Category: CFL USA

  • The CFL Expands to the USA

    When I first started following CFL football in the early 1990s, two issues dominated the league: struggling Canadian franchises and U.S. expansion. They kind of went hand in hand, the idea being that an injection of American money and new markets would help stabilize the existing Canadian teams. The ultimate goal was for the CFL to grow in popularity and take its rightful place as a major North American sports league.

    Of course, things don’t always go according to plan. As we kick off a new year here at Canadian Football History, we’re going to look back at the CFL’s brief foray south of the border. It’s been 30 years since the so-called CFL USA experiment ended.

    Whatever your views on the idea of American teams playing in the Canadian Football League are, one thing is certain. U.S. expansion at the time did breathe some new life into an 8-team league that was otherwise in dire straits. New teams. New colours. New players. And some expansion fees to boot. I still have a Sacramento Gold Miners t-shirt I bought. They were my favourite U.S.-based CFL team and had a great name and logo, in my opinion.

    So, let’s set the stage for this endeavour, shall we?

    Talk of CFL expansion to the United States was nothing new. The subject came up frequently over the years. The CFL staged an exhibition game in Portland, Oregon in June 1992 to test the waters. By most accounts the game was a success. But the expansion idea really picked up steam following the demise of the World League of American Football in 1992. Cities that had teams in that league were front and centre when it came to potential CFL markets.

    Larry Smith, the newly appointed CFL commissioner in 1992, became the face of CFL expansion to the U.S. He had the untenable job of selling expansion to would-be American investors, nervous Canadian team governors, and sceptical players and fans. And there was plenty of sceptism.

    Expansion receives green light (Calgary Herald)
    Article by Mike Board in the Calgary Herald (3 October 1991) about the CFL greenlighting U.S. expansion with hints of future expansion into Europe or Japan.

    An initial focus on cities close to the Canada-U.S. border (e.g., Portland, Detroit, etc.) was soon abandoned. Late in 1992, Smith presented a map showing prospective CFL expansion sites. While Montreal and Halifax were included, the rest of the map showed mid-sized U.S. markets such as Sacramento, San Antonio, and Orlando. Honolulu, Hawaii was even on the map. Ironically, several of the eventual U.S.-based teams were never on this map, including the most successful franchise in Baltimore.

    Larry Smith's expansion map
    Larry Smith’s expansion map (Toronto Star, 13 November 1992)

    While the i’s still had to be dotted and the t’s crossed, plans were afoot for four new teams to join the CFL for the 1993 season. These included Portland, Sacramento, San Antonio, and Montreal. The league’s twelve teams were be divided into a new three division alignment. I’m not sure if it was ever explained how the playoffs would work under this structure.

    CFL expands its vision article in the Montreal Gazette.
    Ian MacDonald in the Montreal Gazette (13 November 1992) writing about the CFL’s expansion plans with new teams Montreal, Portland, Sacramento, and San Antonio.

    However, shortly after CFL’s plans were made public the backtracking began. Portland, which was always considered the frontrunner for U.S. expansion, backed out. As did Montreal. It would come down to just the Sacramento Gold Miners and the San Antonio Texans joining the CFL for 1993. They were formally welcomed into the CFL on January 12, 1993.

    CFL Commissioner Larry Smith with Fred Anderson and Larry Benson
    CFL Commissioner Larry Smith (centre) with Fred Anderson and Larry Benson. (CP Photo)

    The Gold Miners were owned by Fred Anderson and in many ways were a reincarnation of the Sacramento Surge of the WLAF. Fred Anderson was a genuinely seen as a nice guy who truly believed in the CFL’s potential in California. He seemed to have the capital and the commitment as well as local fan and media support. His biggest obstacle was a suitable stadium. The Gold Miners would play at Hornet Field on the campus of Sacramento State university, a stadium comprising mostly temporary bleachers and portable washrooms. Not an ideal facility for a fledging professional football team by any stretch of the imagination.

    On the other hand, San Antonio was to play in the brand new 65,000-seat Alamodome, a state-of-the-art indoor stadium that was one of the few American stadiums that could accommodate the larger Canadian football field. The Texans were owned by Larry Benson who, like Fred Anderson, had previously owned the city’s former WLAF franchise. Fun fact. The WLAF team in San Antonio was called the Riders. Now, imagine a scenario where the San Antonio Riders, along with the Saskatchewan Roughriders and the Ottawa Rough Riders (Ottawa’s team at the time), played together. That could’ve been quite fun to watch.

