Toledo Tornadoes

American Football Conference (195?-1961)
United Football League (1962-1964)

Background

The Toledo Tornadoes started out as a semi-professional team in the late 1950’s in the American Football Conference, an Rust Belt loop with teams in Ohio, Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Ontario.

The club took a big step up in 1961, when Fremont, Ohio native Bob Snyder took over as Head Coach.  Snyder was a Toledo native and a former quarterback and placekicker with the Chicago Bears.  He won three NFL championships with the Bears during the 1940’s, handling the placekicking chores and serving as a back-up to future Hall-of-Fame quarterback Sid Luckman.  In 1947, Snyder became the youngest head coach in the National Football League when he was appointed to lead the Los Angeles Rams.  That post would last just a single season and he spent the 1950’s wandering between the college game, NFL assistant positions and the Canadian Football League.  Under Snyder’s direction in 1961, the Tornadoes finished 13-2, the second best record in the American Football Conference.

United Football League Era

Another step forward came in June 1962, when the Tornadoes were accepted for membership in the United Football League (1961-1964).  At the time the Tornadoes joined, the UFL was a professional minor league with teams in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio and West Virginia.  In 1963 and 1964, the league would expand as far as Syracuse, New York and the province of Quebec, over-reaches which would eventually contribute to a split among league owners and the demise of the league.

Toledo’s best season came in 1963, when Snyder led the Tornadoes to a 10-3 record and a berth in the championship game against the defending champions Wheeling Ironmen.  Wheeling outscored their opponents 441-151 en route to a league-best 12-1 record in 1963.  But the Tornadoes were the one club the inflicted a loss of the invincible Ironmen that year.

Although the Ironmen had the better record, Toledo hosted the United Football League championship game on December 8, 1963.  An announced crowd of 5,500 turned out at Toledo’s Waite High School Stadium.  The field was muddy, according to The Associated Press, which prevented either team from rushing the ball and led to a positive bizarre stat line.  Wheeling rushed for negative 28 yards.  Toledo was even worse, losing 44 yards in their futile attempts at a running game.  The outcome would be decided entirely through the air. Wheeling’s Tom Kennedy was the difference, passing for 229 yards and 3 touchdowns en route to a 31-21 Ironmen victory.  Kennedy would later play for the NFL’s New York Giants in the 1966 season.

Demise

The Tornadoes slid backwards in 1964, finishing 6-8 and out of postseason consideration.

The United Football League split apart following the 1964 season, with the more ambitious owners helping to form the new Continental Football League, whose very name implied costly air travel.  The more conservative owners, who wanted to continue as a regional Midwestern bus league, broke away to form the Professional Football League of America in February 1965.  The Tornadoes originally seemed headed for the more modest PFLA group, but disbanded instead in late February 1965.  The Tornadoes’ board of directors voted 14-1 to fold the club, which had amassed debts of $53,111.

In Memoriam

Former Tornadoes Head Coach Bob Snyder died on January 4, 2001 at age 87.

Lyle Veler, who played halfback for the Tornadoes in 1961 (and perhaps other seasons?) died in July 2004 at age 69 from lung cancer.

Downloads

11-14-1964 Toledo Tornadoes Roster

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