Memphis Express
# Memphis Express

The Memphis Express was a professional American football franchise based in Memphis, Tennessee. It was a member of the Alliance of American Football (AAF) during its single season in 2019. They played their home games at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium, and were coached by former NFL player and head coach Mike Singletary.

On April 2, 2019, the league's football operations were reportedly suspended, and on April 4 the league allowed players to leave their contracts to sign with NFL teams.

## History

The Alliance of American Football announced the awarding of the third inaugural league team, Alliance Memphis, on May 4, 2018. This announcement was followed by the May 10, 2018, announcement of Mike Singletary as the team's head coach.

On July 30, 2018, the Alliance announced team Memphis had signed its first 29 players. On September 20, the league announced four eastern inaugural franchises' names and logos including Memphis as the Memphis Express. The name is derived from Memphis' significance as a mail and cargo transport city being the "World Headquarters" of FedEx (formerly Federal Express), with an airplane being featured in the logo. (FedEx CEO Frederick W. Smith had previously owned the Memphis Mad Dogs pro football team in the 1990s; as the AAF was a single-entity league that never progressed to selling individual franchises as originally planned, Smith had no involvement or investment with the Express, despite the use of the Express name and imagery.)

On January 5, 2019, training camp opened in San Antonio, Texas. The final 52-man roster was released on January 30. The Express' inaugural game, played against the Birmingham Iron at Legion Field on February 10, ended in a 26–0 shutout loss. Their first home game was a 20–18 loss against the Arizona Hotshots during week 2. Memphis notched their first win on March 2, with a 26–23 victory over the San Diego Fleet at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium.

On March 16, 2019, shortly after the Express fell to 1–5 in a 22–9 loss to the Salt Lake Stallions, the team announced they had signed Heisman Trophy winning quarterback Johnny Manziel.

On April 2, 2019, the league's football operations were suspended, and on April 4 the league allowed players to leave their contracts to sign with NFL teams. On April 17, 2019, the league announced the cessation of business operations after filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy.

## Final Roster

### Allocation pool

The Express' assigned area, which designated player rights, included the following colleges:

## 2019 season

### Final standings

2019 Alliance of American Football standingsvte :

| Eastern Conference ||||||||||
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Club | W–L | PCT | CONF | PF | PA | DIFF | SOS | SOV | STK |
| (x) – Orlando Apollos | 7–1 | .875 | 5–0 | 236 | 136 | 100 | .406 | .375 | W2 |
| (x) – Birmingham Iron | 5–3 | .625 | 3–2 | 165 | 133 | 32 | .406 | .300 | W1 |
| (e) – Memphis Express | 2–6 | .250 | 1–4 | 152 | 194 | -42 | .578 | .500 | L1 |
| (e) – Atlanta Legends | 2–6 | .250 | 1–4 | 88 | 213 | -125 | .609 | .438 | L3 |
| Western Conference ||||||||||
| Club | W–L | PCT | CONF | PF | PA | DIFF | SOS | SOV | STK |
| San Antonio Commanders | 5–3 | .625 | 3–2 | 158 | 154 | 4 | .516 | .450 | L1 |
| Arizona Hotshots | 5–3 | .625 | 3–2 | 186 | 144 | 42 | .469 | .500 | W3 |
| San Diego Fleet | 3–5 | .375 | 2–3 | 158 | 161 | -3 | .469 | .417 | L3 |
| Salt Lake Stallions | 3–5 | .375 | 2–3 | 135 | 143 | -8 | .547 | .417 | W1 |
| (x)–clinched playoff berth; (e)–eliminated from playoff contention ||||||||||

### Schedule

**Preseason**

| Week | Day | Date | Opponent | Results | Results | Location |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Week | Day | Date | Opponent | Score | Record | Location |
| – | Monday | January 28 | at Salt Lake Stallions | L 22–29 | | Alamodome |

