Texas Terminators

Indoor Professional Football League (1999)

Tombstone

Born: 1998
Folded: Postseason 1999

First Game: April 17, 1999 (W 41-28 @ Louisiana Bayou Beast)
Last Game: August 20, 1999 (L 28-13 vs. Hawaii Hammerheads)

IPFL Championships: None

Arena

Travis County Exposition Center
Opened:

Marketing

Team Colors:

Ownership

Owner: Jeff Parnell

Background

The Texas Terminators were an Austin-based indoor football team that played for a single season in the Indoor Professional Football League from April to August 1999. The Terminators made their home at the Travis County Exposition Center, a 6,000-seat rodeo barn with no air conditioning.

The IPFL was a small, low-budget minor league with teams in six states: Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas. Players earned $200 per game. Teams competed in an 8 v. 8 format on a 50-yard carpeted field with 23 players allowed to dress for each contest.

In Competition

The Terminators did a good job loading their roster and front office with former University of Texas Longhorns stars to trying and generate box office appeal. Former UT linebackers Duane Duncum (Head Coach) and Chris Duliban (Defensive Coordinator) led the coaching staff. Twin tight ends Keith Cash and Kerry Cash, who both enjoyed solid NFL careers after getting drafted out of UT in 1991, served as co-General Managers. On the field, James Brown, who left UT holding most Longhorns’ career passing records after his senior season in 1997, started at quarterback with ex-Longhorns running back Butch Hadnot alongside him in the backfield.

The Terminators were terrific during their only season of play in 1999. The team boasted a perfect 8-0 record at home at the Travis County Expo Center during the regular season, en route to a 12-4 overall record. That earned the Terminators a playoff bye directly to the IPFL Championship Game and the right to host the game at the Expo Center. The championship took place on August 20th, 1999 with the Terminators losing 28-13 in an upset to the visiting Hawaii Hammerheads.

The team disbanded shortly after the championship game. The IPFL played for two more seasons before closing its doors in late 2001.

Indoor football returned to Austin in 2004 with the arrival of the Austin Wranglers of the higher profile Arena Football League. The Wranglers played at the 17,000-seat Frank Erwin Center from 2004 through 2008.