The Detroit Lions and Michigan Panthers are about to be joined by a third professional football team in Michigan, this one has a familiar name

The Detroit Lions have always been the kings of professional football in the state of Michigan. There has been some company in recent years with the Michigan Panthers of the UFL. They were around in the 1980s with the USFL too. 

On the west side of the state, there was one other team in the Arena Football League and that was the Grand Rapids Rampage. The Rampage weren't just a cool arena team, they were a good area team. They won the world title in 2001 with a 64-42 win over the Nashville Kats. 

The Arena Football League shut down operations in 2009 and the Rampage went along with it. Now they're coming back in 2026, but not as an Arena team. They will be joining the newly formed National Gridiron League. 

The NGL will be an eight-team league with teams in Atlanta, Charleston, Mississippi, Tampa Bay, Arkansas, Austin, Oklahoma City, and San Jose. The Rampage and a Cleveland team will join next season. The 2025 season will start in late April right before the NFL Draft. 

It's not known at this time where the Rampage will play other than it will be in Grand Rapids. Van Andel arena, where the team used to play, was big enough for an arena football field, but all indications are that this league will play on a standard size football field. So it remains to be seen where they will call home.  

Calvin College just built a brand new football stadium. That could be where they play. We'll see.