Regional Football League
Encyclopedia
The Regional Football League (RFL) was an American football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
league formed to be the self-styled "major league of spring football." The RFL season was designed for spring-summer play with the weekend prior to the Fourth of July designated as the annual date for its championship game.
The inaugural (and only) season began in March, 1999 and was scheduled to consist of 14 regular season games, preceded by a three-week training camp and a preseason game. The teams of the '99 RFL season limped through a shortened eight-week regular season (Ohio only played seven of those eight weeks). Only one game was ever televised—the May 8, 1999, New Orleans Thunder
New Orleans Thunder
The New Orleans Thunder was a professional American football team that played during the 1999 season as part of the Regional Football League. They played their home games at Tad Gormley Stadium in New Orleans' City Park. The team was announced as one of the league's charter members on February 25,...
at Mobile Admirals game on WHNO
WHNO
WHNO is a television station in New Orleans, Louisiana, broadcasting locally on virtual channel 20 as a LeSEA owned-and-operated station. As an affiliate of LeSEA, the station airs mostly Christian programming along with a small amount of secular family programming.-Digital television:WHNO-DT...
, a mainly-religious television station in New Orleans. Four teams qualified for the moved-up playoffs which followed the shortened regular season. On June 13, 1999, the Mobile Admirals defeated the Houston Outlaws in the only championship (RFL Bowl I) held at Ladd-Peebles Stadium in Mobile, Alabama
Mobile, Alabama
Mobile is the third most populous city in the Southern US state of Alabama and is the county seat of Mobile County. It is located on the Mobile River and the central Gulf Coast of the United States. The population within the city limits was 195,111 during the 2010 census. It is the largest...
, 14–12.
RFL Rosters were limited to 37 active players and five taxi-squad members with salaries in the range of $30,000 to $65,000 per player and team salary cap
Salary cap
In professional sports, a salary cap is a cartel agreement between teams that places a limit on the amount of money that can be spent on player salaries. The limit exists as a per-player limit or a total limit for the team's roster, or both...
s of $1,500,000. Former college standouts such as Josh Booty
Josh Booty
Joshua Gibson Booty is a National Football League quarterback and former Major League Baseball third baseman. He is currently a free agent after being waived by the Oakland Raiders...
(LSU
Louisiana State University
Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, most often referred to as Louisiana State University, or LSU, is a public coeducational university located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The University was founded in 1853 in what is now known as Pineville, Louisiana, under the name...
), Stewart Patridge
Stewart Patridge
Stewart Patridge is a former American football quarterback best known as the leader of the University of Mississippi Rebels from 1995-1997...
(Ole Miss), Andre Ware
Andre Ware
Andre Ware is a sports analyst and commentator and a former American football player. He was the 1989 Heisman Trophy winner as a quarterback for the University of Houston, becoming the first African-American quarterback to win the award. In the 1990 NFL Draft, Ware was the first round selection ...
(Houston
University of Houston
The University of Houston is a state research university, and is the flagship institution of the University of Houston System. Founded in 1927, it is Texas's third-largest university with nearly 40,000 students. Its campus spans 667 acres in southeast Houston, and was known as University of...
), and Dameyune Craig
Dameyune Craig
Dameyune Vashon Craig is a former professional American football quarterback in the National Football League for four seasons for the Carolina Panthers. He is currently the quarterbacks coach for Florida State University.-Early years:Craig played high school football for Mattie T. Blount High...
(Auburn
Auburn University
Auburn University is a public university located in Auburn, Alabama, United States. With more than 25,000 students and 1,200 faculty members, it is one of the largest universities in the state. Auburn was chartered on February 7, 1856, as the East Alabama Male College, a private liberal arts...
) were signed to RFL teams in the hopes that fans would turn out to see former local stars. Patridge, playing for the Mississippi Pride, was the all-RFL quarterback in 1999.
The commissioner of the league was John "Gus" Bell and Ron Floridia was the Assistant Commissioner of the Regional Football League.
Despite some efforts made to resume play for a second season, the league folded after that shortened 1999 season. The announced beginning of the XFL
XFL
The XFL was a professional American football league that played for one season in 2001. The league was founded by Vince McMahon, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of WWE...
for 2001 precluded any realistic chance of the league resuming operations.
Regional Football League teams
- Houston Outlaws
- Mississippi Pride (Based in Jackson, MississippiJackson, MississippiJackson is the capital and the most populous city of the US state of Mississippi. It is one of two county seats of Hinds County ,. The population of the city declined from 184,256 at the 2000 census to 173,514 at the 2010 census...
) - Mobile Admirals
- New Orleans ThunderNew Orleans ThunderThe New Orleans Thunder was a professional American football team that played during the 1999 season as part of the Regional Football League. They played their home games at Tad Gormley Stadium in New Orleans' City Park. The team was announced as one of the league's charter members on February 25,...
(1999) - Shreveport-Bossier Southern Knights (1999)
- Ohio Cannon (Based in Toledo, OhioToledo, OhioToledo is the fourth most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Lucas County. Toledo is in northwest Ohio, on the western end of Lake Erie, and borders the State of Michigan...
)
Projected expansion teams for the proposed 2000 season (never played)
- Buffalo, New YorkBuffalo, New YorkBuffalo is the second most populous city in the state of New York, after New York City. Located in Western New York on the eastern shores of Lake Erie and at the head of the Niagara River across from Fort Erie, Ontario, Buffalo is the seat of Erie County and the principal city of the...
- Orlando, FloridaOrlando, FloridaOrlando is a city in the central region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat of Orange County, and the center of the Greater Orlando metropolitan area. According to the 2010 US Census, the city had a population of 238,300, making Orlando the 79th largest city in the United States...
- San Jose, CaliforniaSan Jose, CaliforniaSan Jose is the third-largest city in California, the tenth-largest in the U.S., and the county seat of Santa Clara County which is located at the southern end of San Francisco Bay...
- Winston-Salem, North CarolinaWinston-Salem, North CarolinaWinston-Salem is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina, with a 2010 population of 229,617. Winston-Salem is the county seat and largest city of Forsyth County and the fourth-largest city in the state. Winston-Salem is the second largest municipality in the Piedmont Triad region and is home to...