Written by Andy Hamilton
Edited by Ray Bentley
The SFL Head offices, for those of you who don’t know, reside in the great state of Texas. Much like the league offices, Texas has also seen their fair share of SFL Franchises. As we have seen the departure of the Dallas Lobos to become the Seattle Tyrants, only Houston remains in the Lone Star state in the SFL’s landscape. However, at one point in league history, the SFL was going to see a bid for a 4th team in the state all simultaneously. Throughout this story, we’ll outline every team that has played ball in the great land of Texas and what their fate was.
First up, the Dallas Lobos. Formerly known as the Dallas Ruffnecks and the Law, the SFL’s history in Dallas runs deep. Steven Mullenax brought the team to Dallas in the early seasons of the SFL and built the team into a hard-fought contest for opponents throughout seasons of loss and seasons of triumph. Dallas has provided a home for some of the SFL’s superstars, such as Mike Osayi, Johnathan Concord, Troy Loshaw, Macc Wavy Jr. and Jace Jefferson. Reaching the SFL Championship once in Season 7 as the Ruffnecks, Dallas faithful will not have a franchise to root for as former owner Mullenax gave sole control of the franchise over to current owner Crash Combs, who moved the team to Seattle, the first time the northern Pacific coastline has seen a franchise in its midst.
Of course, next is the sole franchise that remains in Texas and the only other franchise mentioned in the prologue. The Houston Hyenas are also a team from Texas that have found mixed success. They have likewise survived their storms of tough seasons and have also provided the SFL Landscape a challenging opponent. Houston, as well, have provided many admirable names to the palette of the league celebrities starting with the dual threat of Owner Players Eddie Gauge and DR Sim, and including Darnell Black, DJ Majesty, Aaron Arrington, Kanye Rockafella and many others. The franchise will remain in Houston under the capable hands of owners Demond Simien and Eddie Gauge for the 13th season 13 and, at time of press, is the final team in Texas remaining in the SFL.
The oft-forgotten franchise in the Lone Star reminiscence that the league provides are the San Antonio Vaqueros! Founded by Greg Corky in Season 9, the Vaqueros helped create the Texas triangle as the third puzzle piece in the massive state. With their Blue and White colorway, the legendary Wide Receiver Greg Corky was the first player the team signed, and helped pave the way for the franchise to move to Denver as the Nightwings, where they built a team that went to the SFL Championship last season under the direction of current owner Jeremy Vega. Many of the cast from San Antonio were still on board for the ride, to boot. BJ Armstrong, Bailey Bacca, Daley Holder, and quarterback Josh Miller played during the San Antonio era of the team, with many making the trip to Alaska for the SFL Championship in Season 12, falling just short of the promised land.
This story isn’t just about what has, but what could have been. In the offseason of Season 10, James Richards was applying to be an SFL Owner and was trying to decide where to put his franchise. As a resident of the state, Richards considered the local market for one of his early bids before eventually settling on Indianapolis for the Red Devils where he was born.
So, what could have been if the Red Devils would have set up shop in the Wild Wild West? We could have seen 4 teams in Texas in one season in the SFL. Now, there is only one team remaining in the state. If history is any indicator, however, we have not seen the end of SFL Football in Texas. In Season 13 only six games will be played there – but, if you remember, all of Season 13’s games will be played within the state. Now isn’t that puzzling?
