San Antonio Texans
Encyclopedia
The San Antonio Texans were a Canadian Football League
(CFL) team that played in the Alamodome
in San Antonio, Texas
, in the 1995 CFL season
. They had relocated from Sacramento, California
, where the team had been called the Sacramento Gold Miners
. After relocating, the team still had the same ownership in Fred Anderson
and the same staff, including General Manager Dan Bass and Head Coach Kay Stephenson
. The Gold Miners/Texans franchise played three seasons (five if the Texans' WLAF
incarnation, the Sacramento Surge
, is also counted) before folding in 1995.
there were supposed to be two U.S. teams in the CFL, the Sacramento Gold Miners and a different San Antonio Texans
; however, the original Texans franchise folded without ever playing when its owner, Larry Benson, ran out of money and was forced to withdraw.
The Gold Miners played the 1993 and 1994
seasons in Sacramento. However, their home stadium, Hornet Stadium
, was completely inadequate as a professional football venue. Anderson tried to build a new stadium, but when these plans fizzled, he opted to move the team to San Antonio as the Texans.
teams whose stadium, the Alamodome, had a playing surface large enough to accommodate a regulation Canadian football
field. In addition to having a playing surface wide enough for the full 65-yard width of a CFL field, its end zone seating could be retracted to accommodate the full 150-yard length of a CFL field.
In their third season in the CFL and their first as the Texans, the team had the second-highest scoring offence in the league, which was led by veteran quarterback David Archer
. The franchise finished the 1995 CFL season
with a 12–6 record, finishing in second place of the South Division, which sent them to their first playoff berth.
In the playoffs, the San Antonio Texans soundly defeated the Birmingham Barracudas
, 52–9, in the Southern Semi-Final at the Alamodome. However, their playoff run and the franchise's last season would end after falling to the eventual CFL champion
Baltimore Stallions
in the Southern Final by a score of 21–11.
San Antonio's two backup quarterbacks had connections to the National Football League
s (NFL) Buffalo Bills
. The first was 45-year-old former Bills quarterback Joe Ferguson
, who had retired five years earlier. The second was Jimmy Kemp
, son of Bills quarterback (and politician) Jack Kemp
. Head coach Kay Stephenson was Jack Kemp's backup on the Bills squad in 1968 and served as head coach of the Bills in 1985; both stints were very unsuccessful.
.
However, at the end of the 1995 season, the CFL decided to fold the Birmingham Barracudas, the Memphis Mad Dogs
, and the Shreveport Pirates
. A few months later, Art Modell
announced he was moving the NFL's Cleveland Browns
to Baltimore to play as the Baltimore Ravens
in the NFL. Stallions owner Jim Speros
, knowing his franchise could not hope to directly compete with the NFL, moved the team to Montreal
as the third incarnation of the Alouettes
.
.
Malcolm Frank
was the last remaining player from the Texans to play in the Canadian Football League when he was a member of the Edmonton Eskimos
in 2006. He retired after that season.
Canadian Football League
The Canadian Football League or CFL is a professional sports league located in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football, a form of gridiron football closely related to American football....
(CFL) team that played in the Alamodome
Alamodome
The Alamodome is a domed 65,000 seat, multi-purpose facility that is primarily used as a football/basketball stadium and convention center in San Antonio, Texas, U.S...
in San Antonio, Texas
San Antonio, Texas
San Antonio is the seventh-largest city in the United States of America and the second-largest city within the state of Texas, with a population of 1.33 million. Located in the American Southwest and the south–central part of Texas, the city serves as the seat of Bexar County. In 2011,...
, in the 1995 CFL season
1995 CFL season
The 1995 Canadian Football League season is considered to be the 42nd season in modern-day Canadian football, although it is officially the 38th Canadian Football League season.-CFL News in 1995:...
. They had relocated from Sacramento, California
Sacramento, California
Sacramento is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the county seat of Sacramento County. It is located at the confluence of the Sacramento River and the American River in the northern portion of California's expansive Central Valley. With a population of 466,488 at the 2010 census,...
