Orlando Apollos

Founded	2018 (2018)
Folded	2019 (2019)
Team history	Orlando Apollos (2019)
Home arena	Spectrum Stadium (2019)
League	Alliance of American Football Eastern Conference (2019)
Colors	Navy blue, dark orange & bright orange
Personnel
Head coach	Steve Spurrier
Team president	Michael P. Waddell

TheOrlando Apollos were a professionalAmerican footballfranchise based inOrlando, Florida, and one of the eight members of theAlliance of American Football (AAF), which began play in February 2019. The team played its home games atSpectrum Stadium on the campus of theUniversity of Central Florida. They were coached byHeisman Trophy winner and former college andNational Football League (NFL) head coachSteve Spurrier. NFL front office veteranTim Ruskell was thegeneral manager and longtime college athletics executiveMichael P. Waddell was the team president.

The team's name was inspired by the Greek godApollo, and his and Florida's connections to the Sun, while the team's colors of orange and navy were tributes to Florida's sunshine and theApollo program, respectively. The team's helmets depicted Apollo, who is commonly pictured as an archer, shooting a bow-and-arrow.^[1]

On April 2, 2019, the league's football operations were reportedly suspended,^[2][3] and on April 4 the league allowed players to leave their contracts to sign with NFL teams.^[4] The league filed forChapter 7 bankruptcy on April 17, 2019.^[5]

On April 7, 2018, Orlando was announced as the first Alliance team along with its coach,Steve Spurrier.^[6] On September 20, the league announced four inaugural eastern franchises' names and logos including the Orlando Apollos.^[1] On December 4, 2018, the team and iHeart Media announced its broadcasting arrangements.^[7]

The final 52-man roster was set on January 30, 2019.^[8] The team's first game was at home,Spectrum Stadium, against theAtlanta Legends on February 9, 2019, where they won 40–6.^[9]

On February 20, 2019, the league announced that due to Floridaworker's compensation laws, the Apollos had moved its practices toCamden County High School inKingsland, Georgia, with players being housed at hotels inJacksonville, Florida, and commuting to home games in Orlando. The AAF was unable to secure a league-wide insurance plan prior to the start of the season, and while the state of Georgia will arrange worker's compensation insurance for any business, including professional sports where the majority of practices are held in the state, Florida does not classify professional athletes as employees.^[10]

The Apollos began play on February 9, winning their first game in blowout fashion, defeating theAtlanta Legends at Spectrum Stadium, 40–6. They would follow the opening win up with another high-scoring effort on the road, defeating theSan Antonio Commanders, 37–29. They would win their first five games, and were the AAF's last undefeated team in the inaugural season before losing to theArizona Hotshots on March 16, 22–17. However, they bounced back the next week by beating the Atlanta Legends, 36–6, to become the first team in the inaugural season to qualify for the playoffs.^[11]

After the league's suspension of football operations, head coach Spurrier, by virtue of the team's league-leading record, stated, "we’ve got to be the champs, right?"^[12]FanDuel Sportsbook declared the Apollos "honorary champions", while paying out futures bets placed on all AAF teams.^[13]

The team's assigned area, which designates player rights, includes the following:^[14]

All timesEastern

† Changed from original time and/or network.^[15][16]
Source:^[17]

In a light rain, the Orlando Apollos hosted the Atlanta Legends in the first week of the Alliance of American Football. QuarterbackGarrett Gilbert threw for 227 yards and two touchdown passes, and caught a touchdown pass. The Apollos dominated the game on both offense and defense. The Orlando defense compiled three sacks, and three interceptions.Terence Garvin had two of the interceptions, the second was returned 51 yards for a touchdown.^[19]

With the score tied 29–29 midway through the fourth quarter, Apollos linebackerKeith Reaser intercepted Commanders quarterbackLogan Woodside. Reaser returned the ball 39 yards for the game-winning touchdown. Orlando beat San Antonio by the score of 37–29 to improve to 2–0 on the season.^[21]

A defensive battle in the first half, Orlando led Memphis 9-0 at halftime. The Apollos stretched their lead to 15–6 after a 37-yard touchdown pass fromGarrett Gilbert toRannell Hall on a 4th down & 8. Gilbert later ran for a 21-yard touchdown off arun-pass option play to go up 21–9. Though Memphis cut the lead to 21–17, Orlando put the game away with a clock-burning drive all the way to the Memphis 1 yard line. Gilbert took a knee to end the game, and Orlando improved to 3–0.^[23]

On a snowy night in Salt Lake City, Orlando beat the Stallions 20–11 to remain unbeaten. After taking a 6–3 lead at halftime, the Apollos scored two touchdowns in the second half to secure the victory. In the third quarter, quarterbackGarrett Gilbert threw a 20-yard touchdown toDonteeya Dye Jr. followed by a 2-point conversion pass from running back D’Ernest Johnson to Sean Price. In the fourth quarter, running backAkeem Hunt scored a 2-yard touchdown run.^[25]

Going into the game, Orlando had the best offense in the league, while Birmingham had the best defense. The Apollos, however, beat the Iron handily to improve to 5–0. Orlando put up 468 yards of offense, sacked Birmingham five times, andKeith Reaser made an interception return for a touchdown, his second of the season.^[27]

Orlando suffered their first loss of the season against the Arizona Hotshots. Trailing 22–17 with 55 second remaining, the Apollos fielded a punt, and took over at their own 18 yard line. With no timeouts left,Garrett Gilbert threw a 48-yard pass to a wide open Sean Price. At the Hotshots 34 yard line, Gilbert spiked the ball to stop the clock. He then threw a 26-yard completion toJalin Marshall to the 8 yard line with less than 10 seconds left in regulation. But as the team was scrambling to line up and spike the ball, the Apollos were penalized for a false start. A ten-second runoff was administered, and the game clock expired.^[29]

Garrett Gilbert threw for 217 yards and one touchdown pass as Orlando routed Atlanta by the score of 36–6. With the win, the Apollos improved to 6–1 and became the first team to clinch a playoff berth.^[31]

Trailing 31–22 with 5 minutes remaining in regulation, Orlando rallied to beat Memphis by the score of 34–31.Garrett Gilbert threw an 18-yard touchdown toCharles Johnson with 4:49 left to trim the score to 31–28. On the ensuing drive, Memphis fumbled away the snap on a punt, giving Orlando the ball inside the 30 yard line. A few plays later, controversy erupted when Express coachMike Singletary ran out on the field protesting what appeared to be a delay of game that was not called against the Apollos.^[33] Singletary received an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, and the Apollos punched the ball in with a 1 yard touchdown run byDe'Veon Smith for the game-winning score.Johnny Manziel started at quarterback for the Express, but left the game in the first quarter after a head injury.^[34]

Apollos' games were broadcast oniHeartRadio'sReal Radio 104.1 FM with the Apollos' weekly radio show heard Thursdays onWYGM andWJRR HD-2 channel, while a weekday program was heard on a group of thirteen area radio stations.^[7] The Apollos also had a weekly TV show every Wednesday night at 11 p.m. onCox'sTV 27. The program,APOLLOS FOOTBALL with Steve Spurrier, allowed fans to get a deeper look at the team, with player features, behind-the-scenes access, and detailed analysis following each game.^[35]

• Bianchi, Mike (April 2, 2019)."Demise of AAF leaves Steve Spurrier, Apollos players feeling betrayed".Orlando Sentinel. RetrievedApril 3, 2019.

• Orlando Apollos
• 2018 establishments in Florida
• 2019 disestablishments in Florida
• American football teams established in 2018
• American football teams disestablished in 2019

• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Use mdy dates from May 2025