The Spring Football League (SFL) was a professional American football league that existed for only part of one mini-season in 2000. Founded by several ex-NFL players such as Eric Dickerson, Drew Pearson, Bo Jackson, and Tony Dorsett, the SFL planned to use the four game mini-season (dubbed "Festival 2000") to test cities, fans, stadiums, the media, entertainment, and springtime American football as a product. The year before, the Regional Football League staggered through a spring season, then announced it would not return for 2000.
The SFL announced its formation on March 1, 2000 and planned to play games less than two months later; league director Bill Futterer said the league would play four games on Saturdays from April 29, followed by a championship game in Miami on May 27.
The teams were:
- Los Angeles Dragons
- Miami Tropics
- Houston Marshals
- San Antonio Matadors
SFL teams consisted of 38 players, each of whom would receive $1,200 per game with a $200 winners bonus.
The league's games included pre-game and at half-time shows featuring national musical acts (such as The O'Jays, Mark Wills, and Poncho Sanchez), a pronounced effort to attract both African-Americans and Latino fans, and innovative use of wireless communication.
SFL coaches of note:
- Lew Carpenter - Green Bay Packers
- Guy McIntyre - San Francisco 49ers
- Doug Cosbie - Dallas Cowboys
- Keith Millard - Minnesota Vikings
- Jim Jensen - Miami Dolphins
- Hugh Green - Miami Dolphins
- Larry Little - Miami Dolphins
- Neal Colzie - Oakland Raiders
- Donald Hollas - Oakland Raiders
Read more about Spring Football League: Mini-season Cut Short
Famous quotes containing the words spring, football and/or league:
“A brook that was the water of the house,
Cold as a spring as yet so near its source,
Too lofty and original to rage.”
—Robert Frost (1874–1963)
“In football they measure forty-yard sprints. Nobody runs forty yards in basketball. Maybe you run the ninety-four feet of the court; then you stop, not on a dime, but on Miss Liberty’s torch. In football you run over somebody’s face.”
—Donald Hall (b. 1928)
“I am not impressed by the Ivy League establishments. Of course they graduate the best—it’s all they’ll take, leaving to others the problem of educating the country. They will give you an education the way the banks will give you money—provided you can prove to their satisfaction that you don’t need it.”
—Peter De Vries (b. 1910)