, where the team had been called the Sacramento Gold Miners
Sacramento Gold Miners
The Sacramento Gold Miners were a Canadian football team based in Sacramento, California. The franchise was the first American team in the Canadian Football League. The Gold Miners were originally the "descendants" of the Sacramento Surge from the defunct World League of American Football...
. After relocating, the team still had the same ownership in Fred Anderson
Fred Anderson
Fred Anderson may refer to:*Fred Anderson , former National Football League defensive lineman*Fred Anderson , Major League Baseball player...
and the same staff, including General Manager Dan Bass and Head Coach Kay Stephenson
Kay Stephenson
George Kay Stephenson is a former American college and professional football player and current coach, whose latter career has seen him work in four different professional leagues. Stephenson played quarterback for the American Football League's San Diego Chargers and Buffalo Bills...
. The Gold Miners/Texans franchise played three seasons (five if the Texans' WLAF
World League of American Football
The World League of American Football was founded in 1990 with support from the National Football League to play professional American football in North America, Europe and later possibly Asia...
incarnation, the Sacramento Surge
Sacramento Surge
The Sacramento Surge was a professional American football team that played in the World League of American Football in 1991 and 1992. The team played its first season at Hughes Stadium in Sacramento, and the second season in Hornet Stadium on the Sacramento State University campus. It was owned...
, is also counted) before folding in 1995.
Franchise history
In the 1993 season1993 CFL season
The 1993 Canadian Football League season is considered to be the 40th season in modern-day Canadian football, although it is officially the 36th Canadian Football League season.-CFL news in 1993:...
there were supposed to be two U.S. teams in the CFL, the Sacramento Gold Miners and a different San Antonio Texans
San Antonio Riders
The San Antonio Riders were a professional American football team that played in the WLAF in 1991 and 1992. The team played in the Alamo Stadium in 1991 and then were forced to move to Bobcat Stadium on the campus of Southwest Texas State University in San Marcos, Texas, 45 miles northeast of San...
; however, the original Texans franchise folded without ever playing when its owner, Larry Benson, ran out of money and was forced to withdraw.
The Gold Miners played the 1993 and 1994
1994 CFL season
The 1994 Canadian Football League season is considered to be the 41st season in modern-day Canadian football, although it is officially the 37th Canadian Football League season.-CFL News in 1994:...
seasons in Sacramento. However, their home stadium, Hornet Stadium
Hornet Stadium
Hornet Stadium is a 21,195 seat football stadium in Sacramento, California. It is located at Sacramento State. It was completed in 1969. It is the home football stadium of the Sacramento State Hornets and Sacramento Mountain Lions...
, was completely inadequate as a professional football venue. Anderson tried to build a new stadium, but when these plans fizzled, he opted to move the team to San Antonio as the Texans.
On the field
The Texans were unique in that they were the only one of the CFL USACFL USA
The term CFL USA refers to the abortive expansion of the Canadian Football League into the United States in the early-to-mid 1990s. The 1993 CFL season saw the addition of the first American team to the league, the Sacramento Gold Miners...
teams whose stadium, the Alamodome, had a playing surface large enough to accommodate a regulation Canadian football
Canadian football
Canadian football is a form of gridiron football played exclusively in Canada in which two teams of 12 players each compete for territorial control of a field of play long and wide attempting to advance a pointed prolate spheroid ball into the opposing team's scoring area...
field. In addition to having a playing surface wide enough for the full 65-yard width of a CFL field, its end zone seating could be retracted to accommodate the full 150-yard length of a CFL field.
In their third season in the CFL and their first as the Texans, the team had the second-highest scoring offence in the league, which was led by veteran quarterback David Archer
David Archer
David Mark Archer is a former professional American football player. A 6'2" undrafted quarterback from Snow College and Iowa State University, Archer played six seasons in the National Football League from 1984 to 1989 for the Atlanta Falcons, Washington Redskins, San Diego Chargers and...
. The franchise finished the 1995 CFL season
1995 CFL season
The 1995 Canadian Football League season is considered to be the 42nd season in modern-day Canadian football, although it is officially the 38th Canadian Football League season.-CFL News in 1995:...
with a 12–6 record, finishing in second place of the South Division, which sent them to their first playoff berth.
