At the time, Raleigh-Durham, and the Carolinas more generally, had never enjoyed the benefit of a professional American football team. The first experiment with this proved to be a failure, as the Skyhawks were a washout. However, the Carolinas would get the NFL's Panthers as an expansion team shortly thereafter, and they enjoyed a 7-9 mark during their first season. In their second season, they finished 12-4, won the NFC West (that was the division that they were in at the time) and earned the second seed in the NFC playoffs. They then knocked out the defending champion Dallas Cowboys, who had already pretty much clinched "Team of the Decade" honors. The Panthers lost the NFC title game at Green Bay, but they had already done their community proud, and helped to make that disastrous, winless season for the Skyhawks a distant memory.
Friday, March 25, 2016
Some More on the WLAF - the Winless Raleigh-Durham Skyhawks
Here are some clips of old WLAF games dating back from 1991, when the league was trying out before an international audience. These games date from when North American teams figured prominently in the equation, predating what would become NFL Europe years later. The team that you will find in each of these videos was the ill-fated Raleigh-Durham Skyhawks, who failed to manage to win a single game in their first, and as it turns out their only, season of play.
At the time, Raleigh-Durham, and the Carolinas more generally, had never enjoyed the benefit of a professional American football team. The first experiment with this proved to be a failure, as the Skyhawks were a washout. However, the Carolinas would get the NFL's Panthers as an expansion team shortly thereafter, and they enjoyed a 7-9 mark during their first season. In their second season, they finished 12-4, won the NFC West (that was the division that they were in at the time) and earned the second seed in the NFC playoffs. They then knocked out the defending champion Dallas Cowboys, who had already pretty much clinched "Team of the Decade" honors. The Panthers lost the NFC title game at Green Bay, but they had already done their community proud, and helped to make that disastrous, winless season for the Skyhawks a distant memory.
At the time, Raleigh-Durham, and the Carolinas more generally, had never enjoyed the benefit of a professional American football team. The first experiment with this proved to be a failure, as the Skyhawks were a washout. However, the Carolinas would get the NFL's Panthers as an expansion team shortly thereafter, and they enjoyed a 7-9 mark during their first season. In their second season, they finished 12-4, won the NFC West (that was the division that they were in at the time) and earned the second seed in the NFC playoffs. They then knocked out the defending champion Dallas Cowboys, who had already pretty much clinched "Team of the Decade" honors. The Panthers lost the NFC title game at Green Bay, but they had already done their community proud, and helped to make that disastrous, winless season for the Skyhawks a distant memory.
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