Birmingham Iron

Birmingham Iron
Sport	Football
League	Alliance of American Football
Active	2019–
Home field	Legion Field
Record	3-0
Coach	Tim Lewis
General manager	N/A
Website	aaf.com/birmingham-iron

The Birmingham Iron is a professional American football team based in Birmingham and are charter members of the Alliance of American Football. The league is set to begin in February 2019, and the team will play its games at Legion Field until a new stadium at the Birmingham Jefferson Convention Complex has completed construction in 2021.

History

The Alliance of American Football was created by reality show producer Charlie Ebersol and former NFL owner/executive Bill Polian.

Birmingham was announced as a charter city in the AAF on June 4, 2018. The franchise's first head coach was announced on June 6 as Tim Lewis, his first job at the position. On September 20, the league announced four eastern inaugural franchises' names and logos including Birmingham as the Birmingham Iron. The name is a tribute to the city's iron industry, while the team colors of black, dark grey, and light grey are based on iron ore, coal, and flux, the components used to make steel.

The final 52-man roster was set on January 30, 2019. The team's first game was a home shutout victory over the Memphis Express on Sunday, February 10, 2019.

Shortly after the second weekend of play, the Alliance of American Football reported a $250 commitment of funding from Carolina Hurricanes owner Tom Dundon. Dundon was made executive chairman of the league.

Players

Each team plays with a 52-man roster and each player is paid a standard $250,000 season salary, with bonuses awarded to entire offensive and defensive squads for outstanding performance during the season.

The Iron's assigned area, which designates player rights, includes all Alabama colleges, along with the Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Louisiana Tech University, the University of Maryland, Mississippi State University, North Carolina State University, the University of Missouri, and the University of South Carolina. The Iron also has territorial rights to players from unaffiliated colleges signed by the New England Patriots, Buffalo Bills, Cleveland Browns or Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League; or by the Montreal Alouettes or Ottawa Redblacks of the Canadian Football League.

Notable players on the Iron's inaugural roster included quarterbacks Luis Perez and Blake Sims; running backs Ty Isaac, LaDarius Perkins and Trent Richardson; wide receivers Quan Bray, Amir Carlisle, Amba Etta-Tawo, and DeVozea Felton; tight end Rory Anderson; linebackers Beniquez Brown, Xzavier Dickson, Shaheed Salmon and Jonathan Massaquoi; defensive backs Elijah Campbell and Chris Davis Jr, and place-kicker Nick Novak.

References

• Inabinett, Mark (July 12, 2018) "Alabama, Auburn players to go on Birmingham AAF team's assignment list." The Birmingham News
• Patchen, Tyler (September 20, 2018) "Birmingham's new pro football team unveils nickname, logo." Birmingham Business Journal
• Koplowitz, Howard (February 6, 2019) "Birmingham readies for first professional football game in 18 years." The Birmingham News
• Dudley, Evan (February 10, 2019) "Birmingham Iron cruises in AAF debut win." The Birmingham News

External links

• Birmingham Iron at aaf.com