**Regular season**

All times Central

| Week | Day | Date | Kickoff | TV | Opponent | Results | Results | Location |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Week | Day | Date | Kickoff | TV | Opponent | Score | Record | Location |
| 1 | Sunday | February 10 | 3:00 p.m. | CBSSN | at Birmingham Iron | L 0–26 | 0–1 | Legion Field |
| 2 | Saturday | February 16 | 7:00 p.m. | NFLN | Arizona Hotshots | L 18–20 | 0–2 | Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium |
| 3 | Saturday | February 23 | 7:00 p.m. | NFLN | at Orlando Apollos | L 17–21 | 0–3 | Spectrum Stadium |
| 4 | Saturday | March 2 | 3:00 p.m. | B/R Live† | San Diego Fleet | W 26–23 | 1–3 | Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium |
| 5 | Sunday | March 10 | 3:00 p.m. | CBSSN | at Atlanta Legends | L 20–23 | 1–4 | Georgia State Stadium |
| 6 | Saturday | March 16 | 3:00 p.m. | B/R Live | at Salt Lake Stallions | L 9–22 | 1–5 | Rice–Eccles Stadium |
| 7 | Sunday | March 24 | 7:00 p.m. | NFLN | Birmingham Iron | W 31–25 $^{OT}$ | 2–5 | Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium |
| 8 | Saturday | March 30 | 1:00 p.m. | TNT† | Orlando Apollos | L 31–34 | 2–6 | Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium |
| 9 | Saturday | April 6 | 11:00 a.m. | CBS† | at San Antonio Commanders | Not played | Not played | Alamodome |
| 10 | Saturday | April 13 | 7:00 p.m. | NFLN | Atlanta Legends | Not played | Not played | Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium |

† Changed from original time and/or network.

### Game summaries

**Week 1: at Birmingham**

| Period | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Express | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Iron | 3 | 6 | 0 | 17 | 26 |

at Legion Field, Birmingham, Alabama

* Date: February 10
* Game time: 3:00 p.m. CT
* Game attendance: 17,039
* Referee: Brandon Cruse
* TV announcers (CBS Sports Network): Ben Holden, Adam Archuleta, and John Schriffen
* NoExtraPoints AAF

Game information :

First Quarter

(9:44) BIRM – Nick Novak 29-yard field goal, Iron 3–0

Second Quarter

(10:36) BIRM – Nick Novak 28-yard field goal, Iron 6–0

(3:21) BIRM – Nick Novak 47-yard field goal, Iron 9–0

Third Quarter

No scoring plays

Fourth Quarter

(13:26) BIRM – Trent Richardson 4-yard rush (Luis Perez pass to Trent Richardson), Iron 17–0

(4:17) BIRM – Nick Novak 32 yard field goal, Iron 20–0

(1:55) BIRM – Trent Richardson 5-yard rush (rush failed), Iron 26–0

Top Passers

MEM – Christian Hackenberg – 10/23, 87 yards, 1 INT

BIRM – Luis Perez – 19/33, 252 yards

Top Rushers

MEM – Zac Stacy – 12 carries, 58 yards

BIRM – Trent Richardson – 23 carries, 58 yards, 2 TD

Top Receivers

MEM – Alton Howard – 4 receptions, 33 yards

BIRM – Quinton Patton – 4 receptions, 107 yards :

**Week 2: Arizona**

| Period | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Hotshots | 0 | 0 | 6 | 14 | 20 |
| Express | 9 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 18 |

at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium, Memphis, Tennessee

* Date: February 16
* Game time: 7:00 p.m. CT
* Game attendance: 11,980
* Referee: Reggie Smith
* TV announcers (NFL Network): Dan Hellie, Brian Billick, Mike Smith
* NoExtraPoints AAF

Game information :

First Quarter

(8:03) MEM – Josh Jasper 38-yard field goal, Express 3–0

(5:37) MEM – Zac Stacy 9-yard rush (rush failed), Express 9–0

Second Quarter

(8:36) MEM – Josh Jasper 35-yard field goal, Express 12–0

Third Quarter

(1:06) ARIZ – John Wolford 16-yard pass to Rashad Ross (pass failed), Express 12–6

Fourth Quarter

(13:39) MEM – Christian Hackenberg 4-yard rush (pass failed), Express 18–6

(11:31) ARIZ – Justin Stockton 45-yard rush (John Wolford rush), Express 18–14

(7:07) ARIZ – John Wolford 4-yard pass to Tim Cook (pass failed), Hotshots 20–18

Top Passers

ARIZ – John Wolford – 14/22, 194 yards, 2 TD, 2 INT

MEM – Christian Hackenberg – 14/25, 102 yards

Top Rushers

ARIZ – Tim Cook – 13 carries, 73 yards

MEM – Zac Stacy – 19 carries, 101 yards, 1 TD

Top Receivers

ARIZ – Josh Huff – 2 receptions, 84 yards

MEM – Reece Horn – 5 receptions, 56 yards :

