The Chicago Pythons were a professional indoor football team based in

Homer Glen, Illinois Homer Glen is a village, located southwest of downtown Chicago, in Homer Township, Will County, Illinois. It is a southwest suburb of Chicago. Per the 2020 census, the population was 24,543. The village was incorporated on April 17, 2001. The ...

. The team was a member of the

Continental Indoor Football League The Continental Indoor Football League (CIFL) was an indoor football league based along the Midwestern United States region that played nine seasons from 2006 to 2014. It began play in April 2006 as the Great Lakes Indoor Football League (GLI ...

(CIFL). The Pythons joined the CIFL in 2012 as an

expansion team An expansion team is a new team in a sports league, usually from a city that has not hosted a team in that league before, formed with the intention of satisfying the demand for a local team from a population in a new area. Sporting leagues also ...

under the name "Chicago Vipers". They changed their name to the "Chicago Pythons" four weeks into the season. The Pythons were the third indoor football team based in the

Chicago area The Chicago metropolitan area, also colloquially referred to as Chicagoland, is a metropolitan area in the Midwestern United States. Encompassing 10,286 sq mi (28,120 km2), the metropolitan area includes the city of Chicago, its suburbs and hin ...

. The

Chicago Rush The Chicago Rush were a professional arena football team based in Rosemont, Illinois. The team played at the Allstate Arena from 2001 to 2013. They were a member of the Central Division of the National Conference of the Arena Football League ...

of 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 ...

were based in

Rosemont Rosemont may refer to: * Rosemont (horse), an American Thoroughbred racehorse * ''Rosemont'', a 2015 film Places In Australia * Rosemont (Woollahra), located in the Sydney suburb of Woollahra and listed on the NSW State Heritage Register In Canada ...

, and the

Chicago Slaughter The Chicago Slaughter were an American professional football team based in Hoffman Estates, Illinois. Having been inactive since 2013, the franchise was a part of the CIFL from 2007 to 2009, winning the championship in 2009. The Slaughter joine ...

of the

Indoor Football League The Indoor Football League (IFL) is a professional indoor American football league created in 2008 out of the merger between the Intense Football League and United Indoor Football. It has one of the largest number of currently active teams am ...

are based in

Hoffman Estates Hoffman Estates is a village in Illinois, United States. The village is located primarily in Cook County, with a small section in Kane County. It is a suburb of Chicago. Per the 2020 census, the population was 52,530. The village now serves ...

. The Pythons replaced the

Chicago Knights The Chicago Knights were a professional indoor football team based in Loves Park, Illinois. The Knights were founded in 2010 as a member of the Continental Indoor Football League (CIFL), playing their home games at the Victory Sports Complex. ...

, formerly the

Chicago Cardinals The professional American football team now known as the Arizona Cardinals previously played in Chicago, Illinois, as the Chicago Cardinals from 1898 to 1959 before relocating to St. Louis, Missouri, for the 1960 through 1987 seasons. Roots ...

, as the Illinois-based CIFL team, which replaced the Slaughter after they left for the

after a dispute with CIFL management. The Owner of the Pythons was Michael Duran. The Pythons were supposed to play their home games at

The Megaplex ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in En ...

in Homer Glen, Illinois, but the team never hosted a home game.

Franchise history

Play begins: 2012

On December 9, 2011 it was announced that the Vipers and the

Evansville Rage Evansville is a city in, and the county seat of, Vanderburgh County, Indiana, Vanderburgh County, Indiana, United States. The population was 118,414 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the state's List of cities in Indiana, ...

would become the 5th and 6th expansion teams for the

2012 CIFL season The 2012 Continental Indoor Football League season was the Continental Indoor Football League's seventh overall season. The regular season started on Saturday March 10, with the expansion Port Huron Patriots defeating the expansion Chicago Vipers ...

. The Vipers will host only three games for the 2012 season and also have availability to host for the playoffs should they qualify. Michael Duran are looking to bring back a positive image for Chicago CIFL teams as last two have left a bad taste in the fans mouths. The team was originally scheduled to play their home games at the

Odeum Expo Center The Odeum Expo Center was a convention center located in Villa Park, Illinois. It featured of exhibit space at the North Hall and of exhibit space at the South Hall. Both halls had pitched roofs as high as . The South Hall was also used as ...

Villa Park Villa Park is a football stadium in Aston, Birmingham, England, with a seating capacity of 42,682. It has been the home of Premier League side Aston Villa since 1897. The ground is less than a mile from both Witton and Aston railway statio ...

, but later decided to play at the Sports Zone in Melrose Park. In their first ever game, the Vipers lost 52–49 to the

Port Huron Patriots The Port Huron Patriots were a professional indoor football team based in Port Huron, Michigan. The team was a member of the North Division of the Continental Indoor Football League (CIFL). The Patriots joined the CIFL in 2012 as an expansion t ...

, who were also playing their first game. Chicago would have one last chance to tie the game, but

Julie Harshbarger Julie Harshbarger (born December 9, 1985) is an American football placekicker who is currently a free agent. She is most known for being the first woman to score a field goal in Indoor football, as a member of the Chicago Cardinals of the Conti ...

's kick was no-good as time expired. Before their week 5 game against the

Saginaw Sting The Saginaw Sting was a professional Indoor Football team based in Saginaw, Michigan. The team was most recently a member of American Indoor Football (AIF). They began play in 2008 as an expansion team in the Continental Indoor Football League a ...

, the Vipers changed their nickname to the "Pythons" when the Mike Duran became the sole owner of the team.

2013

There was a release by the

Ultimate Indoor Football League The Ultimate Indoor Football League (UIFL) was a regional professional indoor football league that began its inaugural season on February 18, 2011 as the Ultimate Indoor Football League before playing as the United Indoor Football League in 2012 ...

that the Pythons had joined their league for 2013, but the league late removed the story from their website and did not comment on its removal.

Logos and uniforms

When trying to think of a nickname to call the team, Former Co-Owner Richard Petroski Jr. was texting back and forth with some family members and friends, when his cousin sent him back the name "Vipers" and it stuck. The team picked their colors while watching

Oklahoma State Cowboys The Oklahoma State Cowboys and Cowgirls are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Oklahoma State University, located in Stillwater. The program's mascot is a cowboy named Pistol Pete. Oklahoma State participates at the National Col ...

play. The team's original logo was introduced in December 2011 when the team announced that they would be playing in 2012. That logo featured a

viper The Viperidae (vipers) are a family of snakes found in most parts of the world, except for Antarctica, Australia, Hawaii, Madagascar, and various other isolated islands. They are venomous and have long (relative to non-vipers), hinged fangs th ...

's head which merged with a football. To the right of the logo there is the words "Chicago Vipers". The team introduced a new logo in late January, 2012. The new logo removed the football, and changed the text of "Chicago Vipers" to look like that of snake skin. Before their week 5 game against the

, the Vipers changed their nickname to the "Pythons."

Roster

Coaches of note

Head coaches

Coaching staff

Season-by-season results

References

{{CIFL 2011 establishments in Illinois 2012 disestablishments in Illinois American football teams established in 2011 American football teams disestablished in 2012