The Houston Roughnecks are a professional

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

team based in

Houston, Texas Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

. The Roughnecks compete in the United Football League (UFL). The team is owned-and-operated by

Dwayne Johnson Dwayne Douglas Johnson (born May 2, 1972), also known by his ring name The Rock, is an American actor and former professional wrestler. Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, he was integral to the developm ...

's Alpha Acquico and

Fox Corporation Fox Corporation (stylized in all-caps as FOX Corporation) is a publicly traded American mass media company operated and controlled by media mogul Rupert Murdoch and headquartered at 1211 Avenue of the Americas in New York City. Incorporated ...

. The team was a founding member of the

USFL 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 ...

, as the Houston Gamblers in 2022, named after the 1980s USFL team of the same name. Though named after the city of Houston, the 2020s Gamblers never played there under that brand, instead playing its home games as the guest of other USFL teams in

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Birmingham is the seat of Jefferson County, Alabama's most populous county. As of the 2021 census estimates, Birmingham had a population of 197,575, down 1% fr ...

in 2022 and

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...

and 2023. When the USFL and

XFL XFL may refer to: Sports * XFL (2001), a defunct American football league that played its only season in 2001 * XFL (2020), a professional American football league Vehicles * Bell XFL Airabonita, a 1940 U.S. Navy experimental interceptor aircra ...

merged to form the UFL in 2024, the Gamblers took over the branding of the original Houston Roughnecks that had played the 2020 and 2023 seasons in the XFL and expressed an intent to play in Houston.

History

Houston Gamblers (2022–2023)

The Houston Gamblers were one of eight teams that were officially announced as a USFL franchise on ''

The Herd with Colin Cowherd ''The Herd with Colin Cowherd'' is a sports radio, sports talk radio show hosted by Colin Cowherd on Fox Sports Radio and Fox Sports 1. The show features commentary on the day's sports news, perspective on other news stories, and interviews with ce ...

'' on November 22, 2021. On January 6, 2022, it was announced on ''The Herd with Colin Cowherd'' that former NCAA Football Head coach

Kevin Sumlin Kevin Warren Sumlin (born August 3, 1964) is an American football coach who is the head coach and general manager for the Houston Gamblers of the United States Football League (USFL). Sumlin served as the head football coach at the University o ...

was named the Head coach and General manager of the Gamblers. Houston was the only city in the USFL nominally based west of the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it f ...

and the only team that had a representative team in both professional spring football leagues, the USFL (the Gamblers) and the

(the Roughnecks), though the Gamblers never set foot in Houston, instead playing as a

traveling team Travel is the movement of people between distant geographical locations. Travel can be done by foot, bicycle, automobile, train, boat, bus, airplane, ship or other means, with or without luggage, and can be one way or round trip. Travel c ...

under the USFL's hub model. On January 6, 2022, from college head coach,

was named the head coach and general manager for the Houston Gamblers. The Gamblers' first season game was on April 17, 2022, against the

Michigan Panthers The Michigan Panthers were a professional American football team based in the Detroit, Michigan area. The Panthers competed in the United States Football League (USFL) as a member of the Western Conference and Central Division. The team played i ...

Protective Stadium Protective Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium owned and operated by the Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center Authority in downtown Birmingham, Alabama, U.S. Its naming rights are provided by the Protective Life company, which will pay $1 million ...

. Kicker Nick Vogel made a 37-yard field goal in the first quarter (the first points for the franchise). The Gamblers defeated the Panthers 17–12, winning their first game in franchise history. The Gamblers lost their next seven games before winning for their final two games of the season, and failing to qualify for the USFL playoffs. In September, 2022, the Gamblers announced that Robert Morris was named their new general manager. In November 2022, the USFL announced that the Gamblers will play at

Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium (originally named Memphis Memorial Stadium, and later Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium) is a football stadium located at the former Mid-South Fairgrounds in the Midtown area of Memphis, Tennessee, United States. The s ...

for the 2023 season. In February, 2023, Sumlin announced his plans to join the coaching staff of the

Maryland Terrapins The Maryland Terrapins, commonly referred to as the Terps, consist of 19 men's and women's varsity intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Maryland, College Park in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Divis ...

, this led to the Gamblers hiring former

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...

assistant coach, Curtis Johnson as their new head coach.

Houston Roughnecks (2024–present)

On January 1, as part of the merger with the XFL, the Gamblers took on the identity (including name, history and social media presence) of their XFL counterpart, the Roughnecks, while maintaining the Gamblers' coaching staff and player rights. UNITED FOOTBALL LEAGUE REVEALS TEAM MARKETS AND HEAD COACHES FOR 2024 SEASON
Press release. Retrieved January 1, 2024. The team will play in Houston as the Roughnecks did, but renovations to

TDECU Stadium John O'Quinn Field at TDECU Stadium is an American football stadium on the campus of the University of Houston. The stadium serves as the home of the Houston Cougars football team, which represents the University of Houston in collegiate ...

, the Roughnecks' home in 2020 and 2023, may require the use of a different venue;

Rice University Stadium Rice is the seed of the Poaceae, grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice) or less commonly ''Oryza glaberrima'' (African rice). The name wild rice is usually used for species of the genera ''Zizania (genus), Zizania'' and ''Porteresia'', bo ...

was approached about the possibility.

Current Roster

Players

Staff

Player History

Current NFL Players

Notable Players

USFL Offensive Player of the Year award winners

USFL Defensive Player of the Year award winners

Coach History

Head Coach history

Offensive Coordinator history

Defensive Coordinator history

Records

Statistics and records

Season-by-season record

''Note: The Finish, Wins, Losses, and Ties columns list regular season results and exclude any postseason play.''

References

{{Authority control 2021 establishments in Alabama American football teams established in 2021 American football teams in Houston United States Football League (2022) teams