**Week 3: at Orlando**

| Period | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Express | 0 | 0 | 6 | 11 | 17 |
| Apollos | 9 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 21 |

at Spectrum Stadium, Orlando, Florida

* Date: February 23
* Game time: 7:00 p.m. CT
* Game attendance: 20,394
* Referee: Jeff Heaser
* TV announcers (NFL Network): Andrew Siciliano, Steve Mariucci, Jason Fische
* NoExtraPoints AAF

Game information :

First Quarter

(13:21) ORL – D'Ernest Johnson 4-yard rush (rush failed), Apollos 6–0

(7:37) ORL – Elliot Fry 31-yard field goal, Apollos 9–0

Second Quarter

No scoring plays

Third Quarter

(10:05) MEM – Zach Mettenberger 30-yard pass to Devin Lucien (pass failed), Apollos 9–6

(6:40) ORL – Garrett Gilbert 37 yard pass to Rannell Hall (pass failed), Apollos 15–6

Fourth Quarter

(14:11) MEM – Josh Jasper 27-yard field goal, Apollos 15–9

(9:07) ORL – Garrett Gilbert 21-yard rush (rush failed), Apollos 21–9

(5:40) MEM – Zach Mettenberger 40-yard pass to Gerrard Sheppard (Zach Mettenberger pass to Anthony Manzo-Lewis), Apollos 21–17

Top Passers

MEM – Zach Mettenberger – 9/12, 120 yards, 2 TD

ORL – Garrett Gilbert – 14/28, 207 yards, TD

Top Rushers

MEM – Sherman Badie – 8 attempts, 59 yards

ORL – D'Ernest Johnson – 13 attempts, 79 yards

Top Receivers

MEM – Devin Lucien – 3 receptions, 51 yards, TD

ORL – Rannell Hall – 4 receptions, 68 yards, TD :

**Week 4: San Diego**

| Period | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Fleet | 14 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 23 |
| Express | 3 | 12 | 0 | 11 | 26 |

at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium, Memphis, Tennessee

* Date: March 2
* Game time: 3:00 p.m. CT
* Game attendance: 13,621
* Referee: James Carter
* TV announcers (B/R Live): Mark Malone, James Jones
* NoExtraPoints AAF

Game information :

First Quarter

(12:22) SD – Ron Brooks 57-yard punt return for touchdown (rush failed), Fleet 6–0

(3:21) MEM – Austin MacGinnis 46-yard field goal, Fleet 6–3

(0:57) SD – Philip Nelson 6-yard pass to Dontez Ford (Terrell Watson rush), Fleet 14–3

Second Quarter

(10:58) MEM – Austin MacGinnis 40-yard field goal, Fleet 14–6

(5:41) SD – Alex Ross 30-yard pass to Marcus Baugh (rush failed), Fleet 20–6

(1:55) MEM – Austin MacGinnis 35-yard field goal, Fleet 20–9

(0:18) MEM – Zach Mettenberger 1-yard rush (pass failed), Fleet 20–15

Third Quarter

No scoring plays

Fourth Quarter

(14:03) SD – Donny Hageman 46-yard field goal, Fleet 23–15

(6:01) MEM – Zach Mettenberger 6-yard pass to Terrence Magee (Zach Mettenberger rush), Tied 23–23

(2:42) MEM – Austin MacGinnis 45-yard field goal, Express 26–23

Top Passers

SD – Philip Nelson – 9/12, 110 yards, 1 TD

MEM – Zach Mettenberger – 18/25, 174 yards, 1 TD

Top Rushers

SD – Terrell Watson – 10 carries, 43 yards

MEM – Zac Stacy – 18 carries, 39 yards

Top Receivers

SD – Dontez Ford – 3 receptions, 71 yards, 1 TD

MEM – Reece Horn – 4 receptions, 63 yards :

