ACC had a Football Team?

Yes, but Not as Long as You Think

Jason Truitt, Editor|September 26, 2019

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The ACC Knights 1988 football team. The team lasted between 1988-1991. (via ACC Archives)

Indeed, Arapahoe Community College’s Littleton campus used to have a football team. According to the college’s library archives, the team raised enough funding to be established apart of the Colorado Football League (CFL) in 1988 with aid of school’s Physical Plant Coordinator and team Head Coach, John Grady. The team was deemed as the ACC Knights

This might come off as puzzling to some considering that other than ACC’s spring disc golf league, the college currently offers no competitive sports program of any kind.

“Because existing by-laws here at ACC forbid playing of school teams in NCAA sanctioned games, the team will be considered a club and only play other teams in the Colorado Football League,” says Derek Leudtke of ACC’s former newspaper, The Rapp Street Journal. So no, they didn’t play against team’s such as Colorado School of Mines or MIT; rather they competed against seven other local colleges such as Metro, Air Force, University of Denver and Red Rocks.

Around 35 players participated the opening year, finishing with a 3-4-1 record. Not bad for a first-year college team.

Soon after the team’s conception, the program started becoming legitimate, bringing along all the amenities: victories, cheerleaders, coaches, water boys, you name it.

Members of the ACC Cheerleading squad cheering on the ACC football team. The Team was known as the Knights and consisted of a red theme that is different from ACC’s present purple color. (Via ACC Archives, 1988)

However, the fate of the football team took a drastic turn when a portion of the community, led by Nancy Stephenson coordinator of Recreational Services, urged to Student Senate that the program be rid of because of costs, safety, the reluctance of players to complete paperwork, etc., says The Rapp Street Journal.

After months of effort and determination by the team to keep themselves around, Student Senate was forced to disband the ACC Knights in the summer of 1991. The Knights were unable to provide the proper proof of budgeting and safety documentation and standards. All teams eventually dropped from the CFL.

Knights player attempts to run around his opposing Metropolitan State defender. The Knights football program only lasted three years, 1988-1991. (via ACC Archives)

All sports programs and clubs at ACC started to follow suit- the college remains without a competitive sports team to this day.

If you want to see more competitive sports offered at ACC, contact Student Life.