2019 LFL US season

Last updated
2019 LFL United States
DurationApril 5, 2019 – August 10, 2019
Legends Cup
DateSeptember 7, 2019
Venue Accesso ShoWare Center, Kent, Washington
Champions Seattle Mist
Seasons
←  2018 US

The 2019 LFL US season was the 10th and final season of the Legends Football League (LFL) in the United States. It began April 5 and concluded on August 10. [1]

Contents

Developments

Shortly after the 2018 season ended, the LFL originally elected to hold the 2019 Legends Cup in South Africa's capital city of Johannesburg at Ellis Park Arena. [2] However, this never took place.

In November 2018, defending champion Chicago Bliss head coach Keith Hac and his entire coaching staff resigned in protest of league policies and decisions. Three weeks later the league hired Danville coach JaDae Maguire as a replacement. Maguire did not mesh well with the Bliss and his tenure was short before a new coach, Sidney Lewis, was brought in. In addition to retirements at the end of the previous season, Chicago saw an exodus of many remaining players leaving them with only four returning starters. Chicago would finish the season 0–4, their worst record ever and only their second losing record, and failed to make the playoffs for only the second time ever.

On December 21, 2018, Chris Michaelson, who previously served as the head coach of the Seattle Mist, returned to that franchise as head coach once again. He spent the 2018 season serving as offensive coordinator of the upstart Nashville Knights. For the purpose of rebuilding the Mist franchise to its previous form, Michaelson replaced interim coach Eric Bellamy, who had been named the Mist's interim coach for 2018 after Michelson's supposed retirement in the off-season following a Legends Cup-winning season in 2017. Michaelson previously served as the Mist head coach from 2009 to 2017, leading that franchise to two Legends Cup championship titles. [3] [4]

In early 2019, the LFL announced a new broadcast partner in Honduran television network TDTV. [5]

On June 19, 2019, the league announced a change in the playoff format. Instead of the two best teams from each conference playing for their respective conference titles, the league would abandon the conference titles and pit the top four teams with the best records in an elimination tournament. The team with the best record would play the team with the fourth best record while the teams with the second and third best records would play one another. The immediate effect of this change mid-season was to scramble the playoff standings; Chicago was immediately statistically eliminated, Omaha, which had needed only a victory over winless Denver, suddenly needed to also defeat Atlanta, and Los Angeles could still make the playoffs if Austin beat Nashville in the regular season finale.

Teams

Eastern Conference

TeamArenaCity
Atlanta Steam Infinite Energy Arena Duluth, Georgia
Chicago Bliss Sears Centre Hoffman Estates, Illinois
Nashville Knights Nashville Municipal Auditorium Nashville, Tennessee
Omaha Heart Ralston Arena Ralston, Nebraska

Western Conference

TeamArenaCity
Austin Acoustic H-E-B Center Cedar Park, Texas
Denver Dream Budweiser Events Center Loveland, Colorado
Los Angeles Temptation Toyota Arena Ontario, California
Seattle Mist Accesso ShoWare Center Kent, Washington

LFL Pro Bowl Eastern Western

Schedule

Regular season

Date [6] VisitorHomeVenueScoreReference
Friday, April 5, 2019 Seattle Mist Los Angeles Temptation Citizens Business Bank ArenaSeattle 34
Los Angeles 19		 [7]
Saturday, April 20 Atlanta Steam Chicago Bliss Sears Centre ArenaAtlanta 30
Chicago 8		 [8]
Friday, April 26Los Angeles Temptation Denver Dream Budweiser Event CenterLos Angeles 47
Denver 18		 [9]
Saturday, May 4Chicago Bliss Austin Acoustic H-E-B Center Austin 38
Chicago 8		 [10] [11]
Saturday, May 11 Omaha Heart Seattle Mist Accesso ShoWare Center Omaha 6
Seattle 70		 [12]
Friday, May 17 Atlanta Steam Los Angeles TemptationCitizens Business Bank ArenaAtlanta 33
L.A. 34
Saturday, June 1 Nashville Knights Omaha HeartRalston ArenaNashville 25
Omaha 49
Saturday, June 8Seattle MistDenver DreamBudweiser Event CenterSeattle 62
Denver 22
Saturday, June 15Chicago BlissAtlanta Steam Infinite Energy Arena Chicago 25
Atlanta 30
Saturday, June 22Denver DreamNashville Knights Nashville Municipal Auditorium Denver 12
Nashville 14		 [13]
Saturday, June 29Austin AcousticSeattle MistAccesso ShoWare CenterAustin 36
Seattle 34
Saturday, July 13Denver DreamOmaha HeartRalston ArenaDenver 13
Omaha 32
Saturday, July 20Nashville KnightsChicago BlissSears Centre ArenaNashville 8
Chicago 6
Saturday, July 27Los Angeles TemptationAustin AcousticH-E-B CenterLos Angeles 26
Austin 33
Saturday, August 3Omaha HeartAtlanta SteamInfinite Energy ArenaOmaha 14
Atlanta 50
Saturday, August 10Austin AcousticNashville KnightsNashville Municipal AuditoriumAustin 20
Nashville 18

Postseason

DateVisitorHomeVenueScore
Playoff Semi-Finals
Saturday, August 24Los Angeles TemptationAustin AcousticToyota Arena, Ontario, CaliforniaLos Angeles 39

Austin 29

Atlanta SteamSeattle MistSeattle 38

Atlanta 14

Legends Cup 2019
Saturday, September 7Los Angeles TemptationSeattle Mist Accesso ShoWare Center, Kent, Washington Seattle 56