**Week 5: at Atlanta**

| Period | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Express | 6 | 6 | 8 | 0 | 20 |
| Legends | 3 | 11 | 0 | 9 | 23 |

at Georgia State Stadium, Atlanta, Georgia

* Date: March 10
* Game time: 3:00 p.m. CT
* Game attendance: 10,829
* Referee: Tra Blake
* TV announcers (CBS Sports Network): Ben Holden, Adam Archuleta, John Schriffen
* NoExtraPoints AAF

Game information :

First Quarter

(7:33) ATL – Younghoe Koo 38-yard field goal, Legends 3–0

(4:55) MEM – Zac Stacy 7-yard rush (pass failed), Express 6–3

Second Quarter

(13:25) ATL – Tarean Folston 2-yard rush (Aaron Murray pass to Justin Thomas), Legends 11–6

(9:18) MEM – Zac Stacy 3-yard rush (pass failed), Express 12–11

(0:00) ATL – Younghoe Koo 25-yard field goal, Legends 14–12

Third Quarter

(3:39) MEM – Zach Mettenberger 1-yard rush (Terrence Magee rush), Express 20–14

Fourth Quarter

(11:50) ATL – Aaron Murray 2-yard pass to Tarean Folston (pass failed), Tied 20–20

(0:09) ATL – Younghoe Koo 35-yard field goal, Legends 23–20

Top Passers

MEM – Zach Mettenberger – 9/17, 181 yards, 1 INT

ATL – Aaron Murray – 27/43, 306 yards, 1 TD

Top Rushers

MEM – Zac Stacy – 13 carries, 41 yards, 2 TD

ATL – Tarean Folston – 11 carries, 83 yards, 1 TD

Top Receivers

MEM – Sherman Badie – 1 reception, 56 yards

ATL – Seantavius Jones – 5 receptions, 89 yards :

**Week 6: at Salt Lake**

| Period | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Express | 0 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 9 |
| Stallions | 16 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 22 |

at Rice–Eccles Stadium, Salt Lake City, Utah

* Date: March 16
* Game time: 3:00 p.m. CT
* Game weather: Sunny • Temperature: 47 °F (8 °C) • Wind: 5–10 mph
* Game attendance: 8,150
* Referee: Reggie Smith
* TV announcers (B/R Live): Mark Malone, Marvin Lewis, Maurice Jones-Drew
* NoExtraPoints AAF

Game information :

First Quarter

(9:18) SL – Josh Woodrum 11-yard pass to Nick Truesdell (Josh Woodrum pass to Jordan Leslie), Stallions 8–0

(0:40) SL – Josh Woodrum 14-yard pass to Anthony Denham (Josh Woodrum pass to Terrell Newby), Stallions 16–0

Second Quarter

(11:07) SL – Taylor Bertolet 26-yard field goal, Stallions 19–0

(7:15) MEM – Austin MacGinnis 31-yard field goal, Stallions 19–3

(1:54) MEM – Brandon Silvers 11-yard pass to Zac Stacy (pass failed), Stallions 19–9

Third Quarter

No scoring plays

Fourth Quarter

(11:57) SL – Taylor Bertolet 22-yard field goal, Stallions 22–9

Top Passers

MEM – Brandon Silvers – 23/37, 242 yards, 1 TD

SL – Josh Woodrum – 24/37, 243 yards, 2 TD, 1 INT

Top Rushers

MEM – Zac Stacy – 11 carries, 31 yards

SL – Joel Bouagnon – 19 carries, 60 yards

Top Receivers

MEM – Reece Horn – 8 receptions, 129 yards

SL – Nick Truesdell – 5 receptions, 67 yards, 1 TD :

**Week 7: Birmingham**

| Period | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | OT | Total |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Iron | 8 | 8 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 25 |
| Express | 0 | 8 | 6 | 11 | 6 | 31 |

at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium, Memphis, Tennessee

* Date: March 24
* Game time: 7:00 p.m. CT
* Game weather: Cloudy • Temperature: 71 °F (22 °C) • Wind: 13 mph
* Game attendance: 13,758
* Referee: Tra Blake
* TV announcers (NFL Network): Matt "Money" Smith, Marvin Lewis
* NoExtraPoints AAF

Game information :

First Quarter

(6:18) BIRM – Luis Perez 11-yard pass to Braedon Bowman (Trent Richardson rush), Iron 8–0

