on the United Football League name. In 2018, he instead announced a new XFL, a brand used by McMahon's defunct football league that played one season in 2001; the new XFL began play in 2020 but went on a two-season hiatus due to the Covid-19 pandemic.