The Salt Lake Screaming Eagles were a football team that
played in the Indoor Football League in the 2017 season. They were based in
West Valley City, Utah and played at the Maverick Center. The team folded after the season.
So why do we care about them? Because they were the test run
for the Fan Controlled Football League!
The Screaming Eagles were owned and organized by a group
called Project FANchise. Fans were given control over all aspects of the
team. Fans chose what city the team
would play in. Fans named the team. Fans scouted and selected the players. Fans chose the cheerleaders. Fans hired (and fired) the coaches. Fans designed and called plays.
While the Salt Lake Screaming Eagles weren’t a huge winner
on the field (with a 5-11 record), they did have some successes on the field. Quarterback Verlon Reed was named the league’s
Offensive Rookie of the Year. Wide
Received Devin Mahina and Defensive Back James Calhoun were named as All-League
selections. And the team definitely led
the league in fan engagement!
The Screaming Eagles have a chance to go down as a legendary
team in the history of football.
Someday, when the FCFL has surpassed the NFL in popularity, the
Screaming Eagles are going to be a major part of the league’s “creation myth”. The reason the Screaming Eagles folded was because the owners went on to found the FCFL. Without the Eagles, the FCFL might not exist. Owning the team allowed the FCFL founders to
test their technology and allowed them to test the idea that fans calling plays
would be possible and would be fun. The
Salt Lake Screaming Eagles experiment is a large part of the reason that the
FCFL is set up to be an immediate success.
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