In the playoffs, the San Antonio Texans soundly defeated the Birmingham Barracudas
Birmingham Barracudas
The Birmingham Barracudas were a Canadian football team that played the 1995 season in the Canadian Football League. The Barracudas were part of a failed attempt to expand the CFL into the United States.-In the beginning:...
, 52–9, in the Southern Semi-Final at the Alamodome. However, their playoff run and the franchise's last season would end after falling to the eventual CFL champion
83rd Grey Cup
The 83rd Grey Cup aka The Wind Bowl was the 1995 Canadian Football League championship game played between the Baltimore Stallions and the Calgary Stampeders at Taylor Field in Regina, Saskatchewan. The Stallions won the game by a score of 37-20...
Baltimore Stallions
Baltimore Stallions
The Baltimore Stallions were a Canadian Football League team based in Baltimore, Maryland, which played the 1994 and 1995 seasons. They were the most successful American team in the Canadian Football League, having two winning seasons and a division title. In 1995 they became the only American team...
in the Southern Final by a score of 21–11.
San Antonio's two backup quarterbacks had connections to the National Football League
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
s (NFL) Buffalo Bills
Buffalo Bills
The Buffalo Bills are a professional football team based in Buffalo, New York. They are currently members of the East Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
. The first was 45-year-old former Bills quarterback Joe Ferguson
Joe Ferguson
Joseph Carlton Ferguson, Jr. is a former American football quarterback in the NFL. Ferguson played college football at the University of Arkansas, where he still holds the school's single game record for most completions and in that same season was named the Southwest Conference's Offensive...
, who had retired five years earlier. The second was Jimmy Kemp
Jimmy Kemp
Jimmy Kemp is a former CFL quarterback. He is the brother of former NFL quarterback Jeff Kemp and the son of the late American Football League Most Valuable Player and U.S. Congressman Jack Kemp...
, son of Bills quarterback (and politician) Jack Kemp
Jack Kemp
Jack French Kemp was an American politician and a collegiate and professional football player. A Republican, he served as Housing Secretary in the administration of President George H. W. Bush from 1989 to 1993, having previously served nine terms as a congressman for Western New York's 31st...
. Head coach Kay Stephenson was Jack Kemp's backup on the Bills squad in 1968 and served as head coach of the Bills in 1985; both stints were very unsuccessful.
Off the field
The San Antonio Texans had respectable attendance, with the average being 15,855. In one of their games at the Alamodome, attendance reached 22,043, in a 38–32 loss to the Calgary StampedersCalgary Stampeders
The Calgary Stampeders are a Canadian Football League team based in Calgary, Alberta and named in reference to the Calgary Stampede. The Stampeders play their home games at McMahon Stadium...
.
However, at the end of the 1995 season, the CFL decided to fold the Birmingham Barracudas, the Memphis Mad Dogs
Memphis Mad Dogs
The Memphis Mad Dogs were a Canadian football team that played the 1995 season in the Canadian Football League. The Mad Dogs were part of a failed attempt to expand the CFL into the United States....
, and the Shreveport Pirates
Shreveport Pirates
The Shreveport Pirates were a Canadian Football League team, playing at Independence Stadium in Shreveport, Louisiana, USA, in 1994 and 1995....
. A few months later, Art Modell
Art Modell
Arthur B. Modell is an American businessman, entrepreneur and former National Football League team owner. He owned the Cleveland Browns franchise from 1961–1995 and the Baltimore Ravens franchise from 1996–2004. Modell is the grandson of the late Morris Modell who founded the northeast...
announced he was moving the NFL's Cleveland Browns
Cleveland Browns
The Cleveland Browns are a professional football team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They are currently members of the North Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
to Baltimore to play as the Baltimore Ravens
Baltimore Ravens
The Baltimore Ravens are a professional football franchise based in Baltimore, Maryland.The Baltimore Ravens are officially a quasi-expansion franchise, having originated in 1995 with the Cleveland Browns relocation controversy after Art Modell, then owner of the Cleveland Browns, announced his...
in the NFL. Stallions owner Jim Speros
Jim Speros
Jim Speros is an American businessman and former American football player and coach from Great Falls, Virginia, best known for his ownership of teams in the Canadian Football League and United Football League.-Early career:...
