Birmingham Barracudas

The Birmingham Barracudas were a Canadian football team that played the 1995 season in the Canadian Football League. The Barracudas were part of a failed attempt to expand the CFL into the United States.

Franchise History

In the Beginning

Art Williams, a business man from Georgia, was awarded a CFL expansion franchise in the Magic City. Williams wanted a nickname for the team that would "scare the spit out of people." He chose Barracudas.

The Barracudas hired an experienced Head Coach in Jack Pardee, who had coached at the college level with the University of Houston and at the professional level with the WFL, the USFL and the NFL. The Barracudas were also led by veteran CFL quarterback Matt Dunigan, who had his greatest season while in Birmingham.

During the Season

Birmingham competed in the Southern Division along with San Antonio, Baltimore, Memphis, and Shreveport. After losing their only two pre-season games, they played their first game July 4, 1995, versus the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in Winnipeg. They won 38-10, and would lose to the Tiger-Cats in Hamilton 31-13. They would get their revenge a week later at home, by beating the Cats 51-28 in front of 31,000 fans.

The biggest home game of the season came against the Baltimore Stallions. It also proved to be the biggest disappointment, losing 36-8. After that, attendance would not exceed 10,000 fans a game.

In the final home game, against the Edmonton Eskimos, Matt Dunigan left the game due to a shoulder injury. Birmingham would have to turn to back-up quarterback Jimmy Klinger. Despite the loss, they still had a chance to claim home-field advantage in the playoffs. In the season finale in San Antonio, Birmingham would lose in a shootout, and returned to Texas the next week. In the Grey Cup playoffs (Southern Division Semi-Final), the Barracudas lost to the San Antonio Texans 52-9, ending their first and only playoff run. They finished third in the division.

After the Season

Attendance at Legion Field was very good at first. The Birmingham crowds were some of the largest in the league. Once the college football season started, the numbers started to decline. Even though the 'Cudas played on Sundays, not directly competing against Alabama or Auburn.

Owner Art Williams was quoted that he was probably losing between 4 to 6 million dollars on the team – however, outside sources quoted the losses at around 10 million dollars. He also began criticizing the Canadian Football League, and it's unique concept. Along with other U.S. owners, Williams wanted several changes made:

*Reducing the size of a CFL field to American football standards.
*Allowing only 11 players on each side of the ball, rather than 12.
*Changing the name of the league to show more of a U.S. presence.

Wiliams sold the team to a group of investors called Ark-La-Tex Football Association from Louisiana. It was intended for the team to play in Shreveport, where the Pirates had just folded. The new Shreveport team never played and every American team folded, except the Baltimore Stallions. They relocated to Montreal to become the new Alouettes.

Players and Builders of note

Canadian Football Hall of Famers

* Matt Dunigan
* Llewellyn Wells

* "The two other logos were used as part of the 1995 advertising campaign for the team"

Trivia

* Quarterback Reggie Slack, who played college football at Auburn, was signed to Birmingham. He started both pre-season games, but was traded to Winnipeg, after the second regular season game. On August 12, his new team lost to the Cudas in Birmingham, 50-24.
* Former Cincinnati Bengals running back Ickey Woods signed with Birmingham before the start of the season, but was cut in training camp.
*Art Williams later owned the Tampa Bay Lightning of the National Hockey League during the 1998-99 season.
* Fob James, at the time Alabama's Governor, played running back for Montreal in 1956.

ee also

*Comparison of Canadian and American football
*1995 CFL season

External links

* [http://www.bhamwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Birmingham_Barracudas Birmingham Barracudas] at BhamWiki.com
* [http://www.birminghamprosports.com/ Birmingham Barracudas] at BirminghamProSports.com
* [http://www.oursportscentral.com/cflinamerica/birm.php/ Birmingham Barracudas] team profile
* [http://www.oursportscentral.com/uniforms/cflunis.html Uniforms]