Los Angeles 20

Showcase Game

DateVisitorHomeVenueScore
Saturday, November 16Los Angeles TemptationAustin Acoustic Mexico City Arena, Azcapotzalco, Mexico City, Mexico Cancelled

Standings

TeamWLPctPFPANet PtsTD'sHome RecordHome PctRoad RecordRoad PctGB
x-Austin Acoustic 401.0001278641192–01.0002–01.000–
x-Seattle Mist 31.75020083117321–1.5002–01.0001
x-Atlanta Steam 31.7501438162202–01.0001–1.500
x-Los Angeles Temptation 22.5001261197191–1.5001–1.5002
Omaha Heart 22.500101158-57 a 142–01.0000–2.000
Nashville Knights 22.5006587-22 a 101–1.5001–1.500
Chicago Bliss 04.00047106-5970–2.0000–2.0004
Denver Dream 04.00065154-89100–2.0000–2.000

x - clinched playoff berth

Playoffs

Semifinals were played on August 24, 2019, at Toyota Arena in Ontario, California. Legends Cup 2019 was played on September 7, 2019, at the Accesso ShoWare Center in Kent, Washington, instead of South Africa as originally planned. In the 2018 State of the League address delivered by Commissioner Mitchell Mortaza, the 2020 Legends Cup was expected to be the first of upcoming Legends Cups to be played abroad in international destinations; however, that was scrapped when the league decided not to hold its next season. [2] [14] The schedule on LFLUS.com was updated on June 19, 2019, to show the Legends Cup had been moved. On the same day, the league announced the playoff format would change, with the conference championship title removed. Instead, the top teams from both conference would be ranked 1–4, with 1st facing 4th and 2nd facing 3rd.

Semifinals Legends Cup
      
Seed 1 Austin 29
Seed 4 Los Angeles39
Los Angeles 20
Seattle56
Seed 2 Seattle38
Seed 3 Atlanta 14

Awards

League MVP

Offensive Player of the Year

Team of the Year

Defensive Player of the Year

Coach of the Year

Coaching Staff of the Year

In The Trenches (Line)

Rookie of the Year

Mortaza Award

True 8th Man Award

2015 LFL Hall of Fame Induction - Danika Brace

Notes

1. ^ ^ Omaha finished ahead of Nashville in the standings as a result of their 49-25 head-to-head victory on June 1, 2019.

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References

  1. ↑ "Legends Football League - Women of the Gridiron". Legends Football League. Archived from the original on 2016-08-01. Retrieved 2017-02-23.
  2. 1 2 "Legends Cup 2019 to be Played in Johannesburg South Africa" [ permanent dead link ]. LFL360.com. October 5, 2018. Retrieved December 18, 2018.
  3. ↑ "HALL OF FAME COACH, CHRIS MICHAELSON, RETURNS TO THE SEATTLE MIST" (Press release). Legends Football League. December 21, 2018.[ permanent dead link ] Retrieved April 11, 2019.
  4. ↑ "LFL's HISTORIC OPENER TO FEATURE ICONIC MATCH-UP OF SEATTLE vs LOS ANGELES" (Press release). Legends Football League. April 2019.[ permanent dead link ] Retrieved April 11, 2019.
  5. ↑ “TDTV SCORED EXCLUSIVE LFL BROADCAST RIGHTS IN HONDURAS” [ permanent dead link ]. LFL360.com. Retrieved April 11, 2019.
  6. ↑ 2019-printable-schedule.pdf [ permanent dead link ]. LFLUS.com Retrieved 2018-12-17.
  7. ↑ "SEATTLE AVOIDS TEMPTATION, OPENS SEASON WITH A 34-19 ROAD WIN" [ permanent dead link ]. LFL360.com . April 22, 2019. Retrieved May 2, 2019.
  8. ↑ "THE TABLES HAVE TURNED IN CHICAGO-ATLANTA RIVALRY, STEAM HANDLE BLISS, 30-8" [ permanent dead link ]. LFL360.com . April 28, 2019. Retrieved May 2, 2019.
  9. ↑ "IMPROVED DENVER DREAM STILL NO MATCH FOR LA’S SECOND HALF OFFENSIVE EXPLOSION, TEMPTATION WIN 47-18" [ permanent dead link ]. LFL360.com . May 6, 2019. Retrieved May 21, 2019.
  10. ↑ "THE HIGHLY-ANTICIPATED REBUILT OMAHA HEART, SET FOR BIG ROAD TEST IN SEATTLE" [ permanent dead link ]. LFL360.com . May 9, 2019. Retrieved May 21, 2019.
  11. ↑ "DESPITE UGLY PERFORMANCE BY AUSTIN QUARTERBACK MICHELLE ANGEL, ACOUSTIC HANDLE BLISS 38-8" [ permanent dead link ]. LFL360.com . May 13, 2019. Retrieved May 21, 2019.
  12. ↑ "LAUREN CROUCH IS WELCOMED TO THE LFL, AS MIST HAND HEART 70-6 BLOWOUT LOSS" [ permanent dead link ]. LFL360.com . May 19, 2019. Retrieved May 21, 2019.
  13. ↑ "NASHVILLE SURVIVES AND KEEPS PLAYOFF HOPES ALIVE DEFEATING DENVER 14-12" [ permanent dead link ]. LFL360.com. June 29, 2019. Retrieved July 2, 2019.
  14. ↑ Mortaza, Mitchell (September 24, 2018). "LFL, STATE OF THE LEAGUE 2018" [ permanent dead link ]. LFL360.com. Retrieved December 18, 2018.