Alabama Vipers Become Alabama Hammers in SIFL

The Alabama Vipers will have their third name in three years and fourth in franchise history come Spring 2011.

Following the Vipers' move to the Atlanta metro area, the team will now return to the Southern Indoor Football League and be known as the Alabama Hammers.

The Hammers will be in a division with the 2010 SIFL champion Columbus (Ga.) Lions, Albany (Ga.) Panthers (formerly the South Georgia Wildcats of arenafootball2) and Mobile Bay.

New owners will be taking over with Jeff Knight, a Huntsville businessman, the head of Southern Sports and Entertainment. The group will be the sole owner of the Huntsville-based football team.

The team will play a 12-game season in the newly renovated Propst Arena at the Von Braun Center.

Knight told the Huntsville Times he would work with a group of Huntsville investors to keep the indoor football team alive because of his admitted fandom over the years.

Joe Stroud, Vipers general manager for the team's entire existence, will be the Hammers' GM as well.

Next season, the SIFL will feature 16 teams, up from eight the last two seasons.

Good news for arena football purists: the league said it plans to use the netting system once exclusive to the Arena Football League.

There are some rule differences, but keeping indoor football in Huntsville is important.
Join us in Huntsville next season for what promises to be a lot of fun and excitement.