Seaboard Football League
Encyclopedia
The Seaboard Football League was a minor American football
league that operated from 1971 to 1974. It folded after the 1974 season as a result of the founding of the World Football League
, which deprived the league of talent.
Some of the more notable Seaboard Football league alumni include Vince Papale
, who went on to the WFL's Philadelphia Bell
and later the NFL's Philadelphia Eagles
); Joe Klecko
, who "was never paid a penny" for his time and used the opportunity to earn a college scholarship and propel himself into a professional career; wide receiver Jack Dolbin
, who later appeared in Super Bowl XII
for the Denver Broncos
; and King Corcoran
, the career minor-league quarterback who would also go on to play for the Bell in the WFL. While players (such as Klecko) could play as amateurs, most players were paid a sum of $50 per game.
During the 1972 season, after the folding of the Atlantic Coast Football League
, the Seaboard Football League was the second-highest ranking professional football league in the United States, behind only the NFL
. It dropped after the Hartford Knights left for a revived ACFL and the league picked up teams from the semi-pro Empire Football League for play in 1973, before folding.
The league was founded with eight teams in 1971, five of which came from the Interstate Football League, two from the Mason-Dixon Football League, and one independent. The teams played a 14 game season, with all games taking place on Saturday nights. In 1972, the Hartford Knights of the ACFL joined the league, going undefeated and winning the championship then returned to the ACFL for its 1973 season. The Seaboard League again had 8 franchises, but played a ten game season. After the ACFL folded, Bridgeport Jets and the New England Colonials played joined the Seaboard League, which fielded six teams in a shortened 1974 season.
Coal Crackers 13, Hagerstown
Bears 0
1972 Hartford Knights 17, Chambersburg Cardinals
7
1973 Chambersburg Cardinals
31, Albany Metro Mallers
12
1974 Wilkes-Barre
Bullets 20, Bridgeport
Jets 9
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 that operated from 1971 to 1974. It folded after the 1974 season as a result of the founding of the World Football League
World Football League
The World Football League was a short-lived gridiron football league that played in 1974 and part of 1975. Although the league's proclaimed ambition was to bring American football onto a worldwide stage, the farthest the WFL reached was placing a team – the Hawaiians – in Honolulu, Hawaii. The...
, which deprived the league of talent.
Some of the more notable Seaboard Football league alumni include Vince Papale
Vince Papale
Vincent Francis Papale is a former professional American football player. He played three seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League following two seasons with the Philadelphia Bell of the World Football League...
, who went on to the WFL's Philadelphia Bell
Philadelphia Bell
The Philadelphia Bell was a franchise in the World Football League, which operated in 1974 and a portion of a season in 1975. The Bell played their home games at JFK Stadium in Philadelphia. The team logo was a representation of the Liberty Bell....
and later the NFL's Philadelphia Eagles
Philadelphia Eagles
The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are members of the East Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
); Joe Klecko
Joe Klecko
Joseph Edward Klecko is a former American football player as a defensive lineman best remembered for his days as a member of the New York Jets' famed "New York Sack Exchange."-Temple University Owls:...
, who "was never paid a penny" for his time and used the opportunity to earn a college scholarship and propel himself into a professional career; wide receiver Jack Dolbin
Jack Dolbin
John Tice "Jack" Dolbin is a former professional American football wide receiver who played five seasons for the Denver Broncos of the National Football League. He started for the Broncos in Super Bowl XII . He is considered one of the most successful players that surged from the World Football...
, who later appeared in Super Bowl XII
Super Bowl XII
Super Bowl XII was an American football game played on January 15, 1978 at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana to decide the National Football League champion following the 1977 regular season...
for the Denver Broncos
Denver Broncos
The Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver, Colorado. They are currently members of the West Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
; and King Corcoran
King Corcoran
James Sean Patrick "King" Corcoran was an American football quarterback in the Atlantic Coast Football League, Seaboard Football League, World Football League, and briefly in the American Football League. Corcoran played college football, mostly as a back-up, for the Maryland Terrapins...
, the career minor-league quarterback who would also go on to play for the Bell in the WFL. While players (such as Klecko) could play as amateurs, most players were paid a sum of $50 per game.