    Lights are out for the Texans
    Article in the Calgary Herald about the demise of the San Antonio Texans CFL expansion franchise.

    Alas, Benson pulled out two weeks later. Was it cold feet or lack of money or something else? Whatever the case, there would be no CFL football in Texas in 1993.

    In the end, it was only Sacramento left standing from the original four expansion teams. The Gold Miners played in the West Division and kicked off their season with a two-game road trip in Ottawa and Hamilton. The Gold Miners home opener at Hornet Field was played on July 17, 1993, against the Calgary Stampeders.
    Amongst the uncertainty and despite the hiccups, CFL expansion to the United States was here at last.

    Sources:
    The Calgary Herald, 3 October 1992
    The Calgary Herald, 28 January 1993
    The Montreal Gazette , 13 November 1992
    The Toronto Star, 13 November 1992

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  • Portland Hosts Fast Break CFL Football, Precursor to CFL USA Expansion

    In 1992, the Canadian Football League was looking to grow. Larry Smith was appointed the CFL’s new commissioner with a mandate to expand the CFL. Of course, Montreal and Halifax were high on Smith’s list of potential sites. But so, too, were several cities south of the border. One of these cities was Portland, Oregon.

    Located in the northwestern United States, Portland was a mid-sized city with a suitable stadium and a credible ownership group with the needed capital to both pay for and operate an expansion franchise. It was close enough to the border so that something “Canadian” didn’t sound too foreign. Heck, it was almost as if it could be a natural rival for the BC Lions. Paul Allen, the owner of the Portland Trail Blazers basketball team, was the man hoping to bring the CFL to Oregon.

    CFL Portland game article in the Oregonian newspaper (1992)

    To test the Portland market, the CFL played an exhibition game on Thursday, June 25, 1992 at Civic Stadium. The game was a rematch of the 1991 Grey Cup between the Toronto Argonauts and the Calgary Stampeders. The Argos had Raghib “the Rocket” Ismail as their marquee player. Calgary had the recently acquired future Hall of Famer Doug Flutie as their new quarterback. The stage was set for a great exhibition of Canadian football for the American fans featuring the CFL’s two biggest stars.

    In the lead up to the exhibition game, the Portland media seemed quite eager to welcome the CFL to town. Ads ran in the Oregonian newspaper promoting “fast-break,” “high flying” and “wide open” CFL football. Unsurprisingly, the Rocket was heavily promoted. Even the Trail Blazers’ Jerome Kersey was featured in advertising for the game.

    CFL ad in the Oregonian
    CFL ad in the Oregonian
    CFL ad in the Oregonian

    A decent crowd of 15,362 fans turned out on a hot Thursday night to watch the game. All in all, reviews were positive despite a rather lacklustre game. Calgary won 20-1. Yes, Americans got to see a Canadian rouge scored. In the end, though, no CFL expansion team came to Portland. Instead, Sacramento was awarded the CFL’s first U.S.-based expansion team. After a few years the CFL’s foray into the United States was over. Despite lots of talk and speculation, the CFL-in-Portland story was limited to a single exhibition game only.

    CFL gets warm welcome in Portland article in the Oregonian newspaper (1992)

    100 yard long fields are included in the Johnston Rules announced by CFL Commissioner Stewart Johnston recently. The 1992 exhibition game in Portland was the last time the CFL played on a field that was 100 yards in length. The standard CFL field didn’t fit at Portland Civic Stadium without heavy modifications, so the game was played on an American length football field that included ten-yard end zones. Have a look at the screen shots below to get a taste of what Canadian football on 100 yards will (sort of) look like in the future.

    10 yard end zone in Portland CFL game
    100 yard long field for CFL game in Portland
    10 yard end zone in Portland CFL game

    You can watch the Toronto-Calgary exhibition game in Portland on the CFL Classics YouTube channel. The game was televised nationally on TSN.

    Sources:
    The Oregonian, 2 May 1992
    The Oregonian, 26 June 1992

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  • Ottawa Downs Las Vegas 54-50 in 1994 Labour Day Weekend Shootout

    Labour Day weekend is arguably the biggest deal in the Canadian Football League outside the Grey Cup. The end-of-summer holiday features games between the CFL’s fiercest rivalries. Saskatchewan versus Winnipeg. Calgary versus Edmonton. Hamilton versus Toronto. Now back in 1994 one of the CFL’s Labour Day weekend matchups included the Ottawa Rough Riders playing host to the Las Vegas Posse. How’s that for an anomaly?

