Mississippi Pride Explained

The Mississippi Pride were a professional American football team that played during the 1999 season as part of the Regional Football League. They played their home games at Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium in Jackson, Mississippi.^[1]

The team was announced as one of the league's charter members on November 12, 1998.^[2] For their lone season, former Mississippi State Bulldogs assistant coach Johnny Plummer served as head coach.^[3]

Although the team was scheduled to play a 12-game regular season,^[4] poor attendance and sagging revenues would prove too much for the new league. In the shortened regular season, the Pride had a 4–4 record. In the postseason, the Pride were seeded third in the four-team playoff bracket, and lost to the second seed, the Houston Outlaws. Pride starter Stewart Patridge was named the all-RFL quarterback.^[5] After the season, the team and league ceased operation.

1999 season schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	W/L	Score	Attnd.	Ref.
April 17		Away	L	12–40	2,866	[6]
April 24		Home	L	5–28	3,000	[7]
May 2		Away	W	30–14	4,000	[8]
May 8		Home	W	20–17	3,500	[9]
May 15		Away	L	13–36		[10]
May 22	Shreveport Knights	Home	W	35–10	4,800	[11]
May 29	Mobile Admirals	Home	W	28–20	6,500	[12]
June 5	New Orleans Thunder	Home	L	7–12	2,700	[13]
Playoffs
June 12	Houston Outlaws	Away	L	3–27		[14]

The June 5 game was originally scheduled for June 6 in Toledo against the Ohio Thunder.^[15]

Further reading

• News: Robinson Decides Against Suit . . . 2D . June 6, 2000 . January 30, 2019 . newspapers.com.
• News: RFL's failure has creditors knocking on Pride's door . Henry . Goolsby . . . 1D . May 21, 2000 . January 30, 2019 . newspapers.com.
• News: RFL's failure has creditors knocking on Pride's door (cont'd) . Henry . Goolsby . . . 3D . May 21, 2000 . January 30, 2019 . newspapers.com.
• Web site: Mississippi Pride Football and the RFL . Jim . Woodrick . andspeakingofwhich.blogspot.com . March 23, 2012 . January 31, 2019.

External links

• Remember the RFL
• Mississippi Pride Football TV Commercial “New Set of Rules”
• Mississippi Pride Lives On via Wayback Machine

Notes and References

1. News: Beginning of the Knights' Reign . . . 28 . April 17, 1999 . January 26, 2019 . newspapers.com.
2. Web site: League . Remember the RFL . January 25, 2019 . Google Sites.
3. News: Patridge gets his shot at pro football . . . 7 . February 25, 1999 . January 26, 2019 . newspapers.com.
4. News: Mississippi Pride 1999 Schedule . . . 1 . March 29, 1999 . January 26, 2019 . newspapers.com.
5. News: Eight Pride players make All-RFL team . . . 31 . June 25, 1999 . January 23, 2019 . newspapers.com.
6. News: Knights blow out Pride in opener . John . McCloskey . . . 45 . April 18, 1999 . January 24, 2019 . newspapers.com.
7. News: Outlaws victimize error-prone Pride 28-5 . Henry . Goolsby . . . 35 . April 25, 1999 . January 26, 2019 . newspapers.com.
8. News: Pride pounces on Thunder for 1st RFL victory . . . 17 . May 3, 1999 . January 25, 2019 . newspapers.com.
9. News: Pride overcomes 10-point deficit to edge Cannon . Henry . Goolsby . . . 31 . May 9, 1999 . January 26, 2019 . newspapers.com.
10. News: Interception helps Admirals stay afloat against Price 36-13 . . . 33 . May 16, 1999 . January 26, 2019 . newspapers.com.
11. News: Patridge, Ashley prove unstoppable; Pride turns tables on Knights 35-10 . Henry . Goolsby . . . 23 . May 23, 1999 . January 24, 2019 . newspapers.com.
12. News: Pride uses Patridge's pinpoint passing to sink Admirals . Henry . Goolsby . . . 2D . May 30, 1999 . January 26, 2019 . newspapers.com.
13. News: Thunder rumbles past Pride . Henry . Goolsby . . . 27 . June 6, 1999 . January 26, 2019 . newspapers.com.
14. News: Curry: Pay woes contributed to Pride's losses . Henry . Goolsby . . . 23 . June 15, 1999 . January 26, 2019 . newspapers.com.
15. News: Pride relishes change to apprehend Outlaws . Henry . Goolsby . . . 23 . June 9, 1999 . January 23, 2019 . newspapers.com.