Ohio To Get Another Professional Football Team

Ohio is adding to its long list of professional sports teams by adding another professional football team. The United National Gridiron League announced earlier this summer that Ohio would be fielding a team in the league, and will be based out of Massillon.

The league, which is designed to be a professional developmental league for those college players hoping to make the transition to the National Football League, consists of eight teams from around the country. Six of the teams have been announced so far, with two left to be revealed. The announced teams so far include:

• North Carolina Comets
• Georgia Slashers
• Alabama Blackbirds
• Miami Scorchers
• Ohio Marauders
• Virginia Swarm

Two more teams in Texas and Louisiana will soon be announced.

Last Saturday, more than 140 players participated in the league's first regional mini-camp at the Sperling Sports Complex in DeLand, Florida. Talent from major college football programs, including Ohio State, Florida State, Syracuse, and Iowa, participated. Additional mini-camps will soon be announced.

It is expected that the majority of UNGL players will come from colleges throughout the country, as well as from free agents with NFL potential. The league will kick off its inaugural season in spring 2010, and will play by all NFL rules and referee standards.

All participants in the league must be at least 21 years old, and be no more than five years removed from the expiration of their college football playing eligibility.

The Marauders will play their home games at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium in Massillon, Ohio, becoming the first professional team in Massillon since the famed Massillon Tigers team played between the 1900s and 1920s.

For more information about the league, visit ungleague.com.