Nashville Knights
| |
Established |
December 2017 (franchise operations) April 2018 (league play) |
---|---|
Based in |
Nashville, Tennessee |
Home field | Nashville Municipal Auditorium |
Head coach | Danika Brace |
Owner(s) | Independent Franchise (identity unknown) |
League | Legends Football League |
Division | Eastern Conference |
Colours |
Sky blue, navy, white |
Legends Cup wins | none |
Division titles | none |
Website |
lflus |
The Nashville Knights are a women's American football team of the Legends Football League (LFL) based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Knights are the LFL's 22nd team in the history of the LFL's U.S. league. The team plays its home games at Nashville Municipal Auditorium in downtown Nashville.
History
In 2010, the then-Lingerie Football League almost established a franchise for the Nashville area, but the plans were canceled due to a successful petition by locals to keep it out of the area. This was due to the controversy of the uniforms worn by LFL players when the league started. The league was renamed to reflect the fact that the uniforms became less revealing after the 2011–12 season.
Seven years later, the now-Legends Football League made the announcement that they would expand to include a Nashville-based franchise called the Nashville Knights in April 2018. Former Seattle Mist tight end and middle linebacker Danika Brace was named the Knights' head coach.[1] This makes Brace the first female coach in the history of the LFL, and the first female to coach any kind of professional sports team in the Nashville area, as well as the state of Tennessee.[2][3][4] Brace also currently serves as the franchise's general manager.
Future
The Knights are temporarily replacing the Pittsburgh Rebellion as the fourth Eastern Conference team as the Rebellion, a 2017 expansion team, is not competing in the 2018 season due to that franchise searching for a new home venue. The Rebellion will return to competition in the 2019 season to make the Eastern Conference become a 5-team division. [5]
Seasons
2018 season
Open tryouts were held at D1 Sports in Franklin on December 9, 2017.[6] The Knights’ were undefeated in the franchise’s inaugural regular season with major wins against Austin, Seattle, Denver, and Omaha. The road game against Seattle, however, was dubbed by Seattle Mist fans as the “Traitor Bowl” due to several former Seattle players now playing for the new Nashville team, including the likes of Stevi Schnoor, Dominiqué Malloy, Jade Randle, and K.K. Matheny.[7]
2018 season schedule
Date[8] | Opponent | Location | Kickoff time | Result[9] | Record | References | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Saturday, April 21 | vs. Austin Acoustic | Municipal Auditorium, Nashville | 7:00 PM CT | Win, 51-26 | 1-0 | [10] | |
Saturday, May 19 | @ Seattle Mist | ShoWare Center, Kent, WA | 7:00 PM PT (9:00 PM CT) |
Win, 43-24 | 2-0 | ||
Saturday, June 23 | vs. Denver Dream | Municipal Auditorium, Nashville | 7:00 PM CT | Win, 94-20 | 3-0 | [11][12] | |
Saturday, July 7 | @ Omaha Heart | Ralston Arena, Ralston, NE | 7:00 PM CT | Win, 80-0 | 4-0 | [13] | |
Saturday, August 25 | vs. Chicago Bliss | Toyota Park, Bridgeview, IL | 7:00 PM CT | Loss, 18-6 | 4-1 | [14] | |
References
- ↑ Teague, Cass (November 17, 2017). "The Sporting Life: Nashville Knights LFL Edition". Nashville PRIDE, Inc. Retrieved December 14, 2017.
- ↑ “HISTORIC ANNOUNCEMENTS AS NASHVILLE KNIGHTS ARE UNVEILED AND FIRST-EVER FEMALE COACH IS HIRED”. LFL360. November 8, 2017. Retrieved November 14, 2017.
- ↑ Lohuis, Liz (November 12, 2017). "Lingerie Football League comes to Nashville under new name". WSMV-TV. Retrieved November 16, 2017.
- ↑ "Legends Football League announces Nashville team". WTVF. November 14, 2017. Retrieved November 16, 2017.
- ↑ “Weekly Sports League Franchise Report”. OurSports Central. November 13, 2017. Retrieved November 16, 2017.
- ↑ Allen, Danielle (December 9, 2017). "Female athletes audition for Legends Football League". WSMV-TV. Retrieved December 12, 2017.
- ↑ LFL Commissioner's Corner Episode 119. Legends Football League. June 23, 2018 – via YouTube.
- ↑ LFL-2018-Schedule.pdf. LFLUS.com. Retrieved July 10, 2018.
- ↑ https://lflus.com/nashvilleknights/schedule
- ↑ NASHVILLE IN TUNE WITH 51-26 WIN OVER ACOUSTIC. LFL360.com. April 28, 2018. Retrieved May 15, 2018.
- ↑ NewsChannel 5 at 10 PM. WTVF. June 23, 2018.
- ↑ "DENVER FALLS APART IN MUSIC CITY, 94-20". LFL360.com. June 25, 2018. Retrieved July 24, 2018.
- ↑ "HEART GET DOES OF REALITY, COURTESY OF NASHVILLE 80-0". LFL360.com. July 9, 2018. Retrieved July 24, 2018.
- ↑ "KNIGHTS BLISSFUL INAUGURAL SEASON, COMES TO AN END WITH 18-6 LOSS TO CHICAGO". [[Legends Football League|LFL360.com]. September 13, 2018. Retrieved September 27, 2018.