AAF Unveils Names, Colors Of Final Four Expansion Football Teams

The AAF tweeted teaser images of each team's logo last week, before fully revealing them todayAAF

The Alliance of American Football unveiled the San Antonio Commanders as one of the eight franchise names in the nascent league, a "nod to San Antonio's designation as Military City, USA," according to a front-page piece by Terrence Thomas of the SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS. San Antonio has one of the country's "largest active and retired military populations," and with Air Force and Army stations in town, it has "had a military presence for nearly 300 years." The Commanders' logo "represents a military patch and includes a depiction of the Alamo, a military sword and a star," and features the team's colors of maroon, red and silver. The AAF "made it a point that team names reflected the cities where each was located," with league officials "making visits and receiving input" from residents through surveys and conversations with local officials (SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS, 9/25). The AAF revealed the names of the four eastern teams last Thursday, unveiling the Orlando Apollos, Memphis Express, Birmingham Iron and Atlanta Legends (THE DAILY).

MAIDEN VOYAGE: In San Diego, Tom Krasovic reported the San Diego Fleet is the "name of the local football team" that will debut in February. The Fleet's colors are "Battleship Gray, Yellow and Silver Gray," and a white chevron in the team's logo "pays tribute to petty officers of the Pacific fleet." The team's logo is a "tribute to the U.S. Navy and its partnership with San Diego." The AAF "likes that the gray-yellow-silver color scheme is unique, relative to just about any other sports team's palette" (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 9/25).

PAYING TRIBUTE: In Phoenix, Greg Moore writes the name of the Arizona Hotshots AAF team "could be considered controversial," but team President Scott Brubaker and AAF co-Founder & CEO Charlie Ebersol "don't see it that way." Brubaker said the name "represents fierceness, bravery, toughness." Hotshots are the "elite crews who hike up to battle raging wildfires at the frontlines of a blaze." Five years ago, near Prescott, Ariz., 19 members of the Granite Mountain Hotshots crew "died battling the Yarnell Hill fire." Ebersol said that the league "promises a charitable commitment" to Arizona-based Hotshot crews and firefighters in general across the country (AZCENTRAL.com, 9/25). Meanwhile, the SALT LAKE TRIBUNE notes the city's AAF team will be "called the Salt Lake Stallions." The new franchise's colors will be "sky blue, royal blue and silver, a scheme inspired by the blue sky off of the Great Salt Lake and the silver tips of the Wasatch Mountains" (SLTRIB.com, 9/25).

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