Chapter 1 - CFL 1993 Offseason
"First time writing here, this was my story on another site that will be taken down soon. I really hope you guys enjoy it and I really want to see this story continue to the end."
CFL Alternative History
CFL Alternative History
1992, after two seasons of play, the NFL came to a conclusion. They decided to shut down the World League of American Football due to the cost of operations. The news came hard to the owners of the US teams. Most of the teams, including the NY/NJ Knights, Sacramento Surge, Birmingham Fire, and the San Antonio Riders, felt like it was a stab in the back by the NFL. Then it came, The NFL dropped the US teams to focus on the European Market instead. While the Ohio Glory decided to close up shop due to low attendance, two owners had a backup plan.
Fed up by the NFL, two of the owners, Larry J. Bensen (San Antonio Riders) and Fred Anderson (Sacramento Surge), met together with the CFL President Larry Smith. The CFL was starting to gain some attraction in the United States thanks to the exhibition matches played in the US. Smith knew it would bring his league to a new golden age. The CFL has always been under in the NFL shadow. It was time for them to step up and be the real alternative to the NFL. Larry Smith allows the two owners teams, Sacramento Surge, and San Antonio Riders, to join the CFL by 1993 season.
When news spread that the CFL would accept the Riders and Surge, four other owners wanted in. Montreal Machine owner Roger Dore wanted to join as well. Fans in Montreal missed the Alouettes since their sad departure before the 1986 season. Despite the Machine good attendance, they were never as good as the Alouettes attendance when the team was good. The other teams asking to join were the NY/NJ Knights, Birmingham Fire, and the Orlando Thunder.
The Knights owner Robert F. X. Sillerman wanted to stay in the WLAF and keep the organization going. When his prayers were not answered by the NFL. He asked the CFL if they could join. Some CFL owners thought it was a bad move if the team stayed in New Jersey. So they would only allow the team to stay in the Knights relocate to Hartford where they wouldn't compete against the NFL New York Giants and Jets. Robert F. X. Sillerman, the owner of the Knights, agreed and relocated the franchise to Hartford and play at the Hartford Memorial Stadium, then home for the Connecticut Huskies football team.
The Birmingham Fire also asked to join as well. Despite several attempts in bringing a team to the state. The last professional team that Birmingham, Alabama had was the Stallions of the USFL. Despite the popularity of football in Alabama and having a stadium that can hold the NFL team, Legion Field. The people of Birmingham never gained the team they hoped for from the NFL. With the Fire kicked out overnight in favor of making the WLAF a European league. This made it clear that the CFL was the only option to keep the team alive. The last team that joined was the Orlando Thunder. Orlando wanted in the NFL along with Birmingham. The only pro team they held was the USFL Orlando Renegades, but by 1986, they were gone along with the USFL itself. Also feeling betrayed by the NFL. They also asked to join for the 1993 season.
With six new teams joining the league. The CFL held a press conference announcing the new teams joining. Sacramento Surge and San Antonio Riders would change their identities for the new league. Birmingham Fire and Orlando Thunder would stay the same. They would also allow the Montreal Machine to adopt the Alouettes name to become the new Montreal Alouettes and announced that the WLAF Knights would move from New Jersey to Hartford, Connecticut to become the Hartford Knights. CFL also made a new rule change for the 1993 season, something that would mark the end of the first Canadian football rule tradition. The end zone would be shrunken down from 20 yards to 10 yards match the American football rules and to make it fair for the new stadiums to match each other.
This press conference caused a stir in the sports world. The National Football League was confused by this but decided they didn't have much to worry about the CFL Expansion. In their eyes, they saw them adopting the teams to their league. Jerry Jones even laugh at the thought of the CFL becoming a “Big Boy League”. In Canada, die-hard fans called it the beginning of the end of the CFL. Criticizing the fact they are accepting new “American’ teams that were the minor league to the NFL, also criticizing the new variant of the CFL logo as “cheap”. However, this wouldn't deter the CFL from entering their new golden age.
1993 CFL Season:
Eastern Division:
Toronto Argonauts
Montreal Alouettes
Hamilton Tiger-Cats
Ottawa Rough Riders
Hartford Knights
Orlando Thunder
Birmingham Fire
Eastern Division:
Toronto Argonauts
Montreal Alouettes
Hamilton Tiger-Cats
Ottawa Rough Riders
Hartford Knights
Orlando Thunder
Birmingham Fire
Western Division:
Winnipeg Blue Bombers
San Antonio Texans
Saskatchewan Roughriders
BC Lions
Sacramento Miners
Calgary Stampeders
Edmonton Eskimos
Winnipeg Blue Bombers
San Antonio Texans
Saskatchewan Roughriders
BC Lions
Sacramento Miners
Calgary Stampeders
Edmonton Eskimos