The San Antonio Riders were a professional American football team that played in the World League of American Football in 1991 and 1992. The team played at Alamo Stadium in San Antonio in 1991 and then were forced to move to Bobcat Stadium on the campus of Southwest Texas State University (now Texas State University) in San Marcos, Texas, northeast of San Antonio, for the 1992 season after the San Antonio Independent School District refused to allow the sale of beer at WLAF games or the display of beer advertising at Alamo Stadium. In return, Riders ownership scrapped plans to fund $235,000 in renovations to the Stadium. In June 1991, SAISD officials announced plans for a rent increase on the Riders for the 1992 season. The relationship would last for only one season.
The team was owned by Larry Benson, the brother of Tom Benson (former owner of the New Orleans Saints of the NFL). The general managers were Tom Landry (Pro Football Hall of Fame coach) and Tom Landry, Jr. The head coach for both seasons was Mike Riley.
The team's record in 1991 was 4–6. San Antonio turned things around in 1992 with a mark of 7–3. The Riders were not able to compete in the highly competitive North American West Division during the 1992 season, and like the Frankfurt Galaxy of 1991, they did not make the playoffs despite a 7–3 record.
Former players include professional wrestler John "Bradshaw" Layfield, better known as JBL of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), Jason Garrett who went on to play for and later serve as head coach for the Dallas Cowboys, and head coach Mike Riley, who went on to coach the San Diego Chargers of the NFL, as well as Oregon State and Nebraska at the collegiate level.
After the 1992 season saw the suspension of the WLAF (and ultimately the abandonment of North American teams), Benson applied to the Canadian Football League to have the Riders join that league instead for the 1993 season. The CFL accepted, and admitted the Riders and the Sacramento Surge/Gold Miners to the CFL. The Riders were to change names to the San Antonio Texans (there was already a Rough Riders and a Roughriders, both of whom were known as the "Riders" for short), but the team folded abruptly prior to the 1993 season. The San Antonio Texans name would later be used for the aforementioned Gold Miners when they moved to San Antonio in 1995.
Season-by-season Season League Regular season Postseason Won Lost Ties Win % Finish Won Lost Win % Result 1991 WLAF 4 6 0 .400 2nd – – — — 1992 WLAF 7 3 0 .700 3rd – – — — Total 11 9 0 .550 – – —
1991 season
Personnel
Staff
Roster 1991 San Antonio Riders final rosterQuarterbacks Ben Bennett Jason Garrett Mike Johnson Lee Saltz
Running backs Ricky Blake Broderick Graves Undra Johnson
Wide receivers
Tight ends Charlie DarringtonOffensive linemen Eddie Grant C/G James Harper G John Husby T Mike Kiselak G John Layfield T Brian Smider T John Vitale C
Defensive linemen David Bailey DE John Fletcher DE Donnie Gardner DE Greg Ross NT
Special teams Jim Gallery K Kent Sullivan PLinebackers OLB Greg Gilbert ILB Mark Ledbetter OLB Derrick Little ILB Roderick Manning OLB Eric Snelson OLB Tim Walton ILB
Defensive backs Carlo Cheattom SS Anthony Cooney FS Sean Dykes CB Greg Lee SS Calvin Nicholson CB Gary Richard CB Rickey Royal CB Ken Watson SS Kennedy Wilson FS Operation Discovery Stefan Bjorkman G John Hyllienmark FS Stefan Ohrvall NT Marco Rueda K Italics denote rookies to American football
Schedule Week Date Kickoff Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance Source 1 8:00 p.m. at Orlando Thunder L 34–35 0–1 Florida Citrus Bowl 21,714 2 7:00 p.m. Frankfurt Galaxy L 3–10 0–2 Alamo Stadium 18,432 3 April 7 12:00 p.m. Sacramento Surge W 10–3 1–2 Alamo Stadium 6,772 4 8:00 p.m. at Raleigh–Durham Skyhawks W 37–15 2–2 Carter–Finley Stadium 11,818 5 7:00 p.m. Barcelona Dragons W 22–14 3–2 Alamo Stadium 16,500 6 7:00 p.m. at Birmingham Fire L 12–16 3–3 Legion Field 8,114 7 7:00 p.m. London Monarchs L 15–38 3–4 Alamo Stadium 12,328 8 8:00 p.m. at Barcelona Dragons L 7–17 3–5 Montjuic Stadium 23,670 9 May 19 11:30 a.m. Montreal Machine W 27–10 4–5 Alamo Stadium 20,234 10 8:00 p.m. at New York/New Jersey Knights L 9–38 4–6 Giants Stadium 32,857
1992 season
Personnel
Staff
Roster 1992 San Antonio Riders final rosterQuarterbacks Brad Goebel Mike Johnson Bobby McAllister
Running backs
Wide receivers
Tight ends Charlie Darrington Danta WhitakerOffensive linemen Eddie Grant C/G Mike Kiselak G Ben Mitchell G/T Mike Nord T Erik Norgard G/C Peter Shorts T John Vitale C Doug Williams T
Defensive linemen NT DE Greg Ross NT DE DE
Special teams Jim Gallery K Kent Sullivan PLinebackers OLB Patrick Hinton ILB Malvin Hunter ILB Mark Ledbetter OLB Tim Walton ILB Albert Williams OLB
Defensive backs Anthony Cooney FS Greg Eaglin CB Bobby Humphery CB Greg Lee SS Chris Oldham FS/SS Gary Richard CB Kip Texada CB Operation Discovery Vacant
Results Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance Source 1 Montreal Machine W 17–16 1–0 Bobcat Stadium 10,698 2 at Birmingham Fire L 10–17 1–1 Legion Field 16,250 3 at New York/New Jersey Knights W 9–3 2–1 Giants Stadium 33,659 4 at Sacramento Surge W 23–20 OT 3–1 Hornet Stadium 20,625 5 Ohio Glory W 17–0 4–1 Bobcat Stadium 10,422 6 April 25 Birmingham Fire W 17–14 5–1 Bobcat Stadium 13,590 7 May 3 Orlando Thunder L 21–39 5–2 Bobcat Stadium 12,555 8 at Barcelona Dragons W 17–0 6–2 Estadi Olímpic de Montjuïc 41,220 9 at Frankfurt Galaxy W 43–14 7–2 Waldstadion 31,641 10 May 23 Sacramento Surge L 21–27 7–3 Bobcat Stadium 19,273
References