During the 1972 season, after the folding of the Atlantic Coast Football League
Atlantic Coast Football League
The Atlantic Coast Football League was a minor football league that operated from 1962 to 1973. Until 1969, many of its franchises had working agreements with NFL and 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.For the...
, the Seaboard Football League was the second-highest ranking professional football league in the United States, behind only the NFL
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...
. It dropped after the Hartford Knights left for a revived ACFL and the league picked up teams from the semi-pro Empire Football League for play in 1973, before folding.
The league was founded with eight teams in 1971, five of which came from the Interstate Football League, two from the Mason-Dixon Football League, and one independent. The teams played a 14 game season, with all games taking place on Saturday nights. In 1972, the Hartford Knights of the ACFL joined the league, going undefeated and winning the championship then returned to the ACFL for its 1973 season. The Seaboard League again had 8 franchises, but played a ten game season. After the ACFL folded, Bridgeport Jets and the New England Colonials played joined the Seaboard League, which fielded six teams in a shortened 1974 season.
Championship games
1971 SchuylkillSchuylkill County, Pennsylvania
-Notable people:*Boxing heavyweight great Muhammad Ali had his training camp in Deer Lake.*Charles Justin Bailey, commanding general of the 81st Division in World War I, was born in Tamaqua on June 21, 1859....
Coal Crackers 13, Hagerstown
Hagerstown, Maryland
Hagerstown is a city in northwestern Maryland, United States. It is the county seat of Washington County, and, by many definitions, the largest city in a region known as Western Maryland. The population of Hagerstown city proper at the 2010 census was 39,662, and the population of the...
Bears 0
1972 Hartford Knights 17, Chambersburg Cardinals
Chambersburg Cardinals
The Chambersburg Cardinals are a professional American football team based in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania.-1946:The team was founded on the basis of local players returning from WWII, they were looking to return back to a life they once remembered...
7
1973 Chambersburg Cardinals
Chambersburg Cardinals
The Chambersburg Cardinals are a professional American football team based in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania.-1946:The team was founded on the basis of local players returning from WWII, they were looking to return back to a life they once remembered...
31, Albany Metro Mallers
Albany Metro Mallers
The Albany Metro Mallers are a semiprofessional football team that has played its home games primarily in Albany, New York, with the 6500-seat Bleecker Stadium as its home field. The team has long been successful regionally and nationally, having regularly been in the national semipro playoffs, and...
12
1974 Wilkes-Barre
Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania
Wilkes-Barre is a city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, the county seat of Luzerne County. It is at the center of the Wyoming Valley area and is one of the principal cities in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre metropolitan area, which had a population of 563,631 as of the 2010 Census...
Bullets 20, Bridgeport
Bridgeport, Connecticut
Bridgeport is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. Located in Fairfield County, the city had an estimated population of 144,229 at the 2010 United States Census and is the core of the Greater Bridgeport area...
Jets 9
Teams
- Albany Metro MallersAlbany Metro MallersThe Albany Metro Mallers are a semiprofessional football team that has played its home games primarily in Albany, New York, with the 6500-seat Bleecker Stadium as its home field. The team has long been successful regionally and nationally, having regularly been in the national semipro playoffs, and...
(NY) (1973) - Aston (PA) Knights (1972-73) / Ridley Township (PA) Knights (1971) (known as the "Green Knights" to distinguish them from the Hartford Knights in 1972)
- Tri-Cities (NY) Jets (1973)
- Boston Colonials (1974)
- Bridgeport (CT) Jets (1974)
- Bristol (CT) Steelers (1973)
- Chambersburg (PA) Cardinals (1971-74)
- Conshohocken (PA) Steelers (1971-72)
- Frederick (MD) Falcons (1971
- Hagerstown (MD) Bears (1971-73)
- Hartford (CT) Knights (1972)
- Long Island (Freeport, NY) Chiefs (1972)
- Portsmouth (VA) Bucks (1972)
- Reading (PA) Coal Crackers (1972)
- Schuylkill County Coal Crackers (Pottstown PA) (1971)
- Lackawanna County (PA) Eagles (1973-74)
- Valley Forge (PA) Minutement (1974)
- Washington (PA) Generals (1971)
- Westminster (MD) Chargers (1971)
- Wilkes-Barre (PA) Bullets (1974)
- Wyoming Valley (PA) Giants (1973)
Links
- Long Island Chiefs complete record
- Empire Football League history