The United States Football League (USFL) was 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 ...
league that played for three seasons, 1983 through 1985. The league played a spring/summer schedule in each of its active seasons. The 1986 season was scheduled to be played in the autumn/winter, directly competing against the long-established
National Football League
The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...
(NFL). However, the USFL ceased operations before that season was scheduled to begin.
The ideas behind the USFL were conceived in 1965 by
businessman
David Dixon
David Dixon (born 28 October 1947) is an English actor and screenwriter. He was born at the Nightingale Maternity Home in Derby, near his father's shop in London Road, and brought up there before the family moved to Normanton in 1959.
Dixon's ...
, who saw a market for a professional football league that would play in the summer, when the National Football League and
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 ...
were in their off-season. Dixon had been a key player in the construction of the
Louisiana Superdome
The Caesars Superdome, commonly known as the Superdome (formerly known as Mercedes-Benz Superdome), is a multi-purpose stadium located in the Central Business District of New Orleans, Louisiana. It is the home stadium of the New Orleans Saints ...
and the expansion of the
NFL into New Orleans in 1967. He developed "The Dixon Plan"—a blueprint for the USFL based upon securing NFL-caliber stadiums in top TV markets, securing a national TV broadcast contract, and controlling spending—and found investors willing to buy in.
Though the original franchise owners and founders of the USFL had promised to abide by the general guidelines set out by Dixon's plan, problems arose before the teams took the field, with some franchises facing financial problems and instability from the beginning. Due to pressure from the NFL, some franchises had difficulty securing leases in stadiums that were also used by NFL teams, forcing them to scramble to find alternative venues in their chosen city or hurriedly move to a new market. The USFL had no hard
salary cap
In professional sports, a salary cap (or wage cap) is an agreement or rule that places a limit on the amount of money that a team can spend on players' salaries. It exists as a per-player limit or a total limit for the team's roster, or both. Sever ...
, and because of this, some teams quickly escalated player payrolls to unsustainable levels despite pledges to keep costs under control. While a handful of USFL franchises abided by the Dixon Plan and were relatively stable, others suffered repeated financial crises, and there were many franchise relocations, mergers, and ownership changes during the league's short existence; however, none of its teams actually folded during any given season. These problems were worsened as some owners began engaging in bidding wars for star players against NFL teams and each other, forcing other owners to do the same or face a competitive disadvantage.
On the field, the USFL was regarded as a relatively good product. Many coaches and team executives had NFL experience, and many future top NFL players and coaches got their start in the new league, including several who were later inducted into the
Pro Football Hall of Fame
The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame for professional American football, located in Canton, Ohio. Opened on September 7, , the Hall of Fame enshrines exceptional figures in the sport of professional football, including players, coach ...
and/or the
College Football Hall of Fame
The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and interactive attraction devoted to college football. The National Football Foundation (NFF) founded the Hall in 1951 to immortalize the players and coaches of college football that were vote ...
. The
Michigan Panthers
The Michigan Panthers were a professional American football team based in the Detroit, Michigan area. The Panthers competed in the United States Football League (USFL) as a member of the Western Conference and Central Division. The team played i ...
won the first USFL championship in 1983. The
Philadelphia Stars won the second USFL championship in 1984, and after relocating to
Baltimore
Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...
, won the final USFL championship in 1985 as the Baltimore Stars in what was effectively a rematch of the first USFL title game.
In August 1984, the USFL voted to move from a spring to a fall schedule in 1986 to compete directly with the NFL. This was done at the urging of
New Jersey Generals
The New Jersey Generals were a franchise of the United States Football League (USFL) established in 1982 to begin play in the spring and summer of 1983. The team played three seasons from 1983 to 1985, winning 31 regular season games and losing ...
majority owner
Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021.
Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...
and a handful of other owners as a way to force a merger between the leagues. As part of this strategy, the USFL filed an
antitrust
Competition law is the field of law that promotes or seeks to maintain market competition by regulating anti-competitive conduct by companies. Competition law is implemented through public and private enforcement. It is also known as antitrust l ...
lawsuit against the National Football League in 1986, and a jury ruled that the NFL had violated anti-monopoly laws. However, in
a victory in name only, the USFL was awarded a judgment of just $1, which under antitrust laws, was tripled to $3. This court decision effectively ended the USFL's existence. The league never played its planned 1986 season, and by the time it folded, it had lost over US$163 million (over $389 million in 2021 dollars).
Talent level
Three consecutive
Heisman Trophy
The Heisman Memorial Trophy (usually known colloquially as the Heisman Trophy or The Heisman) is awarded annually to the most outstanding player in college football. Winners epitomize great ability combined with diligence, perseverance, and hard ...
winners signed with USFL teams directly out of college:
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States
Georgia may also refer to:
Places
Historical states and entities
* Related to the ...
running back
A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offen ...
Herschel Walker and
Boston College
Boston College (BC) is a private Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Founded in 1863, the university has more than 9,300 full-time undergraduates and nearly 5,000 graduate students. Although Boston College is classifie ...
quarterback
The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...
Doug Flutie
Douglas Richard Flutie (born October 23, 1962) is an American former football quarterback whose professional career spanned 21 seasons. He played 12 seasons in the National Football League (NFL), eight seasons in the Canadian Football League (CF ...
signed with the
New Jersey Generals
The New Jersey Generals were a franchise of the United States Football League (USFL) established in 1982 to begin play in the spring and summer of 1983. The team played three seasons from 1983 to 1985, winning 31 regular season games and losing ...
, and
Nebraska
Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the southwe ...
running back
Mike Rozier
Michael T. Rozier (born March 1, 1961) is a former American college and professional football player who was a running back in the United States Football League (USFL) for two seasons and the National Football League (NFL) for seven seasons duri ...
signed with the
Pittsburgh Maulers.
Future
Pro Football Hall of Fame
The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame for professional American football, located in Canton, Ohio. Opened on September 7, , the Hall of Fame enshrines exceptional figures in the sport of professional football, including players, coach ...
members
defensive end
Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football.
This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formation (American football), formations over the years have substantially ...
Reggie White
Reginald Howard White (December 19, 1961 – December 26, 2004) was an American professional football player who played defensive end in the National Football League (NFL) for 15 seasons during the 1980s and 1990s. He played college football for ...
of the
University of Tennessee
The University of Tennessee (officially The University of Tennessee, Knoxville; or UT Knoxville; UTK; or UT) is a public land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee. Founded in 1794, two years before Tennessee became the 16th state, ...
,
offensive tackle
Offensive may refer to:
* Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative
* Offensive (military), an attack
* Offensive language
** Fighting words or insulting language, words that by their very utterance inflict inj ...
Gary Zimmerman
Gary Wayne Zimmerman (born December 13, 1961) is an American former professional football player who was an offensive tackle in the National Football League (NFL). Zimmerman played for the Minnesota Vikings from 1986 to 1992 and for the Denver ...
and quarterbacks
Jim Kelly
James Edward Kelly (born February 14, 1960) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 11 seasons with the Buffalo Bills. He also spent two seasons with the Houston Gamblers of the United Stat ...
of the
University of Miami
The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private research university in Coral Gables, Florida. , the university enrolled 19,096 students in 12 colleges and schools across nearly 350 academic majors and programs, incl ...
and
Steve Young
Jon Steven Young (born October 11, 1961) is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 15 seasons, primarily with the San Francisco 49ers. He also played for the Tampa Bay Buccane ...
of
Brigham Young University
Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day ...
began their professional careers with the USFL's
Memphis Showboats
The Memphis Showboats were an American football franchise in the United States Football League. They entered the league in its expansion in 1984 and made the 1985 playoffs, losing in the semifinal round to the Oakland Invaders. Perhaps the mo ...
,
Los Angeles Express,
Houston Gamblers
The Houston Gamblers were an American football team that competed in the United States Football League in 1984 and 1985. The Gamblers were coached by veteran NFL head coach Jack Pardee in both their seasons. They were noteworthy for introducing ...
, and
Los Angeles Express, respectively. A number of NFL veterans of all talent levels played in the USFL. Certain NFL backups such as quarterbacks
Chuck Fusina
Charles Anthony Fusina (born May 31, 1957) is a former American college and professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) and United States Football League (USFL) for seven seasons during the 1970s and ...
and
Cliff Stoudt
Clifford Lewis Stoudt (born March 27, 1955) is a former American football quarterback in the National Football League for the Pittsburgh Steelers, St. Louis/Phoenix Cardinals, Miami Dolphins and Dallas Cowboys. He also was a member of the Birmi ...
, G
Buddy Aydelette
William Leslie "Buddy" Aydelette (born August 19, 1956) is a former American football guard. He began his career with the Green Bay Packers of the NFL. He was drafted by the Packers in the 7th round (169th overall) of the 1980 NFL Draft. He w ...
, and WR
Jim Smith had limited success in the NFL but became major stars in the USFL. But many NFL backups struggled or never made it in the USFL. Additionally, the USFL also lured in NFL starters, including a handful in the prime of their careers including 1980 NFL MVP,
Cleveland Browns
The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference ( ...
' quarterback
Brian Sipe
Brian (sometimes spelled Bryan in English) is a male given name of Irish and Breton origin, as well as a surname of Occitan origin. It is common in the English-speaking world.
It is possible that the name is derived from an Old Celtic word me ...
,
Buffalo Bills
The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. ...
' three-time Pro Bowl running back
Joe Cribbs
Joe Stanier Cribbs (born January 5, 1958) is a retired National Football League and United States Football League football running back. He played collegiately at Auburn University along with future NFL backs William Andrews and James Brook ...
and
Kansas City Chiefs
The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division.
The tea ...
' three-time Pro Bowl safety
Gary Barbaro
Gary Wayne Barbaro (born February 11, 1954) is a former free safety who played seven seasons in the National Football League from 1976 to 1982 and one season in the United States Football League (USFL) in 1984. A third round selection by the Kans ...
.
History
Background
For many decades after its inception, American football was widely regarded as a second-tier sport behind
baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...
which was long-regarded as America's national pastime. As a result, the elite levels of American football lacked the financial wherewithal to consistently finance their own facilities and instead played primarily in ballparks hastily re-purposed for football. However, since gridiron football in particular is responsible for excessive wear and tear on a grass playing field, baseball clubs were not keen to see football played in their parks throughout the entire baseball season. Thus, the need to use ballparks played a large part in ensuring that the
National Football League
The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...
and early rivals would delay the start of their seasons until September when the baseball season was winding down, thus affording baseball teams the exclusive use of their facilities in the spring and summer.
Starting in the 1950s, a number of technological changes and trends eventually caused some to question the traditional timing of the American football season. In particular, football became a much more lucrative sport, the invention of artificial turf and developments in the growth and maintenance of natural grass made it more practical for baseball and football to be played at elite levels in the same facility at the same time, and the increasing influence of television combined with the prevalence of a farm system in which Major League Baseball controlled the rights to baseball levels in all levels of play caused many minor league baseball clubs (some of whom played in large facilities that could be easily re-purposed for major league football) to be much less lucrative in their own right.
It was in this environment, in 1965, that
David Dixon
David Dixon (born 28 October 1947) is an English actor and screenwriter. He was born at the Nightingale Maternity Home in Derby, near his father's shop in London Road, and brought up there before the family moved to Normanton in 1959.
Dixon's ...
, a
antiques dealer, who would be instrumental in bringing the
New Orleans Saints
The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...
(and building their current home stadium, the
Superdome) to his hometown, began to envision
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
as a possible spring and summer sport.
This was not the first time the United States Football League name was used; there had been a previous, short-lived attempt in
1945
1945 marked the end of World War II and the fall of Nazi Germany and the Empire of Japan. It is also the only year in which nuclear weapons have been used in combat.
Events
Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix.
Januar ...
to start up a league with that name.
Organization
Over the next 15 years, Dixon studied the last two challengers to the NFL's dominance of pro football—the successful
American Football League
The American Football League (AFL) was a major professional American football league that operated for ten seasons from 1960 until 1970, when it merged with the older National Football League (NFL), and became the American Football Conference. ...
and the troubled
World Football League
The World Football League (WFL) was an American football league that played one full season in 1974 and most of its second in 1975. Although the league's proclaimed ambition was to bring American football onto a worldwide stage, the farthest t ...
. In 1980, he commissioned a study by
Frank Magid Associates that found promising results for a spring and summer football league. He had also formed a blueprint for the prospective league's operations, which included early television exposure, heavy promotion in home markets, and owners with the resources and patience to absorb years of losses—which he felt would be inevitable until the league found its feet. He also assembled a list of prospective franchises located in markets attractive to a potential television partner.
