Memphis Showboats: The USFL Team and the City's Fight for Major League Status

In 1983, the city of Memphis was in the midst of making attempts to gain an NFL franchise. Instead, that journey shifted when it landed a franchise in the upstart USFL. The years spanning 1983-1986 are among the city's proudest professional sports moments, in a past littered with failed professional sports franchises. This work begins with the city's flirtation with the WFL in the 1970s and then moves on to the team's genesis in 1983 under Logan Young, after which the team had its two seasons under the ownership of local cotton magnate William Dunavant. The team's Showboat moniker matched the personality of its charismatic coach, Pepper Rodgers. Signing future Hall of Famer Reggie White out of the University of Tennessee and the University of Alabama's quarterback Walter Lewis gave the team immediate star power. Following a sub-par initial season, Dunavant lured USFL executive Steve Ehrhart to Memphis, where he built a roster with NFL-level talent. The improved roster led to a deep run into the 1985 USFL playoffs. Doomed by a failed anti-trust lawsuit against the NFL, the USFL collapsed and left Memphis outside the major leagues. This work is the complete history of the Memphis Showboats, covering its two seasons in full, and telling the story of how the city supported professional football like only Memphis could.