    On Saturday, September 3, 1994, the Rough Riders were looking to snap a four-game losing streak. They were under new ownership and desperately trying to reinvigorate a fickle Ottawa football market. The Posse were the second U.S.-based team in the CFL and were struggling on and off the field by the time they made it to the Nation’s Capital.

    Riders cut Posse off at the convert pass
    Great headline in the Ottawa Citizen

    Las Vegas was led by a young rookie quarterback named Anthony Cavillo. He was one of the few bright spots on an inexperienced Posse team coached by Ron Meyer, who himself had no coaching experience in Canadian football.

    Calvillo completed an 81 yard touchdown pass to Curtis Mayfield right out of the gate to give Las Vegas an early lead. The two teams went on a scoring shootout, lighting up the scoreboard the rest of the night. A total of over 1300 yards of offence was produced collectively.

    Down 44-41 with no time left on the clock, Ottawa’s Terry Baker kicked a field goal to tie the game 44-44. 88 points and 60 minutes of football just wasn’t enough to decide a winner. Overtime awaited.

    In those days, the CFL overtime format consisted of two additional five-minute halves. Neither team scored in the first OT half. In the second OT half, each team scored a touchdown. But Meyer opted to go for a two-point conversion with a minute to go in overtime. The gamble failed and Las Vegas was down 51-50. Baker cemented Ottawa’s win with a field goal in the waning seconds of overtime. Final score. Ottawa 54 Las Vegas 50.

    Ottawa-Las Vegas game summary (1994)
    Final stats in the Ottawa Citizen

    The Posse would cease to exist by the end of the season, and their roster was divvied up amongst the other teams in a dispersal draft. The rest of the American teams would shut down the following year. The Ottawa Rough Riders themselves would fold two years later.

    Anthony Calvillo would go on to have a stellar career becoming one of the most outstanding quarterbacks in CFL history, leading to an induction into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 2017.

    You can view this game on the CFL Classics YouTube channel.

    Sources:

    The Ottawa Citizen, 4 September 1994

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  • Sacramento Falls in Love with the CFL

    That was the headline in my hometown’s newspaper, the Hamilton Spectator, after the CFL’s debut in Sacramento, California. I became a CFL fan in the early 1990s. It was a tumultuous time for the Canadian Football League. Some teams across the country were on the verge of collapse. Several others were struggling to stay afloat. Against this backdrop, the CFL opted to add teams in the United States. The benefits of U.S. expansion were two-fold. First, expansion fees could bring in some much-needed cash in the short term. Second, a bigger North American wide football league could open up even greater revenue (i.e., an American TV deal) long term.

    An article in the Hamilton Spectator about Sacramento embracing the CFL.
    (Morris, Jim. “Sacramento falls in love with the CFL.” The Hamilton Spectator, 19 July 1993, p. 16.)

    The first American team to join the CFL was the Sacramento Gold Miners in 1993. There was also supposed to be a team in San Antonio, Texas, as well, but it was kiboshed before playing a single down. So, the 1993 CFL season featured nine teams with the addition of the California capital.

    The Gold Miners were spearheaded by Fred Anderson, a Sacramento businessman, who had owned the Sacramento Surge of the World League of American Football, a developmental spring league for the National Football League. The WLAF ceased operations in 1992. There was considerable overlap between the Surge and the Gold Miners. The teams’ colours were similar, and many former Surge players and personnel were brought into the Gold Miners’ organization. Kay Stephenson reprised his role as Sacramento’s head coach, having coached the Surge to the 1992 WLAF championship.

    Because of U.S. labour laws, the Gold Miners were not required to have any Canadian players on their roster. Instead, they played with an all-American lineup. Some suggested this gave Sacramento a unique advantage over their Canadian counterparts. Yet, the team did struggle as an expansion team while adapting to the Canadian game.

    The Gold Miners played their home games at Hornet Field on the campus of Sacramento State university. It was a rather bare bones stadium comprising temporary bleachers and portable washrooms. Nevertheless, the stage was set for a historic debut of Canadian football in northern California.