Dixon was well aware that many attempts to challenge the NFL had foundered due to financial troubles. The WFL, for instance, was plagued by teams that were so badly underfinanced that they could not meet the most basic expenses. With this in mind, Dixon wanted to ensure that USFL teams had the wherewithal to put a credible product on the field. To that end, the league required potential owners to submit to a detailed
due diligence
Due diligence is the investigation or exercise of care that a reasonable business or person is normally expected to take before entering into an agreement or contract with another party or an act with a certain standard of care.
It can be a l ...
and meet strict capitalization requirements. They were also required to post a $1.5 million letter of credit for emergencies.
With respected college and NFL coach
John Ralston as the first employee, Dixon signed up 12 cities—nine where there already were NFL teams and three where there were not. The Dixon Plan called for teams in top TV markets to entice the networks into offering the league a TV deal. All but two of the 12 initial teams were located in the top 13 media markets in the US at the time.
After almost two years of preparation, Dixon formally announced the USFL's formation at the
21 Club in New York City on May 11, 1982, to begin play in 1983. ESPN president
Chet Simmons
Chester Robert "Chet" Simmons (July 11, 1928 – March 25, 2010) was a television executive. He worked at ABC Sports, NBC Sports and ESPN, and was the first Commissioner of the USFL. From 1957 to 1964, he helped build ABC Sports into a leader in ...
was named the league's first commissioner in June 1982.
According to the Dixon Plan, if the league was going to be a success, it needed television revenue and exposure. In 1983, the league signed contracts with both over-the-air broadcaster
ABC
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster
** Disney–ABC Television ...
and a
cable TV
Cable television is a system of delivering television programming to consumers via radio frequency (RF) signals transmitted through coaxial cables, or in more recent systems, light pulses through fibre-optic cables. This contrasts with broadc ...
broadcaster, the four-year old
ESPN
ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...
, to televise games. The deals yielded roughly $13 million in 1983 and $16 million in 1984, including $9 million per year from ABC. ABC had options for the 1985 season at $14 million and 1986 at $18 million. Each week, there would be a nationally televised game, as well as the USFL's own version of Monday Night football.
Stumbles before play begins
Like almost all startup pro football leagues, the USFL had some off-the-field factors that prevented the league from starting out with their preferred membership. The problems started when the original owner of the Los Angeles franchise,
Alex Spanos, pulled out and instead became a minority owner (and eventually majority owner) of the NFL's
San Diego Chargers
The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team that played in San Diego from 1961 until the end of the 2016 season, before relocating to Los Angeles, where the franchise had played its inaugural 1960 season. The team is now ...
.
Jim Joseph, a real estate developer who had lost out to friend
Tad Taube for the USFL's
San Francisco Bay Area
The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Go ...
franchise, had thought he would be content to be a part-owner of the
Oakland Invaders
The Oakland Invaders were a professional American football team that played in the United States Football League (USFL) from 1983 through 1985. Based in Oakland, California, they played at the Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum.
The team can trac ...
. When the potentially more lucrative Los Angeles franchise became available, Joseph snapped up the rights to the area. The owners of the USFL's
San Diego
San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...
franchise, cable television moguls
Bill Daniels
Robert William Daniels Jr. (July 1, 1920 – March 7, 2000) was an American cable television executive and owner of professional sports teams. He was a pioneer in building the cable television industry and was known as the "father of cable televi ...
and
Alan Harmon
Alan may refer to:
People
*Alan (surname), an English and Turkish surname
*Alan (given name), an English given name
**List of people with given name Alan
''Following are people commonly referred to solely by "Alan" or by a homonymous name.''
* A ...
, were denied a lease for
Jack Murphy Stadium
San Diego Stadium was a multi-purpose stadium on the west coast of the United States, in San Diego, California. The stadium opened in 1967 as San Diego Stadium and was known as Jack Murphy Stadium from 1981 to 1997. From 1997 to 2017, the stadi ...
. While this was in part due to pressure from the Chargers, the main opposition came from
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...
's
Padres
The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL penna ...
who held the lease to the stadium at the time and did not want to see football played at the facility throughout the baseball season. Los Angeles was seen as critical to the league's success, and Dixon and Simmons felt that two cable moguls would be better suited to head the league's efforts there. Joseph was forced to move his operation. The team opened play in
Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix ( ; nv, Hoozdo; es, Fénix or , yuf-x-wal, Banyà:nyuwá) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona, with 1 ...
, where it became the
Arizona Wranglers. Daniels and Harmon's team became the
Los Angeles Express.
The League's
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
franchise, the
Breakers, also had stadium problems. The Boston ownership group wanted to play in
Harvard Stadium
Harvard Stadium is a U-shaped college football stadium in the northeast United States, located in the Allston neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. The stadium is owned and operated by Harvard University and is home to the Harvard Crimson footb ...
, but were unable to close a deal with the university;
Sullivan Stadium
Foxboro Stadium, originally Schaefer Stadium and later Sullivan Stadium, was an outdoor stadium in the New England region of the United States, located in Foxborough, Massachusetts. It opened in 1971 New England Patriots season, 1971 and served ...
was owned by the
New England Patriots
The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East divisio ...
, who were unwilling to share their venue with a rival, while
Fenway Park
Fenway Park is a baseball stadium located in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, near Kenmore Square. Since 1912, it has been the home of the Boston Red Sox, the city's American League baseball team, and since 1953, its only Major League Base ...
was being used in the spring by the
Boston Red Sox
The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...
and was also unavailable, and
Alumni Stadium
Alumni Stadium is a football stadium located on the lower campus of Boston College in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, approximately west of downtown Boston. It is the home of the Boston College Eagles. Its present seating capacity is 44,500. Offic ...
on the campus of
Boston College
Boston College (BC) is a private Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Founded in 1863, the university has more than 9,300 full-time undergraduates and nearly 5,000 graduate students. Although Boston College is classifie ...
, for reasons never made public, also declined. Finally they were able to negotiate a lease to play at
Nickerson Field
Nickerson Field is an outdoor athletic stadium in the Northeastern United States, on the campus of Boston University (BU) in Boston, Massachusetts. The stadium is owned by BU, and is the home field for some Boston University Terriers athletics pr ...
on the campus of
Boston University
Boston University (BU) is a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with its original campu ...
, a facility that seated only 21,000 people.
There were plans to establish four franchises in Canada prior to the inaugural season, located in
Vancouver
Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...
,
Edmonton
Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...
,
Montreal
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...
and
the Toronto/Hamilton metroplex (with the last of these to play at
Ivor Wynne Stadium
Ivor Wynne Stadium (formerly Civic Stadium) was a Canadian football stadium located at the corner of Balsam and Beechwood avenues, two blocks west of Gage Avenue North in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The stadium was the home of the Hamilton Tiger ...
). The proposal was pushed by
John F. Bassett
John F. Bassett (February 5, 1939 – May 15, 1986) was a Canadian tennis player, businessman, and film producer.
Athletic career
Bassett won the Canadian Open Junior Doubles Championship in 1955 when he was 15 years old. He reached the second ...
, the Canadian who would go on to own the
Tampa Bay Bandits
The Tampa Bay Bandits were a professional American football team in the United States Football League (USFL) which was based in Tampa, Florida. The Bandits were a charter member of the USFL and was the only franchise to have the same principal o ...
USFL team. However,
Senator
A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
Keith Davey warned that the Canadian government would act to protect the
Canadian Football League
The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...
(the league in which in all four of the aforementioned Canadian cities had teams in) from competition. The
Canadian Football Act
The ''Canadian Football Act'' (1974), also known in its long title as ''An Act respecting Canadian Professional Football'', was a proposed Act by the Parliament of Canada in April 1974 designed to give a government-protected monopoly over profe ...
had been proposed, but not approved, when Bassett had tried to establish the
Toronto Northmen
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
in the
World Football League
The World Football League (WFL) was an American football league that played one full season in 1974 and most of its second in 1975. Although the league's proclaimed ambition was to bring American football onto a worldwide stage, the farthest t ...
in 1974. Such legislation would have banned US football leagues from playing in Canada. In particular, Montreal's CFL team, the
Concordes, was on precarious financial ground, having just been established to replace the recently folded Alouettes. This led Bassett to drop the idea.
Once play actually started, the league experienced the same kind of franchise instability, relocation, and closures that almost all pro football leagues, including the NFL, experienced in their early years.
The 1983 season
* The
Washington Federals
Washington commonly refers to:
* Washington (state), United States
* Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States
** A metonym for the federal government of the United States
** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...
finished tied with the
Arizona Wranglers as the league's worst team with 4–14 records. The Federals were coached by the
Canadian Football League
The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...
's fourth most successful coach at the time,
Ray Jauch
Ray Jauch ( ; born February 11, 1938) is an American former gridiron football player and coach. He was head coach in the Canadian Football League (CFL), the United States Football League (USFL), and the Arena Football League. He won 127 regular ...
. The team was injury prone and mistake prone, on and off the field. Prior to the 1983 season, the team traded away the rights to the league's leading sacker, linebacker
John Corker
John B. Corker (born December 29, 1958) is a former American football linebacker who played four seasons in the National Football League, mainly for the Houston Oilers, and eight seasons in the Arena Football League. In 2002, Corker was elected i ...
to Michigan for a 5th round pick. In spite of a rotating door at QB, the Federals lost 8 games by a TD or less, a fact that gave team owner
Berl Bernhard hope for the 1984 season. The 1983 team finished second to last in attendance drawing 13,850 per game.
*
New Jersey Generals
The New Jersey Generals were a franchise of the United States Football League (USFL) established in 1982 to begin play in the spring and summer of 1983. The team played three seasons from 1983 to 1985, winning 31 regular season games and losing ...
' running back
Herschel Walker emerged as the league's first superstar running for 1,812 yards and 17 TDs. However, the team won only 6 games.
* The
Denver Gold
The Denver Gold was a franchise in the United States Football League, an attempt to establish a second major professional football league in the United States, playing a springtime season, from 1983 to 1985. The Gold played their home games at Mi ...
won only 7 of 18 games in their first year, but finished first in the league in attendance drawing an average of 41,736 fans to see a team that featured a number of former Broncos. Team owner
Ron Blanding stuck to his budget, and took great pride in seeing his team defeat the big budget Chicago Blitz in Chicago 16–13 in week three on a TD run with 22 seconds to go. Blanding fired very popular former Broncos Coach
Red Miller
Robert "Red" Miller (October 31, 1927 – September 27, 2017) was an American football coach. He served as the head coach for the Denver Broncos of the National Football League (NFL) from 1977 to 1980. In his first year as Denver's head coach, h ...
after a 4–7 start, but was still able to finish the season with strong attendance. Due to low attendance numbers and over budget spending on players on all the other teams in the league, Blanding's Gold was the only USFL team to turn a profit in 1983.
* The
Oakland Invaders
The Oakland Invaders were a professional American football team that played in the United States Football League (USFL) from 1983 through 1985. Based in Oakland, California, they played at the Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum.
The team can trac ...
finished 9–9 and won the Pacific Division behind the play of 29-year-old quarterback
Fred Besana
Fred Besana (born March 9, 1954) is a former American football player, a quarterback for the Oakland Invaders of the United States Football League. He was briefly on the rosters of the Buffalo Bills and the New York Giants of the National Footbal ...
and former Oakland Raiders tight end
Raymond Chester
Raymond Tucker Chester (born June 28, 1948) is a former American Football tight end. After graduating from Douglass High School in Baltimore, Maryland, Chester played college football at the historically Black University, Morgan State. He was a ...
and halfback
Arthur Whittington
Arthur Lee Whittington (born September 4, 1955) is a former American football running back. He played for five seasons for the Oakland Raiders and the Buffalo Bills, and from 1983 to 1985 with the Oakland Invaders of the USFL.
Career
As a rooki ...
. Besana had played for the Twin City Cougars of the California Football League from 1980 to 1982, but played like a proven veteran, finishing the season as the league's second rated passer.
