Tombstone
Born: August 1, 2000 – XFL founding franchise
Folded: May 10, 2001
First Game: February 4, 2001 (L 22-20 vs. Memphis Maniax)
Final Game: April 8, 2001 (L 22-0 vs. New York/New Jersey Hitmen)
XFL Championships: None
Stadium
Legion Field
Opened: 1927
Marketing
Team Colors:
Ownership
Owner: XFL
OUR FAVORITE STUFF
Birmingham Thunderbolts
XFL Replica Jersey
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Heavyweight sewn tackle twill numbers and letters
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Background
During the summer of 2000, executives from World Wrestling Entertainment and NBC Sports huddled to select eight cities in which to place the league-owned franchises of their new $100 million joint venture, the XFL. When they got to Birmingham, Alabama, someone ought to have spoken up and said “Haven’t these people suffered enough?” But, alas, no one did.
Football Graveyard
At the time, Birmingham was the only city in the United States to host a franchise in every major alternative football league launched since the AFL-NFL merger. The pro football graveyard at Birmingham’s Legion Field includes:
| YEARS | FRANCHISE | SHINING MOMENT | REALITY CHECK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1974 | Birmingham Americans | Won first & only World Bowl | Uniforms seized by bill collectors during first & only World Bowl locker room celebration |
| 1975 | Birmingham Vulcans | First black pro quarterback to start in the Deep South (Matthew Reed) | League folded in midseason |
| 1983-1985 | Birmingham Stallions | Stole former Auburn star Joe Cribbs from the NFL | Owner Marvin Warner sent to federal prison in Reagan-era Savings & Loan scandals |
| 1991-1992 | Birmingham Fire | Made the playoffs both years | The Fire's boring and impotent offense scores 7 points or fewer in seven of the franchise's 22 games |
| 1995 | Birmingham Barracudas | None | Lost $10 million in one year |
Throw in the two forgotten, low budget minor league teams that spent a single season each at Legion Field (Alabama Vulcans and Alabama Magic), the Birmingham Steeldogs of Arena Football 2, and now the XFL’s Birmingham Thunderbolts and you’ve got nine teams in twenty-seven years trying to sell off-brand football in a town that wants nothing more than to yell “Roll Tide!” for a half dozen Saturdays every autumn.
2001 Season
The Thunderbolts and the XFL didn’t offer much to overcome local fans’ deeply ingrained resistance to soup-of-the-day football. One of the damning contradictions of the XFL was that it was both designed for broadcast television and committed to 2nd tier status at the same time. At least with Birmingham’s past experiences with the World Football League and United States Football League, there was a sense that these leagues were challenging the NFL, like the AFL had before them. They were competing to sign the best collegiate and pro football talent available.
The XFL was not. Their talent pool was limited to NFL training camp casualties, Canadian Football League refugees and overlooked collegians. As for why such a drab product belonged on prime time national television, Vince McMahon seemed to perceive a marketplace clamor for marginally more provacative cheerleaders and relentless innovation of kickoff and punt return regulations.
The main attraction for local fans was the presence of former Alabama quarterback Jay Barker on the ‘Bolts roster. But Barker, who led the Tide to the 1992 national championship as a sophomore, was stuck on the bench behind former Florida State All-American Casey Weldon. Barker eventually got his shot after Weldon suffered a season-ending injury in Week 6, but he too was soon packed off to the infirmary. After a 2-1 start, Birmingham dropped its final seven games to finish in last place at 2-8. The ‘Bolts were shut out in two of their final three games, starting third stringer Graham Leigh under center.
The End
The ‘Bolts finished 7th among the eight XFL franchises in attendance with 17,002 fans per game (announced).
After NBC bailed out on a second season, Vince McMahon announced the closure of the XFL on May 10, 2001.
Birmingham Thunderbolts Shop
Editor's Pick
The Home Team
My Bromance With Off-Brand Football
Birmingham, Alabama – the Football Capital of the South – has likely had more pro football teams than any other city. None have been in the NFL, and all have failed. Quickly.
As veteran sportswriter Scott Adamson can attest, loving an off-brand team is the triumph of hope over experience. Having decided at an early age that tackle football was the greatest sport man has yet to invent, Adamson takes on a fan’s-eye view of life with Brand X football. The Home Team: My Bromance with Off-Brand Football is the funny, somewhat tortured, journey of a fanatic’s life long quest for a hometown team of his own.
The Home Team: My Bromance with Off-Brand Football is filled with trivia, history, heartache, and more trivia. And how game day hotdogs can be fatal to young romance. Adamson’s account of Birmingham’s unsinkable quest for pro football is for any fan whose hometown’s reach has exceeded its grasp.
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Birmingham Thunderbolts Logo T-Shirt
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Birmingham Thunderbolts XFL Mini-Helmet
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Editor's Pick
This Was The XFL
ESPN Films 30 for 30 (DVD)
Directed by Charlie Ebersol
Charlie Ebersol, son of XFL co-founder Dick Ebersol (NBC Sports), directs this ESPN 30 for 30 documentary re-telling of the star-crossed 2001 season of Vince McMahon’s pro football/pro wrestling mash-up, the XFL. Weirdly, the process of making this film inspired Charlie Ebersol to try his own hand at running a spring football league. Ebersol’s equally messy Alliance of American Football would ultimately become a saga worthy of its own 30 for 30 treatment someday.
Watch the trailer here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVTi1g1MTOg
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Birmingham Thunderbolts Video
The Thunderbolts host eventual the XFL champion Los Angeles Xtreme on March 11, 2001. Highlights from the UPN broadcast.
Links
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One Response
Weren’t they originally going to be called the Birmingham Blast? I seem to recall someone didn’t change that out in their website header at one point. (Blast and Bolts both started with Bs, so it wasn’t that hard otherwise.)
As I recall, they thought “Blast” might be evocative of the 1963 church bombing in Birmingham.
That may or may not be true. But that’s what I recall.