(06-22-2020 10:34 PM)Hernando Hills Tiger Wrote:  

(06-22-2020 08:19 PM)k2tigers Wrote:  

(06-22-2020 04:57 PM)Tiger46 Wrote:  

(06-21-2020 11:43 AM)k2tigers Wrote:  

(06-21-2020 09:02 AM)bluebacker Wrote:  The big 3. Was a big deal at the time getting them to leave the NFL.

Wish the NFL would have given Memphis a franchise then.

After the WFL folded, Bassett kept the team together and on payroll for awhile.

I seem to recall an NFL season ticket pledge drive.

At that time, Memphis & Shelby County was still bigger and better than Metro Nashville.

the NFL-A-Thon

Hosted by Brent and Phyliis

46,000 season ticket deposits, back when the Liberty Bowl might have been seen as viable by the NFL

Memphis' successful entry into the NFL back then would have completely changed the trajectory of Tennessee's two largest metro areas

the NFL is still king

In Howard Cossell's book "I Never Played the Game" he says that Memphis was promised the next expansion franchise after being passed over for Tampa Bay and Seattle in 76.

by Pete Rozelle

then along came Tagliabue and his upstart young intern, Roger Goodell. Memphis never stood a chance when it came to multi-city expansion derbies.

The two times we were the closest were the above mentioned Grizzlies/Southmen owned by Bassett, and then late Colts' owner Robert Irsay's move anywhere out of Baltimore. Memphis was thought to be the favorite by some.

We couldn't afford an NFL caliber stadium. Expanding the Liberty Bowl was akin to enlarging an over sized high school stadium. Skyboxs in the wrong spot. Pressbox sucked.