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.
With Halloween just around the corner, a good team logo to feature is this one, of a minor league baseball team that played in the Pioneer League from 2008 until 2011, the Casper Ghosts. Based in Casper, Wyoming, the team played as the Rockies from 2001 to 2007 before taking on the spooky new name, and along with the name change, introduced new team caps that had a ghost logo that glowed in the dark. Unfortunately the team is moving to Grand Junction, Colorado next season.
Logo of the Baltimore Clippers minor league hockey team, which played in the American Hockey League from 1962 until 1975. They were affiliated with the New York Rangers and later the Pittsburgh Penguins. The team disbanded when the Michigan Stags of the WHA relocated to Baltimore and became the Blades. A couple of notable Clipper players include goalie Ed Giacomin and Wayne Rivers.
Logo of the San Francisco 49ers football team, from their days when they played in the old All America Football Conference. When the team began play in the AAFC in 1946, they were the first professional sports team to be based in the city. The 49ers didn’t have much success in the early years, but luckily they were included among the teams from the AAFC to be absorbed into the NFL in 1950. Their roster in the AAFC years included Joe Perry, Bill “Tiger” Johnson, who later coached the Cincinnati Bengals, and left-handed QB Frankie Albert, who also went on to coach the team.
Logo of the Philadelphia Liberty Belles football team, who played in the Independent Women’s Football League from 2001 until 2004, winning the league’s inaugural championship in 2001. A new, totally unrelated version of the Liberty Belles surfaced in 2009 in the Women’s Football Alliance, named in honor of the original team.
Logo of the Buffalo Bisons football team that played in the All America Football Conference in the 1946 season. The franchise played only the one season with the Bison nickname before changing to the Bills in 1947. The Bison roster included quarterback Al Dekdebrun, who owned a popular sporting goods store in the city after his retirement, and was also involved in local politics.