Memphis Mad Dogs

Memphis Mad Dogs
League	Canadian Football League
Division	South Division
Founded	1995
Folded	1995
Home field	Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium
Based in	Memphis, Tennessee
Colours	Forest Green, Maroon and Gold
Owner(s)	Fred Smith
Head Coach	Pepper Rodgers

The Memphis Mad Dogs were a Canadian football team that played the 1995 season in the Canadian Football League. The Mad Dogs were part of a failed attempt to expand the CFL into the United States.

[edit] Brief Franchise History

[edit] On The Field

The Mad Dogs hired Pepper Rodgers as their head coach. Rodgers had previous coaching experience with UCLA at the university level and with the Memphis Showboats of the USFL.

The Mad Dogs tried to copy Baltimore's blueprint by getting staff and players that had previous CFL experience. To be in accordance with the CFL blueprint for possible success, the Mad Dogs hired former CFL coach Adam Rita to become their new offensive coordinator. Rita was mostly known for coaching the Toronto Argonauts and the Edmonton Eskimos to Grey Cup championships in 1991 and 1993. The Mad Dogs then signed veteran QB Damon Allen, who won the Grey Cup with the Edmonton Eskimos in 1987 and 1993 (with Adam Rita), earning Grey Cup MVP honours in both years. Other notable players on offense included Eddie Brown (SB), Joe Horn (WR) and former NFL kicker, Donald Igwebuike.

However, the offense was only able to score a total of 346 points, last in the CFL behind Ottawa. On a positive note, the Mad Dogs were known for their strong defensive work that was rated second, behind Edmonton, in the CFL for giving up the least amount of points with 364, due in large part to the strong defensive play of Tim Cofield and Rodney Harding.

Memphis ended the 1995 CFL season with a 9-9-0 regular season record, which placed them in fourth place of the Southern Division, causing them to miss the play-offs in their only season of existence in the CFL.

[edit] Off The Field

Pepper Rodgers was known around the football world as a likeable man. However, he often made uncomplimentary remarks about the Canadian Football League, which also showed signs that the CFL expansion plan to the United States was doomed to failure from the start.

Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium was not as well suited to the Canadian game than most U.S. stadiums because the stands were very close to the field of play and the field was not regulation length--the end zones were only 15 yards long instead of 20.

The team drew fairly well at the gate until the start of the U.S. college football season. At this point it rapidly became apparent that the team was not a viable venture, as attendance levels dropped drastically below the 10,000 mark. The team's average attendance was only around 14,550.

Tim Cofield became the first and inevitably the only Mad Dogs player to win the James P. McCaffrey Trophy as the Most Outstanding Defensive Player of the South Division.

[edit] In The End

Due to the fact that they had lost revenue and had low attendance, the Memphis Mad Dogs were forced to fold after the 1995 season, marking the end of the franchise and the CFL's unfortunate three years south of the border.

Another problem was the promotional efforts of the CFL itself. The league positioned itself directly against the NFL when it attempted to move south of its border. The CFL adopted the slogan, "Our balls are bigger" in attempting to convince Americans that somehow the CFL could compete with the NFL. Due to the league and the team's positioning, residents of Memphis found it difficult to take any ownership in this "Canadian" football team.

[edit] Players and Builders of note