World League of American Football (1991-1992)
Tombstone
Born: April 18, 1990 – WLAF founding franchise11991 Sacramento Surge Media Guide
Folded: September 17, 1992
First Game: March 23, 1991 (L 20-5 vs. Montreal Machine)
Last Game: May 30, 1992 (L 45-7 @ Orlando Thunder)
World Bowl Championships: None
Stadium
Legion Field (80,596)
Opened: 1927
Marketing
Team Colors: Navy, Gold & Crimson
Cheerleaders: The Firing Squad
Ownership
Owner: Gavin Maloof et al.
Our Favorite Stuff
Birmingham Fire Logo T-Shirt
Has any city had more off-brand pro football teams that Birmingham, Alabama? The Magic City’s Legion Field is the Mecca of spring football disciples, having hosted a team in every “major” spring launch from the USFL to the WLAF to the XFL to the AAF.
This extra soft, navy blue Birmingham Fire throwback tee is available today at Royal Retros sizes S thru 5XL!
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Background
Brief two-season entry in the World League of American Football (WLAF), the NFL’s abortive early 90’s effort to create a springtime developmental league.
In the past, Birmingham had been unusually receptive to not-quite-the-NFL brands of pro football. The WFL’s Americans and Vulcans and the USFL’s Stallions all attracted relatively strong crowds to Legion Field in the 1970’s and 1980’s.
The Fire’s home debut on March 23, 1991 against the Montreal Machine drew a big crowd of 52,942 curiosity seekers. Jerry Lee Lewis played “Great Balls of Fire” at halftime and the game was broadcast to a national cable audience on the USA Network. Attendance dropped off quickly though. Only 8,114 turned out for the Fire’s fourth home game the following month.
Under Head Coach Chan Gailey, the Fire made it to the playoffs in both seasons of existence, losing in the opening round both times. The WLAF offered the former Denver Broncos offensive coordinator his first pro head coaching opportunity. He later served as Head Coach in the NFL with the Dallas Cowboys (1998-1999) and the Buffalo Bills (2010-2012).
Only one Fire player went on to spend meaningful time in the NFL. Defensive end Pellom McDaniels, an undrafted free agent out of Oregon State, played two seasons for the Fire. McDaniels graduated to a seven-year NFL career with the Kansas City Chiefs and Atlanta Falcons from 1993 to 1999.
Demise & Aftermath
The majority owner of the Fire was 34-year old Gavin Maloof, scion of the New Mexico beer distributing dynasty and son of former NBA Houston Rockets owner George Maloof, Sr. Maloof originally wanted the WLAF’s San Antonio franchise, but lost out to a rival bidder and ended up with Birmingham. At the end of the Fire’s second season, he returned his controlling stake in the franchise to the league in August 1992. This left the future of the Fire up in the air, but it all became a moot point one month later when the NFL decided to mothball the entire WLAF concept.
The WLAF shut down on September 17, 1992. A re-booted version of the spring developmental league – NFL Europe (1995-2007) – launched three years later without any North American franchises.
Pro football returned twice more to Birmingham’s Legion Field. The Canadian Football League’s Birmingham Barracudas (1995) and the XFL’s Birmingham Thunderbolts (2001) both played to small crowds and lasted only a single season.
Birmingham Fire Shop
Global Fashion
WLAF Logo T-Shirt
Hope springs eternal, it seems, that someone will make professional spring football work in the United States. But even the NFL itself couldn’t make it happen with its own short-lived developmental league of the early ’90’s. Still, there’s never been another league that gave us rivalries like Birmingham versus Barcelona…
This World League of American Football logo tee is available from our partners at American Retro Apparel in both Sport Grey and White. Sizes small through XXXL available today!
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Editor's Pick
The Home Team
My Bromance With Off-Brand Football
Birmingham, Alabama – the Football Capital of the South – has likely had more pro football teams than any other city. None have been in the NFL, and all have failed. Quickly.
As veteran sportswriter Scott Adamson can attest, loving an off-brand team is the triumph of hope over experience. Having decided at an early age that tackle football was the greatest sport man has yet to invent, Adamson takes on a fan’s-eye view of life with Brand X football. The Home Team: My Bromance with Off-Brand Football is the funny, somewhat tortured, journey of a fanatic’s life long quest for a hometown team of his own.
The Home Team: My Bromance with Off-Brand Football is filled with trivia, history, heartache, and more trivia. And how game day hotdogs can be fatal to young romance. Adamson’s account of Birmingham’s unsinkable quest for pro football is for any fan whose hometown’s reach has exceeded its grasp.
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Birmingham Fire Video
The Fire’s final game, a 45-7 blowout loss on the road against the Orlando Thunder at the Citrus Bowl. May 30th, 1992.
Links
“Can the Fire Catch On in Birmingham?”, Peter Applebome, The New York Times, April 21, 1991
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One Response
I loved the WLAF – loved everything about it and wish it was still playing. The Fire’s helmet was perfect. On the opening home game, the pregame show was Jerry Lee Lewis singing GREAT BALLS OF FIRE. I remember seeing clips of it on ESPN and the other WLAF broadcasts. A great show. My favorite Fire player was the punter Kirk Maggio (who is in my phone). He does paintings for the NFL and currently lives in Baltimore.