Logo of another great college football powerhouse, the University of Texas Longhorns. The program is one of the winningest in college football history, boasting 4 national championships, 49 bowl game appearances, 105 winning seasons out of 117 seasons of play, 129 All American players, and 2 Heisman Trophy winners – running backs Earl Campbell and Rickey Williams. Some other great players in Longhorn history include Bobby Layne, Tommy Nobis, Colt McCoy, Vince Young and Brian Orakpo.
This is an “alternate” logo of a college football program that is one of the most storied in the country, Notre Dame. The logo was used from 1963 until 1972, when the Fighting Irish were coached by the legendary Ara Parseghian. They won one of the 11 national championships the school has claimed in its’ history during this time frame, in 1966, when they finished 9-0-1, with the tie coming in a game against Michigan State that ended 10-10 and has been called “the game of the century”. Some notable players from this era are Terry Hanratty, Jack Snow, Nick Eddy, Jim Lynch, Walt Patulski, Joe Theismann and 1964 Heisman Trophy winner John Huarte.
An “alternate” logo of the Denver Broncos football team from their early years in the American Football League. This logo was used on the players’ helmets from 1962 until 1965. The Broncos are one of pro football’s most stable franchises today, but struggled in the AFL days. In fact, they were the only original AFL team to have a losing record all 10 seasons of the league’s existence, and the only team among the league’s original franchises to never play for an AFL title. Some notable players from the era when this logo was on the helmets include Frank Tripucka, Lionel Taylor and Austin “Goose” Gonsoulin, all members of the team’s Ring Of Fame.
Logo of a Canadian junior hockey team that plays in the Ontario Hockey League, the Sudbury Wolves. The Wolves have been around since 1962, and a member of the OHL since 1972. The club has never won a Memorial Cup, signifying the country’s junior championship, but has sent 77 players to the NHL, including Randy Carlyle, Pat Verbeek, Mike Foligno, Ron Duguay and Marc Staal.
Logo of the Denver Gold, a football team that played in the United States Football League from 1983 until 1985. The USFL was founded as a league that played in the spring, the off-season for the powerful NFL, and at first was not considered a threat to the older league. The Gold, in fact, had a good relationship with the Broncos’ NFL franchise, even hiring former Bronco coach Red Miller as its’ first head coach. Former Bronco QB Craig Morton also coached the team, which was a decent hit at the box office, leading the USFL in attendance for the entire league’s existence. The franchise was doomed when the USFL decided to try to switch to the fall and compete with the older league, and folded along with the rest of the USFL after the ’85 season.
Logo of the Oakland Banshees, a football team that plays in the International Women’s Football League. The team, a semi-pro operation, has been in existence since 2001, and a member of the IWFL since 2003. Their team colors are silver and black, copying the hometown Raiders. Incidentally, the definition of “banshee” is “an Irish folklore term meaning a female spirit who wails to warn of impending death.”
Like Baltimore, the city of St. Louis, which lost its’ NFL franchise when the Cardinals moved to Arizona, attempted to get an expansion franchise from the league in 1993, and this is the logo of the proposed team that never happened, the St. Louis Stallions. And like Baltimore, despite not being awarded an expansion team, the city wound up in the NFL for the 1995 season anyway as the Rams relocated from Los Angeles to St. Louis.
This is a logo of a National Football League team that never actually existed, a phenomenon that’s happened over the years. The Baltimore Bombers were a proposed expansion team in the league in 1993, as the city attempted to rejoin the NFL after losing their beloved Colts to Indianapolis. The team name was chosen as a tribute to the World War II B-26 Marauder bomber, which was built in Baltimore. Unfortunately, the 2 expansion franchises were awarded to Jacksonville and Carolina, but Baltimore’s disappointment didn’t last long, as Art Modell relocated his Browns from Cleveland, and the city’s new team, the Ravens, started play a year later than the 2 expansion teams, in1995.
Logo of an original team from the National Football League, the Duluth Eskimos. This franchise played as the Duluth Kelleys in 1923 and changed their name in 1926. Although based in Duluth, the team was basically a traveling show and rarely played any “home” games. The team disbanded after the 1927 season, but despite its’ short existence, boasts having 3 Hall of Famers – Walt Kiesling, Ernie Nevers and Johnny “Blood” McNally.
A great team logo for Halloween, the logo of the Toronto Phantoms football team, who played 2 seasons in the Arena Football League, in 2001 and 2002. The team was moved from New England after failing there, and was the Arena League’s attempt to enter the Canadian market. They were owned by Rogers Communications, the same group that later made a deal with the Buffalo Bills of the NFL to host some of their home games, and played their home games at the Air Canada Centre. Unfortunately the team disbanded after the 2002 season. Their most notable player was “offensive specialist” Damian Harrell.
