Continental Football League The Continental Football League was an American football league that operated in North America from 1965 through 1969 . It was established as a minor league . It had hoped to be the " major force " in professional football outside of the National Football League ( NFL ) and the American Football League ( AFL ) . It owed its name , at least in part , to the Continental League , a proposed third Major League Baseball organization that influenced MLB significantly . Bill Walsh , Ken Stabler , Sam Wyche and Otis Sistrunk were among a few players and coaches who would later gain fame in the NFL . History . 1965 season . The formation of the Continental Football League ( ContFL ) was announced on February 6 , 1965 . The league was primarily formed by minor - league teams that had played in the United and Atlantic Coast football leagues . A . B . " Happy " Chandler , former Kentucky governor and retired Major League Baseball commissioner , was named ContFL commissioner on March 17 , 1965 . The league originally adopted a " professional " appearance . Teams were sorted into two divisions and each team had a 36 - man roster with a five - man " taxi " squad . The rules were primarily those of the NFL except that a " sudden death " overtime period was employed to break ties . To reinforce an image of league autonomy , teams were restricted from loaning players to , or receiving optioned players from , the NFL or AFL . The first ContFL season opened with three games played on August 14 , 1965 . Before the season began , the Springfield , Massachusetts , franchise moved to Norfolk , Virginia . The Norfolk club went on to become the most successful team in the league at the box office and held several minor league attendance records throughout the 1960s and 1970s . 1966 season . In 1966 , the league began abandoning the " league autonomy " posture by striving to establish working relationships with NFL and AFL clubs . Chandler , charging that the league was altering the terms under which he had accepted the position , resigned on Jan . 20 , 1966 . He was replaced by ContFL Secretary Sol Rosen , owner of the Newark Bears . The league engaged in some futile preseason negotiations with the Empire Sports Network to obtain a television broadcasting agreement . However , it was able to get American Broadcasting Company to broadcast the championship game - - for a mere $ 500 rights fee . The Brooklyn Dodgers , although under the general managership of the baseball Dodgers legend Jackie Robinson , failed to attract at the gates . The franchise became a league - operated " road club " early in the season . Charleston ' s Coy Bacon , 1966 ContFL All - Star end , went on to play for the NFL ' s Los Angeles Rams , San Diego Chargers , Cincinnati Bengals and Washington Redskins . The league also established farm team relationships with semi - pro clubs ( for instance , the Dodgers affiliated with the Liberty Football Conference ' s Long Island Jets in 1966 ) . 1967 season . EASTERN DIVISION WESTERN DIVISION The ContFL added a Western Division for the 1967 season . The division comprised established minor - league teams in British Columbia , California , Oregon and Washington . But four small western franchises , in Eugene , Oregon , Long Beach and San Jose , Calif . and Victoria , B . C . , left the league after the season . Such instability marked the season for the ContFL , particularly because the league could not improve upon its overall " semi - pro " public image . Inability to establish working relationships with NFL and AFL teams was a contributing factor . The league ' s breakthrough television contract with the upstart United Network was another : the network ended up folding prior to the 1967 season , leaving the ContFL without a television partner yet again . The San Jose Apaches in 1967 were coached by Bill Walsh , who later achieved great success as the three - time Super Bowl - winning coach of the NFL ' s San Francisco 49ers . 1968 season . In February 1968 , the ContFL merged with the Professional Football League of America ( PFLA ) , in order to expand into the midwestern United States . The Quad Cities franchise moved to Las Vegas midway through the 1968 season . Danny Hill succeeded Rosen as ContFL commissioner . Hill established a weekly payroll ceiling of $ 200 per player and $ 5 , 000 per team . The Spokane Shockers started the 1968 season with a young quarterback named Ken Stabler , who later achieved great success with the Oakland Raiders of the NFL . The Michigan Arrows began their season with a soccer - style kicker named Garo Yepremian , who later found Super Bowl fame in the NFL as a member of the Miami Dolphins . 1969 season . Jim Dunn replaced Hill as league commissioner for the 1969 season . The league expanded into Texas by absorbing the Texas Football League , which also brought the first ( and , to date , only ) team from Mexico to play in a professional American football league , the Mexico Golden Aztecs . Midway through the season , the Hawaii franchise moved to Portland , Oregon The ContFL entered the 1969 season with high hopes . That optimism was exemplified by the Indianapolis Capitols ' bidding for the services of the 1968 Heisman Trophy winner , halfback O . J . Simpson of the University of Southern California ( USC ) . But ContFL attendance averaged approximately 5 , 700 spectators per game ( the top attended team , Norfolk , had 13 , 000 ) , insufficient to offset the lack of a TV contract . These economics contributed to the ultimate demise of the league after the 1969 season . Plans for an interleague exhibition between the ContFL champion Capitols and the Canadian Football League champion Ottawa Rough Riders had been laid , but the Rough Riders backed out . The ContFL ' s most illustrious alumnus didn ' t make his mark in the NFL , but instead chose to play in Canada after the 1969 season . Don Jonas , Orlando Panthers quarterback , was a dominant force in the ContFL for four seasons before joining the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the Canadian Football League ( CFL ) . Jonas led Orlando to the 1967 and 1968 ContFL championships , and was named the league ' s Most Valuable Player for each season . He also paced the Panthers to the 1966 championship game , which they lost to Philadelphia in overtime ; and to the ContFL semifinal game in 1969 . After the league disbanded , Indianapolis , Jersey , Norfolk and Orlando moved to the Atlantic Coast Football League . All four franchises folded in 1971 .