Tri-City Apollos

)[3] With the Macomb County market open, a brand-new franchise emerged: the Michigan Arrows, who joined the Continental Football League.

Unfortunately, the Arrows did not have the organization nor the personnel to compete with the Lions (despite the fact that the NFL club was an awful 4-8-2, winning only one game in Detroit all year).

The quarterback position was rotated among several players, including local product Ron Bishop, who played at U-D in the early sixties before the school dropped football.

)[4] Only 3,415 fans showed up for the Arrows' first game on September 7, 1968, at U of D Stadium, an overtime loss to Omaha; the day would turn tragic when Mustangs' linebacker Glen Hepburn was knocked unconscious and suffered a ruptured blood vessel in his brain.

The 30-year-old Hepburn would pass away four days later at Martin Place Hospital in Madison Heights, Michigan, marking the only fatality in CoFL history.