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 Arena Football League season, 1987 season, making it the third longest-runnin ...

. The team was formed prior to the

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

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

Raleigh, North Carolina Raleigh ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, second-most populous city in the state (after Charlotte, North Carolina, Charlotte) ...

, but moved to Charlotte following its third season.

History

They played their home games in

, at the Raleigh Entertainment & Sports Arena (now called the Lenovo Center) prior to the

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

season. The team was based in the Charlotte Coliseum through 2004. Coaching staff included: Ed Khayat, John Gregory, Ron Selesky, Ray Jauch. On September 20, 2004, prior to the arrival of the

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

's Charlotte Bobcats, 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 v ...

Legacy

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

Charlotte Hornets The Charlotte Hornets are an American professional basketball team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Hornets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference. The team ...

moved to

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

. When the Charlotte Bobcats 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 professional box lacrosse league in North America. The league comprises 14 teams8 in the United States and 6 in Canada. The NLL is headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. ...

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

works team A works team, sometimes also referred to as factory team and company team, is a sports team that is financed and run by a manufacturer or other business, institution, or organization in a broad sense. Works teams have very close ties with thei ...

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 (1)

All-Ironman players

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

All-Rookie players

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

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 American football teams established in 2000 American football teams disestablished in 2004