* In spite of a strong team led by 36-year-old former
WFL quarterback
Johnnie Walton
John Booker Walton (born October 4, 1947) is a former American football player and coach. He played professionally as a quarterback in the Continental Football League (CFL), World Football League (WFL), National Football League (NFL), and Unit ...
and CFL veteran halfback
Richard Crump, the
Boston Breakers
The Boston Breakers were an American professional soccer club based in the Boston neighborhood of Allston. The team competed in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). They replaced the original Breakers, who competed in the defunct Women's ...
were unable to draw the regular sellouts they needed to survive at Nickerson. (Even when they sold out Nickerson, they still lost money due to its small capacity.) Boston finished the season 11–7, narrowly missing the playoffs. Walton, who had retired from pro football years earlier, and had spent the previous 3 years coaching college football, was the league's 7th ranked passer. Boston and Washington were the only USFL teams to draw less than 14,000 per game in 1983. The other 10 teams drew over 18,000 per game.
* The
George Allen George Allen may refer to:
Politics and law
* George E. Allen (1896–1973), American political operative and one-time head coach of the Cumberland University football team
* George Allen (Australian politician) (1800–1877), Mayor of Sydney and ...
-led
Chicago Blitz
The Chicago Blitz was a professional American football team that played in the United States Football League in the mid-1980s. They played at Soldier Field in Chicago, Illinois.
Team history
The Blitz were one of the twelve charter franchis ...
had been described as an "NFL caliber" team and were heavily favored to win the title and dominate the rest of the league. The team was stacked with quality players, led by NFL veteran quarterback
Greg Landry
Gregory Paul Landry (born December 18, 1946) is a former American football player and coach who played quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) from 1968 to 1981, and again in 1984. He played for the Detroit Lions, Baltimore Colts and ...
, rookie HB
Tim Spencer of Ohio State, and rookie wide receiver
Trumaine Johnson of Grambling. In week two,
Jim Joseph
Jim or JIM may refer to:
* Jim (given name), a given name
* Jim, a diminutive form of the given name James
* Jim, a short form of the given name Jimmy
* OPCW-UN Joint Investigative Mechanism
* ''Jim'' (comics), a series by Jim Woodring
* ''Jim ...
's
Arizona Wranglers led by rookie quarterback
Alan Risher
Alan David Risher (born May 6, 1961) is a former quarterback for the LSU Tigers and the United States Football League (USFL), where he played for the Arizona Wranglers. The USFL was a 12 team league in 1983, so although Risher was drafted 170th o ...
of LSU came from a fourth quarter 29–12 deficit to defeat the Blitz 30–29 in a game considered by many to be the biggest upset in USFL history. The Blitz would go on to lose five more games in the regular season and be edged out by Michigan for the Central Division title. In the first round of the playoffs, the Blitz would carry a 38–17 lead into the fourth quarter vs. the host
Philadelphia Stars before losing to the Stars 44–38 in OT.
* The
Philadelphia Stars finished a league best 15–3. Led by Coach
Jim Mora, NFL veteran quarterback
Chuck Fusina
Charles Anthony Fusina (born May 31, 1957) is a former American college and professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) and United States Football League (USFL) for seven seasons during the 1970s and ...
, rookie halfback
Kelvin Bryant
Kelvin LeRoy Bryant (born September 26, 1960) is a former American football running back in the National Football League and the United States Football League.
High school
Bryant played two years of varsity football at Tarboro High School in Ta ...
of North Carolina and a very good defense led by linebacker
Sam Mills
Samuel Davis Mills Jr. (June 3, 1959 – April 18, 2005) was an American football linebacker who played twelve seasons in the National Football League (NFL) for the New Orleans Saints and Carolina Panthers. He also played for three seasons for ...
, the Stars made it to the title game where they almost came back from a 17–3 third quarter deficit before falling 24–22 to the Michigan Panthers.
*
Michigan Panthers
The Michigan Panthers were a professional American football team based in the Detroit, Michigan area. The Panthers competed in the United States Football League (USFL) as a member of the Western Conference and Central Division. The team played i ...
owner
A. Alfred Taubman quickly decided he was willing to pay to fill the holes on his team with NFL caliber talent. Early in the season, the Panthers signed NFL veterans like guard
Thom Dornbrook, tackle
Ray Pinney, fullback
and defensive end
John Banaszak
John Arthur Banaszak (born August 24, 1950) is an American football coach and former player. He was formerly the head football coach at Robert Morris University. Banaszak played in the National Football League with the Pittsburgh Steelers from 1 ...
. Consequently, after a 1–4 start, the team jelled and finished the regular season 11–2, edging out Chicago for the Central Division title. They dispatched Oakland in the playoffs 37–21 and weathered a frantic comeback by the Stars to become the first league champions.
On the whole, the inaugural season was a success for the league. Attendance was in line with league expectations at about 25,000 fans per game, and television ratings slightly exceeded projections (an average
Nielsen rating
Nielsen Media Research (NMR) is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre, films (via the AMC Theatres MAP program), and newspapers. Headquartered in New York City, it is best known for the Nielsen rati ...
of 6.1, when the league had aimed for 5.0). The brand of play was exciting and entertaining, and the 1983 championship was generally recognized as being a more entertaining game than most of the
Super Bowl
The Super Bowl is the annual final playoff game of the National Football League (NFL) to determine the league champion. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966, replacing the NFL Championship Game. Since 2022, the game ...
s of the era. Even in cities where the fans were not numerous, the fan base was passionate; the documentary ''Small Potatoes: Who Killed the USFL?'' made note of a regular-season game in which
Boston Breakers
The Boston Breakers were an American professional soccer club based in the Boston neighborhood of Allston. The team competed in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). They replaced the original Breakers, who competed in the defunct Women's ...
fans
stormed the field following a come-from-behind victory at
Nickerson Field
Nickerson Field is an outdoor athletic stadium in the Northeastern United States, on the campus of Boston University (BU) in Boston, Massachusetts. The stadium is owned by BU, and is the home field for some Boston University Terriers athletics pr ...
.
The 1983–1984 off-season
* In September 1983, the New Jersey Generals were sold by
J. Walter Duncan to real-estate magnate
Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021.
Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...
. The year before, Trump had been tapped to be the original owner of the franchise, but had backed out in order to make an unsuccessful bid to buy the NFL's
Baltimore Colts; the league subsequently awarded the franchise to Duncan instead.
* The
Boston Breakers
The Boston Breakers were an American professional soccer club based in the Boston neighborhood of Allston. The team competed in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). They replaced the original Breakers, who competed in the defunct Women's ...
were unable to find a more suitable venue within Boston and its surrounding areas, so the Breakers relocated to New Orleans on October 18, 1983, and later sold to
businessman Joseph Canizaro.
* Seeing the out-of-control spending worsening, Blanding sold his Denver Gold to Doug Spedding for $10 million. Blanding is widely thought to be the only owner to make a profit on the USFL.
* Needing fresh capital, the league chose to expand league membership from 12 to 18 teams, adding the
Pittsburgh Maulers,
Houston Gamblers
The Houston Gamblers were an American football team that competed in the United States Football League in 1984 and 1985. The Gamblers were coached by veteran NFL head coach Jack Pardee in both their seasons. They were noteworthy for introducing ...
,
San Antonio Gunslingers
The San Antonio Gunslingers were a professional American football team based in San Antonio, Texas, that played in the United States Football League (USFL) in 1984 and 1985. Owned by oil magnate Clinton Manges, the team played its home games in ...
,
Memphis Showboats
The Memphis Showboats were an American football franchise in the United States Football League. They entered the league in its expansion in 1984 and made the 1985 playoffs, losing in the semifinal round to the Oakland Invaders. Perhaps the mo ...
,
Oklahoma Outlaws
Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New M ...
and
Jacksonville Bulls
The Jacksonville Bulls were a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. They were members of the United States Football League (USFL) during its final two seasons, 1984 and 1985. They played their home games in the Gator ...
. The Dixon plan called for expansion to 16 in the league's second year. The Outlaws were originally slated to play in San Diego, but as was the case with what became the Express, could not get a lease for Jack Murphy Stadium. The Outlaws opened play in Tulsa at
Skelly Stadium
Skelly Field at H. A. Chapman Stadium is an outdoor college football stadium in the south central United States, located on the campus of the University of Tulsa in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Commonly known as H. A. Chapman Stadium, it is the ...
. The Gamblers were technically not an expansion team. Founder David Dixon had reserved a franchise for himself in founding the league. He had chosen not to field a team in 1983 to help guide the league. By 1984, Dixon was disgusted with the path the league was on and the league owners were sick of Dixon's constant complaints about them overspending. With their blessing, he sold his franchise for slightly less than the $6 million expansion fee. Dixon's franchise became the Houston Gamblers.
* After seeing the Wranglers lose ten games in a row to finish 4–14 (tied with Washington for the league's worst record) and perhaps more importantly seeing attendance wilt in the summer heat at
Sun Devil Stadium
Sun Devil Stadium is an outdoor college football stadium in the southwestern United States, on the campus of Arizona State University (ASU) in Tempe, Arizona. It is home to the ASU Sun Devils football team of the Pac-12 Conference. The s ...
, Joseph decided to sell the Wranglers. Meanwhile, in spite of having the league's highest profile coach,
George Allen George Allen may refer to:
Politics and law
* George E. Allen (1896–1973), American political operative and one-time head coach of the Cumberland University football team
* George Allen (Australian politician) (1800–1877), Mayor of Sydney and ...
, and being at worst the third best team in the league, the
Chicago Blitz
The Chicago Blitz was a professional American football team that played in the United States Football League in the mid-1980s. They played at Soldier Field in Chicago, Illinois.
Team history
The Blitz were one of the twelve charter franchis ...
had drawn an anemic 18,133 per game, unable to contend with
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...
's
Cubs and
White Sox
The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and ...
, the latter on their way to the postseason for the first time in 24 years. Blitz owner Dr.
Ted Diethrich, a Phoenix resident, felt the losses did not justify an investment so far from his home in Phoenix. Diethrich sold the Blitz to Milwaukee heart surgeon James Hoffman, and then bought the Wranglers from Joseph. Almost immediately after Diethrich closed on his purchase of the Wranglers, he and Hoffman swapped their team assets—coaching staff, most of the players, and all. To Blitz fans, it seemed that Hoffman had jettisoned one of the league's elite teams in favor of a team that tied for the league's worst record. In truth it was worse than that. In a league starved for competent QB play, Wrangler triggerman Alan Risher stayed in Arizona. The new Blitz would feature longtime Bear backup QB
Vince Evans
Vince is a given name, it is the anglicisation and shortened form of the name Vincent, as well as a surname.
It may refer to:
Given name People
* Vince Agnew (born 1987), American football player
* Vince Cable (born 1943), British politici ...
(signed in November 1983 to a four-year, $5 million deal). In January, The Blitz tendered an offer that would have been the largest contract in football—$2 million a year for three years—to Bears running back
Walter Payton
Walter Jerry Payton (July 25, 1953Although most sources at the time of his death gave Payton's birth year as 1954, reliable sources subsequently state he was born in 1953. – November 1, 1999) was an American football running back who played ...
. Payton advised he would consider the offer, but would not be rushed by the Blitz. The Blitz's 1984 season was scheduled to start on February 27, 1984, and they had little success selling season tickets. The Blitz needed Payton to sign quickly to help season ticket sales, so they had put a deadline on the offer of February 9, 1984. Before he made up his mind, the Blitz withdrew the offer realizing they simply did not have the finances. With a less talented team and no big names to excite the fans, Chicago's season ticket sales predictably flatlined, in spite of Hoffman sinking a lot of money into advertising. Just prior to the start of the season, a frustrated Hoffman walked away from the Blitz, leaving the team to the minority owners.
* In addition to Trump buying the Generals, the
Los Angeles Express were sold to J. William Oldenburg. The league believed that the teams based in the nation's two largest markets were owned by the owners with the deepest pockets. Trump and Oldenburg both went on signing sprees. Trump poached several NFL starters, including Cleveland's QB
Brian Sipe
Brian (sometimes spelled Bryan in English) is a male given name of Irish and Breton origin, as well as a surname of Occitan origin. It is common in the English-speaking world.
It is possible that the name is derived from an Old Celtic word me ...
. Oldenburg's Express went after a number of highly regarded collegiate players. This combined with a general lack of quality QBs (only nine QBs in the 12-team league finished the 1983 season with QB ratings above 70) and HBs (even in an 18-game season only six rushers broke the 1000 yard mark) tipped off another explosion in league spending as USFL teams raided the NFL and college ranks to keep up.
The 1984 season
* The USFL went to a seven-man officiating crew in 1984 adding the side judge.
* After a game 1 blowout 53–14 road loss to the expansion
Jacksonville Bulls
The Jacksonville Bulls were a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. They were members of the United States Football League (USFL) during its final two seasons, 1984 and 1985. They played their home games in the Gator ...
