Semipro Football

Semi-Professional Football

Semi-pro football is a non-professional category of football. Leagues and teams are not associated with schools, colleges, or other academic institutions except that they might rent fields & stadiums from them for their use. Today, after a player has ended his collegiate or professional career, players still have the option to continue playing in a non-paid role as a member of a semi-pro team. Leagues tend to be regional with teams traveling a significant distance for games.

Historic Teams:

Watertown Red & Black (New York) Established in 1896. The Red & Black are oldest semi-pro football team in existence. In the early days of football, this team occasionally played against NFL teams until it was no longer profitable for NFL teams to play against small-market teams like Watertown. Throughout their history, the Red & Black have drawn players from nearby Fort Drum, NY. The U.S. Army's home of mountain warfare has a plentiful volume of young & physically fit Soldiers who still have a desire to play after their high school careers ended. As of 2020 the Red & Black had returned to the Empire Football League, which covers much of the Adirondack "North Country" (far northeastern New York).

Glens Falls Green Jackets Established in 1928 and also in the Adirondack Park, the Green Jackets were the first to wear the "G" symbol commonly known from the NFL's Green Bay Packers, the University of Georgia, and Grambling State University. They filed a lawsuit against the Packers (sometime in the 1960s - citation due) which they lost.

Semi-pro Leagues by state: (links needed)

State  |  League  |  Status

|
|

Alabama  |  National Developmental Football League |  Unknown
Alaska  |  Example  |  Example
Arizona  |  Example  |  Example
Arkansas  |  Example  |  Example
California  |  Example  |  Example
Colorado  |  Example  |  Example
Connecticut  |  Example  |  Example
Delaware  |  Example  |  Example
Florida  |  Example  |  Example
Georgia  |  National Developmental Football League |  Unknown
Hawaii  |  Example  |  Example
Idaho  |  Example  |  Example
Illinois  |  Example  |  Example
Indiana  |  Example  |  Example
Iowa  |  Example  |  Example
Kansas  |  Example  |  Example
Kentucky  |  Mid-States Football League |  Unknown
Louisiana  |  Example  |  Example
Maine  |  Example  |  Example
Maryland  |  Example  |  Example
Massachusetts  |  Example  |  Example
Michigan  |  Example  |  Example
Minnesota  |  Example  |  Example
Mississippi  |  Example  |  Example
Missouri  |  Example  |  Example
Montana  |  Example  |  Example
Nebraska  |  Example  |  Example
Nevada  |  Example  |  Example
New Hampshire  |  Example  |  Example
New Jersey  |  Example  |  Example
New Mexico  |  Example  |  Example
New York  |  Empire Football League |  Active
North Carolina  |  Example  |  Example
North Dakota  |  Example  |  Example
Ohio  |  Example  |  Example
Oklahoma  |  Example  |  Example
Oregon  |  Example  |  Example
Pennsylvania  |  Example  |  Example
Rhode Island  |  Example  |  Example
South Carolina  |  Example  |  Example
South Dakota  |  Example  |  Example
Tennessee  |  Independent American Football League |  Unknown
Tennessee  |  National Developmental Football League |  Unknown
Texas  |  Example  |  Example
Utah  |  Example  |  Example
Vermont  |  Example  |  Example
Virginia  |  Example  |  Example
Washington  |  Example  |  Example
West Virginia  |  Example  |  Example
Wisconsin  |  Example  |  Example
Wyoming  |  Example  |  Example