Spring Football League

Wide receiver Paul Peters, Cal State Northridge's leading scorer in 1991, will forgo his final season of eligibility to try to earn a roster position in the new Professional Spring Football League. Peters was chosen in the 38th round Tuesday by the Oregon Lightning Bolts. In 1991, he scored 38 points on six touchdowns and a two-point conversion and caught 29 passes for 453 yards. Peters, 23, played two years at Rancho Santiago Junior College before coming to Northridge in 1990.

It has been 1,952 days since the last professional football game was played at the Coliseum. The L.A. Dragons of the Spring Football League will end that drought Saturday when they play host to the Houston Marshals at 4 p.m. The newly christened SFL markets itself as a total family entertainment package, bringing together football, live music and retired NFL players. Dragon Coach Doug Cosbie, a former tight end with the Dallas Cowboys, has had all of 10 days to whip his team into shape.

The XFL, the new professional football league founded by World Wrestling Federation CEO Vince McMahon, has a lucrative television deal with NBC that has all but put a headlock on outdoor football in the spring. Dennis Murphy, co-founder of the International Football Federation, which was supposed to have begun play in February but failed to secure a television deal, said his league will instead open in 2001--along with the XFL--but will play from April to early July.

It has been 1,952 days since the last professional football game was played at the Coliseum. The L.A. Dragons of the Spring Football League will end that drought Saturday when they play host to the Houston Marshals at 4 p.m. The newly christened SFL markets itself as a total family entertainment package, bringing together football, live music and retired NFL players. Dragon Coach Doug Cosbie, a former tight end with the Dallas Cowboys, has had all of 10 days to whip his team into shape.

The XFL, the new professional football league founded by World Wrestling Federation CEO Vince McMahon, has a lucrative television deal with NBC that has all but put a headlock on outdoor football in the spring. Dennis Murphy, co-founder of the International Football Federation, which was supposed to have begun play in February but failed to secure a television deal, said his league will instead open in 2001--along with the XFL--but will play from April to early July.

A recent sports survey shows that most season-ticket holders would like to own a piece of a pro football club if they could buy in for $15 or $20 a share. So Louisiana promoter David Dixon said he has decided to launch a new co-op spring football league next Feb. 19. To be known as America's Football Teams (AFT), the league will be controlled in 1989 by the eight founding owners, who have agreed to sell most of the stock to their fans in 1990, Dixon said.

THE HIGHLIGHTS The USFL said the financially strapped Express would finish the season and then join the rest of the league when it moved to a fall schedule in 1986. The league voted, 13-2, to move its season to the fall in 1986, opposing the NFL. Tampa Bay Bandits owner John Bassett announced that his team, the USFL's most stable and successful franchise, will split with the USFL and join a new spring league in 1986.

Albert Fann, Cal State Northridge's all-time leading rusher and a former NCAA Division II All-American tailback, was among seven former Matador players selected Monday in the Professional Spring Football League's inaugural draft. Fann, linebacker Ken Wallace and receiver Charles Collins were selected as territorial choices by the Nevada Aces, who also took linebacker Dave Benefield (ninth round) and tight end Richard Ane (17th) in the draft's open phase.

Hey, it was only a coin toss. That little pregame ceremony that precedes every football game. Nothing to get stressed about. But, hey, this was the Angelus League. Greg Willig, St. Paul High School's quarterback, had only one thought at that moment in 1987: heads or tails. He was being introduced to the Bishop Amat captains when . . . WHAM-O . "This little guy from Bishop Amat hit me," said Willig, who will be a senior this fall at Rice. "There were no words, he just threw a punch.

Wide receiver Paul Peters, Cal State Northridge's leading scorer in 1991, will forgo his final season of eligibility to try to earn a roster position in the new Professional Spring Football League. Peters was chosen in the 38th round Tuesday by the Oregon Lightning Bolts. In 1991, he scored 38 points on six touchdowns and a two-point conversion and caught 29 passes for 453 yards. Peters, 23, played two years at Rancho Santiago Junior College before coming to Northridge in 1990.

Albert Fann, Cal State Northridge's all-time leading rusher and a former NCAA Division II All-American tailback, was among seven former Matador players selected Monday in the Professional Spring Football League's inaugural draft. Fann, linebacker Ken Wallace and receiver Charles Collins were selected as territorial choices by the Nevada Aces, who also took linebacker Dave Benefield (ninth round) and tight end Richard Ane (17th) in the draft's open phase.

A recent sports survey shows that most season-ticket holders would like to own a piece of a pro football club if they could buy in for $15 or $20 a share. So Louisiana promoter David Dixon said he has decided to launch a new co-op spring football league next Feb. 19. To be known as America's Football Teams (AFT), the league will be controlled in 1989 by the eight founding owners, who have agreed to sell most of the stock to their fans in 1990, Dixon said.

THE HIGHLIGHTS The USFL said the financially strapped Express would finish the season and then join the rest of the league when it moved to a fall schedule in 1986. The league voted, 13-2, to move its season to the fall in 1986, opposing the NFL. Tampa Bay Bandits owner John Bassett announced that his team, the USFL's most stable and successful franchise, will split with the USFL and join a new spring league in 1986.

The Professional Spring Football League is giving itself another two weeks to find more financing before deciding whether to cancel its first season, Commissioner Rex Lardner said.

Darryl Rogers, who has coached in the NFL, the Canadian Football League and in college, was named coach of Little Rock's Arkansas Miners of the Professional Spring Football League.