1965 Continental Football League season | |
---|---|
Duration | August 14 – November 14, 1965 |
Date | November 28, 1965 |
Finals venue | Laidley Field, Charleston, WV |
Finals champions | Charleston Rockets |
The 1965 COFL season was the first season of the Continental Football League (COFL). The COFL entered its inaugural season with franchises in Philadelphia, Springfield, Massachusetts, Newark, New Jersey, Toronto, Wheeling, West Virginia, Richmond, Virginia, Charleston, West Virginia, Hartford, Connecticut, Providence, Rhode Island, and Fort Wayne, Indiana.
In April 1965 the Springfield franchise was purchased by a group from Norfolk, Virginia. [1] The sale was approved and finalized in May.
W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, PCT= Winning Percentage, PF= Points For, PA = Points Against
y = Division Champion
Eastern Division | |||||||||||
Team | W | L | T | PCT | PF | PA | Stadium | Coach | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
y-Toronto Rifles | 11 | 3 | 0 | .786 | 412 | 258 | Maple Leaf Stadium | Leo Cahill | |||
Philadelphia Bulldogs | 10 | 4 | 0 | .717 | 414 | 341 | Temple Stadium | Babe Dimancheff | |||
Norfolk Neptunes | 9 | 5 | 0 | .643 | 326 | 280 | Foreman Field | Gary Glick | |||
Newark Bears | 5 | 9 | 0 | .357 | 307 | 310 | Newark Schools Stadium | Steve Van Buren | |||
Wheeling Ironmen | 2 | 12 | 0 | .143 | 175 | 290 | Wheeling Island Stadium | Mac Cara/Bob Snyder | |||
Western Division | |||||||||||
Team | W | L | T | PCT | PF | PA | Stadium | Coach | |||
y-Charleston Rockets | 14 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | 462 | 129 | Laidley Field | Perry Moss | |||
Fort Wayne Warriors | 8 | 6 | 0 | .538 | 351 | 256 | Zollner Stadium | Ken Carpenter | |||
Richmond Rebels | 6 | 8 | 0 | .429 | 283 | 385 | City Stadium | Pete Pihos | |||
Rhode Island Indians | 3 | 11 | 0 | .214 | 182 | 411 | City Stadium | Mike Connolly | |||
Hartford Charter Oaks | 2 | 12 | 0 | .143 | 203 | 455 | Dillon Stadium | Fred Wallner/Lee Grosscup/Lowell Lander |
Home team in CAPITALS
League Championship (November 28, 1965)
Abner Haynes was an American professional football player who was a halfback and return specialist in the American Football League (AFL). He played college football for the North Texas State Eagles and was selected by the Oakland Raiders in the 1960 AFL draft. He was also chosen by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the fifth round of the 1960 NFL draft.
The Continental Football League (COFL) was a professional American football minor league that operated in North America from 1965 through 1969. It was established following the collapse of the original United Football League, and hoped to become the major force in professional football outside the National Football League (NFL) and the American Football League (AFL). It owed its name, at least in part, to the Continental League, a proposed third Major League Baseball organization that influenced MLB significantly, although they never played a game.
In American football, a touchback is a ruling that is made and signaled by an official when the ball becomes dead on or behind a team's own goal line and the opposing team gave the ball the momentum, or impetus, to travel over the goal line, but did not have possession of the ball when it became dead. Since the 2018 season, touchbacks have also been awarded in college football on kickoffs that end in a fair catch by the receiving team between its own 25-yard line and goal line. In the 2023 season, the NFL adopted the same rules as college football in regard to awarding touchbacks on kickoffs that end in a fair catch. In 2024, the NFL moved the placement of the ball after a touchback on a kickoff to the receiving team's 30-yard line; this was part of a radical change to the league's kickoff procedure. Such impetus may be imparted by a kick, pass, fumble, or in certain instances by batting the ball. A touchback is not a play, but a result of events that may occur during a play. A touchback is the opposite of a safety with regard to impetus since a safety is scored when the ball becomes dead in a team's end zone after that team — the team whose end zone it is — caused the ball to cross the goal line.
A kickoff is a method of starting a drive in gridiron football. Additionally, it may refer to a kickoff time, the scheduled time of the first kickoff of a game. Typically, a kickoff consists of one team – the "kicking team" – kicking the ball to the opposing team – the "receiving team". The receiving team is then entitled to return the ball, i.e., attempt to advance it towards the kicking team's end zone, until the player with the ball is tackled by the kicking team, goes out of bounds, scores a touchdown, or the play is otherwise ruled dead. Kickoffs take place at the start of each half of play, the beginning of overtime in some overtime formats, and after scoring plays. Normally, the kicking team hopes to kick the ball as far down the field as possible in order to maximize the distance the team returning the kick must advance in order to score.