,
Washington Federals
Washington commonly refers to:
* Washington (state), United States
* Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States
** A metonym for the federal government of the United States
** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...
head coach
Ray Jauch
Ray Jauch ( ; born February 11, 1938) is an American former gridiron football player and coach. He was head coach in the Canadian Football League (CFL), the United States Football League (USFL), and the Arena Football League. He won 127 regular ...
was fired. In week 2, star RB
Craig James was injured. The team collapsed. Despite solid play from 2nd year QB
Mike Hohensee
Michael Louis Hohensee (born February 22, 1961) is a former professional football quarterback who played in the United States Football League, Canadian Football League, National Football League and Arena Football League. He most recently the hea ...
, WR
Joey Walters
Joey Walters (born October 29, 1954 in Florence, South Carolina) is a former slotback and wide receiver who played in the Canadian Football League, mainly for the Saskatchewan Roughriders. He later played for the Washington Federals and the Orlan ...
, and HB
Curtis Bledsoe
Curtis Kemp Bledsoe (born March 19, 1957 in Odessa, Texas) is a former Professional sports, professional American football player who played Fullback (American football), fullback, Halfback (American football), halfback, and running back. He playe ...
, the team would finish 3–15, losing twice to the 3–15 expansion Pittsburgh Maulers and going 0–7 vs. the expansion teams. With seven games to go in the season, a press conference was held to announce the Federals had been sold to
Sherwood "Woody" Weiser who intended to move the team to
Miami
Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...
. The team would be coached by
Miami Hurricanes
The Miami Hurricanes (known informally as The U, UM, or The 'Canes) are the intercollegiate sports teams that represent the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida. The Hurricanes compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic A ...
' coach
Howard Schnellenberger
Howard Leslie Schnellenberger (March 16, 1934 – March 27, 2021) was an American football coach with long service at both the professional and college levels. He held head coaching positions with the National Football League's Baltimore Colts a ...
.
* After two games, William Tatham Jr., son of Oklahoma Outlaws owner
William Tatham, announced
Skelly Stadium
Skelly Field at H. A. Chapman Stadium is an outdoor college football stadium in the south central United States, located on the campus of the University of Tulsa in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Commonly known as H. A. Chapman Stadium, it is the ...
was insufficient to support a pro team and that the Outlaws would be moving the following year. In spite of this lame duck status, awful spring weather, and a season-ending ten-game losing streak, the team drew an average of 21,038 fans per game.
* A few games into the season, with the Chicago Blitz struggling and the fans staying away in droves, the team was near financial collapse. The league was forced to take over the Blitz for the remainder of the 1984 season in order to protect the league's TV deals which called for teams in the New York, Los Angeles and Chicago markets. With 4 games to go, a press conference was held announcing that
Eddie Einhorn Eddie Einhorn (January 3, 1936 – February 24, 2016) was minority owner and vice chairman of the Chicago White Sox.
Biography
Einhorn grew up in a Jewish family in Paterson, New Jersey, the son of Mae (née Lippman) and Harold B. Einhorn and resi ...
would become the new owner of the USFL's Chicago franchise. At the press conference, it was stated that although the new team would not be the Blitz, Einhorn's franchise would retain the rights to all Blitz players and coaching staff—strongly implying the team would play in the 1985 season.
* The expansion
Houston Gamblers
The Houston Gamblers were an American football team that competed in the United States Football League in 1984 and 1985. The Gamblers were coached by veteran NFL head coach Jack Pardee in both their seasons. They were noteworthy for introducing ...
rookie QB
Jim Kelly
James Edward Kelly (born February 14, 1960) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 11 seasons with the Buffalo Bills. He also spent two seasons with the Houston Gamblers of the United Stat ...
of the University of Miami emerged as the league's second superstar carrying his team to win the central conference with a 13–5 record. Kelly threw 44 TDs and piled up over 5,000 yards. The Gamblers would fall to the eventual league runner up Arizona Wranglers in the playoffs, 17–16.
* The
Los Angeles Express' signings of high-profile collegiate players culminated with the signing of BYU QB
Steve Young
Jon Steven Young (born October 11, 1961) is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 15 seasons, primarily with the San Francisco 49ers. He also played for the Tampa Bay Buccane ...
to a $40 million guaranteed contract—at the time, far and away the largest contract in pro football history. The young talent was slow to adapt to the pro game and the Express continued to hover around .500. With one of the leagues' highest payrolls and poor attendance, financial losses mounted. It is estimated that the Express lost as much as $15 million in 1984. The Express did manage to make the playoffs and defeated the defending league champion Panthers 27–21 in triple overtime, before falling to the eventual league runners-up, Allen's
Arizona Wranglers, 35–23.
* In spite of seeing his Wranglers team make it to the title game, Ted Diethrich had seen enough. He had lost millions for the second year in a row. Despite fielding a dramatically improved team, he had only had seen a negligible increase in attendance in Arizona over the previous year's numbers.
* The Philadelphia Stars again finished with the league's best record and made it to the title game, this time defeating Diethrich's Wranglers, 23–3.
The 1984–1985 off-season
* The owner of the
Los Angeles Express, J. William Oldenburg, stopped paying the team's bills late in the season after media and federal investigations revealed he had lied about his net worth. News of his financial troubles sent a collective shiver through the league in the middle of the 1984 season. With Chicago already gone, the potential loss of the Express might have put the league's contract with ABC in jeopardy.
* Seeking a larger market, a larger stadium, and to share expenses, the Outlaws sought to merge with the
Oakland Invaders
The Oakland Invaders were a professional American football team that played in the United States Football League (USFL) from 1983 through 1985. Based in Oakland, California, they played at the Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum.
The team can trac ...
, but Oakland Invaders owner Tad Taube walked away from the deal rather than give control of the team to Outlaws part-owner and general manager William Tatham Jr.
* Weiser pulled the plug on his deal to buy the Federals and move them to Miami. Bandits minority owner Donald Dizney, a health care industry magnate unrelated to the differently-spelled
Disney
The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...
family, stepped in 5 days later and bought the Federals. Under his ownership, the team was moved to
Orlando
Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures rele ...
, where they became the
Orlando Renegades
The Orlando Renegades were a professional American football team that played in Orlando, Florida, Orlando, Florida, in the United States Football League (USFL) for a single season in 1985. Before its season in Orlando, the franchise played in Wash ...
.
* After the league officially announced plans to move to the fall in 1986 (see below), a number of teams moved elsewhere after their owners decided they could not directly compete with the NFL. The
Breakers moved a second time, this time to
Portland, Oregon
Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...
. The defending champion
Philadelphia Stars moved to
Baltimore
Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...
, capitalizing on the
departure of the NFL's
Colts to Indiana—until the Stars realized that the
Baltimore Orioles
The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East division. As one of the American L ...
still occupied Baltimore's only usable stadium during the spring and summer, forcing the team to settle in
College Park, just outside Washington city limits, while retaining the "Baltimore Stars" name until the season moved to the fall in 1986.
* The
Michigan Panthers
The Michigan Panthers were a professional American football team based in the Detroit, Michigan area. The Panthers competed in the United States Football League (USFL) as a member of the Western Conference and Central Division. The team played i ...
merged with the
Oakland Invaders
The Oakland Invaders were a professional American football team that played in the United States Football League (USFL) from 1983 through 1985. Based in Oakland, California, they played at the Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum.
The team can trac ...
, while the
Pittsburgh Maulers folded after losing a reported $10 million in their only season.
* Einhorn, who along with Trump was one of the principal advocates of fall play, decided to sit out the 1985 season. ABC cleared this move due to the league's anemic ratings in Chicago, allowing the league to shut down the Blitz, who had lost nearly $6 million in 1984.
The assets of Diethrich's Arizona Wranglers (see Chicago Blitz of 1983) would be acquired by the Tathams in a deal often referred to as a "merger", as the rosters were merged. The resulting
Arizona Outlaws
The Arizona Outlaws were a professional American football team that played in the United States Football League in the mid-1980s. They were owned by Fresno banker and real estate magnate William Tatham Sr., who had briefly owned the Portland Thu ...
featured players from both teams but was run by the Tathams.
The 1985 season
* Gamblers minority owner Jay Roulier agreed to buy the Express, but was pushed out in short order during training camp after it emerged that he had misled league officials about his net worth. The league took control of the team and decided to run it on a shoestring until a new owner could be found. The league financed and ran the Express all season, but could not find an owner. With a huge salary burden and dreadful attendance, the Express barely survived the season.
* Owners agree to a 4-year CBA with the
United States Football League Players Association.
*
San Antonio Gunslingers
The San Antonio Gunslingers were a professional American football team based in San Antonio, Texas, that played in the United States Football League (USFL) in 1984 and 1985. Owned by oil magnate Clinton Manges, the team played its home games in ...
owner
Clinton Manges
Clinton Manges (August 22, 1923 – September 23, 2010) was a controversial oil tycoon in Texas in the 1970s and 1980s.
Manges was born in Cement, Oklahoma. He began to amass his fortune in South Texas in the early 1970s, when he befriended Llo ...
stopped paying the team's bills with about a month to go in the season.
* The
Denver Gold
The Denver Gold was a franchise in the United States Football League, an attempt to establish a second major professional football league in the United States, playing a springtime season, from 1983 to 1985. The Gold played their home games at Mi ...
's attendance flatlined due to the planned move to the fall, as fans were not willing to choose between the Gold and the NFL's
Broncos
A bucking horse is any breed or either gender of horse with a propensity to buck. They have been, and still are, referred to by various names, including bronco, broncho, and roughstock.
The harder they buck, the more desirable they are for rod ...
. The Gold would have hosted a playoff game against the
Memphis Showboats
The Memphis Showboats were an American football franchise in the United States Football League. They entered the league in its expansion in 1984 and made the 1985 playoffs, losing in the semifinal round to the Oakland Invaders. Perhaps the mo ...
, but ABC forced the league to move the game to Memphis rather than endure the embarrassment of playing in a near-empty
Mile High Stadium
Mile High Stadium (originally Bears Stadium until 1968) was an outdoor multi-purpose stadium located in Denver, Colorado from 1948 to 2001.
The stadium was built in 1948 to accommodate the Denver Bears baseball team, which was a member of the ...
.
* Stallions owner Marvin Warner was forced to give up control of the team after
Home State Savings Bank
Home State Savings Bank was a Cincinnati, Ohio based savings and loan. Its failure in March 1985 led to a bank holiday for 70 other savings institutions that were insured by the Ohio Deposit Guarantee Fund, a private organization.
Background
Hom ...
, the Cincinnati savings and loan he controlled, was brought down in a massive run, one of the first casualties of the
savings and loan crisis. Unfortunately, the Stallions' emergency letter of credit was drawn on Home State, rendering it worthless. Team president Jerry Sklar urged the Stallions' limited partners to chip in more money, and persuaded the city government to buy a $100,000 stake in the team along with a $900,000 credit line. This allowed the Stallions to finish out the season.
The 1985–1986 off-season
* The San Antonio Gunslingers had their franchise revoked when Manges ignored a league-imposed deadline to make restitution for the team's debts.
* The Breakers were disbanded after owner Joe Canizaro suffered two-year losses in the realm of $17 million.
* Los Angeles and Oakland announced that they would suspend operations.
* Denver merged with Jacksonville, to play the 1986 season in Jacksonville, while Houston merged with New Jersey, to play in New Jersey.
* Although
Eddie Einhorn Eddie Einhorn (January 3, 1936 – February 24, 2016) was minority owner and vice chairman of the Chicago White Sox.
Biography
Einhorn grew up in a Jewish family in Paterson, New Jersey, the son of Mae (née Lippman) and Harold B. Einhorn and resi ...
remained involved with the league's antitrust lawsuit, he opted not to field a Chicago team in the USFL's fall 1986 season as planned, and the team was left off the proposed 1986 schedule.
* Tampa Bay initially pulled out of the league, prepared to continue playing in the spring even if it meant forming a new league; owner John Bassett was, in either case, too ill to continue and would die on May 14, 1986. Lee Scarfone agreed to take over the Bandits' USFL franchise in July 1985 and have the team play a fall schedule.
1986
Arizona, Baltimore, Birmingham, Jacksonville, Memphis, New Jersey, Orlando and a newly reorganized Tampa Bay team were scheduled to play an ultimately aborted 18-game fall schedule season in 1986. At the time, only New Jersey and Tampa Bay shared markets with an NFL team (in New Jersey's case, they shared with two NFL teams).