    July 17, 1993

    The Gold Miners and Stampeders about to go head to head in Sacramento
    Voet, Gary. “Today’s Game at a Glance.” The Sacramento Bee, 17 July 1993, p. 21)

    The Sacramento Gold Miners opened the 1993 season with a two-game road trip, losing both games in Ottawa and Hamilton. Their first home game was played on Saturday July 17th against the Calgary Stampeders, the defending Grey Cup champions, led by marquee quarterback Doug Flutie.

    Marking the field at Hornet Field in Sacramento prior to the CFL’s debut (The Sacramento Bee)

    A crowd of 20,082 filed into Hornet Field that night to see a great offensive display of football. Flutie and Sacramento quarterback David Archer lit up the scoreboard in what was truly a wild west shootout. You couldn’t have asked for a more exciting game to introduce Sacramento fans to the CFL.  Ultimately, the Stampeders came out on top 38-36. The Gold Miners dropped to 0-3.

    Coverage of the historic first CFL game in Sacramento from a Sacramento perspective.
    (Voet, Gary. “Miners lose a shootout to Calgary.” The Sacramento Bee, 18 July 1993, p. 25.)

    Sacramento finished their inaugural season with a 6-12 record, last place in the West Division. They were somewhat better the following year but still missed the playoffs in a competitive West division. Unfortunately, the Gold Miners would leave Sacramento following the 1994 season. After failing to secure a new stadium or upgrades to Hornet Field, Fred Anderson relocated the Gold Miners to the then-still-new Alamodome in San Antonio in 1995 where they became known as the Texans. In 1996, the CFL ended its American expansion experiment and returned to being an all-Canadian league.

    I reached out to award-winning journalist Bob Graswich, who was a columnist for the Sacramento Bee during the Gold Miners’ CFL run. His column praising the Canadian game resonated with me because it was exactly how I felt (and still do!) about the CFL when compared to the big bad NFL. Reading that sentiment from an American writer helps validate my position.

    Graswich told me the CFL was a “breath of fresh air” for Sacramento. “It was an exciting game, designed for the fans.” An antithesis of the NFL. He speaks very highly of Fred Anderson, saying he was somebody that was difficult not to like. Fred was a Sacramentan through and through, and he reluctantly moved the team only after he ran out of options. Graswich, who visited Anderson before his death, said Fred was truly disappointed that he couldn’t make the CFL work in Sacramento.

    A column by Bob Graswich praising the CFL. Sums up my thoughts perfectly.
    (Graswich, R.E., “Thanks, Fred: You’ve givenus a better game.” The Sacramento Bee, 18 July 1993, p. 23.)

    Fred Anderson was no doubt the most committed of the U.S. team owners. Perhaps under different circumstances and in a different time, things could’ve worked out better. Ironically, years later Sacramento State upgraded Hornet Field and renamed the field in Anderson’s honour – a fitting legacy for a man who did so much for football in Sacramento.

    Perhaps it was the novelty factor. Perhaps it was the name and logo, which I really liked. Whatever the reason, I purchased a Sacramento Gold Miners t-shirt. It was one of my favourites, and I still have it. Well, my daughter actually took it and still wears it to school. How’s that for vintage CFL USA cool?

    It didn’t last long. But football fans in Sacramento enjoyed it while they had it. For a brief period over thirty years ago, Sacramento indeed fell in love with the CFL.

    I remember watching this game on television. My family had just returned from a summer road trip to northern Ontario and Ottawa. We made it home just in the nick of time to catch the game on CBC. I really felt like I was watching the beginning of something big. Seeing Americans embrace Canadian football seemed so satisfying to me at the time. It still does, really.

    Back home in Calgary, Tom Elder was also watching this game with excitement. Tom has an extensive library of old CFL games on his Calgary Stampeders Classics YouTube channel . You can watch the historic Calgary-Sacramento game below. Please consider contributing to Tom’s project if you can. It takes a considerable amount of time, resources, and effort to help preserve some of these great CFL memories.

  • Sacramento Gold Miners in a Wild West Shoot Out

    Ad for the Sacramento Gold Miners' home opener
    Source: The Sacramento Bee, 17 July 1993, page 17.

    In 1993, the CFL expanded into the United States with the addition of the Sacramento Gold Miners. Here is an ad that appeared in the Sacramento Bee hyping the Gold Miners’ home opener at Hornet Field vs. the Calgary Stampeders.

    The ad features a comparison of Sacramento quarterback David Archer to Calgary quarterback Doug Flutie.

    Calgary won the game 38-36 in front of a crowd of 20,082.