The first thing you think of when you hear about the city of Memphis is music. The King of Rock-n-Roll, Elvis Presley, made his roots in Memphis. How many musicians were formed on Beale street in Memphis’ downtown? The Memphis music scene had everything from gospel, jazz, & blues to soul and rock-n-roll. Blues legends like B.B King and McKinley Morganfield (Muddy Waters) had roots. Beale Street in Memphis is a music lover’s dream to walk through and go into multiple establishments to listen to talent on the rise and old legends coming back. The town has Sun Records which produced many legends like Elvis, Johnny Cash, and much more. The locals rave about the BBQ that comes out of Memphis. They are right because the great food is like their music… legendary. Memphis has great history and is also associated with bad history with the assassination of Martin Luther King. The town also loves football, the University of Memphis has a huge following. Why has professional football never taken roots in Memphis? The town has seen many start up leagues that did not last but which locals supported. They missed out on an NFL team in the 1990’s. Are the Tennessee Titans more of a Nashville thing? Professional football returns to Memphis as the USFL have resurrected the Showboats of their original league in the 1980’s.

The Memphis Showboats played two seasons in the original USFL. The Memphis fans packed Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium to watch one of the most feared defensive players of all-time get started as Reggie White, like B.B King & like Elvis, started his professional football career as he killed the quarterback.

White had 11 sacks in his rookie year in the USFL. White was selected to the USFL all rookie team in his first season in a Showboat helmet. White played two seasons in the USFL & then the league folded up shop. White would go on to the NFL and be the king of sacks with 198 when he retired. White’s all-time sack record would be broken by Bruce Smith of the Buffalo Bills. The Showboats played in 1984 and 1985, the very last season of the original USFL. Both seasons the Showboats were led by Head Coach Pepper Rodgers as the team went 7-11 in their first season ever. The Showboats turned things around in season two going 11-7 and made the playoffs. The Showboats won their first ever post-season game by crushing the Denver Gold & then went on to lose to the Oakland Invaders in the next round. The Showboats played 500 balls in two seasons going 18-18 in regular season & then 1-1 in the post-season which comes out to 19-19 over those two season the Showboats played in the USFL.

What if Memphis did get a NFL franchise? In 1993, Memphis entered the NFL expansion sweepstakes trying to land an expansion franchise. They even had a name called the Memphis Hound Dogs… very Elvis like.

In 1993, the Titans were not in Nashville. They were still the Houston Oilers. The Hound Dogs sound better than the Jacksonville Jaguars or Carolina Panthers who were awarded those franchises. In the 1970’s, Memphis had a team in the WFL World Football league where they called themselves Southmen.

Southmen were originally from Toronto as they were called the Northmen. The Canadian government at the time threatened any American football team playing in the CFL. North became South, the WFL would not last very long, and closed up shop for good in 1975 after a total of two seasons.

After the Showboats in the 1980s in the USFL, Memphis were awarded a team in CFL, the Canadian Football league. The Memphis Mad Dogs would only last one season in 1995 in the CFL.

The Liberty Bowl Memorial stadium has had been home to plenty of professional football games. Then in the first ever XFL Memphis had the Maniax in the original 2001 league. That was football mixed with wrestling and a complete disaster of a league which lasted one season.

Most recently in 2018, Memphis had another team in another start up Spring league. In the AAF, the (Alliance of American Football) Memphis team’s name were the Express.

The Express was coached by a former linebacker from the Chicago Bears. Mike Singletary, the hall of fame linebacker who was part of that 1985 Bears who won the Superbowl with that awesome defense, one of the best of all-time. The Express went 2-6 in the lone season of the AAF. The AAF would shut down operations because they ran out of money so no playoffs & no champion was declared. The return of the Showboats maybe could be a permanent fixture in Memphis at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium in 2023.

Last year, the USFL had eight teams in their official reboot. The league played all their regular season games in Birmingham, Alabama and the playoffs in Canton, Ohio at the Football Hall of Fame. This year the USFL plans to expand their locations and have more than one hub city to play their regular season games. The city of Memphis will be one of those hub cities. The Showboats will share their home games with the Houston Gamblers while Birmingham will still have their own team. The Stallions and the New Orleans Breakers will play their games there. That is the South conference. The North Conference features the New Jersey Generals, Pittsburgh Maulers, Philadelphia Stars, and Michigan Panthers. The North Conference have not decided where they will have their two hub cities at for their home games. The league will still have 8 teams as the Tampa Bay Bandits who played last year will be on hiatus in 2023 and will return sometime in the future. The Bandits coaching staff and returning players will now be Memphis Showboat property. Which sucks for Memphis inheriting a boob like Todd Haley as your head coach.

The Showboats will have a new look rather than their original one from the 1980’s. The Memphis franchise will be the only team in the USFL that has changed their logo. The rest of the teams have adopted that 1980’s uniform look. I like the old school Showboats logo over the new. The new logo is not horrible. I would love to be playing slots on that boat Porky had in those movies Porky’s.

I have been to Memphis a few times. In the Spring, the weather is perfect. Anything Elvis is worth going to see as his house has tours which was awesome. Plenty of great food. Moonshine in Bloody Mary’s. What a concept like the guy putting the wheels on the cooler. I fell in love with the brewery Ghost River who makes some tasty beers that I fill the trunk up with on the way out of town. It’s that good. History shows the town of Memphis has a football following. This town would be happy to see football in their town every Spring and support their team. Most importantly, everyone is so nice in Tennessee. The locals make you feel at home. This is a good move by the USFL activating the Showboats.