Atlanta Legends
Founded2018
Folded2019
Arena years
League

Alliance of American Football

  • Eastern Conference (2019)
Team history
  • Atlanta Legends (2019)
ColorsPurple, gold & white
PresidentDavid Livingston

The Atlanta Legends were a professional American football franchise based in Atlanta, Georgia, and one of the eight members of the Alliance of American Football (AAF), which played one incomplete season from February 2019 to April 2019.[1] They played their home games at Georgia State Stadium on the campus of Georgia State University. The Legends were one of two AAF teams based in a city that already had an NFL team (the Atlanta Falcons; the other team was the Arizona Hotshots, where the NFL's Cardinals were based). The Legends were coached by Kevin Coyle, one of two AAF coaches without prior head coaching experience, after the position became available when Brad Childress resigned a month before the season began.[2] Billy Devaney was the general manager.

On April 2, 2019, the league's football operations were reportedly suspended,[3][4] and on April 4 the league allowed players to leave their contracts to sign with NFL teams.[5] The league filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy on April 17, 2019.[6]

History

The Alliance Atlanta team was announced by the league on April 25, 2018, as its second initial team. Additionally, the head coach, Brad Childress, and offensive coordinator, Michael Vick, were announced.[7][8] On September 20, the league announced for four eastern inaugural franchises' names and logos including Atlanta as the Atlanta Legends.[9] The name and colors (purple, gold, white) are tributes to famous historical figures from the city, such as Martin Luther King Jr. and Hank Aaron.[10][11]

Childress resigned a month before the start of the 2019 season, and Kevin Coyle, initially hired as the team's defensive coordinator, took Childress's place.[12] On February 7, 2019, two days before their first game, head coach Coyle announced that Vick would be unable to fill his role as offensive coordinator and would instead act as an advisor to the team.[13] Rich Bartel, who replaced Vick as de facto offensive coordinator and play-caller, abruptly resigned two days before the team's home opener,[14] prompting the team to hire Ken Zampese to lead the offense.[15]

The team's first game was at Spectrum Stadium against the Orlando Apollos on Saturday, February 9, 2019,[16] where they lost 40–6.[17] Their first home game was on February 24 against the Birmingham Iron, where they lost 28–12.[16] After starting the season 0–3, the Legends recorded their first win against the Arizona Hotshots on March 3, 2019.[18]

Final roster

Allocation pool

The Legends' assigned area, which designated player rights, included the following:[19]

Colleges

National Football League (NFL)

Canadian Football League (CFL)

Staff

Atlanta Legends staff

Front office

Head coaches

Offensive coaches

Defensive coaches

 

Sports Medicine staff

Equipment staff

Video staff

  • Video director – Jacob Berry
  • Assistant video director – Rickey Layman

→ Coaching Staff

2019 season

Atlanta Legends
TeamAtlanta Legends
Year2019
No prevseasontrue
No nextseasontrue
Record2–6
League place3rd (tie), Eastern Conference
General managerBilly Devaney
StadiumGeorgia State Stadium

Schedule

Preseason

WeekDateOpponentResultRecordVenue
–at San Antonio CommandersL 11–370–1Alamodome

Regular season

WeekDateOpponentResultRecordVenue
1at Orlando ApollosL 6–400–1Spectrum Stadium
2February 17at San Diego FleetL 12–240–2SDCCU Stadium
3February 24Birmingham IronL 12–280–3Georgia State Stadium
4March 3at Arizona HotshotsW 14–111–3Sun Devil Stadium
5March 10Memphis ExpressW 23–202–3Georgia State Stadium
6March 17San Antonio CommandersL 6–372–4Georgia State Stadium
7Orlando ApollosL 6–362–5Georgia State Stadium
8March 31at Birmingham IronL 9–172–6Legion Field
9April 7Salt Lake StallionsNot playedGeorgia State Stadium
10at Memphis ExpressLiberty Bowl Memorial Stadium

[20][16][21]

Media

In addition to league-wide television coverage through NFL Network, CBS Sports Network, TNT, and B/R Live, Legends' games were also broadcast on local radio by WCNN ("680 The Fan").[22]