, knowing his franchise could not hope to directly compete with the NFL, moved the team to Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
as the third incarnation of the Alouettes
Montreal Alouettes
The Montreal Alouettes are a Canadian Football League team based in Montreal, Quebec.The current franchise named the Alouettes moved to Montreal from Baltimore, Maryland, in 1996 where they had been known as the Baltimore Stallions...
.
The end
With all this going on, it looked like Fred Anderson's franchise would be the only U.S.-based team in the CFL, again. However, Anderson did not want to follow that path and decided to fold the Texans after the 1995 season, which ended the CFL's attempt to expand to the United StatesCFL USA
The term CFL USA refers to the abortive expansion of the Canadian Football League into the United States in the early-to-mid 1990s. The 1993 CFL season saw the addition of the first American team to the league, the Sacramento Gold Miners...
.
Malcolm Frank
Malcolm Frank
Malcolm Frank is a former Canadian Football League defensive back for the Edmonton Eskimos. He won 2 Grey Cup championships with Edmonton in 2003 and 2005.-College career:...
was the last remaining player from the Texans to play in the Canadian Football League when he was a member of the Edmonton Eskimos
Edmonton Eskimos
The Edmonton Eskimos are a Canadian football team based in Edmonton, Alberta. They currently play in the West Division of the Canadian Football League . Edmonton is currently the third-youngest franchise in the CFL, although there were clubs with the name Edmonton Eskimos as early as 1895...
in 2006. He retired after that season.
Players and builders of note
- Mike KiselakMike KiselakMichael John Kiselak was an American football player who played center for the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League, where he was an All-Star and won the CFL's Most Outstanding Offensive Lineman Award in 1996 and 1997...
- Kay StephensonKay StephensonGeorge Kay Stephenson is a former American college and professional football player and current coach, whose latter career has seen him work in four different professional leagues. Stephenson played quarterback for the American Football League's San Diego Chargers and Buffalo Bills...
- David ArcherDavid ArcherDavid Mark Archer is a former professional American football player. A 6'2" undrafted quarterback from Snow College and Iowa State University, Archer played six seasons in the National Football League from 1984 to 1989 for the Atlanta Falcons, Washington Redskins, San Diego Chargers and...
- Joe FergusonJoe FergusonJoseph Carlton Ferguson, Jr. is a former American football quarterback in the NFL. Ferguson played college football at the University of Arkansas, where he still holds the school's single game record for most completions and in that same season was named the Southwest Conference's Offensive...
- Jimmy KempJimmy KempJimmy Kemp is a former CFL quarterback. He is the brother of former NFL quarterback Jeff Kemp and the son of the late American Football League Most Valuable Player and U.S. Congressman Jack Kemp...
- Malcolm FrankMalcolm FrankMalcolm Frank is a former Canadian Football League defensive back for the Edmonton Eskimos. He won 2 Grey Cup championships with Edmonton in 2003 and 2005.-College career:...
- Judd GarrettJudd GarrettJudd Garrett is an American football coach and former running back. He is currently the director of pro scouting for the Dallas Cowboys.-Early years:...
See also
- CFL USA all time records and statisticsCFL USA all time records and statisticsCFL USA all time records and statisticsThis list combines the statistics and records of the seven CFL American teams from 1993 to 1995: Baltimore Stallions, Birmingham Barracudas, Las Vegas Posse, Memphis Mad Dogs, Sacramento Gold Miners, San Antonio Texans, and the Shreveport Pirates...
- Comparison of Canadian and American footballComparison of Canadian and American footballAmerican and Canadian football are very similar, as both have their origins in rugby football, but there are some key differences.-History:Football was introduced to North America in Canada by the British Army garrison in Montreal, which played a series of games with McGill University...
- 1995 CFL season1995 CFL seasonThe 1995 Canadian Football League season is considered to be the 42nd season in modern-day Canadian football, although it is officially the 38th Canadian Football League season.-CFL News in 1995:...
- Sacramento Gold MinersSacramento Gold MinersThe Sacramento Gold Miners were a Canadian football team based in Sacramento, California. The franchise was the first American team in the Canadian Football League. The Gold Miners were originally the "descendants" of the Sacramento Surge from the defunct World League of American Football...