The Shreveport Knights were 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 that played during the 1999 season as part of the

Regional Football League The Regional Football League (RFL) was an american football minor league formed to be the self-styled "major league of spring football." Established in 1997, the league played a single season, 1999, and then ceased operations. History The RFL s ...

. They played their home games at

Independence Stadium Independence Stadium may also refer to: * Independence Stadium (Bakau) in Gambia * Independence Stadium (Namibia) in Windhoek * Independence Stadium (South Africa) in Mthatha, a football stadium in South Africa * Independence Stadium (Tanzania) ...

Shreveport, Louisiana Shreveport ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is the third most populous city in Louisiana after New Orleans and Baton Rouge, respectively. The Shreveport–Bossier City metropolitan area, with a population of 393,406 in 2020, is t ...

. The team was announced as one of the league's charter members on November 12, 1998. The team was initially named the "Shreveport-

Bossier City Bossier City ( ) is a city in Bossier Parish in the northwestern region of the U.S. state of Louisiana in the United States. It is the second most populous city in the Shreveport–Bossier City metropolitan statistical area. In 2020, it had a ...

Southern Knights", however this was too long and the name was shortened. For their lone season,

Fred Akers Fred Akers (March 17, 1938 – December 7, 2020) was an American college football player and coach. He served as head football coach at the University of Wyoming (1975–1976), the University of Texas at Austin (1977–1986), and Purdue Universit ...

served as head coach, and Jason Martin, who had played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

for the

Louisiana Tech Bulldogs Louisiana Tech Bulldogs and Lady Techsters, commonly abbreviated La. Tech and Dawgs, refer to the sports teams of Louisiana Tech University, in Ruston, Louisiana. The teams compete in Division I of NCAA sports. Since 2013, Louisiana Tech has bee ...

, was the starting quarterback. The team's colors were purple, green, and gold. Although the team was scheduled to play a 12-game regular season, poor attendance and sagging revenues would prove too much for the new league. After playing to a 3–4 record, the Knights were unable to use their home stadium, for financial reasons. For the eighth game of the season, adjustment by the league resulted in Shreveport being rescheduled to play on the road, but when the Knights did not travel to the game, they were assessed a

forfeit Forfeit or forfeiture may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Forfeit'', a 2007 thriller film starring Billy Burke * "Forfeit", a song by Chevelle from ''Wonder What's Next'' * ''Forfeit/Fortune'', a 2008 album by Crooked Fingers L ...

. Shortly thereafter, the league ended the regular season, and the Knights did not qualify for the playoffs with their 3–5 record. After the season, the team and the league ceased operation.

1999 season schedule

Shreveport had been scheduled to host New Orleans on June 5, but Shreveport was unable to use their stadium. The league rescheduled New Orleans to play in Mississippi on that date, and Shreveport was rescheduled to play in Ohio on June 6. A forfeit was assessed to Shreveport when they did not travel to play Ohio.

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Remember the RFL
Southern Regional Football League teams American football teams established in 1998 American football teams disestablished in 1999 1998 establishments in Louisiana 1999 disestablishments in Louisiana

1999 season schedule

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