From 1983 to 1986 the exciting professional league, the United States Football League competed with the NFL. Great players like Herschel Walker, Jim Kelly, Steve Young and Doug Flutie were attrated to the new spring league.
Among the players to be chosen in the first round of the 1984 draft was an outstanding college defensive end from the University of Tennessee nicknamed The Minister of Defense. Reggie White was coming off a fantastic senior year closing with 15 sacks and over 100 tackles. He'd be voted as Southern Conference Player of the Year and was a finalist for the Lombardi Trophy.
Reggie signing up, congratulated
by County Mayor Bill Morris |
Reggie was drafted by one of the USFL's 6 second season expansion franchises namely the Memphis Showboats under Pepper Rogers, a former head coach at Kansas, UCLA and Georgia Tech.
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| Heisman winner Mike Rozier, college football's top player in '83, was one of many other quality players to also sign with the league in just its second season. |
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Memphis Showboats
1984-85
The Showboats played their home games in Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium. As a franchise the Showboats were one of the USFL's better fan draws as far as live gate was concerned. During its short history the Memphis Showboats developed a steady and loyal following. Going to Memphis Showboats games was boisterous and always fun. There used to be a dedicated bunch of fans that would sit in one end zone under a banner that proclaimed them to be "The Boat People". They wore sailor caps and land life preservers and would stay rowdy for the whole game.
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After a poor 2-7 start to the 1984 season,
the club finished the second half of the season at a 5-4. The QB position
was shared between Mike Kelley and Walter Lewis. Derrick Crawford topped
the team with 61 catches for 703 yards while Reggie reigned supreme in
defense. |
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However not even 12 sacks from the The Minister of Defense
could stop the bleeding on defense, thanks in large part to a porous secondary.
The Showboats came out strong
in 1985 with a vastly improved defense (third in the USFL) featuring rookies
Leonard Coleman and Mossy Cade. With Kelley and Lewis at the helm, Crawford
finished the season with 70 receptions for 1,057 yards, and Greg Moser
caught 57 balls for 1,145 yards.. Runningback Tim Spencer ran for 789 yards,
and Lewis scrambled for an additional 591. Reggie White paced the
team with 11.5 sacks.
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In the first round of the playoffs, Memphis
destroyed the previously high-scoring Denver Gold,
48-7, by scoring 35 points in the second half. Crawford returned a punt
for a TD, but the defense stole the show with five sacks, three forced
fumbles and three interceptions. |
The next week, the Showboats fell to the
Oakland Invaders, 28-19, in the semifinals. Sadly it was to be the Showboats last game
Reggie White
The USFL started with a terrific idea, namely the regional draft. It was an inspired way to attract fans by having their favorite college heroes on the hometown team- especially in SEC country. In Memphis Reggie was a big star coming of his great UT sesaon. A crowd favourite, Reggie was involved in a number of successful promotions including the humourous Sessels' Grocery deal. Sessels would give away sacks of groceries with every Reggie sack. During Showboats games, he'd flatten some poor opponent and a big graphic would come up on the Liberty Bowl scoreboard showing a cartoon #92 sacking a Sessel's grocery sack.
Reggie White in his book "In the Trenches" remembers his time during the Showboats Years with great fondness. "Playing in the USFL was great. I've never experienced anything like it in the NFL (though playing for the Packers comes close in many ways)"
Coming out of UT Reggie had a lot of raw power speed and one big play the 'bull rush' where he would simply run over his man to get to the QB. Reggie however greatly benefited during his USFL career from the instruction of defensive line coach Chuck Dickerson who was able to teach Reggie the importance of defensive technique. "Chuck showed me how to add finesse to my power and speed" says Reggie. He taught Reggie many of the moves that would become trademarks of his outstanding professional career, moves like 'the spin', 'the rip' and 'the club'. |
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"Chuck Dickerson and John Banazak really taught me a lot about pass rush technique while I was with the Boats as did Dale Haupt, my defensive line coach with the Philadelphia Eagles. I owe a lot of my success to these great coaches."
It would also seem that Chuck held his pupil in high regard as well. Sports Illustrated, in July, 1985 quoted the defensive line coach as saying Reggie is "... an awesome force. Nobody handles him. Nobody will. He can destroy your offensive line from tackle to tackle." White's versatility saw him play nose tackle, right end and left tackle sometimes in the same game. "Reggie White is the best nose tackle in any league," said Dickerson.
Their Finest Hour
The Showboats went into their first home
game of the 1985 season with a 2-0 record to face the defending champion
Baltimore Stars, off to a 0-1-1 start and hungry
for a win. The Stars roared out to a 13-0 advantage on two David Trout
field goals and a Kelvin Bryant touchdown run. Memphis gained only 84 yards
in the first half but regrouped at halftime.
| Lewis led the Boats down the field to
begin the second half. He topped off a 68-yard drive with a one-yard TD
run. On the Showboats next possession, Lewis again crisply marched his
squad down before hitting David Huffman for a two-yard score on a tackle
eligible play, and Memphis took its first lead, 14-13. |  |
 | Lewis capped off
the Showboats' rally with a 27-yard TD to Crawford early in the fourth.
Midway through the quarter, Baltimore scored again on Bryan Thomas's touchdown
and lined up for the two-point conversion to tie the game. However The Minister of Defense and the Memphis defense weren't about to let that happen. White
charged down Chuck Fusina in the backfield to foil the conversion, and
Memphis hung on for an enthralling 21-19 win. |
Check out a video of this magic moment
[768k 13sec .avi format - Please be patient while it downloads]
Reggie's USFL Statistics
| Year |
Team |
G/S |
Sacks |
T |
AT |
TD |
| 1984 |
 |
16/16 |
11.0 |
52 |
43 |
0 |
| 1985 |
|
16/16 |
12.5 |
68 |
30 |
0 |
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TOTALS
|
34/34
|
23.5
|
120
|
73
|
0
|
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PLAYOFFS
|
2/2
|
NA
|
NA
|
NA
|
NA
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Reggie White aged 43 died Sunday, Dec. 26, 2004,
at the Presbyterian Hospital in Huntersville, N.C.
OBITUARY
Memphians recall legendary lineman as
leader, joker and Christian
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