Metropolitan Football League (1984-1988)
Chicagoland Football League (1989-1995)
Tombstone
Born: 1984 (Glen Ellyn Eagles)
Re-Branded: 1987 (DuPage Eagles)
Moved: 1996 (Kane County Eagles)
First Game:
Last Game:
American Football Association National Champions: 1992, & 1993
Stadia
Marketing
Ownership
Background
The DuPage Eagles were a strong semi-pro football team that played in Northeastern Illinois from the mid-1980’s through the mid-1990’s. The team was known as the Glen Ellyn Eagles from 1984 to 1986 before switching to “DuPage” in 1987, adopting the name of the county where the team practiced.
Eagles players were not paid to play for the team and, in fact, paid a $100 fee to join the team, plus providing their own equipment and travel expenses.1Mandernach, Mark. “Soaring Eagles”. The Tribune (Chicago, IL). October 2, 1994 The term “semi-pro” in football has covered a wide-spectrum of financial arrangements through the years. But by the mid-1980’s “semi-pro” had essentially come to be synonymous with the term “amateur”, in that virtually no one was drawing any sort of paychecks.
National Champions
At their peak, the DuPage Eagles captured back-to-back national championship tournaments sponsored by the American Football Association (AFA) in 1992 and 1993. The AFA, at the time, was a non-profit organization that promoted semi-pro football nationwide, claiming 250 member teams in 34 affiliated leagues in 1995.2O’Brien, Ken. “Pursuing the dream”. The Tribune (Chicago, IL). October 8, 1995 The AFA published weekly rankings of the top 20 semi-pro teams in the nation each fall and hosted its postseason tournaments in November and December.
The Eagles defeated the Charlotte Storm of North Carolina 24-7 in the AFA 1992 national championship game in Orlando. A 1993 title game rematch saw DuPage successfully defend their crown with a 33-21 win. In December 1994 the Eagles returned to Orlando seeking a three-peat, but fell to the Fresno Bandits of California 27-14 before an estimated crowd of 2,200 fans.3NO BYLINE. “Bandits capture AFA title”. The Bee (Fresno, CA). December 11, 1995
The Eagles moved to nearby Kane County in 1996, keeping the Eagles name for several additional seasons there.
3 Responses
My name is Mike Morris I played for this amazing team in the early and late 90’s I wore #3 WR from Chicago ,ill this team change my hole life so I thank the coaches and the staff for giving me this dream. I’m hope to buy maybe my old jersey and Helmet for my collection if possible.
Mike,
We are actually having a reunion this Saturday. Reach out to me, as we would love for you to come. Just in case it doesn’t show you my email, it’s [email protected]
Alan P (Doc)
How can I join the team?