United Football League (2010-2012)
Tombstone
Born: 2010 – The California Redwoods relocate to Sacramento, CA
Folded: October 20, 2012
First Game: September 18, 2010 (L 27-10 @ Hartford Colonials)
Final Game: October 19, 2012 (W 20-17 @ Virginia Destroyers)
UFL Championships: None
Stadia
2010-2011: Hornet Stadium
Opened: 1969
2012: Raley Field
Opened: 2000
Branding
Team Colors:
Ownership
Owners: Paul Pelosi, William Hambrecht, Angelo Tsakopoulos, George Zimmer, Dave Lucchetti & George Marcus
UFL MINI-HELMETS
Sacramento Mountain Lions
Mini-Helmet
This United Football League Mini Helmet is available through Royal Retros.
15 oz. mini helmet
Style worn by the Mountain Lions from 2010 to 2012
Available in the classic helmet style by Schutt or modern style by Riddell
Typically ships in 3-5 business days
Fulfilled by 417 Helmets
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Background
The Sacramento Mountain Lions were a minor league football outfit that played parts of three seasons in the California capital from 2010 to 2012. The Lions were part of the United Football League, a spectacularly ill-conceived venture that reportedly burned through over $100 million in its first two seasons while staging just 32 games. The team started out in the Bay Area as the California Redwoods when the UFL debuted in 2009. Disastrous ticket sales for the Redwoods’ three home games in San Francisco and San Jose that season sparked the team’s move to Sacramento’s Hornet Stadium in 2010.
Key Names
A number of big names were associated with the Sacramento Mountain Lions during their brief three-year history. San Francisco investor and financier Paul Pelosi owned the club. He is the low-profile husband of U.S.. House of Representatives minority leader Nancy Pelosi.
Former Minnesota Vikings Head Coach Dennis Green coached the Mountain Lions in 2010 and 2011. In 2010, Green signed his former Pro Bowl quarterback from Minnesota, Daunte Culpepper. Culpepper was the biggest name player to sign with the UFL during the league’s four season run, but played only the 2010 season before retiring.
On the defensive side of the ball, the Mountain Lions had an experienced linebacking corps headed by middle linebacker Zeke Moreno and outside backer Dontarrious Thomas. Moreno was a former San Diego Charger and Thomas was a 2nd round draft pick of the Minnesota Vikings in 2004. Both boasted over 60 games of NFL experience.
2010 Season
2010 was really the only season that the UFL displayed itself in full bloom. The league’s 2009 debut was essentially a demonstration season, with four teams playing a six-game schedule in mostly empty stadiums. Later, the 2011 and 2012 seasons would both be abruptly cut short due to financial troubles.
In 2010, the UFL was a five-team league with teams in Hartford, Las Vegas, Omaha and Orlando joining the Mountain Lions. The teams played an 8-game schedule that ran from September to November. The Mountain Lions finished in 3rd place with a 4-4 record and averaged 18,125 fans for four dates at Hornet Field.
Former University of Nebraska and Baltimore Ravens running back Cory Ross lined up alongside Culpepper in Sacramento’s offensive backfield. Ross was named the UFL’s Offensive Player-of-the-Year for the 2010 season after posting 878 yards from scrimmage and 5 touchdowns in eight games.
The End
The UFL’s third season barely got off the ground in 2011, due to the league’s staggering debts and difficulties securing workmen’s compensation insurance. The league was down to just four clubs now (Sacramento, Omaha, Virginia and Las Vegas) playing a puny 6-game season. Even this proved to much for the UFL’s financiers to handle. The UFL staged just eight regular season games before cancelling the final two weeks of the season on October 17, 2011.
The Mountain Lions finished tied for last place with a 1-3 record in 2011. Despite the tumult, the Mountain Lions still claimed near-capacity crowds of 18,781 fans per game for three 2011 appearances at Hornet Field. Owner Paul Pelosi later acknowledged to The Wall Street Journal (3/28/2013) that the Lions’ figures were heavily goosed with free tickets.
Incredibly, the UFL got up off the mat to attempt a fourth season in 2012. The Mountain Lions moved to Raley Field, the local minor league baseball stadium. Dennis Green was gone and now embroiled in litigation against the league and its founders. Green’s two-year contract with the UFL called for him to be paid a gobsmacking sum of $1.5 million in 2011 to coach a minor league football team. The case would drag out for seven years, beyond the coach’s untimely death in 2016. Green’s widow Marie ultimately received a settlement in 2018.
As in 2011, the UFL managed to stage only eight games in 2012. Former Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Turk Schonert replaced Green as Head Coach. Sacramento finished in last place again with a 1-3 record.
The UFL ceased operations for good on October 20, 2012, one day after the Sacramento Mountain Lions won the UFL’s final game, a 20-17 road victory over the Virginia Destroyers.
In Memoriam
Mountain Lions Head Coach Dennis Green died of cardiac arrest at age 67 on July 21, 2016. New York Times obituary.
Downloads
2010 United Football League Media Guide
2010 United Football League Media Guide
11-6-2010 Mountain Lions @ Las Vegas Locos Game Notes
11-13-2010 Mountain Lions vs. Omaha Nighthawks Game Notes
Links
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