The Carolina Cobras were an expansion franchise in the

Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 season, making it the third longest-running professional football league in ...

. The team was formed prior to the

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

season, which endured a player strike. The team was originally based in

Raleigh, North Carolina Raleigh (; ) is the capital city of the state of North Carolina and the List of North Carolina county seats, seat of Wake County, North Carolina, Wake County in the United States. It is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, second-most ...

, but moved to

Charlotte Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...

following its third season.

History

They played their home games in

, at the

Raleigh Entertainment & Sports Arena PNC Arena (originally Raleigh Entertainment & Sports Arena and formerly the RBC Center) is an indoor arena located in Raleigh, North Carolina. The arena seats 18,680 for ice hockey and 19,722 for basketball, including 61 suites, 13 loge boxes a ...

(now called the PNC Arena) prior to the 2003 season. The team was based in the

Charlotte Coliseum Charlotte Coliseum was a multi-purpose sports and entertainment arena located in Charlotte, North Carolina. It was operated by the Charlotte Coliseum Authority, which also oversees the operation of Bojangles' Coliseum (which was called Charlott ...

through 2004. Coaching staff included:

Ed Khayat Edward Michel Khayat (born September 14, 1935) is a thirty-five year National Football League veteran, ten years as a player (117 game total) and twenty-five as a coach. He was a starting defensive tackle for the victorious Philadelphia Eagles i ...

, John Gregory, Ron Selesky,

Ray Jauch Ray Jauch ( ; born February 11, 1938) is an American former gridiron football player and coach. He was head coach in the Canadian Football League (CFL), the United States Football League (USFL), and the Arena Football League. He won 127 regular ...

. On September 20, 2004, prior to the arrival of the

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

Charlotte Bobcats Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populou ...

, the league announced the termination of this franchise; its players were made available to the other AFL teams in a dispersal

draft Draft, The Draft, or Draught may refer to: Watercraft dimensions * Draft (hull), the distance from waterline to keel of a vessel * Draft (sail), degree of curvature in a sail * Air draft, distance from waterline to the highest point on a vesse ...

Legacy

The Cobras' legacy in Charlotte was actually meant to fill open dates at the Charlotte Coliseum when the original Charlotte Hornets moved to

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

. When the

began play, the Cobras were no longer necessary. The Cobras' name (previously used for one year by the Charlotte Cobras of the

Major Indoor Lacrosse League The National Lacrosse League (NLL) is a men's professional box lacrosse league in North America. The league is headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The NLL currently has fifteen teams: ten in the United States and five in Canada. The N ...

) is now in use by the city of Charlotte for its

works team A works team (sometimes factory team, company team) is a sports team that is financed and run by a manufacturer or other business. Sometimes, works teams contain or are entirely made up of employees of the supporting company. Association footb ...

in the National Public Safety Football League.

Season-by-season

Notable players

Arena Football Hall of Famers

All-Arena players

The following Cobras players have been named to All-Arena Teams: * WR/LB

Cory Fleming Cory Lamont Fleming (born March 19, 1971) is a former professional American football wide receiver in the National Football League for the Dallas Cowboys. He also was a member of the Nashville Kats, Carolina Cobras and Orlando Predators in the A ...

(1)

All-Ironman players

The following Cobras players have been named to All-Ironman Teams: * WR/DB Cornelius White (1) * WR/LB

(1)

All-Rookie players

The following Cobras players have been named to All-Rookie Teams: * OL/DL

Silas DeMary Silas DeMary (born December 12, 1971) is an American former offensive lineman/defensive lineman for in the Arena Football League. He played for the Carolina Cobras, Buffalo Destroyers, Los Angeles Avengers and the Cleveland Gladiators. He is m ...

External links

Carolina Cobras at ArenaFan.com
{{Defunct Arena Football League franchises American football teams in North Carolina 2000 establishments in North Carolina 2004 disestablishments in North Carolina