Grand_Rapids_Blazers
United Football League (1961–1964)
Defunct American professional football league (1961–1964)
The United Football League was a professional American football minor league that operated between 1961 and 1964. It had eight teams, primarily based in the Midwestern United States.[1]
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The league was founded in 1961 as a minor league alternative to the National Football League (NFL) and American Football League (AFL). Based in the Midwest, it drew many of its players from the Big Ten college conference.
Among its more notable feats, it became the first football league to operate teams in both the United States and Canada when it launched the Quebec Rifles in 1964, and it revived the names of the Cleveland/Canton Bulldogs and Akron Pros, two early-era NFL teams.
After the league folded following the 1964 season, the more ambitious owners formed the new Continental Football League (COFL). The more conservative owners, who wanted to continue as a regional Midwestern bus league, broke away to form the Professional Football League of America (PFLA) in February 1965.[2]