2022
It was announced that the USFL will be returning in March 2022 with at least eight teams and a broadcasting deal with
Fox Sports
Fox Sports is the brand name for a number of sports channels, broadcast divisions, programming, and other media around the world.
The ''Fox Sports'' name has since been used for other sports media assets. These assets are held mainly by the Fo ...
. Despite claims that this was a reactivation of the old league, no figures from the original league are involved in the new league, which is instead being backed by the principals of the extant developmental showcase
The Spring League
The Spring League was an American football developmental league and scouting event (pro showcase) that played from 2017 to 2021 and was founded by Brian Woods. Aimed at professional athletes but not paying a salary or expenses, the league's go ...
, Brian Woods and
Fox Sports
Fox Sports is the brand name for a number of sports channels, broadcast divisions, programming, and other media around the world.
The ''Fox Sports'' name has since been used for other sports media assets. These assets are held mainly by the Fo ...
. On June 3, 2021, the new USFL confirmed a return in the spring of 2022. The league plans a minimum of eight teams for its first season and will retain rights to original team names.
Competition vs. NFL
The Dixon Plan vs. building a league of stars
At first the USFL competed with the older, more established
National Football League
The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...
by following the Dixon plan. The plan allowed the league to compete not just by playing its games on a March–June schedule during the NFL off-season, but also by having the following conditions:
* Teams play in large, NFL-caliber stadiums.
* Teams plan for large year 1 pre-season promotional budgets to introduce the team to the local market.
* A tight players' salary cap of US$1.8 million per team (the NFL introduced a salary cap in 1994).
* A territorial draft, to better stock teams with familiar local collegiate stars to help the gate (similar to the proposed
All-American Football League and used by the now-defunct
Alliance of American Football
The Alliance of American Football (AAF) was a professional American football minor league. The AAF consisted of eight centrally owned and operated teams in the southern and western United States, seven of which were located in metropolitan are ...
).
The Dixon plan laid out a budget to allow all teams to manage losses in the initial lean years. As mentioned earlier, prospective owners had to meet strict capitalization requirements and post a $1.3 million line of credit for emergencies.
The league's TV revenue met the requirements of the Dixon plan. The Plan called for first year attendance over 18,000 per game. In 1983, 10 of the 12 teams exceeded that threshold. Player spending was where the league deviated from the plan, in the name of pursuing stars.
The league's biggest splash—the signing of Herschel Walker, a three time All-American and the 1982 Heisman Trophy winner—represented a significant breach from the Dixon Plan. Like the NFL, the USFL barred
underclassmen
A student is a person enrolled in a school or other educational institution.
In the United Kingdom and most commonwealth countries, a "student" attends a secondary school or higher (e.g., college or university); those in primary or elementary ...
from signing. However, league officials were certain that this rule would never stand up in court, so they allowed Walker to sign with the
New Jersey Generals
The New Jersey Generals were a franchise of the United States Football League (USFL) established in 1982 to begin play in the spring and summer of 1983. The team played three seasons from 1983 to 1985, winning 31 regular season games and losing ...
. More importantly, Walker signed a three-year contract valued at $4.2 million with a $1 million signing bonus. Due to the USFL's salary cap rules, this was a personal-services contract with Generals owner J. Walter Duncan, and not a standard player contract. Nonetheless, the other owners did not raise any objections, knowing that having the reigning Heisman winner in the fold would lend the league instant credibility.
Other marquee stars to sign with the league were
Craig James,
Anthony Carter and
Kelvin Bryant
Kelvin LeRoy Bryant (born September 26, 1960) is a former American football running back in the National Football League and the United States Football League.
High school
Bryant played two years of varsity football at Tarboro High School in Ta ...
as well as some familiar NFL vets like
Chuck Fusina
Charles Anthony Fusina (born May 31, 1957) is a former American college and professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) and United States Football League (USFL) for seven seasons during the 1970s and ...
and members of the NFL vet laden
Chicago Blitz
The Chicago Blitz was a professional American football team that played in the United States Football League in the mid-1980s. They played at Soldier Field in Chicago, Illinois.
Team history
The Blitz were one of the twelve charter franchis ...
, like
Greg Landry
Gregory Paul Landry (born December 18, 1946) is a former American football player and coach who played quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) from 1968 to 1981, and again in 1984. He played for the Detroit Lions, Baltimore Colts and ...
, showed that the upstart league was a credible challenger to the NFL. The league also made a serious run at some other stars, such as
Eric Dickerson
Eric Demetric Dickerson (born September 2, 1960) is an American former professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL) for 11 seasons. Dickerson played college football for the Mustangs of Southern Meth ...
and
Dan Marino
Daniel Constantine Marino Jr. (born September 15, 1961) is an American former football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 17 seasons with the Miami Dolphins. After a successful college career at Pittsburgh and be ...
.
The pursuit of top-level talent proved to be a double-edged sword. While the presence of many blue-chip stars proved the league could put a competitive product on the field, many teams wildly exceeded the league's player salary cap in order to put more competitive teams on the field. For instance, the Michigan Panthers reportedly lost $6 million—three times what Dixon suggested a team could afford to lose in the first season—even as they became the league's first champions. The desire to compete with other loaded USFL teams and for the league to be seen as approaching NFL caliber led to almost all of the teams exceeding the Dixon Plan's team salary cap amount within the league's first 6–18 months.
Dixon urged the members of the league to reduce spending. Rather than backing off spending, recommitting to a firmer salary cap, and dispersing some of the larger contracts to expansion teams to alleviate the problem, the league sought other options to take on revenue to cover increased costs overruns. These actions magnified the problem.
The league added six more teams in 1984 rather than the four initially envisioned by Dixon, to pocket two more expansion fees. This put more pressure on the TV deal, which was not designed to support an 18 team league. A frustrated Dixon sold his stake and got out.
Additionally, the league was so determined to appear to put a credible product on the field that on some occasions, it set aside its own vetting procedures–all of which backfired disastrously. When Diethrich sold the Blitz to Hoffman in order to clear the way for his purchase of the Wranglers before the 1984 season, they did not take a close look at Hoffman's financial statements. Realizing he was in over his head, Hoffman was forced to scramble to find minority partners. When there were no takers, he walked away from the team after the second preseason game, forcing the league to take over the team.
In San Antonio, the league was so enamored at Manges' apparent oil wealth that it not only did not closely vet his application, but did not require him to make an initial capital investment. Instead, Manges paid team expenses out of pocket as they arose, resulting in an operation that appeared short of professional standards. The Gunslingers' offices were in a double-wide trailer, and they used folding chairs to bring
Alamo Stadium
Alamo Stadium is a horseshoe-shaped football and soccer stadium in the Monte Vista Historic District of San Antonio, Texas. Nicknamed "The Rock Pile" due to its primarily limestone construction it was completed in September 1940 as a Works P ...
up to minimum capacity. Manges' practices caught up with him in 1985, when the oil market collapsed. The result was a litany of bounced checks, culminating in the team going the last four games without pay.
[ It later emerged that Manges had been in financial difficulty as early as 1980.
The worst situation of all, however, was in Los Angeles. Original owners Alan Harmon and Bill Daniels sold the Express to mortgage banker J. William Oldenburg before the 1984 season. Swayed by Oldenburg's apparent net worth of $100 million, the USFL took his word as evidence that he would be a solid owner for one of its marquee franchises. However, in June 1984, investigations by the FBI, '']The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' and ''The Wall Street Journal
''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...
'' revealed that the man who made waves by signing a roster of high-priced young talent did not have even a fraction of the money to buy the team. He abruptly walked away from the team during the playoffs. Gamblers minority owner Jay Roulier took over the team in October, only to be pushed out just months later when it emerged that he too had lied about his net worth. The league was forced to run the team on a shoestring that season.[
With the new wave of teams, more college stars like ]Marcus Dupree
Marcus L. Dupree (born May 22, 1964) is a former American football player. He was born and grew up in Philadelphia, Mississippi, where his playing in high school attracted national attention. A highly touted and sought-after college football re ...
, Mike Rozier
Michael T. Rozier (born March 1, 1961) is a former American college and professional football player who was a running back in the United States Football League (USFL) for two seasons and the National Football League (NFL) for seven seasons duri ...
, Reggie White
Reginald Howard White (December 19, 1961 – December 26, 2004) was an American professional football player who played defensive end in the National Football League (NFL) for 15 seasons during the 1980s and 1990s. He played college football for ...
, Jim Kelly
James Edward Kelly (born February 14, 1960) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 11 seasons with the Buffalo Bills. He also spent two seasons with the Houston Gamblers of the United Stat ...
, Steve Young
Jon Steven Young (born October 11, 1961) is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 15 seasons, primarily with the San Francisco 49ers. He also played for the Tampa Bay Buccane ...
and other young stars of the day signed high dollar contracts to play for USFL teams in 1984, as did high-profile NFL stars like Doug Williams, Brian Sipe
Brian (sometimes spelled Bryan in English) is a male given name of Irish and Breton origin, as well as a surname of Occitan origin. It is common in the English-speaking world.
It is possible that the name is derived from an Old Celtic word me ...
, Joe Cribbs
Joe Stanier Cribbs (born January 5, 1958) is a retired National Football League and United States Football League football running back. He played collegiately at Auburn University along with future NFL backs William Andrews and James Brook ...
, and Gary Barbaro
Gary Wayne Barbaro (born February 11, 1954) is a former free safety who played seven seasons in the National Football League from 1976 to 1982 and one season in the United States Football League (USFL) in 1984. A third round selection by the Kans ...
.
Spring schedule vs. fall schedule
In 1984, the league began discussing the possibility of competing head-to-head with the NFL by playing its games in the fall beginning in 1986. The strongest proponents of playing in the fall were Chicago owner Eddie Einhorn Eddie Einhorn (January 3, 1936 – February 24, 2016) was minority owner and vice chairman of the Chicago White Sox.
Biography
Einhorn grew up in a Jewish family in Paterson, New Jersey, the son of Mae (née Lippman) and Harold B. Einhorn and resi ...
and Generals owner Donald Trump. Einhorn and Trump argued that if the USFL moved to the fall, it would eventually force a merger with the NFL in which the older league would have to admit at least some USFL teams. They also argued that if a merger did occur, the surviving teams' original investment would more than double.
A consulting firm recommended sticking with a spring season. Despite the protests of many of the league's "old guard", who wanted to stay with the original plan of playing football in the spring months, on August 22, 1984 the owners voted to move to the fall starting in 1986. On April 29, 1985, the league's owners voted 13–2 to reaffirm their decision to begin playing a fall season in 1986. Tampa Bay Bandits owner John F. Bassett
John F. Bassett (February 5, 1939 – May 15, 1986) was a Canadian tennis player, businessman, and film producer.
Athletic career
Bassett won the Canadian Open Junior Doubles Championship in 1955 when he was 15 years old. He reached the second ...
, who had registered one of the two "nay" votes, declared his intention to pull his team out of the USFL and organize a new spring football league. However, failing health (he died from cancer in May 1986) forced Bassett to abandon his plans and sell the Bandits to minor partner Lee Scarfone, who agreed to keep the franchise in the USFL. The spring advocates had lost, and the fall advocates now set their sights on forcing a merger with the NFL, or at the very least winning a sizable settlement and securing a TV network for fall broadcasts. The USFL had jettisoned its original model of spring football in favor of the risky gamble (but potentially lucrative return) of going head-to-head with the NFL.
As a direct result of this decision, the Pittsburgh Maulers folded rather than compete with the Pittsburgh Steelers
The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Steel ...
, the sale of the struggling Washington Federals to Weiser's Miami-based ownership group collapsed, the New Orleans Breakers and 1984 champion Philadelphia Stars had to relocate, and the 1983 champion Michigan Panthers surprised the commissioner with an announcement that they would not be playing in the Detroit area for the 1985 season. Panthers owner A. Alfred Taubman informed the league at the meeting that he had negotiated a conditional merger with Tad Taube's Oakland Invaders depending on the outcome of the vote, with Taubman as majority owner. With an expectation of fall play in 1986, Einhorn decided not to field a team for the final lame duck spring 1985 season. Within a few weeks of the decision, the USFL had been forced to abandon four lucrative markets, abort a move to a fifth and suspend operations in a sixth. In hindsight, this destroyed the USFL's viability, although the Maulers folding likely would've happened anyway due to the team being owned by shopping mall
A shopping mall (or simply mall) is a North American term for a large indoor shopping center, usually anchored by department stores. The term "mall" originally meant a pedestrian promenade with shops along it (that is, the term was used to refe ...
magnate Edward J. DeBartolo Sr. (who also owned the National Hockey League
The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...
