Tombstone
Born: 1988 – Arena Football expansion franchise
Folded: Posteason 1988
First Game: April 30, 1988 (W 60-52 @ Los Angeles Cobras)
Last Game: July 15, 1988 (48-17 @ Detroit Drive)
Arena Bowl Championships: None
Arena
Madison Square Garden (18,500)11988 Pittsburgh Gladiators Media Guide
Marketing
Team Colors:
Ownership
Owner: Russ Berrie
Attendance
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Source: 1999 Arena Football League Official Record & Fact Book
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New York Knights Logo T-Shirt
The Knights, made up largely of USFL refugees and ex-New York Giants replacement players, were the Big Apple’s first experience of Arena Football back in the summer of ’88.
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Background
The New York Knights were a one-year wonder in the Arena Football League during the summer of 1988.
Arena Football was in its second season at the time. The novelty sport played out on a 50-yard carpeted football field placed over a hockey rink. The rule book dispensed with punting, most rushing, and practically all defense. Teams would play eight-on-eight, with all players except the quarterback and kicker playing “Iron Man” football – offense and defense. Taut 30-foot wide nets placed on either side of the uprights kept kickoffs, missed field goals and errant touchdown passes in play.
New Jersey toy marketer and philanthropist Russ Berrie was the investor behind the Knights. A self-made millionaire, Berrie started his toy company in a garage in 1963, selling inexpensive and often sentimental toys such as Fuzzy Wuzzies, Sillisculpts and troll dolls. By 1988, Berrie’s firm was a public traded company with over $200 million in annual revenue, a sizable chunk of it generated as the exclusive toy licensee of Snuggles The Fabric Softening Bear.
Castaways
The Knights featured an eclectic cast of pro football castaways. Quarterback Jim Crocicchia was a Wharton School grad from U. Penn who played for the New York Giants as a replacement during the 1987 players strike. His favorite receiver, Edwin Lovelady, was another former Giants replacement player. Running back-linebacker Johnny Shepherd was the 1983 Rookie-of-the-Year in the Canadian Football League, and a strike player for the Buffalo Bills. Vince Courville, Derek Hughes, Eric Schubert and Peter Raeford were refugees from the United States Football League. Head Coach and General Manager Jim Valek once served in a senior executive role for Donald Trump’s New Jersey Generals USFL franchise.
Knights players earned $1,000 per game for the 12-game season, plus a bonus of $150 for each victory. But the Knights didn’t win much. They defeated the Los Angeles Cobras twice on the road, but lost their other ten games, including all six home games at Madison Square Garden, to finish in last place at 2-10. 13,667 curiosity seekers turned out for the Knights debut at the Garden on May 9th, 1988. But the team’s remaining games all drew announced crowds of 7,500 or fewer.
Demise
Following the 1988 season, disputes between Arena Football founder Jim Foster and his franchisees nearly sunk the league. Three of the league’s six teams pulled out prior to the 1989 season including the Knights and the Los Angeles and New England franchises.
After his Arena Football investment collapsed at the end of 1988, Berrie turned his attention to the Senior Professional Baseball Association. The SPBA was a Florida-based winter league for ex-Major League players aged 35 and over. At one point, Berrie traded 500 teddy bears from his toy & gift company to the Winter Haven Super Sox for 48-year old pitcher Luis Tiant.
New York Knights Shop
New York Knights Video
The Knights debut game, on the road against the Los Angeles Cobras. April 30th, 1988
In Memoriam
Knights owner Russ Berrie died on Christmas Day 2002 at age 69. Los Angeles Times obituary.
Former Knights Head Coach & General Manager Jim Valek died in 2005.
Downloads
6-18-1988 New York Knights vs New England Steamrollers Game Notes
June 1988 New York Knights Depth Chart & Player Bios
1988 Arena Football League fan survey
Links
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2 Responses
I was there! At the first home game of the New York Knights. Being a football fan, a medievalist, and a fan of obscure sports, I had to got (also the tickets were cheap). The game was not a success, the fans chanted “Bullsh..” at the jousting show at halftime, and some jerk in the stands with a whistle kept interrupting the game.
too bad. There is a story in here somewhere about the history, trials,m and tribulations of sports teams called “New York Knights,” both in history and fiction.
I’ve always dug Arena football and it’s a shame the sport never really gained a foothold in NYC. I went to one Knights game with my dad… they got nuked by the Detroit Drive. Russ Berrie and his son actually sat next to us at one point and asked our opinion about the team and experience… cool stuff. He clearly had the money in spades and I wish he’d stuck it out longer