Orlando Apollos

Orlando Apollos
Established 2018
Folded 2019
League/conference affiliations
Alliance of American Football
Current uniform
Team colorsNavy blue, dark orange & bright orange
     
Personnel
PresidentMichael P. Waddell
Head coachSteve Spurrier
Team history
Championships
League championships (0)
Conference championships (0)
Division championships (0)

The Orlando Apollos were a professional American football franchise based in Orlando, Florida, and one of the eight members of the Alliance of American Football (AAF), which began play in February 2019. The team played its home games at Spectrum Stadium on the campus of the University of Central Florida. They were coached by Heisman Trophy winner and former college and National Football League (NFL) head coach Steve Spurrier. NFL front office veteran Tim Ruskell was the general manager and longtime college athletics executive Michael P. Waddell was the team president.

The team's name was inspired by the Greek god Apollo, and his and Florida's connections to the Sun, while the team's colors of orange and navy were tributes to Florida's sunshine and the Apollo program, respectively. The team's helmets depicted Apollo, who is commonly pictured as an archer, shooting a bow-and-arrow.[1]

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

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference Central Florida's newly named football team was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ 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.
  3. ^ "AAF to immediately suspend operations". ESPN. April 2, 2019. Retrieved April 2, 2019.
  4. ^ 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.
  5. ^ "AAF files for bankruptcy, officially closes down", USA Today, April 17, 2019, retrieved April 17, 2019 {{citation}}: Unknown parameter |agency= ignored (help)