's Pittsburgh Penguins
The Pittsburgh Penguins (colloquially known as the Pens) are a professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division of the Eastern Conference, and have playe ...
at the time), whose son Edward J. DeBartolo Jr.
Edward John DeBartolo Jr. (born November 6, 1946) is an American businessman best known for his 23-year ownership of the San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League (NFL). The five Super Bowls the 49ers dynasty won in 14 years were a r ...
owned the Super Bowl
The Super Bowl is the annual final playoff game of the National Football League (NFL) to determine the league champion. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966, replacing the NFL Championship Game. Since 2022, the game ...
champion San Francisco 49ers
The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...
(a team now owned by his sister Denise DeBartolo York
Marie Denise DeBartolo York (born 1950) is an American billionaire businesswoman, who is the owner and co-chair of the San Francisco 49ers American football team. She is the daughter of late construction magnate Edward J. DeBartolo Sr. and the la ...
), causing a potential conflict of interest
A conflict of interest (COI) is a situation in which a person or organization is involved in multiple interests, financial or otherwise, and serving one interest could involve working against another. Typically, this relates to situations i ...
for the family between the USFL and the NFL.
ABC offered the USFL a 4-year, $175 million TV deal to play in the spring in 1986. ESPN offered $70M over 3 years. Following all the mergers and shutdowns, there just were not enough spring football advocates left in the league to accept those contracts. The owners in the league walked away from what averaged out to $67 million per year starting in 1986 to pursue victory over the NFL.
After the 1985 season, more plans were announced to accommodate the fall schedule, pool financial resources and avoid costly head-to-head competition with NFL teams. Two mergers were announced. The Denver Gold merged with the Jacksonville Bulls, with the Bulls as the surviving team. Trump bought the assets of the Houston Gamblers for an undisclosed amount and merged them with the New Jersey Generals. While the Generals were the surviving team, Gamblers coach Jack Pardee
John Perry Pardee (April 19, 1936 – April 1, 2013) was an American football linebacker and the only head coach to helm a team in college football, the National Football League (NFL), the United States Football League (USFL), the World Footbal ...
was named as the merged team's new coach. Both the Gold and Gamblers had seen their attendance plummet to unsustainable levels, as their fanbases were not willing to abandon the Denver Broncos
The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquart ...
and Houston Oilers
The Houston Oilers were a professional American football team that played in Houston from its founding in 1960 to 1996 before relocating to Memphis, and later Nashville, Tennessee becoming the Tennessee Titans. The Oilers began play in 1960 as ...
, respectively. In spite of all of these changes, the USFL would never play a fall game.
''USFL v. NFL'' lawsuit
In another effort to keep themselves afloat while at the same time attacking the more established National Football League
The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...
, the USFL filed an antitrust
Competition law is the field of law that promotes or seeks to maintain market competition by regulating anti-competitive conduct by companies. Competition law is implemented through public and private enforcement. It is also known as antitrust l ...
lawsuit
-
A lawsuit is a proceeding by a party or parties against another in the civil court of law. The archaic term "suit in law" is found in only a small number of laws still in effect today. The term "lawsuit" is used in reference to a civil actio ...
against the older league, claiming it had established a monopoly
A monopoly (from Greek language, Greek el, μόνος, mónos, single, alone, label=none and el, πωλεῖν, pōleîn, to sell, label=none), as described by Irving Fisher, is a market with the "absence of competition", creating a situati ...
with respect to television broadcasting rights, and in some cases, on access to stadium venues.
The case was first heard by Judge Peter K. Leisure. The USFL claimed that the NFL had bullied ABC, CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...
and NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
into not televising USFL games in the fall. It also claimed that the NFL had a specific plan to eliminate the USFL, the "Porter Presentation." In particular, the USFL claimed the NFL conspired to ruin the Invaders and Generals. The USFL sought damages
At common law, damages are a remedy in the form of a monetary award to be paid to a claimant as compensation for loss or injury. To warrant the award, the claimant must show that a breach of duty has caused foreseeable loss. To be recognised at ...
of $567 million, which would have been tripled to $1.7 billion under antitrust law
Competition law is the field of law that promotes or seeks to maintain market competition by regulating anti-competitive conduct by companies. Competition law is implemented through public and private enforcement. It is also known as antitrust ...
. It hoped to void the NFL's contracts with the three major networks. The USFL proposed two remedies: either force the NFL to negotiate new television contracts with only two networks, or force the NFL to split into two competing 14-team leagues, each limited to a contract with one major network.
The lawyer for the USFL, Harvey Myerson, had what he felt were three "smoking guns".
# A memo from March 1973 to NFL broadcasting director Robert Cochran, from attorney Jay Moyer stating that an "open network" might be open to the "invitation to formation of a new league."
# A memo from August 1983 from NFL management council executive director Jack Donlan to his staff. The memo laid out plans for NFL teams to "increase salary offers to USFL to existing players or run the risk of losing them."
# A 1984 presentation to NFL executives by Harvard Business School professor Michael Porter
Michael Eugene Porter (born May 23, 1947) is an American academic known for his theories on economics, business strategy, and social causes. He is the Bishop William Lawrence University Professor at Harvard Business School, and he was one of t ...
, which included a plan on "how to conquer" the United States Football League.
All but one of the league's 28 teams was named as a co-defendant. Al Davis
Allen Davis (July 4, 1929 – October 8, 2011) was an American football coach and executive. He was the principal owner and general manager of the Oakland Raiders of the National Football League (NFL) for 39 years, from 1972 until his death in ...
, owner of the then-Los Angeles Raiders
The Los Angeles Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Los Angeles from 1982 to 1994 before relocating back to Oakland, California, where the team played from its inaugural 1960 season to the 1981 season and then agai ...
, was a major witness for the USFL and had been excluded from the lawsuit in exchange for his testimony.[ ABC Sports' ]Howard Cosell
Howard is an English language, English-language given name originating from Old French Huard (disambiguation), Huard (or Houard) from a Germanic source similar to Old High German ''*Hugihard'' "heart-brave", or ''*Hoh-ward'', literally "high defe ...
was also a key witness for the USFL.
The case went to trial in the spring of 1986 and lasted 42 days. On July 29, a six-person jury
A jury is a sworn body of people (jurors) convened to hear evidence and render an impartiality, impartial verdict (a Question of fact, finding of fact on a question) officially submitted to them by a court, or to set a sentence (law), penalty o ...
handed down a verdict that devastated the USFL, even though it technically won its case. The jury declared the NFL a "duly adjudicated illegal monopoly", and found that the NFL had willfully acquired and maintained monopoly status in professional football through predatory tactics.
However, it rejected the USFL's other claims. The jury found that the USFL had changed its strategy to a more risky goal of forcing a merger with the NFL. Furthermore, the switch to a fall schedule caused the loss of several major markets (Philadelphia, Denver, Houston, Pittsburgh, Detroit
Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...
, Miami, the Bay Area). The jury also made note of a memo Tad Taube wrote about the dispute, which quoted the comic strip '' Pogo'': " we have met the enemy and he is us."
Most importantly, the jury found that the NFL did not attempt to force the USFL off television. (Indeed, ESPN remained willing to carry USFL games in the fall, several of the league's teams also had local broadcast contracts, and 1986 also happened to be the inaugural season of the Fox Broadcasting Company
The Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly known simply as Fox and stylized in all caps as FOX, is an American commercial broadcast television network owned by Fox Corporation and headquartered in New York City, with master control operations an ...
, a network that would eventually become the fourth major broadcast network.) In essence, the jury felt that while the USFL was harmed by the NFL's de facto
''De facto'' ( ; , "in fact") describes practices that exist in reality, whether or not they are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms. It is commonly used to refer to what happens in practice, in contrast with ''de jure'' ("by la ...
monopolization
In United States antitrust law, monopolization is illegal monopoly behavior. The main categories of prohibited behavior include exclusive dealing, price discrimination, refusing to supply an essential facility, product tying and predatory pricing ...
of pro football in the United States, most of its problems were due to its own mismanagement. It awarded the USFL nominal damages
At common law, damages are a remedy in the form of a monetary award to be paid to a claimant as compensation for loss or injury. To warrant the award, the claimant must show that a breach of duty has caused foreseeable loss. To be recognised at ...
of one dollar, which was tripled under antitrust law to three dollars.
When NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle
Alvin Ray "Pete" Rozelle (; March 1, 1926 – December 6, 1996) was an American businessman and executive. Rozelle served as the commissioner of the National Football League (NFL) for nearly thirty years, from January 1960 until his retirement i ...
and NFL broadcasting chief Val Pinchbeck
Valjean A. Pinchbeck, Jr. (February 16, 1931 – March 6, 2004) was an American football executive on both the college and professional
A professional is a member of a profession or any person who works in a specified professional activity. ...
initially heard the verdict, they were devastated; Pinchbeck later recalled that he thought Rozelle would have a heart attack. While on their way to the league office, however, they heard that the USFL had lost nearly all of its claims, and headed back to the courthouse.[
The verdict was a classic ]Pyrrhic victory
A Pyrrhic victory ( ) is a victory that inflicts such a devastating toll on the victor that it is tantamount to defeat. Such a victory negates any true sense of achievement or damages long-term progress.
The phrase originates from a quote from P ...
. The USFL had essentially staked its future on the outcome of the suit, banking on a substantial settlement to finance the move to the fall. It considered the television-related claims to be the heart of its case. On August 4—four days after the announcement of the verdict—the USFL owners voted to suspend operations for the 1986 season, with the intent of returning in 1987; the league accurately foresaw the 1987 players' strike and had hoped the strike would give the league access to star players.[ Players signed to contracts were free to sign with NFL (or other professional teams) immediately. Indeed, the NFL had held a draft in 1984 for teams to acquire the rights to USFL players, in the event of the league (or teams in the league) folding. However, it is unlikely the USFL would have been able to put together a viable product in any case. Many of its players had signed contracts with NFL teams after the 1985 season, and the league was some $160 million in debt.
Five days after the verdict, the Tampa Bay Bandits were effectively shut down when a judge placed a ]lien
A lien ( or ) is a form of security interest granted over an item of property to secure the payment of a debt or performance of some other obligation. The owner of the property, who grants the lien, is referred to as the ''lienee'' and the pers ...
on the franchise to satisfy back pay owed to former player Bret Clark. All of the team's remaining assets were seized to satisfy the debt.[''St. Petersburg Times'']
(via Google News Archive Search) In a desperation move, the Arizona Outlaws
The Arizona Outlaws were a professional American football team that played in the United States Football League in the mid-1980s. They were owned by Fresno banker and real estate magnate William Tatham Sr., who had briefly owned the Portland Thu ...
arranged a meeting in January 1987 with officials with the Canadian Football League
The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...
hoping to negotiate a merger with that league; the CFL's owners were "lukewarm" and ultimately rejected the Outlaws' request. With nearly all of its players under contract to the NFL and CFL, Usher announced the league would stay shuttered in 1987 as well. (Many of the USFL players who were not under NFL contract would end up playing in fall 1987 as replacement player In professional sports, a replacement player is an athlete who is not a member of the league's players association and plays during a labor dispute such as a strike or lockout, serving as a strikebreaker.
Instances of replacement players
Nati ...
s during the strike.)
The USFL appealed the award, but it was rejected by the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (in case citations, 2d Cir.) is one of the thirteen United States Courts of Appeals. Its territory comprises the states of Connecticut, New York and Vermont. The court has appellate juri ...
in 1988. This decision ended any chance of the USFL returning to the field, and the league's six remaining teams (the Outlaws had already decided not to return) voted to formally disband shortly afterward. However, because the USFL was at least nominally the winner of the lawsuit, the NFL was required to cover the USFL's attorney fees and costs of litigation, and the USFL was awarded over $5.5 million in attorney fees and over $62,000 in court costs. That award was appealed by the NFL; it was affirmed on appeal and ultimately allowed to stand by the U.S. Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...
in 1990, four years after the USFL had ceased operations.
The USFL finally received a check for $3.76 in damages in 1990, the additional 76¢ representing interest earned while litigation had continued. Notably, that check has never been cashed.
Aftermath
The USFL had a significant impact on the NFL both on the field and off. Almost all of the USFL's on-field innovations were eventually adopted by the older league, and a multitude of star players in the USFL would go on to enjoy very successful careers in the National Football League.