Second Quarter

(14:56) MEM – Terrence Magee 1-yard rush (Brandon Silvers pass to Dan Williams), Tied 8–8

(13:44) BIRM – Trent Richardson 1-yard rush (Trent Richardson rush), Iron 16–8

Third Quarter

(9:04) BIRM – Nick Novak 28-yard field goal, Iron 19–8

(3:54) MEM – Blocked punt returned 50 yards for touchdown by Terrell Bonds (pass failed), Iron 19–14

Fourth Quarter

(9:01) BIRM – Luis Perez 4-yard pass to Wes Saxton (pass failed), Iron 25–14

(4:16) MEM – Austin MacGinnis 22-yard field goal, Iron 25–17

(0:24) MEM – Brandon Silvers 7-yard pass to Reece Horn (Brandon Silvers pass to Brandon Barnes), Tied 25–25

Overtime

MEM – Brandon Silvers 10-yard pass to Dan Williams, Express 31–25

Top Passers

BIRM – Luis Perez – 16/37, 235 yards, 2 TD

MEM – Brandon Silvers – 24/35, 266 yards, 2 TD

Top Rushers

BIRM – Trent Richardson – 16 carries, 56 yards, 1 TD

MEM – Johnny Manziel – 2 carries, 20 yards

Top Receivers

BIRM – Amba Etta-Tawo – 3 receptions, 71 yards

MEM – Reece Horn – 7 receptions, 113 yards, 1 TD :

This was the first overtime game in AAF history. Despite newly signed quarterback Johnny Manziel playing a few series for the Express, starter Brandon Silvers led the team to a comeback victory, keeping its slim postseason chances alive.

**Week 8: Orlando**

| Period | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Apollos | 3 | 11 | 8 | 12 | 34 |
| Express | 0 | 9 | 14 | 8 | 31 |

at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium, Memphis, Tennessee

* Date: March 30
* Game time: 1:00 p.m. CT
* Game attendance: 12,417
* Referee: Reggie Smith
* TV announcers (TNT): Dan Hellie, Brock Huard
* NoExtraPoints AAF

Game information :

First Quarter

(9:30) ORL – Elliott Fry 25-yard field goal, Apollos 3–0

Second Quarter

(12:52) ORL – Elliott Fry 37-yard field goal, Apollos 6–0

(8:45) MEM – Austin MacGinnis 51-yard field goal, Apollos 6–3

(6:55) MEM – Austin MacGinnis 29-yard field goal, Tied 6–6

(1:55) ORL – D'Ernest Johnson 3-yard rush (D'Ernest Johnson rush), Apollos 14–6

(0:09) MEM – Austin MacGinnis 34-yard field goal, Apollos 14–9

Third Quarter

(13:54) ORL – Garrett Gilbert 65-yard pass to Donteea Dye (Garrett Gilbert pass to Chris Thompson), Apollos 22–9

(8:13) MEM – Terrence Magee 2-yard rush (Brandon Silvers pass to Dontez Byrd), Apollos 22–17

(2:36) MEM – Cory Crawford 7-yard fumble return (pass failed), Express 23–22

Fourth Quarter

(8:23) MEM – Brandon Silvers 9-yard pass to Dontez Byrd (Garrett Gilbert pass to Gerrard Sheppard), Express 31–22

(4:59) ORL – Garrett Gilbert 18-yard pass to Charles Johnson (pass failed), Express 31–28

(1:51) ORL – De'Veon Smith 1-yard rush (rush failed), Apollos 34–31

Top Passers

ORL – Garrett Gilbert – 22/40, 310 yards, 2 TD, 2 INT

MEM – Brandon Silvers – 30/49, 269 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT

Top Rushers

ORL – De'Veon Smith – 10 carries, 27 yards, 1 TD

MEM – Terrence Magee – 9 carries, 39 yards, 1 TD

Top Receivers

ORL – Charles Johnson – 8 receptions, 135 yards, 1 TD

MEM – Gerrard Sheppard – 9 receptions, 98 yards :

## Media

In addition to league-wide television coverage through NFL Network, CBS Sports Network, TNT, and B/R Live, Memphis' games were also broadcast on local radio by KWNW, an iHeartMedia station branded as 101.9 Kiss FM.