References

  1. ^ Wilson, Bernie (April 3, 2019). "Atlanta Legends no more: AAF football immediately suspends operations". WSB-TV ATLANTA. Cox Media Group. Retrieved 3 April 2019.
  2. ^ "One month to kickoff, Childress quits AAF job". ESPN.com. 9 January 2019. Retrieved February 3, 2019.
  3. ^ Kercheval, Ben (April 2, 2019). "AAF operations suspended, league's future in doubt after eight games of first season". cbssports.com. Retrieved 2019-04-02.
  4. ^ "AAF to immediately suspend operations". ESPN. April 2, 2019. Retrieved April 2, 2019.
  5. ^ Schwartz, Nick (April 4, 2019). "AAF star Keith Reaser becomes first player to sign NFL deal after league shutdown". USA Today. Retrieved April 4, 2019.
  6. ^ "AAF files for bankruptcy, officially closes down". USA Today. AP. April 17, 2019. Retrieved April 17, 2019.
  7. ^ Culpepper, JuliaKate E. (April 25, 2018). "Michael Vick will lead offense of new pro football league team in Atlanta". Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved September 21, 2018.
  8. ^ "Michael Vick to be offensive coordinator on new Alliance of American football Atlanta team". WAGA. April 25, 2018. Retrieved September 21, 2018.
  9. ^ Benjamin, Cody (September 20, 2018). "LOOK: Alliance of American Football unveils logos of four pro teams that will debut in 2019". CBSSports.com. Retrieved September 21, 2018.
  10. ^ Culpepper, JuliaKate (September 20, 2018). "Exclusive: Name, logo revealed for new pro football team in Atlanta". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved December 4, 2018.
  11. ^ Yasin, Kareem (November 27, 2018). "The Alliance of American Football Unveils its Inaugural Uniforms". Alliance of American Football. Archived from the original on November 29, 2018. Retrieved December 4, 2018.
  12. ^ "One month to kickoff, Childress quits AAF job". ESPN.com. 9 January 2019. Retrieved February 3, 2019.
  13. ^ Vivlamore, Chris (February 7, 2019). "Michael Vick out as Atlanta Legends offensive coordinator". AJC. Cox Enterprises. Retrieved 8 February 2019.
  14. ^ Johnson, Parker (February 25, 2019). "Play-caller Bartel becomes third coach to leave Legends". Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved February 25, 2019.
  15. ^ Perloff, Andrew (March 3, 2019). "Interesting @TheAAF note... former Bengals OC, Browns QBs coach Ken Zampese came aboard to run offense for @AafLegends this week and helped QB Aaron Murray lead them win tonight. Zampese was with Andy Dalton for long time and Baker Mayfield last year.". No. 1102412469471977472. Retrieved March 3, 2019.
  16. ^ "Alliance of American Football schedule released for Arizona Hotshots, other 7 teams". AZ Central. USA Today Network. October 16, 2018. Retrieved November 8, 2018.
  17. ^ Kercheval, Ben (February 9, 2019). "AAF Week 1 scores, highlights: Spurrier calls 'Philly Special' for TD, Orlando and San Antonio win openers". CBSSports.com. Retrieved February 11, 2019.
  18. ^ "Aaron Murray takes over at quarterback, leads Atlanta Legends to first win". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. March 3, 2019. Retrieved March 4, 2019.
  19. ^ Inabinett, Mark (July 12, 2018). "Alabama, Auburn players to go on Birmingham AAF team's assignment list". AL.com. Alabama Media Group. Retrieved December 5, 2018.
  20. ^ "TNT to exclusively televise two additional AAF games". AAF.com. March 6, 2019. Archived from the original on March 7, 2019. Retrieved March 6, 2019.
  21. ^ "2019 Atlanta Legends Schedule". FBSchedules.com. Retrieved February 3, 2019.
  22. ^ "'680 The Fan' To Carry Atlanta Legends Football Games". insideradio.com. January 16, 2019. Retrieved March 16, 2019.

Further reading