Rockford Metros

The Rockford Metros was an Arena football team formed by Arena Football League founder Jim Foster for the purposes of playing a "test game" in Rockford, Illinois in the spring of 1986 at the MetroCentre. The team was named after the MetroCentre itself. Players were taken from different semi-pro leagues in the area or those who just finished their final years of college football. They defeated the Chicago Politicians, despite Rich Salzer's two TDs, 30-18. The test was successful, as the Arena Football League began operation the next spring with four teams and operated continuously until 2008; a successor operation bought the rights to the game and its trademarks in bankruptcy proceedings and continues to play as of 2011.