San Antonio Riders

San Antonio Riders

Founded	1991
Closed	1992
Based in	San Antonio, Texas, U.S. (1991) San Marcos, Texas, U.S. (1992)
Home field	Alamo Stadium (1991) Bobcat Stadium (1992)
Head coach	Mike Riley
League	World League of American Football (NFL Europe)
Colors	Brown, Metallic Gold, Burnt Orange, White, Scarlet, Blue, Vegas Gold [1]
Franchise record	Regular Season: 11–9

The San Antonio Riders were a professional American football team that played in the WLAF in 1991 and 1992. The team played at Alamo Stadium in San Antonio in 1991 and then were forced to move to Bobcat Stadium on the campus of Southwest Texas State University (now Texas State University) in San Marcos, Texas, 45 miles (72 km) northeast of San Antonio, for the 1992 season after the San Antonio Independent School District refused to allow the sale of beer at WLAF games or the display of beer advertising at Alamo Stadium. In return, Riders ownership scrapped plans to fund $235,000 in renovations to the Stadium. In June 1991, SAISD officials announced plans for a rent increase on the Riders for the 1992 season. The relationship would last for only one season.

The team was owned by Larry Benson, the brother of Tom Benson (owner of the New Orleans Saints of the NFL). The general managers were Tom Landry (Pro Football Hall of Fame coach) and Tom Landry, Jr. The head coach for both seasons was Mike Riley.

The team's record in 1991 was 4-6. San Antonio turned things around in 1992 with a mark of 7-3. The Riders were not able to compete in the highly competitive North American West Division during the 1992 season, and like the Frankfurt Galaxy of 1991, they did not make the playoffs despite a 7-3 record.

Former players include professional wrestler John "Bradshaw" Layfield, better known as JBL of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), Jason Garrett who went on to play for and later serve as head coach for the Dallas Cowboys, and head coach Mike Riley, who went on to coach the San Diego Chargers of the NFL, as well as Oregon State and Nebraska at the collegiate level.

After the 1992 season saw the suspension of the WLAF (and ultimately the abandonment of North American teams), Benson applied to the Canadian Football League to have the Riders join that league instead for the 1993 season. The CFL accepted, and admitted the Riders and the Sacramento Surge/Gold Miners to the CFL. The Riders were to change names to the San Antonio Texans (there was already a Rough Riders and a Roughriders, both of whom were known as the "Riders" for short), but the team folded abruptly prior to the 1993 season. The San Antonio Texans name would later be used for the aforementioned Gold Miners when they moved to San Antonio in 1995.

Season-by-season

Season	League	Regular season					Postseason
		Won	Lost	Ties	Win %	Finish	Won	Lost	Win %	Result
1991	WLAF	4	6	0	.400	2nd (North American West)	–	–	—	—
1992	WLAF	7	3	0	.700	3rd (North American West)	–	–	—	—
Total		11	9	0	.550		–	–	—

1991 season

1991 San Antonio Riders season
Owner	Larry Benson
General manager	John Peterson
Head coach	Mike Riley
Home field	Alamo Stadium
Results
Record	4–6
Division place	3rd
Playoff finish	did not qualify

Personnel

Staff

1991 San Antonio Riders staff

	Front office Owner/president – Larry J. Benson Vice president/general manager – John Peterson Assistant director of football operations – Billy Schott Business manager – Greg Korn Head coaches Head coach – Mike Riley Offensive coaches Offensive coordinator/quarterbacks/wide receivers – Tommy Lee Running backs/tight ends – Paul Chryst Offensive line – Jim Gilstrap			Defensive coaches Defensive coordinator/linebackers – Greg Newhouse Defensive line/special teams – Don Wnek Defensive backs – Bill Bradley

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Roster

1991 San Antonio Riders roster
Quarterbacks  3 Jason Garrett  7 Mickey Guidry 10 Mike Johnson 11 Lee Saltz Running backs 23 Ricky Blake 32 Broderick Graves 27 Undra Johnson Wide receivers 88 John Garrett 83 Bill Hess 86 Lee Morris 84 Dwight Pickens 80 Elliott Searcy Tight ends 87 Charlie Darrington 82 Ronnie Williams		Offensive linemen 65 Eddie Grant C/G 77 James Harper G 73 John Husby T 71 Mike Kiselak G 61 John Layfield T 79 Brian Smider T 67 John Vitale C Defensive linemen 93 David Bailey DE 97 John Fletcher DE 96 Donnie Gardner DE 99 Greg Ross NT		Linebackers 50 Terrence Cooks OLB 55 Greg Gilbert ILB 94 Mark Ledbetter OLB 53 Derrick Little 58 Roderick Manning OLB 51 Eric Snelson 57 Tim Walton ILB Defensive backs 28 Anthony Cooney S 40 Carlo Cheattom S 22 Sean Dykes CB 29 Greg Lee S 25 Calvin Nicholson CB 44 Gary Richard CB 26 Rickey Royal CB 24 Ken Watson CB 46 Kennedy Wilson S Special teams  6 Jim Gallery K  8 Teddy Garcia K  1 Kent Sullivan P		Operation Discovery 72 Stefan Bjorkman OL 41 John Hyllienmark DB 78 Stefan Ohrvall DL  5 Marco Rueda K rookies in italics

