The Atlantic Coast Football League ( ACFL ) was a professional American football minor league that operated from 1962 to 1973. Until 1969, many of its franchises had working agreements with National Football League (NFL) and American Football League (AFL) teams to serve as farm clubs. The league paid a base salary of $ 100 per game and had 36 players on each active roster.
16-491: The Richmond Roadrunners / Richmond Saints were an Atlantic Coast Football League team that played four seasons from 1967 to 1970. They were affiliated with the New Orleans Saints from 1969 to 1970. They changed their name from the "Roadrunners" to the "Saints" in their final season, 1970. The Roadrunners played their home games at City Stadium . They had three head coaches in their existence. This article about
32-613: A husband and wife duo, Steven and Patricia Palinkas , as a kicker and holder respectively. Steven did not make the team, but Patricia did, making her the first female professional football player. Other notable ACFL players included Pro Bowl fullback Marvin Hubbard , league leading running back Mel Meeks , kicker Booth Lusteg , three-time championship winning quarterback Jim "The King" Corcoran , eventual 11-year NFL veteran Bob Tucker , and offensive lineman Paul "Dr. Z" Zimmermann , who shortly after his retirement began an over 40-year career as
48-648: A linebacker he blocked the pass from Brett Favre that Favre caught for his very first completion in the NFL. Due to complications stemming from the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative , all Canadian teams were removed from the league beginning in the 2010 season (at the time, the Quebec Titans and the Ottawa Deacon Demons (Joliet Chargers) were in the league). The Watertown Red and Black left
64-728: A relative, John Rosentover, had run the league from 1936 to 1947. In fact, several of the teams from the AA were revived in the ACFL, including the Providence Steam Roller , Newark Bears and a team in Paterson, New Jersey . By 1968, Rosentover had left the organization and been superseded by commissioner Cosmo Iacavazzi . In 1965, three of the franchises (the Hartford Charter Oaks, Newark Bears and Springfield Acorns) joined with five teams from
80-593: A sports team in Virginia is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This American football team article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Atlantic Coast Football League For the first few years, Joe Rosentover served as league president. He had served in the same capacity for the American Football League (formerly the American Association) from 1947 to 1950;
96-402: A sportswriter, much of that time with Sports Illustrated . Hall of Fame running back Steve Van Buren coached in the league from its launch through 1966. One of the most unusual players in league history was DB Kiyo "Doc" Tashiro , a practicing doctor and Harvard alum, who was the oldest player to play in a pro football league when he retired after 1964 season at the age of 47 (his record
112-589: The COVID-19 pandemic . For the 2021 season Utica, Hudson Valley and Sussex decided to join other leagues, so the league decided to split into 2 divisions to cut down on travel costs. Eastern Division included Glens Falls Greenjackets , Plattsburgh North Stars and Tri City Spartans , while the West Division consisted Syracuse Smash , Watertown Red & Black and Northern New York Grizzlies . West division champs Watertown beat East division champs Glens Falls 37–8 in
128-745: The United Football League to create the Continental Football League . The league picked up four franchises from that league when it folded in 1969 (Norfolk Neptunes, Orlando Panthers, Jersey Jays and Indianapolis Capitols); the Neptunes and Panthers were exactly the same teams as the Acorns and Bears respectively, having relocated during their time in the CoFL. In 1970, the Orlando Panthers signed
144-557: The 1973 season. Commissioner Cosmo Iacovazzi was inducted into the American Football Association's Semi Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1987. W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, PCT= Winning Percentage, PF= Points For, PA = Points Against Empire Football League The Empire Football League (EFL) is a semi-professional American football league with franchises based primarily in New York State . The league
160-874: The EFL to the National Football League (NFL) in 1989. Several members of the Syracuse 8 that challenged disparities for African Americans at Syracuse University 's football program played for the Tri City Jets of Binghamton , New York. The team was a farm team for the New York Jets at the time and some of them went for a tryout with the Jets, but according to one of them they understood they had no chance when Jets coach Weeb Ewbank identified them as "those boys from Syracuse" during roll call. The league's most dominant team has been
176-543: The Scranton Eagles who have won a record 11 championships , 10 of those coming between the years 1982 and 1994. The league was organized during the winter of 1968 and started in 1969. The Hudson Falls Greenjackets were the first champions, after finishing with a 7–1 record. In 1989 Ray Seals transitioned from the EFL's Syracuse Express to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the National Football League (NFL). As
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#1732917761069192-759: The final. In 2022 Morgan Smith became the first female player in the Empire Football League, which she did as a placekicker for the Greenjackets. In 2023 the league announced the Watertown Red & Black would be leaving the EFL and joining the GDFL; three of the other five teams followed suit, with the Greenjackets going to the New England Football League , the Smash (whom the league had suspended during
208-552: The league announced it was leaving with the intent to reform the ACFL. The ACFL returned for one final season in 1973 with Hartford, Bridgeport, and several teams promoted up from the SFL (which led to a trickle-up that brought Empire Football League teams upward to the SFL to fill the old SFL teams' void). The return, however, was short-lived; the league determined it would not compete with the World Football League and folded after
224-699: The league in 2017 when the EFL was down to two teams. The league held an emergency meeting when it was left with just the Seaway Valley Venom and the Glens Falls Greenjackets. The Hudson Valley Mountaineers joined the league in 2018. In 2018 Kevin Siska of the Glens Falls Greenjackets was inducted into the American Football Association Minor League Football Hall of Fame. The team canceled its 2020 season amid
240-459: Was established in 1969. Many franchises have come and gone including in locations such as Pennsylvania , Vermont , and Connecticut as well as Quebec , Montreal , and Ontario in Canada . In 2018 the league included six teams: the Glens Falls Greenjackets, Hudson Valley Mountaineers, Plattsburgh North Stars, Seaway Valley Venom, Tri City Spartans, and Utica Yard Dogs. Ray Seals transitioned from
256-652: Was later broke by George Blanda in 1975). He played for Newark Bears and Mohawk Valley Falcons from 1962 to 1964. Most of the ACFL's teams, including all of the teams that had been in the Continental League, folded following the 1971 season. The Hartford Knights and Bridgeport Jets survived, and both moved down to the Seaboard Football League in 1972. Hartford accrued a perfect season in that league in 1972, including several games with margins of victory over 40 points, and after much dissatisfaction with
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