Baltimore Bombers (proposed NFL team)
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (November 2012) |
Baltimore, Maryland, United States | |
| League | National Football League |
|---|---|
| Team history | Proposed expansion team, rejected by the NFL |
| Team colors | Blue, bronze |
The Baltimore Bombers were a proposed
B-26 Marauder, a World War II bomber designed by the Glenn L. Martin Company, and produced in Baltimore from 1941 to 1945.[1][2] Leonard "Boogie" Weinglass, founder of the retailer Merry-Go-Round, was one of the potential owners of the Baltimore expansion team, as was Malcolm Glazer, who would later go on to purchase the Tampa Bay Buccaneers
.
Decision
Baltimore, as well as Memphis and St. Louis, was not awarded an expansion team, passed up in favor of Charlotte, North Carolina and Jacksonville, Florida.[3] The Bombers proposal was believed to be near the bottom of the list of contenders, and league commissioner Paul Tagliabue opposed any expansion to Baltimore, saying "some towns are football towns and some towns are museum towns. I guess Baltimore is a museum town."
Shortly after the NFL's rejection, the
Kurt L. Schmoke even writing a letter advising against the name in light of the Oklahoma City bombing and the Jaffa Road bus bombings in 1995 and 1996, respectively. The name of Marauders finished third in the final voting.[5] The new NFL franchise would become the Baltimore Ravens while the Stallions ceased operations (although their ownership group was granted a new CFL franchise in Montreal and successfully re-signed much of the Stallions' roster).[6]
Proposed logo
The proposed main logo showed the silhouette of a "generic" World War II-era bomber (not the silhouette of the B-26 Marauder).[7]
References
- ^ Morgan, Jon (October 2, 1993). "'Baltimore Bombers' scores a hit from history, marketing angles". The Baltimore Sun. Archived from the original on March 3, 2021. Retrieved April 12, 2022.
- ^ Wilt, Zach (October 12, 2012). "This Is What The 1995 Baltimore Bombers Uniforms What Have Looked Like". Baltimore Sports Report. Archived from the original on October 14, 2012. Retrieved April 13, 2022.
- ^ Pitts, William (February 21, 2021). "Memphis Could Have Had an NFL Expansion Team in 1995". Sportscasting | Pure Sports. Retrieved April 12, 2022.
- ^ Allen, Scott (December 11, 2011). "11 Expansion Teams That Just Missed the Cut". Mental Floss. Retrieved April 12, 2022.
- ^ Shaffer, Jonas (March 29, 2016). "Twenty years ago, the Ravens got their name. Here were the other serious and silly options". The Baltimore Sun. Archived from the original on February 27, 2022. Retrieved September 19, 2020.
- ^ Shuck, Barry (December 10, 2021). "3 things you probably didn't know about the Ravens". Dawgs By Nature. Retrieved April 12, 2022.
- ^ "LogoServer - Football Logos - NFL". LogoServer: Preserving Logos. Preserving History. July 2, 2005. Archived from the original on October 2, 2019. Retrieved September 19, 2020.
External links
- Haberek, Ben. "NFL PROTOTYPES". Helmets, Helmets, Helmets. Archived from the original on September 21, 2014. Retrieved September 19, 2020.