The Orange County Ramblers were a professional football team that competed in the

Continental Football League The Continental Football League (COFL) was a professional American football minor league that operated in North America from 1965 through 1969. It was established following the collapse of the original United Football League, and hoped to beco ...

from 1967 to 1968. The Ramblers played their home games in

Santa Ana, California Santa Ana () is the second most populous city and the county seat of Orange County, California. Located in the Greater Los Angeles region of Southern California, the city's population was 310,227 at the 2020 census, making Santa Ana the List of ...

and

Anaheim, California Anaheim ( ) is a city in northern Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city had a population of 346,824, making it the most populous city in Orange County, the 10th-most p ...

. The team was coached both seasons by Homer Beatty, who had won a small college national title at

Santa Ana College Santa Ana College is a public community college in Santa Ana, California. History In 1915, Santa Ana Junior College opened its doors to 25 students as a department of Santa Ana High School. It was the second community college founded in Orange ...

in 1962.

1967 season

The Ramblers won the CoFL's Pacific Division with a 10-2 record, winning all six of their home contests. The first four Ramblers home games were held at Municipal Stadium in Santa Ana; the team's success, and the poor crowds in Santa Ana (12,201 total for the three known games) led the squad to move to

Anaheim Stadium Angel Stadium of Anaheim is a baseball stadium located in Anaheim, California. Since its opening in 1966, it has served as the home ballpark of the Los Angeles Angels of Major League Baseball (MLB), and was also the home stadium to the Los Angel ...

for their last two home games, which drew 20,396 fans. On December 10, 1967, Orange County hosted the league's championship game against the

Orlando Panthers The Orlando Panthers were a professional American football team based in Orlando, Florida. Founded in 1958 as the Franklin Miners, the team spent its first four years in the Eastern Football Conference, then three further years in the Atlantic Coa ...

(11-3), in front of a crowd of 8,730 in Anaheim.

Don Jonas Donald Walter Jonas (born December 3, 1938) is a former American football player and coach. Jonas played in the American minor leagues (semi-pro) and the Canadian Football League. He was also the first head coach of the UCF Knights (1979–1981). ...

, later a star in the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

, spoiled things for the home team by throwing five touchdown passes, leading the Panthers to a 38-14 win. Ten Ramblers made the CoFL Pacific Division All-Star Team: Bruce Smith, Split End; Mike Giers, Guard; Larry Metevia, Center; Rhome Nixon, Tight End; Jerry Otterson, Quarterback; Bob Jackson, Fullback; Rob Berger, Defensive End; Dick Degen, Linebacker; Ron Fowlkes and Darrel Hoover, Defensive Back.

1968 season

After drawing decent crowds in Anaheim late in the 1967 season, the Ramblers moved permanently to Anaheim Stadium in 1968. Again, they won all six of their home games en route to an 11-1 record and another Pacific Division title. The Ramblers traveled to Orlando on November 30, 1968, to play in their second consecutive championship game. Unfortunately for Orange County, the result was the same: the Panthers won the game and the CoFL title, this time by a score of 30-23. Attendance did not improve, however; the Ramblers drew just 10,053 fans to three home games at

; 7,138 total for two games played at smaller La Palma Stadium, also in Anaheim; and an estimated 5,000 to a pair of rescheduled games held at Orange Show Stadium in

San Bernardino San Bernardino (; Spanish language, Spanish for Bernardino of Siena, "Saint Bernardino") is a city and county seat of San Bernardino County, California, United States. Located in the Inland Empire region of Southern California, the city had a ...

. Tight End Rhome Nixon and Fullback Bob Jackson again made the league all-star team, as did defensive standouts Ron Fowlkes and Darrell Hoover. (The 1968 CoFL All-Star team was for the entire league; there were no separate all-star teams for the two divisions.)

1969 season

Despite their on-field success, the Ramblers' poor attendance caused the franchise to announce a full-time relocation to San Bernardino (where they had played two home games in 1968) for the 1969 season, but had their franchise revoked several weeks later for failing to confirm conditional approval. In the summer of 1969, a new franchise was granted for

Honolulu Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island ...

, the Hawaii Warriors, who were given claim to the Ramblers roster and also had partial first claim on players from the defunct

Charleston Rockets The Charleston Rockets were a professional American football team based in Charleston, West Virginia. They began play in 1964 as a member of the United Football League, and became a charter franchise in the Continental Football League in 1965. In ...

and Oklahoma Thunderbirds franchises. Before the season began, however, the team moved to

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...

and were renamed the

Loggers Lumberjacks are mostly North American workers in the logging industry who perform the initial harvesting and transport of trees for ultimate processing into forest products. The term usually refers to loggers in the era (before 1945 in the Unite ...

. After a dismal 3-9 season in the Northwest, the team folded, and the Continental League itself followed suit after the 1969 campaign.

''Skidoo''

In the 1968 hippie comedy film, '' Skidoo'', the Ramblers are credited with portraying the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. It ...

, then the reigning

Super Bowl The Super Bowl is the annual final playoff game of the National Football League (NFL) to determine the league champion. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966, replacing the NFL Championship Game. Since 2022, the game ...

champions. In their brief scene, the team lines up in formation without any clothing other than their helmets and shoulder pads. Directed by

Otto Preminger Otto Ludwig Preminger ( , ; 5 December 1905 – 23 April 1986) was an Austrian-American theatre and film director, film producer, and actor. He directed more than 35 feature films in a five-decade career after leaving the theatre. He first gai ...

and featuring such actors as

Jackie Gleason John Herbert Gleason (February 26, 1916June 24, 1987) was an American actor, comedian, writer, composer, and conductor known affectionately as "The Great One." Developing a style and characters from growing up in Brooklyn, New York, he was know ...

Carol Channing Carol Elaine Channing (January 31, 1921 – January 15, 2019) was an American actress, singer, dancer and comedian who starred in Broadway and film musicals. Her characters usually had a fervent expressiveness and an easily identifiable voice, ...

and

Mickey Rooney Mickey Rooney (born Joseph Yule Jr.; other pseudonym Mickey Maguire; September 23, 1920 – April 6, 2014) was an American actor. In a career spanning nine decades, he appeared in more than 300 films and was among the last surviving stars of the ...

(and, in his final film appearance,

Groucho Marx Julius Henry "Groucho" Marx (; October 2, 1890 – August 19, 1977) was an American comedian, actor, writer, stage, film, radio, singer, television star and vaudeville performer. He is generally considered to have been a master of quick wit an ...

, playing a mob boss named God), the film was a notorious flop.

References

{{Continental Football League Continental Football League teams Defunct American football teams in California American football teams in Anaheim, California Sports in Santa Ana, California American football teams established in 1967 Sports clubs disestablished in 1969 1967 establishments in California 1969 disestablishments in California