Throwback Mustangs huddle up
- By TOM OATES ( toates@madison.com )
- Wisconsin State Journal
- Published: 4/16/2007
As a longtime quarterback in Madison's flag football leagues, Bob Gingras permits himself an occasional flight of fancy.
The latest involves a semi-pro tackle football team that has been operating below the radar in Madison for the last six years. Gingras got involved with the Ironman Football League team last season, but in this, his first full year as owner and coach, it has been renamed the Madison Mustangs, secured a true coaching staff and will play home games for the first time.
Still, bringing organizational skills, sponsorship dollars and a retro name to the team might not be enough to satisfy Gingras, who wasn't allowed to play football in high school due to a medical condition and admits to being a frustrated football player more than 30 years later.
"I would be a sitting duck, but I was tempted to suit up last year and I still am," said Gingras, a 51-year-old Madison attorney. "So you might see me running out there for one play. It'll be a three-step drop, fade to the corner. That's my dream."
Gingras fits right in because on a team like the Mustangs, all anyone has is dreams. The players don't get paid; they play for the love of the game. Gingras doesn't expect to get paid, either.
"There's no way I will make any money at this," he said. "I love football. I've always loved football. And I'm getting to the point where I'm going to have to retire from flag football."
With that in mind, he decided to re-create Madison football history by reviving the Mustangs name. The old Mustangs played in the Central States Football League from 1964 to '74, winning two titles and suffering only one losing season, their first.
Gingras hopes to tap into that tradition as a way of building interest in his team. He grew up in North Dakota and didn't come to Madison until 1973, but friends and relatives told him all about the old Mustangs.
"I did a little research and they were a good program, a good team," Gingras said. "I decided on the Mustangs because I thought it would be a good tie-in to that era. I thought the '60s was a time when football was at its best, both pro and college."
The new Mustangs were called the Verona Trojans last year and the Madison Seminoles before that. For most of its existence, the team was coached and funded by the players. It was successful, too, having lost to the Milwaukee Bulldogs in the IFL title game the last two years.
But who knew? The IFL has grown from two to 14 teams since it began in 1996, but almost all of its games were played in Milwaukee. Starting with the opener June 9, the Mustangs will play four games at Mansfield Stadium and one at Lussier Stadium.
One thing the Mustangs won't be hurting for is players. Sixty to 70 showed up for tryouts and 45 were on hand for the first practice Saturday. About half are former college players, including tight end Rob Tucker, who played for the University of Wisconsin.
Despite his dream of lofting a touchdown pass, Gingras' involvement with the Mustangs is no flight of fancy.
"We're going to be around for a long time," he said. "I committed to the guys that this was going to be a long-term deal."