The Whatcom County Lakers, at times dubbed the "Bellingham Lakers" were founded in 1971 as part of the Northwest International Football League as a critical midway franchise connecting British Columbia teams with the Seattle-area teams.

The Lakers found their struggles on the field compounded in 1973 when the Skagit Valley Raiders formed providing another area rival and depleting some of their talent pool.  The Raiders and Lakers would tie in their first meeting 6-6.  From there the Raiders dominated the series going 3-0 and outscoring the Lakers 102-7, the final meeting forfeited on October 9th, 1976 marking the end of the Lakers.  The Raiders franchise in contrast would continue through the 1987 season and was one of the Auburn Panthers most difficult rivals.  The Sea-Tac Flyers dominated the Lakers two weeks later by a score of 38-0 holding Whatcom to negative-91 yards of total offense.  Sea-Tac did miss five extra point kicks before running in a 2-point conversion after the final touchdown.

Steve Yonich earned himself a unique place in the GNFA Record Book.  While playing the Snohomish County Ramblers on September 15, 1974, Yonich, an offensive tackle lined up as a declared eligible receiver and caught a 6-yard touchdown pass for the first score of the game.  After the game was tied 6-6, late in the third quarter the Lakers again lined up with Yonich eligible and caught his second and game winning touchdown pass of the day as the Lakers defeated the Ramblers 12-6, their sole league win of the year.

During the 1976 game with the Pierce County Bengals, hints of pending demise presented when only 19 players suited up.  The game was shortened to 10 minute quarters with a final 15 minute 4th quarter as the Bengals outclassed the short-handed Lakers 46-0.  Whatcom would play one final game against the Seattle Titans before forfeiting the remainder of the 1976 schedule without posting a win and scoring just 27 points in seven contests.

In 1979, former Laker running back Dan Bunten was hired to coach the backfield at Cornell University following a letter writing campaign seeking a college coaching job sent to every NCAA Division I school.  The Vietnam Veteran (1971) and Western Washington University graduate (1973) spent five years at Cornell as an assistant coach and admissions specialist.

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