Shreveport Pirates

Canadian Football League (1994-1995)

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Shreveport Pirates Replica Jersey

We dig this line of superbly detailed replica jerseys from the Canadian Football League’s American expansion adventure that took place between 1993 and 1995.

Our partners at Royal Retros offer both home and away Pirates replicas that are fully customizable with any name or number you like.

 

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Background

Yes, strange as it sounds, but the small, poverty-stricken city of Shreveport, Louisiana once had its very own Canadian Football League franchise: the Shreveport Pirates.

The CFL expanded south into the United States in 1993, searching for expansion cash and opportunistically pursuing mid-size cities recently abandoned in the September 1992 closure of the NFL-sponsored World League of American Football. The former Sacramento WLAF franchise jumped to the CFL in 1993. A year later, the gold rush got under way in earnest with the league adding expansion clubs in Baltimore, Las Vegas and Shreveport.

Unfortunately for the football fans and taxpayers of Shreveport, they also got the CFL’s least popular owners in the deal. Detroit home builder Bernard Glieberman and his son Lonie acquired the CFL’s beleaguered Ottawa Rough Riders in 1992. After two seasons of front office chaos, fan antagonism and red ink, the Gliebermans threatened to move the Rough Riders south to the U.S. The CFL balked at the loss of the historic 118-year old club.  Instead, the CFL allowed the Gliebermans to buy an American expansion team, provided they could sell off the Riders to local ownership in the Canadian capital city. In February 1994, the Gliebermans sold the Rough Riders to Bruce Firestone. Two days later, the Gliebermans were in Louisiana with CFL Commissioner Larry Smith and Louisiana Governor Edwin Edwards to announce the formation of the Shreveport Pirates.

Manley & Duper Episodes

As part of the Ottawa deal, the Gliebermans were allowed to bring along five players from the 1993 Ottawa roster. All were American-born players (or “imports” in CFL jargon) and the listed included quarterback Terrance Jones, defensive back Joe Mero, linebacker Greg Stumon, receiver Wayne Walker and former NFL All-Pro defensive end Dexter Manley. Manley was washed up at 35 and serving a lifetime ban from the NFL after four failed drug tests. Two Ottawa defensive coaches resigned in protest over Manley’s presence on the team in 1993.  Manley and Terrance Jones traveled to Shreveport to appear at the official unveiling of the franchise at the Shreveport-Bossier Museum on February 18, 1994.

Two months later, the Pirates signed former Miami Dolphins All-Pro wide receiver Mark “Super” Duper. Duper, a native of nearby Moreauville, allegedly celebrated his new contract by procuring 2.2 pounds of cocaine to sell as crack on the streets of Shreveport. Duper was acquitted by a jury in March 1995 despite 16 wire tap recordings detailing his plans. By that point, Dexter Manley was homeless. Neither man ever played a down for the Shreveport Pirates.

1994 Season

The Pirates’ disarray extended beyond the roster and into the front office. The Gliebermans fired original Head Coach John Huard during the team’s first training camp in June 1994. NFL Hall of Famer Forrest Gregg replaced Huard. Shortly after the season got underway in July, the Pirates fired the father-son football operations team of J.I. Albrecht and Dan Albrecht who put the roster together.

The Pirates lost their first 14 games en route to a 3-15 record in 1994. The Gliebermans reportedly lost nearly $3.5 million (Shreveport Times 9/15/1995). Despite all of the chaos and futility, Shreveport was initially receptive to the CFL. The Pirates’ 1994 average attendance 17,875 was second among the league’s four American-based franchises.

End of the Voyage

The Pirates tried to re-tool for the 1995 season, signing NFL veteran quarterback Billy Joe Tolliver to run the offense. A second straight last-place finish followed, as the Pirates finished 5-13.

By the end of 1995 the CFL’s American experiment was in shambles. 1995 expansion franchises in Birmingham and Memphis folded. The league’s most promising American entry, the Grey Cup champion Baltimore Stallions, were about to be displaced by the move of the NFL’s Cleveland Browns to Baltimore. The Gliebermans attempted to move the Pirates to Norfolk, Virginia but were re-buffed by city leaders there. A new investment group in Shreveport tried to acquire the CFL’s moribund Birmingham club in a long shot to keep pro football in the city. That effort came to nothing when the CFL decided to cut its losses in the States and euthanize its remaining American franchises in February 1996.

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borders wars

The Era of American Expansion in the CFL

By Ed Willes

 

End Zones and Border Wars is the story of the Canadian Football League’s ill-fated period
of expansion into the United States during the early to mid-
1990s. It was a time filled with intriguing characters, from John
Candy to Nick Mileti to Pepper Rodgers, the coach who loved everything
about the Canadian game except the rules and the teams. With
a cast of investors who are hopeful but unfamiliar with the game,
bizarre stories emerge, from the Las Vegas Posse practising in the
parking lot of the Riviera to the Shreveport Pirates camping out
above a barn full of circus animals.

 

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Pirates Mini-Helmets
Available Today at 503 Sports

Shreveport Pirates Video

Shreveport visits the Toronto Argonauts, October 28, 1994.

Pirates host the Hamilton Tiger-Cats at Independence Stadium on October 7, 1995.

Downloads

City of Shreveport vs. Shreveport Canadian Football, Inc. (2001)

John Huard vs. Shreveport Pirates, Inc. & Bernard Glieberman &
J.I. Albrecht vs. Shreveport Pirates, Inc. & Bernard Glieberman (1998)

Links

Canadian Football League Media Guides

Canadian Football League Programs

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