Category: American Football Association

1979 Buffalo Geminis semi-pro football program

Twin City Geminis / Buffalo Geminis

The Geminis were a long-running semi-pro football outfit that played in the Buffalo, New York region during the 1970’s and into the early 1980’s. The team was known as the Twin City Geminis in its early years, representing the suburbs of Tonawanda and North Tonawanda and playing primarily at Vetter Stadium, a high school football field in North Tonawanda. From 1979 to 1982, the team played at War Memorial Stadium and was known as the Buffalo Geminis.

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Carolina Chargers American Football Association

Carolina Chargers

The Carolina Chargers were a ramshackle minor league football team that played out of Charlotte, North Carolina for three summers between 1979 and 1981. Quarterbacked by former North Carolina A&T star Ellsworth Turner in all three seasons, the Chargers appeared in two American Football Association title games in 1979 and 1980. After the Chargers folded in 1981, the team was replaced by the Carolina Storm who featured many of the same players and won the last two championships of the AFA in 1982 and 1983.

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Houston Seagulls

Truly dreadful semi-pro football team that absorbed seven straight lopsided defeats during the summer of 1977 before deciding to fold up their tent. Incredibly, the Houston Seagulls produce an NFL success story despite their short & woeful life. 24-year old cement truck driver and ex-Seagull Johnnie Dirden walked into Houston Oilers training camp the following spring and made the team as a kick returner. Dirden went on to a 5-year career in the NFL and USFL.

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Florida Statesmen

.The Florida Statesmen were a Tallahassee-based semi-pro football outfit that played parts of two spring/summer seasons in 1982 and 1983.

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Alabama Magic Football

Alabama Magic

The Alabama Magic were a One-Year Wonder that played a 10-game schedule in the minor league American Football Association during the spring and summer of 1982. In addition to playing three games at Legion Field, the Magic also played regular season games in Anniston and Selma. In the middle of the Magic’s only season, the much higher profile United States Football League announced its formation, placing a Birmingham franchise at Legion Field for the 1983 season. The Magic chose not to return in 1983 in the face of this competition.

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