The NFL would also eventually have franchises in some of the USFL markets which had proved fertile for pro football or showed renewed interest in the game. Jacksonville, in particular, was being courted by the Houston Oilers
The Houston Oilers were a professional American football team that played in Houston from its founding in 1960 to 1996 before relocating to Memphis, and later Nashville, Tennessee becoming the Tennessee Titans. The Oilers began play in 1960 as ...
as a potential relocation destination as early as 1987; that city eventually got the expansion Jaguars
The jaguar (''Panthera onca'') is a large cat species and the only living member of the genus ''Panthera'' native to the Americas. With a body length of up to and a weight of up to , it is the largest cat species in the Americas and the thi ...
in 1995. The Oilers would instead relocate to Tennessee in 1997, playing temporarily for one season in Memphis (to minuscule crowds) before moving to Nashville
Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...
to become the Tennessee Titans
The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division, and play their h ...
. Although the USFL's stay in Baltimore was brief, the city's acceptance of the Stars, coupled with the success of the Canadian Football League
The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...
's Baltimore Stallions
The Baltimore Stallions (known officially as the "Baltimore Football Club" and previously as the "Baltimore CFL Colts" in its inaugural season) were a Canadian Football League team based in Baltimore, Maryland, in the United States, which played ...
a decade later, were factors in Art Modell
Arthur Bertram Modell (June 23, 1925 – September 6, 2012) was an American businessman, entrepreneur and National Football League team owner. He owned the Cleveland Browns franchise for 35 years and established the Baltimore Ravens franchis ...
's decision to relocate his Cleveland Browns NFL franchise to Baltimore to become the Baltimore Ravens
The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The team plays its ...
in 1996. Phoenix was never one of the USFL's strongest markets but still managed to lure the former St. Louis Football Cardinals to take up residence in Arizona in 1988. Oakland saw the return of the Raiders to its city one decade after the demise of the USFL (the team moved again, to Las Vegas
Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...
, in 2020). Other cities that did not get NFL franchises, such as Birmingham, Memphis, Orlando, and San Antonio, would receive teams in numerous short-lived or international pro football leagues in the years that have followed, such as the WLAF, CFL
The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...
, the first XFL, UFL, and AAF
AAF may refer to:
Aviation
* Aigle Azur (ICAO code), a French airline
* Apalachicola Regional Airport (IATA code), in Apalachicola, Florida
Corporations
* American Air Filter, today a part of HVAC-equipment-maker Daikin
Military
* Albanian Arm ...
. The 2022 revival of the USFL began with eight franchises that were in existence during the 1984 USFL season, including the Birmingham Stallions
The Birmingham Stallions were a franchise in the United States Football League, an attempt to establish a second professional league of American football in the United States in competition with the National Football League. They played their ...
. Also, three decades after the USFL's failure, the NFL played the 2017 Pro Bowl in Orlando.
Outside the NFL, Tampa's embrace of Bandit Ball and the rapid growth of the Sun Belt prompted the establishment of other major league teams in the Tampa Bay area: the National Hockey League
The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...
's Lightning
Lightning is a naturally occurring electrostatic discharge during which two electric charge, electrically charged regions, both in the atmosphere or with one on the land, ground, temporarily neutralize themselves, causing the instantaneous ...
and Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...
's Devil Rays (later renamed the Rays).
The collapse of the USFL had a particularly positive effect on the NFL's Buffalo Bills
The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. ...
. The Bills, as a small-market NFL franchise, were particularly hard-hit by the USFL; as its players from the moderately successful early 1980s era aged, the team was unable to find quality replacements for them on the free agent market, as the USFL was drawing away much of pro football's top talent (including Bills running back Joe Cribbs
Joe Stanier Cribbs (born January 5, 1958) is a retired National Football League and United States Football League football running back. He played collegiately at Auburn University along with future NFL backs William Andrews and James Brook ...
and the team's planned franchise quarterback of the future, Jim Kelly
James Edward Kelly (born February 14, 1960) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 11 seasons with the Buffalo Bills. He also spent two seasons with the Houston Gamblers of the United Stat ...
). With subpar talent, the Bills went 4–28 over the course of 1984 and 1985, and average attendance at Rich Stadium
Highmark Stadium is a stadium in Orchard Park, New York, in the Southtowns of the Buffalo metropolitan area. The stadium opened in 1973 as Rich Stadium and is the home venue of the Buffalo Bills of the National Football League (NFL). It was ...
plummeted to under 30,000 fans per game, putting the team's long-term viability in jeopardy. When the USFL collapsed, the Bills signed a large number of former USFL players: Kelly, Kent Hull
James Kent Hull (January 13, 1961 – October 18, 2011) was an American football offensive lineman in the National Football League and United States Football League, more precisely a center for the New Jersey Generals of the USFL and Buffalo Bi ...
, Ray Bentley
Ray Russell Bentley (born November 25, 1960) is a former professional American football linebacker, broadcaster, and author.
Biography
Playing career
Bentley's first three years in professional football were spent with the Michigan Panthers and ...
, special teams coach Bruce DeHaven
Bruce Leroy DeHaven (September 6, 1948 – December 27, 2016) was an American football coach. Specializing in special teams coaching, DeHaven held that position for five teams in the National Football League, his longest tenure being 16 seasons ...
, general manager Bill Polian and coach Marv Levy, which, combined with the high draft picks compiled during the USFL years, would allow the Bills to rise to perennial Super Bowl contenders by the early 1990s. In 2014, after founding owner Ralph Wilson
Ralph Cookerly Wilson Jr. (October 17, 1918 – March 25, 2014) was an American businessman and sports executive. He was best known as the founder and owner of the Buffalo Bills, a team in the National Football League (NFL). He was one of the fo ...
died, Trump tried to purchase the Bills, but was largely rebuffed in favor of Terry Pegula
Terrence Michael Pegula (born March 27, 1951) is an American billionaire businessman and petroleum engineer. He is the owner of Pegula Sports and Entertainment which owns the Buffalo Sabres of the National Hockey League (NHL) and, with his wife Ki ...
, who bid $400 million more for the team. In a 2015 interview with Sports Illustrated
''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twic ...
, Trump claimed that if he had bought the Bills in 2014, he "probably would not be" running for President of the United States
The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United Stat ...
the following year.
The league also had an indirect impact on the scheduling of televised football games. The USFL had planned to go against the NFL in the fall of 1986 without directly playing its games opposite the larger league by playing its games on Sunday nights, when the NFL did not play yet. One year later, ESPN and the NFL launched '' Sunday Night Football'' in the time slot.
The last player of the USFL on an NFL roster was Philadelphia/Baltimore Stars
The Philadelphia / Baltimore Stars were a professional American football team which played in the United States Football League (USFL) in the mid-1980s. Owned by real-estate magnate Myles Tanenbaum, they were the short-lived league's dominant t ...
punter Sean Landeta
Sean Edward Landeta (born January 6, 1962) is an American former professional football player who was a punter in both the United States Football League (USFL) and the National Football League (NFL). Landeta played 22 seasons in the NFL for f ...
, who was signed in late 1986
The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations.
Events January
* January 1
** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles.
**Spain and Portugal ente ...
by the New York Giants
The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...
. He officially announced his retirement on March 6, 2008, the 25th anniversary of the first USFL game. (He last played in 2006
File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...
but he did not officially retire during the 2007 season.) The last non-kicker to retire was quarterback
The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...
Doug Flutie
Douglas Richard Flutie (born October 23, 1962) is an American former football quarterback whose professional career spanned 21 seasons. He played 12 seasons in the National Football League (NFL), eight seasons in the Canadian Football League (CF ...
, who played in both the CFL and NFL until 2005
File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...
.
Rule changes
The USFL, compared to other professional leagues of the late 20th and 21st centuries, did not radically change the rules of the game; its rules largely resembled a hybrid of the NFL and 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 ...
rulebooks. The league's rule on stopping the clock was one example of this hybrid approach: outside the two-minute warning
In most levels of professional American football, the two-minute warning is a suspension of play that occurs when two minutes remain on the game clock in each half of a game, i.e., near the end of the second and fourth quarters, and overtime. It ...
, the clock ran between plays after a first down like in the NFL, while after the warning, it stopped between the end of the play that earned a first down and the placement of the ball back into play (to allow the chain crew
In gridiron football, the chain crew (commonly known as the "chain gang") is a crew that manages signal poles on one of the sidelines. There are three primary signal poles: the "rear rod" that marks the beginning of the current set of downs, the ...
to get into place), as is done in college football. Like college football, it recognized the two-point conversion
In gridiron football, a two-point conversion or two-point convert is a play a team attempts instead of kicking a one-point conversion immediately after it scores a touchdown. In a two-point conversion attempt, the team that just scored must run ...
(that was, at that time, only recognized in the CFL at the professional level) that would not be put into NFL rules until . Unlike other American professional football leagues (but like the NCAA then and the CFL), the USFL allowed the usage of a small, plastic "tee" for extra point and field goal attempts.
For its final season in 1985, the USFL used a method of challenging officials' rulings on the field via instant replay
Instant replay or action replay is a video reproduction of something that recently occurred which was both shot and broadcast live.
The video, having already been shown live, is replayed in order for viewers to see again and analyze what had j ...
, using a system that is almost identical to that used by the NFL today; the NFL would adopt its first instant replay system (but in a different form from its current one instituted in 1999) in 1986; it would be used until 1991.
Notable people and achievements
USFL alumni in the Pro Football Hall of Fame
As of 2022, there are nine USFL alumni (including five players and two head coaches) who are enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame
The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame for professional American football, located in Canton, Ohio. Opened on September 7, , the Hall of Fame enshrines exceptional figures in the sport of professional football, including players, coach ...
:
* Sid Gillman
Sidney Gillman (October 26, 1911 – January 3, 2003) was an American football player, coach and executive. Gillman's insistence on stretching the football field by throwing deep downfield passes, instead of short passes to running backs or w ...
(front office consultant) – Oklahoma Outlaws and Los Angeles Express 1984 – HOF Class 1983
* Bill Polian (player personnel director) – Chicago Blitz 1984 – HOF Class 2015
* George Allen George Allen may refer to:
Politics and law
* George E. Allen (1896–1973), American political operative and one-time head coach of the Cumberland University football team
* George Allen (Australian politician) (1800–1877), Mayor of Sydney and ...
(coach) – Chicago Blitz 1983 & Arizona Wranglers 1984 – HOF Class 2002
* Marv Levy (coach) – Chicago Blitz 1984 – HOF Class 2001
* Jim Kelly
James Edward Kelly (born February 14, 1960) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 11 seasons with the Buffalo Bills. He also spent two seasons with the Houston Gamblers of the United Stat ...
– Houston Gamblers 1984–1985 – HOF Class 2002
* Sam Mills
Samuel Davis Mills Jr. (June 3, 1959 – April 18, 2005) was an American football linebacker who played twelve seasons in the National Football League (NFL) for the New Orleans Saints and Carolina Panthers. He also played for three seasons for ...
– Philadelphia/Baltimore Stars 1983-1985 – HOF Class 2022
* Reggie White
Reginald Howard White (December 19, 1961 – December 26, 2004) was an American professional football player who played defensive end in the National Football League (NFL) for 15 seasons during the 1980s and 1990s. He played college football for ...
– Memphis Showboats 1984–85 – HOF Class 2006
* Steve Young
Jon Steven Young (born October 11, 1961) is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 15 seasons, primarily with the San Francisco 49ers. He also played for the Tampa Bay Buccane ...
– LA Express 1984–1985 – HOF Class 2005
* Gary Zimmerman
Gary Wayne Zimmerman (born December 13, 1961) is an American former professional football player who was an offensive tackle in the National Football League (NFL). Zimmerman played for the Minnesota Vikings from 1986 to 1992 and for the Denver ...
– LA Express 1984–1985 – HOF Class 2008
League MVP awards
* 1983: Kelvin Bryant
Kelvin LeRoy Bryant (born September 26, 1960) is a former American football running back in the National Football League and the United States Football League.
High school
Bryant played two years of varsity football at Tarboro High School in Ta ...
, RB, Philadelphia Stars
* 1984: Jim Kelly
James Edward Kelly (born February 14, 1960) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 11 seasons with the Buffalo Bills. He also spent two seasons with the Houston Gamblers of the United Stat ...
, QB, Houston Gamblers
The Houston Gamblers were an American football team that competed in the United States Football League in 1984 and 1985. The Gamblers were coached by veteran NFL head coach Jack Pardee in both their seasons. They were noteworthy for introducing ...
