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| Sacramento Gold Miners | |
| League | Canadian Football League |
| Division | West Division |
| Founded | 1993 |
| Moved | 1995 |
| Home field | Hornet Stadium |
| Based in | Sacramento, California |
| Colours | Aqua and Old Gold |
| Owner(s) | Fred Anderson |
| Head Coach | Kay Stephenson |
The Sacramento Gold Miners were a Canadian football team based in Sacramento, California. The franchise was the first American team in the Canadian Football League. The Gold Miners were originally the "descendants" of the Sacramento Surge from the defunct World League of American Football. The team played its home games at Hornet Stadium.
Brief Franchise History
On The Field
1993 season
The Sacramento Gold Miners were originally the Sacramento Surge of the World League of American Football, which was owned by Fred Anderson. When the World League of American Football folded, Fred Anderson took the opportunity to start another Sacramento team called, the "Gold Miners", with the Canadian Football League when they decided to have American teams in 1993.Fred Anderson was able to get back a handful of players that played for the Surge to play for the Gold Miners. These players included David Archer (QB), Rod Harris (WR), George Bethune (DT), Mike Oliphant (RB) and Mike Pringle (RB).
When the 1993 CFL season started, the Gold Miners, all-US staff, took some time to learn the intricacies of Canadian football, but the team was fortunate enough to have leadership with quarter back, David Archer and receiving great plays from wide receiver, Rod Harris. In their first season, the Sacramento Gold Miners entered the CFL history books by:
- Becoming the first American team to play in the CFL.
- Becoming the first American team to play against a Canadian team and playing on Canadian soil, against the Ottawa Rough Riders (losing 32-23) on July 7th.
- Becoming the first American team to host a CFL game, against the Calgary Stampeders (losing 38-36) on July 17th.
- Becoming the first American team to record a win in the CFL, against the Saskatchewan Roughriders (winning 37-26) on July 24th.
In addition, the Sacramento Gold Miners also entered the CFL record books by recording the most wins by an expansion team with 6 wins (record was eventually broken in 1994 by Baltimore). However, the Sacramento Gold Miners finished the season with a 6-12 record, which placed them in last place of the West Division. The positives for the franchise was the fact that they had a, 5-4 Home Record and were ranked 5th in team defence. In addition, Rod Harris was selected as part of the 1993 CFL All-Stars, which showed signs that the team had a good mix of players and staff to improve for the up-coming season.
1994 season
In their second season, the Gold Miners no longer became the lone American team as the CFL introduced three new teams, which were the Las Vegas Posse, the Shreveport Pirates and the Baltimore Stallions(who were known as the CFLers when the NFL did not allow the Colts name to be used).
For the 1995 CFL season the team was moved to San Antonio and became the San Antonio Texans.
Players and Builders of note
Still Playing in the CFL
See also
External links
Canadian football in the United States | Defunct Canadian football teams | Sports in Sacramento
"Sacramento Gold Miners"