Arena Football League (1997-2001)
Tombstone
Born: January 4, 1996 – AFL expansion franchise
Moved: September 21, 2002 (Georgia Force)
First Game: May 2, 1997 (W 47-21 vs. San Jose SaberCats)
Last Game: August 19, 2001 (L 64-42 @ Grand Rapids Rampage)
Arena Bowl Championships: None
Arena
Nashville Arena (16,121)11999 Arena Football League Official Record & Fact Book
Opened: 1996
Marketing
Team Colors: Royal, Silver & Black21999 Arena Football League Official Record & Fact Book
Ownership
Background
The original Nashville Kats were a popular Arena Football entry that ran for five seasons from 1997 until 2001. They were the first pro team to set up shop at the city’s brand new $144 million Nashville Arena (known today as Bridgestone Arena) in 1997. The NHL’s expansion Nashville Predators would begin play shortly after the Kats’ second season ended.
The Nashville Kats debuted on May 2, 1997 with a 47-21 victory over the San Jose SaberCats before 11,582 at Nashville Arena. The team went 10-4, establishing a new league record for wins by an expansion club. Interest built over the course of the season, culminating in the team’s first ever announced sellout of Nashville Arena for the regular season finale against the Orlando Predators in July 1997.
UT Stars
The Kats featured a pair of prominent former University of Tennessee stars. Quarteback Andy Kelly (pictured above) was a two-year star for the Vols in 1990 and 1991. Wide receiver Corey Fleming was a 3rd round draft pick of the Dallas Cowboys in 1994. Fleming washed out of the NFL in 1996 after a series of failed drug tests and a drunk driving arrest. Both Kelly and Fleming played all five seasons for the Kats from 1997 through 2001.
Arena Bowl Losses
The Kats made the playoffs in each of their five seasons of play and play in the Arena Bowl title game in 2000 and 2001. The Kats suffered a heartbreaking 41-38 loss to the Orlando Predators in Arena Bowl XIV when Predators kicker David Cool booted a 19-yard field on the game’s final play. Nashville returned to the championship game in 2001 but lost Arena Bowl XV to the Grand Rapids Rampage 64-42.
Move To Atlanta & Revival
Arena Bowl XV turned out to be the original Kats’ final game in the Music City. Unable to secure a satisfactory new arena lease, majority owner Mark Bloom sold the Kats to an Atlanta investment group in September 2001. The price tag of $12 million established a new franchise sales record for the Arena Football League at the time.
Simultaneous with the original Kats’ move to Atlanta, the AFL awarded a Nashville expansion franchise to Tennessee Titans owner Bud Adams to begin play at a future date. It was an era of NFL investment into the Arena League and Adams became the 8th NFL owner to buy an AFL franchise. It would take Adams four years to get his Arena team off the ground. Adams retained the Kats logo and marks. The re-booted Nashville Kats returned to the floor in 2005. Pat Sperduto, who led the original Kats to their back-to-back Arena Bowl appearances in 2000 and 2001, returned as head coach. Adams quickly lost interest and the “new” Kats folded for good after the 2007 season.
Trivia
Country music star Travis Tritt owned a small piece of the original Kats.
The team’s cheerleading squad was known as The Stray Kats. A rockabilly cat named Wild Fang was the Kats’ mascot and is featured in the team’s logo.
Nashville Kats Shop
In Memoriam
WR/DB Darryl Hammond (Kats ’97-’01) passed away at age 50 after a battle with Lou Gehrig’s Disease on February 19, 2017. Hammond was a 2013 inductee into the Arena Football League Hall of Fame. The Tennessean obituary.
Links
###
