MEMPHIS, Tenn. (BVM) – The NFL has been the goal for football players since its inception in 1920 and has provided players with the opportunities to change their lives by playing the game that they love professionally. However, despite some athletes’ best efforts, not everyone can play in the NFL and can see the end of their playing careers whenever they graduate high school or college.

It is a tough reality, but it does not have to be that way. There are coaches like Charles Thompson, who believe that as long as a player is active, they should have an opportunity to keep playing. That is what led to the creation of the Memphis Blast, a semi-pro football team that has been in action for the last 21 years.

With Memphis not having its own professional team, Thompson sees the Blast as a way to give back to the Bluff City.

“We call it the hometown team because it’s made up of young athletes that are from Memphis or from the mid-south or from this region,” Thompson said. “Of course. we represent our city; these guys are going to come out and give it everything they got. They’re going to play their hearts out, so it’s our hometown team and it’s someone who represents us that gives us a true representation of what Memphis is.”

The Blast play in the Gridiron Developmental Football League, also known as the GDFL, a league that Thompson started back in 2009. Though the Blast had not made the playoffs since 2017, Thompson has been diligent in working to bring them back into postseason play.

Still, Thompson acknowledges that there is still a lot of work to be done, especially with last season being postponed due to COVID-19.

“We got a lot of rebuilding to do,” Thompson said.  “We got a lot of young people coming in. We’re rebuilding our foundation, we’re resetting our minds and our thought processes as far as how we want to do things. So the goal this year is to build a stronger foundation and we’re going to do that one brick at a time.”