Stadium: Tiger Field (aka The Jungle) (70,000)
Opened: 1990; remodeled in 2005
Cost: $ 432,750,000
Roof: None
Surface: Natural
Team Colors: Orange, Black, and White
Owner: GRK Sports
President/GM: Greg Karpuk
Ring of Honor: 21 Deion Sanders (2006)
80 Andre Rison (2006)
Franchise Record: 83-51-3 (.619)
Home Record: 46-25-2 (.648)
League Championships: 3 (1992, 1994, 2005)
Division Championships: 4
Franchise Championships: 0
Playoff Appearances: 6
Balance: $1,245,244,877
@ Pittsburgh L 280-264
CHICAGO L 258-229
@ Indianapolis W 301-280
@ Baltimore L 320-310
@ New York L 347-283
NEW ENGLAND L 298-193
LAS VEGAS W 227-206
PITTSBURGH L 345-266
@ Chicago L 282-241
INDIANAPOLIS W 347-276
NEW YORK L 281-244
@ New England W 240-224
@ Las Vegas W 261-258
BALTIMORE L 274-256
The Tigers are the first franchise in the history of GRK Sports. They were founded in 1990 as a charter member of the CFFL. Behind # 1 draft pick Randall Cunningham, they were built around a passing attack. The Tigers finished their inaugural season in second place, 5 points behind the champion Blue Devils, in the closest finish in CFFL history.
Things would not get better for the Tigers in 1991. In the 1st quarter of Week 1, Cunningham went down for the season with a knee injury, and injuries to other players, such as QB Chris Miller, led the Tigers to finish in third place. They finished 8-6 and won the Division 2 title, but were upset by the expansion Dolphins in their first playoff game.
1992 would become known as "The Year of the Tigers". They set all kinds of league records in romping their way to the championship. They also went 13-1, winning the head-to-head title after almost being upset in their first 2 playoff games.
The Tigers' bid for a repeat in 1993 came up just short. They finished in third place, 49 points behind the champion Predators. They went 10-3-1, finishing a half-game behind the CFFL North champion Predators, and were upset by the eventual head-to-head champion Steelers in the semi-finals.
The Tigers reclaimed their title in 1994, setting a new league record for points in a season. They easily won the CFFL North title with a 10-4 record, but were upset by their fellow GRK Sports team the Gators.
Despite an infusion of young players such as RB Marshall Faulk, the Tigers began to show their age in 1995. They were in third place, 131 points behind the first-place Gators, when the CFFL shut down in November 1995. They were 5-3, in first place in the CFFL North.
For the next decade, the Tigers bounced around from league to league, sometimes not fielding a team at all. They had made it as far as the championship game in Yahoo! public leagues in 2003 and 2004, but couldn't quite put it all together. Then they found their way home.
When owner (and CFFL Commissioner) Greg Karpuk revived the CFFL in 2005, the Tigers were naturally the first team to join the league. Back in their old stomping grounds of the CFFL, the Tigers once again used an explosive passing attack, led by QB Carson Palmer and WR Chad Johnson and Reggie Wayne. The Tigers won their third CFFL Championship, beating the Hardcores on Christmas Day. They came up short on repeating in 2006, winning the Bednarik Division title but losing in the divisional playoffs to Baltimore. 2007 was a disaster for the Tigers, as they finished 6-10, in last place in the Bednarik Division, by far their worst-ever season in the CFFL.
Northampton didn't improve in 2008, once again finishing 6-10. They started 1-5 and were never able to recover.
The Tigers play at Tiger Field, aka "The Jungle". It is a 70,000-seat, open-air stadium originally built for the team in 1990. However, it underwent a $433 million remodel before the 2005 eason and is now a completely state-of-the-art facility. Northampton has a 43-20-2 record all-time at Tiger Field. "Welcome to the Jungle" is played over the PA before every game, and Tiger fans have been known to spontaneously break into it during the closing minutes of a Tiger victory. Another longtime tradition is the Tigers wearing their black uniforms instead of their orange home colors during home games Halloween weekend.
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