Twin Cities Cougars / Tri-City Cougars

California Football League (1978-1982 & 1984)

Background

The Twin Cities Cougars were a dominant semi-professional football team that represented the communities of Marysville and Yuba, California from 1978 through 1982. The Cougars played in the California Football League where they replaced a previous Marysville entry known as the Twin City Muskrats that competed in the 1977 season.

During the early 1980’s, the Cougars consistently ranked among the very best minor league football teams in America. The team won their native California Football League title for four straight seasons between 1979 and 1982 and won games billed as national championships against Wisconsin’s Delavan Red Devils in 1980 and Pennsylvania’s Pittsburgh Colts in 1981.

The Cougars’ 37-20 victory over Delavan on November 16th, 1980 drew an estimated standing room-only crowd of 6,000 fans to Marysville Memorial Stadium.⁴Royer, Bill. “Cougars Win Semi-Pro Title”. The Mercury Register (Oroville, CA). November 17, 1980

With the formation of the fully professional United States Football League in 1983, several Cougars players realized their dreams of playing pro football. Most notably, former University of California quarterback Fred Besana won and held the starting quarterback job for the USFL’s Oakland Invaders for the 1983 and 1984 seasons. Other Twin Cities players who advanced to the USFL included offensive lineman Kurt Jonker and wide receiver Jack Steptoe.

Final Season in Oroville

While the arrival of the USFL created opportunity for a handful of Cougars players, it helped sound the death knell for the California Football League and other already shaky semi-pro circuits like the American Football Association. The USFL’s spring season overlapped with many of these league’s summer schedules and the well-funded pro league siphoned off the best players from the nation’s semi-pro ranks.

The California Football League and the Cougars both ceased operations in early 1983 and did not stage a season that year.

In 1984, the California League attempted to return with a smaller 4-team membership based in the northern part of the state. The Cougars returned under the patronage of long-time owner Bud Root, but moved their home games out of Marysville to Harrison Stadium in Oroville. With the move, the team adopted a minor name change to the “Tri-City” Cougars for the 1984 season.

As usual, Root’s Cougars were the best team in the league, posting a 5-0 regular season record for games in August and September 1984. But the Cougars did not appear in league playoff games for whatever reason and do not appear to have ever been heard from again after September of 1984.

Downloads

11-1-1980 Cougars vs. Pierce County (WA) Bengals Roster

Links

California League Football Programs

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