Memphis Maniax
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The Memphis Maniax were an
American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...
team based in
Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. Situated along the Mississippi River, it had a population of 633,104 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in Tenne ...
. The team was part of the XFL begun by
Vince McMahon Vincent Kennedy McMahon ( ; born August 24, 1945) is an American businessman and former professional wrestling promoter. McMahon, along with his later-estranged wife Linda McMahon, Linda, is a co-founder of the modern WWE, the world's largest ...
of
World Wrestling Entertainment World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) is an American professional wrestling promotion. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority-owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. A global integrated media and entertainment company, ...
and by
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, a major television network in the United States. Home games were played at
Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium, originally named Memphis Memorial Stadium, and later Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium, is a stadium, football stadium located at the former Mid-South Fairgrounds in the Midtown, Memphis, Midtown area of Memphis, Tenne ...
.


History

The team's name and logo were designed to lead the team's fans into calling the team "The Ax", a shortened form of the word "maniacs". The Maniax Director of Player Personnel was
Steve Ortmayer Conrad Stephen Ortmayer (February 13, 1944 – March 9, 2021) was an American football player, coach, and executive who served as the general manager of the National Football League (NFL)'s San Diego Chargers and St. Louis Rams. Early life and ...
, who had become respected in the pro football world for helping to build the
Super Bowl XVIII Super Bowl XVIII was an American football game played on January 22, 1984, at Tampa Stadium between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion and defending Super Bowl XVII champion 1983 Washington Redskins season, Washington Redskins and t ...
-champion
Los Angeles Raiders The Los Angeles Raiders were a professional American football team of the National Football League (NFL). The Raiders played in Los Angeles from 1982 to 1994 before relocating back to Oakland, California, where the team played from its inaugural ...
. Steve Ehrhart, who had managed both the
Memphis Showboats The Memphis Showboats were an American football franchise in the United States Football League. They entered the league in its expansion in 1984 and made the 1985 playoffs, losing in the semifinal round to the Oakland Invaders. Perhaps the ...
and
Memphis Mad Dogs The Memphis Mad Dogs were a Canadian football team that played the 1995 CFL season, 1995 season in the Canadian Football League. The Mad Dogs were part of a failed attempt to CFL USA, expand the CFL into the United States. They played at Liberty ...
, returned as general manager for the Maniax. The head coach was Kippy Brown. At slightly over 20,000 fans per game, the Maniax were in the lower half of league average attendance; this figure was higher than the Mad Dogs had drawn, and comparable to that of the NFL's
Tennessee Oilers The Tennessee Titans are the professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. They are members of the South Division of the American Football Conference (AFC) in the National Football League (NFL). Previously known as the Ho ...
during their lone season in Memphis, but lower than the Showboats. They were in the Western Division with the
Los Angeles Xtreme The Los Angeles Xtreme was a professional American football team based in Los Angeles, California. The team was a member of the original version of the XFL (2001), XFL, begun by Vince McMahon of World Wrestling Entertainment and by NBC, a major ...
,
San Francisco Demons The San Francisco Demons (originally named San Jose Demons) were a short-lived springtime American football team based in San Francisco, California. This team was part of the failed XFL begun by Vince McMahon of World Wrestling Entertainment an ...
, and Las Vegas Outlaws. They finished tied for second place at 5-5 with the Demons, but did not make the playoffs as the Demons had the better division record during the season. The Maniax were one of two teams to beat the eventual league champion Xtreme, and the only team to beat them twice, going 2-0 vs. their divisional rivals in the regular season; not coincidentally, they, along with the Xtreme and Demons, were the only three XFL teams to maintain the same starting quarterback through the entire season. NBC officials wanted to move the XFL games to afternoons after the first season (2001) due to dismal ratings, and when, somewhat to McMahon's surprise and disappointment the
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(
UPN The United Paramount Network (UPN) was an American broadcast television network that operated from 1995 to 2006. It was originally a joint venture between Chris-Craft Industries (later sold to News Corporation)'s subsidiary, United Television, ...
) wanted to follow suit, the league was then folded and the team disbanded. Ehrhart would later claim that he was originally approached by the XFL to sell the intellectual property rights of the
United States Football League The United States Football League (USFL) was a professional American football league that played for three seasons, 1983 through 1985. The league played a spring/summer schedule in each of its active seasons. The 1986 season was scheduled to be ...
to them, but that he owned the rights to the league, received royalties from them, and refused to sell. (Ehrhart's claims are somewhat dubious as he never held any ownership stake in the league, the original XFL had an
Attitude Era The Attitude Era was a major era of professional wrestling within the WWE, World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE). The term "WWF Attitude" was used to describe its programming from November 9, 1997 to May 6, 2002. It began during the Monday Ni ...
aesthetic which did not match the brands the USFL had, and the
United States Patent and Trademark Office The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is an List of federal agencies in the United States, agency in the United States Department of Commerce, U.S. Department of Commerce that serves as the national patent office and trademark ...
has never recognized any claims from any vestige of the USFL, which dissolved in 1990, regarding the league's intellectual properties and has allowed other organizations to register the trademarks.)


Season by season

, - , 2001 , , 5 , , 5 , , 0 , , 3rd Western , , Did not survive


Schedule


Regular season


Personnel


Roster


Standings


Team leaders


Passing


Rushing


Receiving


Scoring

''8-21 (38.1)% on extra point conversion attempts''


References

{{XFL XFL (2001) teams 2001 establishments in Tennessee 2001 disestablishments in Tennessee American football teams in Tennessee American football teams established in 2001 American football teams disestablished in 2001