The 1966 NFL Championship Game was the 34th NFL championship, played at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Texas. It was the final game of the 1966 NFL season. This was also the last Championship game before the inauguration of the NFL playoffs the following year.
The 1965 NFL Championship Game was the 33rd championship game for the National Football League (NFL), played on January 2, 1966, at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin. This was the first NFL championship game played in January, as well as the first televised in color and the last played prior to the Super Bowl era. It would be staged four more times as a qualifier for the Super Bowl before being replaced with the NFC championship game post-merger.
The 1960 NFL Championship Game was the 28th NFL title game, played between the Green Bay Packers and Philadelphia Eagles on the afternoon of Monday, December 26, at Franklin Field in Philadelphia.
The Atlantic Coast Football League (ACFL) was a professional American football minor league that operated from 1962 to 1973. Until 1969, many of its franchises had working agreements with National Football League (NFL) and American Football League (AFL) teams to serve as farm clubs. The league paid a base salary of $100 per game and had 36 players on each active roster.
A return specialist or kick returner is a player on the special teams unit of a gridiron football team who specializes in returning punts and kickoffs. There are few players who are exclusively return specialists; most also play another position such as wide receiver, defensive back, or running back. The special teams counterpart of a return specialist is a kicking specialist.
Robert Edgar Brodhead was an American gridiron football player, executive, and college athletics administrator. He was the athletic director at Louisiana State University (LSU) from 1982 to 1987. He is also the author of Sacked! The Dark Side of Sports at Louisiana State University (ISBN 0-9446790-0-5)
Charles Irving "Charlie" Leigh Sr. was a National Football League (NFL) running back. He was the first and only NFL player to be signed out of high school. He is best known for backing up Larry Csonka and returning kicks for the Miami Dolphins' back to back Super Bowl champions in the 1972 and 1973 seasons. He also played for the Cleveland Browns and Green Bay Packers. He played a total of six seasons in the NFL.
The Toronto Rifles were a minor-league professional American football team active between 1964 and 1967. It was based in Toronto, Ontario. The team's home fields were Maple Leaf Stadium (1965) and Varsity Stadium from 1966 to 1967. The team was owned by Montreal businessman Johnny Newman.
The Orlando Panthers were a professional American football team based in Orlando, Florida. Founded in 1958 as the Franklin Miners, the team spent its first four years in the Eastern Football Conference, then three further years in the Atlantic Coast Football League (ACFL) before moving to the Continental Football League (COFL) in 1965. The franchise moved from Newark, New Jersey to Orlando in 1966 and found success on the field as the Panthers. However, while the team won the COFL championship twice they were plagued by financial difficulties. The team jumped back to the ACFL in 1970 but were suspended by the league after the season.
Guy Gilbert Gibbs Jr. is a former American football quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for the Dallas Cowboys and Detroit Lions. He played college football at Texas Christian University.
The Philadelphia Bulldogs were a professional American football team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania that played in the Continental Football League beginning in 1965. Their regular season games were played at Temple Stadium and in December 1966 they won the league title there by a 20–17 score in overtime against the Orlando Panthers after finishing the regular season 9–5 and tied for the East Division lead with the Toronto Rifles. The winning field goal was kicked by former NFL/Canadian FL player Jamie Caleb. The team disbanded in 1967. The 1966 team was coached by Wayne Hardin, who also coached Temple University afterwards and had come to the Bulldogs from the Naval Academy. The starting quarterback throughout the team's tenure was Bob Brodhead, who was later athletic director at Louisiana State University. The Bulldogs were ranked 21st of the top 25 Philadelphia championship teams of all time in 2011.
Charles Lee "Monk" Williams was an American professional football flanker who played one season with the Cincinnati Bengals of the American Football League (AFL). He was selected by the Bengals in the sixth round of the 1968 NFL/AFL draft after playing college football at Arkansas Agricultural, Mechanical and Normal College.
The Wheeling Ironmen were a professional American football team based in Wheeling, West Virginia, and played their home games at Wheeling Island Stadium. The team began play in 1962 as a member of the United Football League, where they played for three seasons until that league dissolved. The Ironmen won the UFL championship during their first two seasons in the league.
The Charleston Rockets were a professional American football team based in Charleston, West Virginia. They began play in 1964 as a member of the United Football League, and became a charter franchise in the Continental Football League in 1965. In their first season in the COFL, the Rockets finished with a perfect 14–0 record and won the league championship over the Toronto Rifles, 24–7. After an ownership change in 1968, the team announced that it was suspending operations in January 1969. Its place in the league's lineup was replaced by the Jersey Jays, returning the CFL to North Jersey after the departure of the Newark Bears to Orlando three seasons prior.
The Jersey Jays were a professional American football minor league team based in Jersey City, New Jersey. They began play in 1969 as a member of the Continental Football League, and were a farm team of the NFL's Cleveland Browns. The Jays played their home games in Newark Schools Stadium in 1969.