World League of American Football (1991-1992)
Tombstone
Born: June 8, 1990 – WLAF founding franchise11991 Sacramento Surge Media Guide
Folded: September 17, 1992
First Game: March 23, 1991 (W 9-3 vs. Raleigh-Durham Skyhawks)
Last Game: June 6, 1992 (W 27-21 vs. Orlando Thunder @ Montreal)
World Bowl Champions: 1992
Stadia
1991: Hughes Stadium (23,000)
1992: Hornet Stadium (29,500)
Marketing
Team Colors: Aqua & Light Gold
Radio: KRAK (1140 AM)
Broadcasters: Joe Starkey (play-by-play) & Jack Youngblood (color)
Dance Team: The California Girls
Ownership
Owner: Fred Anderson
Attendance
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Source: Kenn.com Attendance Project
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Sacramento Surge
WLAF REplica Jersey
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Background
The Sacramento Surge were a minor league football team in the NFL-sponsored World League of American Football for two spring seasons in 1991 and 1992. During their debut season, the Surge played at Hughes Stadium. In 1992 the team moved across town to Sacramento State’s Hornet Stadium. Both the team and the league folded in late 1992.
Inaugural Season
The first Surge team in 1991 fared poorly under former Buffalo Bills Head Coach Kay Stephenson. The team finished 3-7 and out of the playoff hunt. The roster was composed primarily of late 1980’s NFL draft picks-turned-training camp casualties, plus refugees from the Canadian Football League. In a nod to the league’s international pretensions, there were also a couple of “Operation Discovery” players from overseas attempting to adapt their athletic talents to the sport of American football. The Surge had a Swedish linebacker named Matti Lindholm and a German defensive lineman named Oliver Erhorn.
Developmental League
1991 Surge starting quarterback Mike Elkins was exactly the kind of the player the World League was designed for. A 2nd round draft pick of the Kansas City Chiefs out of Wake Forest in 1989, Elkins was expected to be the Chiefs quarterback of the 1990’s. But Elkins had accuracy troubles and spent his first two years in the NFL holding a clipboard on the sidelines. More than anything else, Elkins needed snaps and the WLAF would provide a competitive developmental environment for that kind of player.
Elkins started 9 games for the Surge in 1991 on assignment from Kansas City and then reported back to Chiefs training camp. He was released in Kansas City’s final cutdown for the 1991 NFL season and passed for just 5 yards in his NFL career.
1992 Season
For 1992, the Surge moved from Hughes Stadium at Sacramento City College over to Hornet Field on the campus of Sacramento State University. Hornet Field underwent a massive renovation during the winter of 1991-92 that expanded seating capacity from 6,500 to nearly 30,000 seats.
The Surge returned with all-new players at the key skills positions. Elkins was gone, replaced by NFL journeyman David Archer, who was one of the older players in the league at age 30. Ex-Atlanta Falcons practice squadder Mike Pringle took over lead running back duties. Former Iowa State receiver Eddie Brown returned to the States from the Canadian Football League.
Archer would lead the WLAF with 2,964 yards passing and 23 touchdowns in only 10 games. Brown was the league’s best in receiving yardage (1,011) and touchdown receptions (12). Pringle was a double-threat running the ball and catching passes out of the backfield. On defense, the Surge unearthed a Seattle Seahawks practice squad player named Michael Sinclair. Sinclair tore up the World League with 10 sacks in 1992. He went on to become one of the NFL’s most feared pass rushers of the 1990’s, earning three Pro Bowl nods during a decade with the Seahawks.
Another notable player on the 1992 edition of the Surge was defensive tackle Bill Goldberg, an 11th round draft choice of the Los Angeles Rams out of the University of Georgia in 1990. Goldberg parlayed his World League experience into a brief NFL career with the Atlanta Falcons in the early Nineties. But his real fame came at the end of the decade as the World Championship Wrestling and WWE star Goldberg.
World Bowl II
The 1992 Surge tied with the Orlando Thunder for the best record in the World League at 8-2. The two teams met in the World Bowl II championship game at Montreal’s Olympic Stadium on June 6, 1992. Down 17-6 entering the 4th quarter, David Archer threw touchdown passes to tight end Paul Green and to Eddie Brown to lead a furious 15-point rally, as the Surge won the championship 21-17. Archer was named game MVP. This turned out to be the final game for the league.
Move to Canadian Football League
The NFL pulled the plug on the WLAF in September 1992 after two years of operation. Surge owner Fred Anderson wanted to soldier on and acquired a Canadian Football League expansion franchise for Sacramento to begin play in July of 1993. Anderson’s Sacramento Gold Miners were the first CFL team to be based in the United States. The Gold Miners were in some ways a continuation of the Surge in a new league, retaining the old team’s color scheme, Head Coach Kay Stephenson, and quite a few players, including starting quarterback David Archer.
The Gold Miners played two seasons in Sacramento (1993-1994) before moving to San Antonio, Texas.
Sacramento Surge Shop
Surge Stuff
Sacramento Surge
World League T-Shirt
The Sacramento Surge were the only American-based team to win a league championship during the NFL’s on-again, off-again experiment with their World League of American Football/NFL Europe developmental league between 1991 and 2007. The Surge won the 1992 World Bowl during the last season in which North American franchises took part in the league.
This design is available today in sizes Small through 3 XL from our friends at Old School Shirts!
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World League MINI-HELMETS
Sacramento Surge
Mini-Helmet
This World League of American Football Mini Helmet is available through Royal Retros.
15 oz. mini helmet
- Style worn by the Surge in 1991 & 1992
Available in the classic helmet style by Schutt or modern style by Riddell
Typically ships in 3-5 business days
Fulfilled by 417 Helmets
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Sacramento Surge Video
World Bowl ’92 game highlights. The Surge defeat the Orlando Thunder 21-17 at Montreal’s Olympic Stadium. This would be the final World League game to feature American teams. The league shutdown a few months later and returned three years later as a Europe-only competition.
In Memoriam
Defensive back Junior Robinson died in a car accident on September 30, 1995. He was 27 years old.
Surge owner Fred Anderson passed on March 24, 1997 at age 72.
Former Surge defensive lineman Nate Hill passed away on September 18, 2012 at age 41.
Defensive coordinator Charlie Sumner (Surge ’91) died on April 3, 2015 at the age of 84.
Downloads
World Bowl ’92 @ Montreal Travel Itinerary & Fact Sheet
Sacramento Surge 1992 World Bowl Travel Itinerary & Fact Sheet
Links
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3 Responses
Hi, My father and I were out standying Surge fans and we went to Montreal, Canada in 1992 for the last game. What a trip. I have memorabila that I would like to give to to anyone collecting these past treasures.
Hello My name is Rick I have lived in the Sacramento Area For 40 years now & have followed all of the Teams that have came & Went The Surge /Gold Miners CFL were one of the better teams to call Sac. Home & for a very Short time So any items from the team are getting harder & harder to find .So if you still have any of the items from The Surge I would be very happy to give them a place in my little place of all the gone teams .My favorite of all were the The Sacramento Steelheads Ca. league Baseball team of the same time period early 1990’s Best logo Thank you for your time