3/6/1983 Arizona Wranglers USFL Debut, Sun Devil Stadium, Tempe, AZ; Jerry Lee Lewis, Graham Central Station, Phoenix, AZ


 

38 years ago today...

March 6, 1983 - Tempe & Phoenix, AZ 

A rare two event doubleheader day saw Arizona's pro football debut (in spring ?!?!) by day and an old-time rock & roll show with Jerry Lee Lewis by night.

Arizona Wranglers were the local team in the start-up USFL, a league designed for spring & summer when the NFL was off. 

Area fans were hungry for pro football, and 45,000 showed up to Sun Devil Stadium on a Sunday afternoon for the kick off of professional football in the desert.  The excitement was quickly dashed, however, as the home team got thumped 24-0 on its way to a 4-14 season.  The team had no-name players and the league folded after only three seasons.

That night Jerry Lee Lewis played Graham Central Station, the westside neon cowboy nightclub patterned after the "Urban Cowboy" movie and bar scene.

I wasn't expecting much from "the Killer," have watched him perform very intoxicated in a Mt. Vernon, IL barroom show two years prior, a sloppy and disappointing performance.  On this night he was sober (enough) for a better show, obviously playing the early rock & roll signatures "Great Balls of Fire" and "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On" but also a good number of slower country ballads, reflecting his more recent career path. 

I shot the photo of Jerry Lee looking directly at me at the Illinois show and I took two copies to the Phoenix concert, one for him and one to autograph.  His manager took them backstage and returned with a signed one, but I did not meet Lewis.



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