The San Jose Hyenas are a professional American football team originated in San Jose, California. The Hyenas have been part of the NFL since the start of 2007 season when the Oakland Raiders went bankrupt and had to shut down the whole organization. The San Jose Hyenas took the Oakland Raiders place as a part of the AFC (American Football Conference) West division. In the organization's first three seasons they won all three super bowls. They won in super bowl forty-one defeating the Denver Broncos 28-10, super bowl forty two defeating the Seattle Seahawks 35-30, and super bowl forty three defeating the New England Patriots 42-7.
The team's major success was due to the clubs head coach Jim Harbaugh who was coaching at Michigan College the year before. Once Harbaugh heard about the new team starting in the bay area he immediately interviewed with general manager Scott Storch, and owner John Madden. It was a no brainer to the Hyena staff that Harbaugh was the perfect person for the job.
The San Jose Hyenas have an amazing coaching staff that not only consists of Jim Harbaugh, but Rex Ryan as the defensive coordinator and Hue Jackson as the offensive coordinator. Scott Storch and John Madden spared no expense when it came to obtaining the players they wanted. In the first season they drafted quarterback Larry Keeks from LSU, who in college had a quarterback rating of 92 out of 100. Keeks quarterback rating was the highest rating for a quarterback being drafted in twenty years. The ratings put him in comparison with the likes of Tom Brady and Peyton Manning. That same year the Hyenas drafted wide receiver Antoine Bradley out of Texas A&M. All of the teams were skeptical about Bradley because he was coming out off a major hamstring injury at the end of the season. In Bradley’s first season with the Hyena’s, he scored a high record of twenty-five touchdowns, which was also the highest amount of touchdowns scored by a rookie in any position.
Over the years the San Jose Hyenas have built many rivalries, as they became a new, young, and winning team. One of the rivalries that San Jose Hyenas have is with the San Diego Chargers. Since both teams are part of the AFC division they have played each other in a total of ten times with the Hyenas winning eight of those ten. Two of those wins came in the AFC championship in 2008 and 2009 where the Hyenas went on to win the super bowl. The last rivalry is with the Seattle Seahawks, these games came down to the wire where the Hyenas defeated the Seahawks in super bowl forty-two, and the Seahawks defeating the Hyenas in super bowl forty-four. This rivalry has started with the Hyenas winning one super bowl and the Seahawks winning one super bowl. Only time can tell how successful the Hyenas will be in the NFL, and the adversities they will over come.