For Hartford Football Fans, Colonials a Long Time Coming
September 8, 2010 - United Football League (UFL 1)
Hartford Colonials News Release
September 18, 2010, is a day football fans in and around Hartford, Connecticut have been dreaming of for a long time.
That's because those fans finally have a professional football team to call their very own.
The Hartford Colonials will play host to the Sacramento Mountain Lions in the United Football League's first 2010 game September 18 at Rentschler Field (click here for tickets). That game will mark the first time since 1973 that Hartford will have a home team to root for.
"This community, they had the (National Hockey League's) Whalers abandon them, they had the (National Football League's) Patriots at the altar and (they) turned around and went back to Massachusetts," said Colonials head coach/general manager Chris Palmer. "The fans are accepting us. They will definitely embrace us."
Both the Atlantic Coast Football League and the Continental Football League had teams in Hartford. The Charter Oaks played from 1963 to 1967, and did so in the ACFL for the first two seasons and the CoFL for the last three of those seasons. After the Charter Oaks folded before the end of the 1967 season, the Knights were founded and played from 1968 to 1973 in the ACFL (1968-72) and the Seaboard Football League (1973).
Of course, the Colonials' gold helmet is an homage to the Knights' helmet color.
Both the Charter Oaks and the Knights played at Dillon Stadium.
Those who saw the Knights still have fond memories of them, including Cleveland Browns head coach Eric Mangini and Sports Illustrated football writer Peter King, both of whom relayed those stories to Palmer shortly after his hire by the Colonials.
Palmer said that connection between the Colonials and their fans has begun to grow. He said a son will always remember his mother taking him to meet Colonials punter Jy Bond, and that families are coming to practices and sitting in the stands.
Palmer added that the connection will continue to grow once the games begin, but said, "I think it's starting to exist. I think there definitely is a bond there."
Hartford fans did get a taste of UFL football last fall, as the Florida Tuskers defeated the then-New York Sentinels, 24-6, in front of 5,201 fans at Rentschler.
But now, the Colonials are close to kicking off their initial season - and giving a new generation of fans some hopefully long-lasting memories.
"Once we can get our Colonial brand out in the public and people start to see it, it will be an indication of us being accepted in the community," Palmer said.
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United Football League Stories from September 8, 2010
- Hartford Colonials Sign Four Players; Release Five - Hartford Colonials
- UFL Transactions - UFL 1
- Tuskers Introduce Broadcast Team, Announce Radio And TV Events - Florida Tuskers
- UFL For Sale - UFL 1
- United Football League Launches Innovative Webstore - UFL 1
- For Hartford Football Fans, Colonials a Long Time Coming - Hartford Colonials
- UFL Transactions - UFL 1
- Tuskers Training Camp Heads into Overtime - Florida Tuskers
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