The Texas Football League (TFL) was a low-level American football minor league that operated in primarily in the United States from 1966 through 1968, and again between 1970 and 1971 as a new incarnation called the Trans-American Football League (TAFL).
The 1971 season of the TAFL was the first season of spring pro football in United States, which made it the first spring pro football league.
History The league, which initially comprised six franchises from Texas and Oklahoma, was formally announced in May 1966. The league was supposed to begin with eight teams, but entries from Hammond, Louisiana and New Orleans were not accepted. With the addition of two franchises in 1967, the TFL expanded to two four-team divisions.
During the 1967-68 offseason the Continental Football League offered a merger of operations with the TFL, but was turned down by TFL commissioner George Schepps. He additionally challenged the CoFL to pit its champion against the TFL's champion for the 1968 campaign.
On January 25, 1969, it was announced that the Continental Football League was adding the entirety of the eight-team TFL to its ranks. The TFL joined as a separate entity and was placed into the new Texas Division (itself split into East and West). The TFL teams were mostly scheduled to play against each other but did also play interleague contests. Joining the Texas division was the Mexico Golden Aztecs, the first American football franchise based in Mexico. The TFL's San Antonio Toros defeated the Indianapolis Capitols, 44–38 in overtime, to capture the last Continental League championship. (The Toros would ultimately win four straight league titles from 1967 to 1971.)
1966 W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, PCT= Winning Percentage, PF= Points For, PA = Points Against
= Division Champion
Texas Football LeagueTeamWLTPCTPFPAStadiumCoach Tulsa Oilers721.778246161Skelly StadiumFloyd Harrawood Sherman-Denison Jets730.700254161Bearcat StadiumDuncan McCauley Pasadena Pistols730.700284149Memorial StadiumDonnie Caraway Burkburnett Kings460.400152298Burkburnett High School StadiumE.J. Webb Dallas County Rockets370.300127181Eagle StadiumBill Crow/Joe Verret Odessa-Midland Comets181.11183196W.T. Barrett StadiumByron Townsend
1967 W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, PCT= Winning Percentage, PF= Points For, PA = Points Against
= Division Champion
Eastern DivisionTeamWLTPCTPFPAStadiumCoach San Antonio Toros14001.000538137North East StadiumDuncan McCauley Pasadena Pistols860.571417383Auxiliary StadiumDonnie Caraway Dallas Rockets860.571285324Jesuit High School StadiumJoe Verret Sherman-Denison Jets590.357360424n/aGene Babb Western DivisionTeamWLTPCTPFPAStadiumCoach Tulsa Thunderbirds1040.714320276Skelly StadiumArt Ramage Fort Worth Texans590.357346364Turnpike StadiumJohnny Hatley Odessa-Midland Comets3110.214247411W.T. Barrett StadiumJim Daniel Wichita Falls Kings3110.214255449Midwestern University StadiumE.J. Webb
1968 W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, PCT= Winning Percentage, PF= Points For, PA = Points Against
= Division Champion
Eastern DivisionTeamWLTPCTPFPAStadiumCoach Texarkana Titans750.583273277Grim StadiumTom Collins Tulsa Thunderbirds480.333171156Auxiliary StadiumArt Ramage Dallas Rockets480.333249354Jesuit High School StadiumJoe Verret Beaumont Golden Vikings2100.167165365Greenie StadiumRoy Davidson Western DivisionTeamWLTPCTPFPAStadiumCoach San Antonio Toros1110.917447121Alamo StadiumDuncan McCauley/Hoover Evans Fort Worth Braves1020.833377154Farrington FieldJohnny Hatley Odessa Comets/West Texas Rufneks570.417235338W.T. Barrett StadiumJim Daniel/Ted Dawson El Paso Jets570.417197349Dudley FieldHarold Stephens
Trans-American Football League With the dissolution of the CoFL in early 1970, the Toros announced the formation of the Trans-American Football League, hoping to add teams in a number of major markets; the TAFL planned teams in Birmingham; Tampa; Hershey, Pennsylvania and even Los Angeles, in addition to San Antonio and existing Continental teams in Chicago, Dallas-Fort Worth and Memphis (relocated from Las Vegas). By the time the league played its 1970 season, it was once again mainly based in Texas, with two other Continental teams, the Omaha Mustangs and Texarkana Titans, joining the loop.
In 1971, the Trans-American Football League took the unusual step of becoming the first football league to schedule and play all of its games in the spring rather than the autumn, a move that attracted the attention of Sports Illustrated pro football columnist Tex Maule. The 1971 TAFL season ran from April 25 to June 26 ."This Spring Isn't Very Green", by Tex Maule, Sports Illustrated, May 10, 1971, pp65-57 Although Maule commented that the Trans-American league's four teams' Fort Worth to San Antonio lineup "barely makes it Trans-Texas", he also noted that "This is the first bona fide attempt to play spring football," a gimmick that the United States Football League did on a larger scale a decade later.
