Florida Statesmen

American Football Association (1982)
National Football Association Southern District (1983)

Tombstone

Born: 1982 – American Football Association expansion franchise
Folded: June 1983

First Game: May 29, 1982 (L 40-9 @ Georgia Pride)
Last Game: May 21, 1983 (L 41-13 @ Shreveport Americans)

AFA Championships: None

Stadium

1982-1983: Capital Stadium (8,000)¹

1983: Corrie Field (3,500)²

Branding

Team Colors:

Ownership

Owners: Don Hazelton & Geri Hazelton

Background

The Florida Statesmen were a hastily organized semi-pro football team that joined the American Football Association (AFA) in May of 1982, representing Tallahassee. The ‘Statesmen’ moniker likely drew upon the personal history of primary backer Don Hazelton, who served in the Florida House of Representatives from 1970 through 1978.

The AFA was a low budget spring/summer league. Coincidentally or not, Hazelton incorporated the Statesmen and held the team’s first open tryout on May 11th, 1982, the same day that the formation of the United States Football League was announced in New York City. The USFL would put big dollars behind the concept of spring football and ultimately help drive the final nail into the coffin of the eternally shaky AFA.

In Competition

The Statesmen played their first league game just 18 days after forming on May 29th, 1982. The frantic start-up took a toll on the field as the Statesmen started the 1982 season 0-4. But the team rounded into form in the season’s second half and finished with a fairly respectable 5-5 record that was augmented by two forfeit victories over a disbanded opponent.

The Statesmen’s most accomplished player was linebacker Larry McPherson, a 1979 graduate of Georgia’s Fort Valley State. After playing for the Statesmen in 1982, McPherson won a job with the Birmingham Stallions of the USFL during that league’s debut season in 1983. McPherson was a productive inside linebacker for the Stallions, recording 4 interceptions and 4 sacks, but his pro career ended after the 1983 season.

End of the Road

The Statesmen returned for a second season in the spring of 1983 but dropped out of the AFA in favor of the even more obscure National Football Association. The competition in the NFA was laughable – the Statesmen won their first seven games in 1983 while outscoring their competition 270-0.

The tail end of the schedule promised stiffer competition. The Statesmen scheduled non-league games against former rivals from the superior American Football Association. The AFA’s Shreveport Americans hung a 41-13 loss on the Statesmen in late May. Soon afterwards, owner Don Hazelton announced that his team would skip its final two scheduled AFA contests in June of 1983 and end its season early.

The Statesmen never returned to competition.