The Pumas CU football program represents the

National Autonomous University of Mexico The National Autonomous University of Mexico (, UNAM) is a public university, public research university in Mexico. It has several campuses in Mexico City, and many others in various locations across Mexico, as well as a presence in nine countri ...

(, UNAM) in

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

at the ONEFA level. UNAM has competed in the Liga Mayor since the 2014 season. The team is led by head coach José Luis Canales. The Pumas plays its home games at

Estadio Olímpico Universitario University Olympic Stadium () is a multi-purpose stadium located inside Ciudad Universitaria, Mexico City, Ciudad Universitaria in Mexico City. It was built in 1952 and at that time was the largest stadium in Mexico. This stadium has a capacity ...

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

. They maintain a fierce rivalry with teams from the

National Polytechnic Institute National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

(Spanish: ''Instituto Politécnico Nacional'', or ''IPN'') particularly with its

Miguel Hidalgo Don Miguel Gregorio Antonio Ignacio Hidalgo y Costilla Gallaga Mandarte y Villaseñor (8 May 1753 – 30 July 1811), commonly known as Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla or simply Miguel Hidalgo (), was a Catholic priest, leader of the Mexican Wa ...

-based team from Santo Tomás,

Águilas Blancas Águilas () is a municipality and seaport of southeastern Spain, in the province of Murcia. It is situated at the southern end of Murcia's Mediterranean coastline, otherwise known as the Costa Cálida, near the border with the Province of Almer� ...

History

The team was founded in 1927 by a group of students led by the Noriega brothers, but it wasn't until 1931 when Pumas was officially the varsity team of the National Autonomous University of Mexico. In addition, American oil magnate Harry Ford Sinclair sponsored the team with generous donations until 1935. In the early years, Pumas had a long string of consecutive championships from 1933 to 1945 (including an appearance in the

1945 Sun Bowl The 1945 Sun Bowl was a postseason college football bowl game held at Kidd Field in El Paso, Texas, on January 1, 1945, with approximately 13,000 spectators in attendance. The game featured the 1944 Southwestern Pirates football team, Southwestern ...

; this was followed by the so-called "Golden Age" of 1946 to 1957. Between the years 1958 and 1969 the team consolidated its position within ONEFA, Mexico's league of American football. For the period 1970–1980 the university authorities decided to disband the team and create three teams (Cóndores/Condors; Aguilas Reales/Royal Eagles; and Guerreros Aztecas/Aztec Warriors), from 1981 to 1990 only the Cóndores could reclaim the tradition of the Pumas and win championships. In 1998, the University government decided to reduce to one team per campus and created Pumas CU and Acatlan. Unfortunately, conditions within the league and the existence of other powerful newcomer squads undermined the strength and dominance of the team. Its first position tradition vanished rapidly during the seasons of 1998 to 2007. From 1969 until 2002, the Pumas Dorados team consisted of a selection of the best players of all UNAM teams. These teams didn't play any regular season games, but rather the Pumas Dorados used to play a Classic game against the Burros Blancos at the end of season, until 2002 when this event was suspended.

Championships

National championships

ONEFA championships

* In 2008 was created another league for the major category in Mexico (Liga Mayor) and the National Championship is shared in 2 leagues since then. + This is not the same team as previous Pumas Dorados teams. Championships in 2008 and 2010 were won by the Main Campus (CU). There is another Pumas team located in Acatlan Campus. Pumas Dorados currently represents a selection of the best players of both Pumas teams and the last selection was made in 2002 and played against a selection of the best players of the IPN.

Rivalry

The team has an historic rivalry with Aguilas Blancas IPN, due to both of them being the biggest public universities in the country. More recently, major rivalries arose with Borregos Salvajes ITESM, Borregos Salvajes CEM,

Aztecas UDLAP Aztecas UDLAP is the name of the sports teams that represent the Universidad de las Américas Puebla (UDLAP), located in San Andrés Cholula, Puebla, Mexico. American football History In 1947 the team began its life as the American football s ...

and Auténticos Tigres UANL.

Venue

The team plays at the

in Mexico City, inaugurated in 1952 with the game between Pumas and Burros Blancos. Capacity: 72000.

Players

Players in the CFL

As of January 2020, the following players have played at least one game with a

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a Professional gridiron football, professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division (CFL), East Division and f ...

team. *

Andrés Salgado Andrés Salgado Gómez (born December 2, 1991) is a Mexican professional gridiron football wide receiver for the Raptors de Naucalpan of the Liga de Fútbol Americano Profesional (LFA). He also played for the Calgary Stampeders of the Canadian F ...

, WR,

Calgary Stampeders The Calgary Stampeders are a professional Canadian football team based in Calgary, Alberta. The Stampeders compete in the West Division (CFL), West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The club plays its home games at McMahon Stadium a ...

External links

*
tackleo.com American Football in Mexico

References

{{National Student Organization of American Football National Autonomous University of Mexico National Autonomous University of Mexico athletics American football teams in Mexico Sports clubs and teams in Mexico City 1927 establishments in Mexico American football teams established in 1927