HUNTSVILLE, AL - Travis Blanchard received the call earlier this week, and he certainly liked what he heard on the other end of the line.

Come back and play indoor football.

"I was so excited," said Blanchard, the former Ole Miss standout and a staple for the Tennessee Valley Vipers from 2007-09. "It's great to have another team to play for in front of this community."

That franchise - the Alabama Hammers - was officially unveiled Friday afternoon at the Von Braun Center's East Hall. The Hammers, who are members of the recently expanded 16-team Southern Indoor Football League, will begin play in March. The team colors are green and yellow (think Oregon) and the mascot is a yellowhammer (the state bird).

The announcement comes just a little more than two months after the first-year AFL Vipers vacated the VBC and moved to Georgia. There is, however, familiarity in the front office, with former Vipers general manager Joe Stroud filling basically the same role (he'll be director of operations) and Darrell Ponder overseeing the marketing aspect of the team.

"This did come up fast," Stroud said. "It just fit. We're fortunate to have the local ownership to do it."

Chief executive Jeff Knight of Southern Sports and Entertainment is the local part in that ownership. A longtime fan of the Vipers, he said the move to keep arena football in Huntsville "isn't about turning a profit," but about "what the community deserves."

As such, the schedule will be lighter (12 games), with lower ticket prices (beginning at $8 per seat) and a lower cost of doing business. There is a team salary cap, with players receiving an average of $150 per game and a $50 win bonus.

"This is the business model that fits this market," Stroud said.

The game will feature arena football rules for the most part. It has been been rumored the SIFL may become the official developmental league for the AFL as early as 2012.

"The level of play will be right about what Vipers fans were used to seeing in the af2," Stroud said.

Stroud said the Hammers hope to have a coach named in the next 2-3 weeks. There will be 20 active players on the roster and he said it's realistic that 8 to 10 former Vipers players will be on the team.

Blanchard, a member of the af2 All-Ironman team in '08 and '09, has no qualms about serving as a quasi- recruiter in the interim.

"There might be a few guys I can talk into it," he said with a laugh. "It's going to be a lot of fun."