San Francisco Demons

The San Francisco Demons (Originally named San Jose Demons) were a short-lived springtime American football team based in San Francisco, California. This team was part of the failed XFL begun by Vince McMahon of World Wrestling Entertainment and by NBC, a major television network in the United States. Originally they were to be based in San Jose but prior to the start of the season they were moved to San Francisco. They were in the Western Division with the Los Angeles Xtreme, Las Vegas Outlaws and Memphis Maniax.

The team played in Pacific Bell Park in San Francisco; despite having the smallest stadium in the league, they also had the highest average attendance (34,954). The fans had a cheering section nicknamed "The Hellhole"

The team was coached by Jim Skipper, former offensive coordinator for the NY Giants.

History
In their first and only season of existence, the Demons went 5-5 to capture 2nd place in the regular season and qualified for post season play. In the first round, the Demons defeated the Orlando Rage, who had the best regular season record (8-2), by a score of 26-25. In the XFL's Million Dollar Game, which was the league championship game and last game in its history, the Demons were defeated by the Los Angeles Xtreme 38-6.

NBC dropped the XFL concept after the first season (2001) due to dismal ratings, and the league folded soon afterwards. The Demons played their home games in what was then Pacific Bell Park, also the home of Major League Baseball's San Francisco Giants.

The most notable Demons players were Mike Pawlawski and Pat Barnes. Both played quarterback for the Demons in 2001. Pawlawski and Barnes both played for the California Golden Bears. Pawlawski was signed by the Demons after playing Arena Football for the Albany Firebirds. Barnes had been invited to training camp by the Oakland Raiders.

Season-By-Season
!Totals || 6 || 6 || 0
 * 2001 || 5 || 5 || 0 || 2nd Western || Won Semifinals (Orlando)Lost Million Dollar Game (Los Angeles)
 * 2001 || 5 || 5 || 0 || 2nd Western || Won Semifinals (Orlando)Lost Million Dollar Game (Los Angeles)
 * colspan="2"| (including playoffs)

San Francisco Demons players

 * 21 Wendell Davis CB college (Oklahoma) Davis played with the Dallas Cowboys for a little over three seasons. Davis played with Dallas for two full seasons (1996-97) before being sidelined for the 1998 season and part of 1999 season with the Cowboys.


 * 18 Pat Barnes QB college (California) Barnes played two seasons in NFL Europe with the Frankfurt Galaxy. Barnes led the Galaxy to a World Bowl championship in 1999 and also saw a career highlight of 30 TD passes in his two years in NFL Europe. Barnes saw playing time in 1999 with the San Francisco 49ers. Barnes also pre-season action with the Kansas City Chiefs and later the Cleveland Browns after the XFL folded


 * 99 Eric England DE college (Texas A&M) England played three season in the NFL with the Arizona Cardinals (1994-1996) before embarking on a career in the CFL with the BC Lions in 1997-2000. In 2000 England was part of the Grey Cup champion BC Lions


 * 84 Brian Roche TE college (San Jose State) Roche played nearly four season in the NFL. Roche played two years in San Diego with the Chargers 1996-97 before joining the Kansas City Chiefs for a season (1998) and a part of another (1999)


 * 26 Juan Johnson RB college (Utah) Johnson played in the CFL with the BC Lions in 1999 and in five games with the NFL Europe's Amsterdam Admirals in 2000 before joining the XFL


 * 89 Brian Roberson WR college (Fresno State) Roberson played in the Indoor Football League in 2000 with the Fargo Freeze before joining the XFL

Team leaders

 * Rushing Yards: 228, Kelvin Anderson
 * Receiving Yards: 390, Jimmy Cunningham
 * Passing Yards: 1484, Mike Pawlawski
 * Final team regular season stats available at all-XFL