In similar fashion to what Lafa Lane had done with the Edmonds Warriors in creating the Seattle Rangers for the Continental Football League in 1967, Worth Skinner put out $150,000 to enter the Seattle Express into what was hoped to be a "true" Minor League Football farm system for the NFL.  Players wanting a shot at the NFL like Rodney Swann, left a wife and family at home in Detroit to play linebacker for the Express.  The Express would utilize the same color schemes and logos as the NWFL franchise and a large majority of the team came from the Eastside Express, 1988 Northwest Football League semi-pro champions, identical to the 1966 Seattle Ramblers Pacific Football League champions, becoming the Continental League Seattle Rangers in 1967, twenty-two years earlier.  Seattle Post-Intelligencer Article
 
Curt Marsh, the former Oakland Raider, Washington Husky, and Snohomish High School All-American, was hired to coach the team.  Marsh at age 35, would have his foot and ankle amputated five years later and testified before Congress along with NFL legend Mike Ditka on holding the NFL accountable to assisting former players in life after the NFL due to injuries suffered during their playing career. His amputation was a result of injuries suffured during his days as an offensive lineman and multiple attempts to fuse the bones in his ankle.

A.D. Stinson, the Northwest Football League Offensive Player of the Year from the Eastside Express was recruited at quarterback, as was John Skinner, the NWFL Defensive Player of the Year at defensive tackle, also an Eastside Express player.  Other notable recruits included defensive back Curtis Griffin, Bethany College Hall of Famer, DeWayne Brown, quarterback at Arkansas State from 1985-1988, Washington State Cougar Aloha Bowl MVP Victor Wood at wide receiver, and Smiley Creswell, a defensive lineman released by the New England Patriots.

The Express mustered only one victory in 1989, a one-point win at home over Pennsylvania's Pocono Mountaineers.  Curt Ammons was the lone All-MLFS selection from the Express in 1989 after posting 6 interceptions and 46 tackles on the season.  Ammons was with the NWFL Champion Eastside Express the previous season as were many of his 1989 teammates.

Changing names from 'Seattle' to 'Tacoma', the roster went through a massive turnover, with only a handful from the 1989 squad returing to play in 1990.
 
The Express opened the 1990 season with a big win over the visiting Moscow Bears from the USSR and inexplicably, team owner Skinner abandoned the team.  The MLFS had to step in and operate the team during the four-week road trip to open the season.  Returning for the home opener, the Express got the win before once again struggling in the MLFS season, posting a single victory against league opponents for the second year in a row and facing three long road trips in the final four weeks, shut down and forfeited the remainder of the season.  The Express ceased operations following the 1990 season having only won two league games by a total of eight points.  The MLFS would also fold up and shut down after the 1990 season.

Receiver Dave Hewitt, who doubled as an Express punter for two seasons, would join the Puget Sound Jets in 1991 and led the team and the NWFL with 21 receptions for 539 yards and 7 touchdowns as he continued his chase to make an NFL or World League roster.  He would be the final roster cut of the B.C. Lions of the Canadian League in 1991.  Tight end Mitch Dillard would also get nibbles from the Sacramento Surge of the World League in 1991 before being cut in March and also joining the Puget Sound Jets.

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