Pro Football Coming To Pasadena, Texas

By Robert H. Kelly

Professional football is coming to the Pasadena area in the spring. The Houston Wild Riders, one of the expansion teams in the National Indoor Football League (NIFL), will begin play in the spring of 2007.

Few details are available as the present. What is known is that they will play their games at the Pasadena Convention Center, located on Spencer Highway in Pasadena.

They are assigned to the Pacific Conference of the NIFL, which consists of the North, California, and South Divisions. Their team colors will be blue, gray, and red.

Houston will be in the South Division with the Beaumont Drillers, Fort Worth Sixers, and the San Antonio Player Haters.

Beaumont played in the league in 2006, reaching the league championship playoffs, losing in the first round to the Katy Copperheads 55-21. Katy has since left the NIFL and moved to the Arena Football League 2.

Fort Worth and San Antonio will also begin their first year of play in the league in 2007. Fort Worth will play its home games at the Fort Worth Stock Yards while San Antonio will play at the San Antonio Rose Palace. Beaumont will continue to play in Ford Arena in Beaumont.