On the other hand, attendance for the four teams "reached a new low"The ten games in which attendances are known averaged only 2,050 per contest and, as sports historian Bob Gill would note in 2002, "it was clear by mid-June that the concept of spring football was dead -- and probably the Texas League along with it".Minor League Football, 1960-1985— Standings, Statistics, and Rosters", by Bob Gill, with Steven M. Brainerd and Tod Maher (McFarland & Company, 2002), p. 59 The TAFL folded after its spring 1971 season.
1970 W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, PCT= Winning Percentage, PF= Points For, PA = Points Against
= Division Champion
Texas Football LeagueTeamWLTPCTPFPAStadiumCoach San Antonio Toros720.800288158Harlandale Memorial StadiumGeorge Pasterchick Texarkana Titans730.700323175Grim StadiumDurwood Merrill Fort Worth Braves640.600365266Farrington FieldDuncan McCauley Omaha Mustangs540.556228240Johnny Rosenblatt StadiumDon Fleming Bartlesville Quickicks370.300185289Custer FieldArt Ramage Dallas Rockets190.10097358Roffino StadiumJoe Verret
1971 W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, PCT= Winning Percentage, PF= Points For, PA = Points Against
= Division Champion
Trans-American Football LeagueTeamWLTPCTPFPAStadiumCoach Texarkana Titans5001.00017171n/an/a San Antonio Toros410.80017476North East StadiumGeorge Pasterchick Fort Worth Braves140.20089171Handley Fieldn/a Dallas Rockets050.00056172P. C. Cobb Stadiumn/a
Championship games SeasonDateWinning teamScoreLosing teamVenueAttendance1966December 3, 1966Tulsa Oilers30-27Sherman-Denison JetsSkelly Stadium4261967December 2, 1967San Antonio Toros27-7Tulsa ThunderbirdsNorth East Stadium4,3811968December 7, 1968San Antonio Toros21-16Texarkana TitansAlamo Stadium4.6611969The league merged with the Continental Football League for the 1969 season. San Antonio beat Texarkana 20-7 for the "Texas Division Title"1970November 21, 1970San Antonio Toros21-17Fort Worth BravesHarlandale Memorial Stadium5,5231971June 19, 1971San Antonio Toros20-19Texarkana TitansNorth East Stadium4,500
Southwest Professional Football League After the collapse of the Trans-American Football League the two better financed teams—the San Antonio Toros and the Dallas Rockets—formed a new league called the Southwest Professional Football League (SWPFL), and moved the season back to the fall. The league commissioner was Pro Football Hall of Famer Ollie Matson, but the SWPFL operated on a much smaller budget than previous related leagues, and disbanded after only two seasons.Bob Gill, with Tod Maher. Outsiders II: Minor League And Independent Football, 1951-1985, p. vii. St. Johann Press, 2010.
1972 Southwestern Football LeagueTeamWLTPct.PFPANotes San Antonio Toros8001.00025978Champions Las Vegas Casinos620.75015994 Phoenix Blazers640.600240230 Southern California Razorbacks 430.571n/an/a Dallas Rockets150.166n/an/a Los Angeles Mustangs060.00083150
1973
After the first season the SWPFL approached to the Canadian Football League to become an "American branch league of the CFL". The league even sent representative to the CFL league meeting, which were "receptive to the idea", but the SWPFL did not survive long enough to see it come to fruition.
Eastern DivisionTeamWLTPct.PFPA Oklahoma City Wranglers910.900442110 San Antonio Toros620.750239170 Albuquerque Thunderbirds440.500212173 Denver Oilers170.12587372 Kansas City Steers030.00019139 Western DivisionTeamWLTPct.PFPA Las Vegas Casinos620.750192129 Phoenix Blazers630.666217181 Southern California Razorbacks360.333164147 Los Angeles Mustangs180.111128221
Semifinals:San Antonio Toros 45 vs. Las Vegas Casinos 3
Finals:Oklahoma City Wranglers 19 vs. San Antonio Toros 16
Aftermath The Toros continued to exist into 1974 season and joined the semi-pro Mid-America Football League, and even playing an exhibition game against the Houston Oilers on July 16. Because of a players' strike, the Oilers played with an all-rookie roster, narrowly defeating the Toros 13–7 in a much more competitive match than most NFL vs. non-NFL matches were at the time.Today in SA history (July 19, 2016).
See also List of leagues of American football
References