Mayor Jim Strickland to 'Release the Tigers' before Memphis football game vs. South Florida
Memphis football will have a notable Memphian helping lead the team out on Saturday.
Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland will "Release the Tigers" before the Tigers (6-2, 3-1 AAC) play South Florida (4-4, 2-4) on Saturday (2 p.m., ESPN+). That's part of Memphis' new pregame tradition this year, where a notable person or group of people will press a button to open a door that the Tigers players run out of to take the field before the game.
Previous honorees have been former Memphis kicker Stephen Gostkowski, Gold Star Families, the 2003 Memphis football team and legendary wrestler Jerry "The King" Lawler.
Strickland is a 1986 graduate of Memphis and a 1989 graduate of the School of Law. He has served as Memphis Mayor since 2016 but was term-limited and not able to run for reelection this year. Paul Young, the Mayor-Elect, was at Memphis' last home game against Tulane and performed the coin toss.
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“We could think of no better way to thank Mayor Strickland for his loyal support of the Tigers than by having him send the team onto the field before the Homecoming game,” Memphis athletic director Laird Veatch said in a statement. “We truly appreciate Mayor Strickland’s service to our City and our University during his time as Mayor, as we wish him all the best as he transitions to the next chapter of his life.”
Reach sports writer Jonah Dylan at jonah.dylan@commercialappeal.com or on Twitter @thejonahdylan.
This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Mayor Jim Strickland to 'Release the Tigers' before Memphis-USF