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Schedule

Week	Date	Kickoff	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance
1	March 25	8:00 p.m.	at Orlando Thunder	L 34–35	0–1	Florida Citrus Bowl	21,714
2	April 1	7:00 p.m.	Frankfurt Galaxy	L 3–10	0–2	Alamo Stadium	18,432
3	April 7	12:00 p.m.	Sacramento Surge	W 10–3	1–2	Alamo Stadium	6,772
4	April 15	8:00 p.m.	at Raleigh–Durham Skyhawks	W 37–15	2–2	Carter–Finley Stadium	11,818
5	April 20	7:00 p.m.	Barcelona Dragons	W 22–14	3–2	Alamo Stadium	16,500
6	April 29	7:00 p.m.	at Birmingham Fire	L 12–16	3–3	Legion Field	8,114
7	May 6	7:00 p.m.	London Monarchs	L 15–38	3–4	Alamo Stadium	12,328
8	May 11	8:00 p.m.	at Barcelona Dragons	L 7–17	3–5	Montjuic Stadium	23,670
9	May 19	11:30 a.m.	Montreal Machine	W 27–10	4–5	Alamo Stadium	20,234
10	May 25	8:00 p.m.	at New York/New Jersey Knights	L 9–38	4–6	Giants Stadium	32,857

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1992 season

1992 San Antonio Riders season
Owner	Larry Benson
General manager	John Peterson
Head coach	Mike Riley
Home field	Alamo Stadium
Local radio	WOAI
Results
Record	7–3

Personnel

Staff

1992 San Antonio Riders staff

	Front office President/Managing Partner – Larry J. Benson Limited partner – Tom Landry Vice president/general manager – John Peterson Business manager – Greg Korn Assistant director of football operations – Billy Schott Scouting assistant – Jeff Beathard Head coaches Head coach – Mike Riley Offensive coaches Running backs – Paul Chryst Wide receivers – Tommy Lee Offensive line – Jim Gilstrap			Defensive coaches Defensive coordinator/linebackers – Greg Newhouse Defensive line/special teams – Don Wnek Defensive backs – Bill Bradley

Roster

1992 San Antonio Riders roster

	Quarterbacks  8 Brad Goebel 10 Mike Johnson 12 Craig Kupp Running Backs 27 Tony Boles 33 Ivory Lee Brown 34 Dewaine Jones 30 Cisco Richard 20 George Searcy Wide Receivers 81 Darrell Colbert 89 Titus Dixon 86 Lee Morris 80 Wayne Walker Tight Ends 85 Danta Whitaker 88 John Ford 82 Ronnie Williams		Offensive Linemen 71 Mike Kiselak G 62 Ben Mitchell G 73 Mike Nord T 52 Erik Norgard G/C 78 Peter Shorts T 67 John Vitale C 75 Doug Williams T Defensive Linemen 95 Dick Chapura NT 93 Willie Fears NT 99 Greg Ross DE 91 Chris Thieneman DE 92 Robb White DE		Linebackers 50 Terrence Cooks OLB 51 Patrick Hinton ILB 55 Malvin Hunter ILB 94 Mark Ledbetter OLB 57 Tim Walton ILB 54 Albert Williams OLB Defensive Backs 28 Anthony Cooney S 26 Greg Eaglin CB 48 Bobby Humphery CB 29 Greg Lee S 24 Chris Oldham S 44 Gary Richard CB -- Kip Texada CB Special Teams  6 Jim Gallery K  1 Kent Sullivan P		Operation Discovery Vacant Rookies in italics

Results

Week 1: San Antonio 17, Montreal Machine 16

Week 2: Birmingham Fire 17, San Antonio 10

Week 3: San Antonio 9, New York/New Jersey Knights 3

Week 4: San Antonio 23, Sacramento Surge 20 (OT)

Week 5: San Antonio 17, Ohio Glory 0

Week 6: San Antonio 17, Birmingham Fire 14

Week 7: Orlando Thunder 39, San Antonio 21

Week 8: San Antonio 17, Barcelona Dragons 0

Week 9: San Antonio 43, Frankfurt Galaxy 14

Week 10: Sacramento Surge 27, San Antonio 21

References

1. "Team Colors – WLAF". SSUR.org. Retrieved January 19, 2010.
2. The Official 1991 World League of American Football Media Guide.
3. 1992 San Antonio Riders Media Guide.
4. The Official 1992 World League Fact Book.