UFL adding team in Norfolk, with former Redskins great Doug Williams as GM

Grambling State University and Washington Redskins legend Doug Williams has been named General Manager of the new Norfolk UFL franchise.

The United Football League board has agreed a conditional approval for Norfolk, Virginia, to host the league’s sixth team that will commence play in 2011.

Meeting at the Cornell Club in New York, the board agreed that Virginia businessman Jim Speros will become the provisional Tidewater region team’s owner. Speros was a founding owner of the Baltimore Stallions, the only American-based team to win a Canadian Football League Grey Cup in 1995.

From 1993 to 1997 he was the President and owner of the Stallions and the Montreal Alouettes and was the vice chairman of the CFL and chairman of its US expansion committee. Speros played college football at Clemson University and was the youngest full time assistant coach in the NFL under Joe Gibbs at the Washington Redskins before moving into team ownership.

Washington Redskins and Grambling State University legend Doug Williams, the MVP of Super Bowl XXII and the first black quarterback to win a Super Bowl, will take on the role of General Manager of the Norfolk team.

“I am very fortunate to be able to bring a pro football team to the state of Virginia and especially to the Tidewater region,” said Speros. “There is already a lot of football history in this area and I believe Norfolk will become the shining star of the United Football League.

“Virginia is a great state, but it does not have a professional sports team. It has the legendary 757 area code that has produced the likes of Bruce Smith and Michael Vick and is truly a hotbed for football. The fans are knowledgeable, there is a military presence here and I am sure they will all enjoy the opportunity to watch quality football.”

Williams, reached Monday night, said he has fond members of the Norfolk area, having played Norfolk State in football when he was quarterback at Grambling under the legendary Eddie Robinson. "It was like a rivalry when Dick Price was the coach there," William said of the former Spartans coach whose name now graces the NSU football stadium. Williams said that NSU also played Grambling in Louisiana as well in New York in the Urban League's Whitney M. Young Classic. "I also used to come to the Norfolk Scope for the CIAA all the time," Williams said, referring to the popular basketball tournament put on by the Hampton-based Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association.

UFL Commissioner Michael Huyghue added: “We are delighted to welcome Norfolk, Virginia, and the Tidewater region as our sixth city and are excited to have a successful team owner in Jim Speros and a proven winner in Doug Williams on board to lead the team.

“Like Omaha, which came on board as an expansion team in April and has already generated considerable excitement, Norfolk fits the ideal UFL model of having a passionate fan base that we believe deserves a professional football team.”

The Norfolk team will face the Florida Tuskers, Hartford Colonials, Las Vegas Locos, Omaha Nighthawks, Sacramento Mountain Lions and additional potential expansion teams when the third United Football League season kicks off in 2011. Football fans eager to learn more about the UFL and buy tickets for the 2010 season can visit the www.UFL-Football.com website.

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