* 1985: Herschel Walker, RB, New Jersey Generals
The New Jersey Generals were a franchise of the United States Football League (USFL) established in 1982 to begin play in the spring and summer of 1983. The team played three seasons from 1983 to 1985, winning 31 regular season games and losing ...
Championship game MVP awards
* 1983: Bobby Hebert
Bobby Joseph Hebert Jr. (surname pronounced ; born August 19, 1960) is an American sportscaster and former professional football quarterback. He played in the United States Football League (USFL) and National Football League (NFL) from 1983 to ...
, QB, Michigan Panthers
The Michigan Panthers were a professional American football team based in the Detroit, Michigan area. The Panthers competed in the United States Football League (USFL) as a member of the Western Conference and Central Division. The team played i ...
* 1984: Chuck Fusina
Charles Anthony Fusina (born May 31, 1957) is a former American college and professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) and United States Football League (USFL) for seven seasons during the 1970s and ...
QB, Philadelphia Stars
* 1985: Kelvin Bryant
Kelvin LeRoy Bryant (born September 26, 1960) is a former American football running back in the National Football League and the United States Football League.
High school
Bryant played two years of varsity football at Tarboro High School in Ta ...
RB, Baltimore Stars
Commissioners
* Chet Simmons
Chester Robert "Chet" Simmons (July 11, 1928 – March 25, 2010) was a television executive. He worked at ABC Sports, NBC Sports and ESPN, and was the first Commissioner of the USFL. From 1957 to 1964, he helped build ABC Sports into a leader in ...
(1982–1985); resigned under pressure from owners.
* Harry Usher
Harry Lester Usher (March 6, 1939 – June 22, 2000) was an American attorney who was the second and last commissioner of the United States Football League (USFL). He was also the executive vice president and general manager of the Los Ang ...
(1985–1987); league ceased operations.
All-time leaders
* Rushing attempts: 1,143 Herschel Walker
* Rushing yards: 5,562 Herschel Walker
* Rushing touchdowns: 54 Herschel Walker
* Receiving catches: 234 Jim Smith
* Receiving yards: 3,685 Jim Smith
* Receiving touchdowns: 31 Jim Smith
* Passing attempts: 1,352 John Reaves
Thomas Johnson "John" Reaves (March 2, 1950 – August 1, 2017) was an American college and professional football player who was a quarterback for 11 seasons in the National Football League (NFL) and three seasons in the United States Football L ...
* Passing completions: 766 John Reaves
Thomas Johnson "John" Reaves (March 2, 1950 – August 1, 2017) was an American college and professional football player who was a quarterback for 11 seasons in the National Football League (NFL) and three seasons in the United States Football L ...
* Passing yards: 10,039 Bobby Hebert
Bobby Joseph Hebert Jr. (surname pronounced ; born August 19, 1960) is an American sportscaster and former professional football quarterback. He played in the United States Football League (USFL) and National Football League (NFL) from 1983 to ...
* Passing touchdowns: 83 Jim Kelly
James Edward Kelly (born February 14, 1960) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 11 seasons with the Buffalo Bills. He also spent two seasons with the Houston Gamblers of the United Stat ...
* Passing interceptions: 57 Bobby Hebert
Bobby Joseph Hebert Jr. (surname pronounced ; born August 19, 1960) is an American sportscaster and former professional football quarterback. He played in the United States Football League (USFL) and National Football League (NFL) from 1983 to ...
Teams
List
* Arizona Wranglers (1983, 1984; Arizona and Chicago traded players)
** Arizona Outlaws
The Arizona Outlaws were a professional American football team that played in the United States Football League in the mid-1980s. They were owned by Fresno banker and real estate magnate William Tatham Sr., who had briefly owned the Portland Thu ...
(1985; result of Arizona/Oklahoma merger)
* Birmingham Stallions
The Birmingham Stallions were a franchise in the United States Football League, an attempt to establish a second professional league of American football in the United States in competition with the National Football League. They played their ...
(1983–1985)
* Boston Breakers
The Boston Breakers were an American professional soccer club based in the Boston neighborhood of Allston. The team competed in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). They replaced the original Breakers, who competed in the defunct Women's ...
(1983)
** New Orleans Breakers (1984; moved from Boston)
** Portland Breakers
The Portland Breakers were an American football team that played in the United States Football League (USFL) in the mid-1980s. Before moving to Portland, Oregon, the franchise was previously in Boston, Massachusetts as the Boston Breakers and ...
(1985; moved from New Orleans)
* Chicago Blitz
The Chicago Blitz was a professional American football team that played in the United States Football League in the mid-1980s. They played at Soldier Field in Chicago, Illinois.
Team history
The Blitz were one of the twelve charter franchis ...
(1983, 1984; Arizona and Chicago traded players)
* Denver Gold
The Denver Gold was a franchise in the United States Football League, an attempt to establish a second major professional football league in the United States, playing a springtime season, from 1983 to 1985. The Gold played their home games at Mi ...
(1983–1985)
* Houston Gamblers
The Houston Gamblers were an American football team that competed in the United States Football League in 1984 and 1985. The Gamblers were coached by veteran NFL head coach Jack Pardee in both their seasons. They were noteworthy for introducing ...
(1984–1985)
* Jacksonville Bulls
The Jacksonville Bulls were a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. They were members of the United States Football League (USFL) during its final two seasons, 1984 and 1985. They played their home games in the Gator ...
(1984–1985)
* Los Angeles Express (1983–1985)
* Memphis Showboats
The Memphis Showboats were an American football franchise in the United States Football League. They entered the league in its expansion in 1984 and made the 1985 playoffs, losing in the semifinal round to the Oakland Invaders. Perhaps the mo ...
(1984–1985)
* Michigan Panthers
The Michigan Panthers were a professional American football team based in the Detroit, Michigan area. The Panthers competed in the United States Football League (USFL) as a member of the Western Conference and Central Division. The team played i ...
(1983–1984; merged with Oakland for 1985 season)
* New Jersey Generals
The New Jersey Generals were a franchise of the United States Football League (USFL) established in 1982 to begin play in the spring and summer of 1983. The team played three seasons from 1983 to 1985, winning 31 regular season games and losing ...
(1983–1985)
* Oakland Invaders
The Oakland Invaders were a professional American football team that played in the United States Football League (USFL) from 1983 through 1985. Based in Oakland, California, they played at the Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum.
The team can trac ...
(1983–1985; merged with Michigan for 1985 season)
* Oklahoma Outlaws
Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New M ...
(1984)
* Philadelphia Stars (1983–1984)
** Baltimore Stars
The Philadelphia / Baltimore Stars were a professional American football team which played in the United States Football League (USFL) in the mid-1980s. Owned by real-estate magnate Myles Tanenbaum, they were the short-lived league's dominant ...
(1985; moved from Philadelphia)
* Pittsburgh Maulers (1984)
* San Antonio Gunslingers
The San Antonio Gunslingers were a professional American football team based in San Antonio, Texas, that played in the United States Football League (USFL) in 1984 and 1985. Owned by oil magnate Clinton Manges, the team played its home games in ...
(1984–1985)
* Tampa Bay Bandits
The Tampa Bay Bandits were a professional American football team in the United States Football League (USFL) which was based in Tampa, Florida. The Bandits were a charter member of the USFL and was the only franchise to have the same principal o ...
(1983–1985)
* Washington Federals
Washington commonly refers to:
* Washington (state), United States
* Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States
** A metonym for the federal government of the United States
** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...
(1983–1984)
** Orlando Renegades
The Orlando Renegades were a professional American football team that played in Orlando, Florida, Orlando, Florida, in the United States Football League (USFL) for a single season in 1985. Before its season in Orlando, the franchise played in Wash ...
(1985; moved from Washington)
Playoff appearances
::3: Philadelphia (83, 84) / Baltimore (85) Stars
::2: Michigan Panthers (83, 84), Oakland Invaders (83, 85), New Jersey Generals (84, 85), Birmingham Stallions (84, 85), Tampa Bay Bandits (84, 85), Houston Gamblers (84, 85)
::1: Chicago Blitz (83), Arizona Wranglers (84), Los Angeles Express (84), Memphis Showboats (85), Denver Gold (85)
1986 proposal
Prior to the jury award in ''USFL v. NFL'', the league had planned to go forward with a 1986 season with eight teams, divided into an "Independence Division" and a "Liberty Division":
* Independence Division
** Arizona Outlaws
The Arizona Outlaws were a professional American football team that played in the United States Football League in the mid-1980s. They were owned by Fresno banker and real estate magnate William Tatham Sr., who had briefly owned the Portland Thu ...
** Jacksonville Bulls
The Jacksonville Bulls were a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. They were members of the United States Football League (USFL) during its final two seasons, 1984 and 1985. They played their home games in the Gator ...
1
** Orlando Renegades
The Orlando Renegades were a professional American football team that played in Orlando, Florida, Orlando, Florida, in the United States Football League (USFL) for a single season in 1985. Before its season in Orlando, the franchise played in Wash ...
** Tampa Bay Bandits
The Tampa Bay Bandits were a professional American football team in the United States Football League (USFL) which was based in Tampa, Florida. The Bandits were a charter member of the USFL and was the only franchise to have the same principal o ...
* Liberty Division
** Baltimore Stars
The Philadelphia / Baltimore Stars were a professional American football team which played in the United States Football League (USFL) in the mid-1980s. Owned by real-estate magnate Myles Tanenbaum, they were the short-lived league's dominant ...
** Birmingham Stallions
The Birmingham Stallions were a franchise in the United States Football League, an attempt to establish a second professional league of American football in the United States in competition with the National Football League. They played their ...
** Memphis Showboats
The Memphis Showboats were an American football franchise in the United States Football League. They entered the league in its expansion in 1984 and made the 1985 playoffs, losing in the semifinal round to the Oakland Invaders. Perhaps the mo ...
** New Jersey Generals
The New Jersey Generals were a franchise of the United States Football League (USFL) established in 1982 to begin play in the spring and summer of 1983. The team played three seasons from 1983 to 1985, winning 31 regular season games and losing ...
2
1 merged with Denver Gold
The Denver Gold was a franchise in the United States Football League, an attempt to establish a second major professional football league in the United States, playing a springtime season, from 1983 to 1985. The Gold played their home games at Mi ...
2 merged with Houston Gamblers
The Houston Gamblers were an American football team that competed in the United States Football League in 1984 and 1985. The Gamblers were coached by veteran NFL head coach Jack Pardee in both their seasons. They were noteworthy for introducing ...
Due to the legal aftermath of the failed lawsuit against the NFL, the USFL folded and this divisional format never came to fruition.
Out of the 23 USFL teams, only five played for the league's entire three-season duration without relocating or changing team names: Denver Gold, Los Angeles Express, Birmingham Stallions, New Jersey Generals, and Tampa Bay Bandits. Only the latter three teams would have remained on this list if the league had continued in 1986.
Season-by-season
1983
1984
1985
1986 (canceled)
Championship games
The 1985 game was originally to be played at the Pontiac Silverdome
The Pontiac Silverdome (also known simply as the Silverdome) was a stadium in Pontiac, Michigan. It opened in 1975 and sat on 199 acres (51 ha) of land. When the stadium opened, it featured a fiberglass fabric roof held up by air pressure, ...
, but after the Panthers merged with Oakland, the game was awarded to Giants Stadium.
Had there been a 1986 season, the championship game was scheduled to be played at Jacksonville's Gator Bowl Stadium
The Gator Bowl was an American football stadium in Jacksonville, Florida. Originally built in 1927, all but a small portion was razed in 1994 in preparation for the NFL's Jacksonville Jaguars' inaugural season; the reconstructed stadium became Jac ...
on February 1, 1987.
The USFL's championship trophy had a silver USFL-logoed helmet with a gold facemask, mounted on a marble base by a swooping silver armature. On the base were mounted gold plaques with the names and scores of the teams in the USFL Championship Games. Like the NHL's Stanley Cup
The Stanley Cup (french: La Coupe Stanley) is the championship trophy awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoff champion. It is the oldest existing trophy to be awarded to a professional sports franchise in North America, an ...
and the CFL's Grey Cup
The Grey Cup (french: Coupe Grey) is both the championship game of the Canadian Football League (CFL) and the trophy awarded to the victorious team playing in the namesake championship of professional Canadian football. The game is contested be ...
, but unlike the NFL's Vince Lombardi Trophy
The Vince Lombardi Trophy is the trophy awarded each year to the winning team of the National Football League's championship game, the Super Bowl. The trophy is named in honor of NFL coach Vince Lombardi, who led the Green Bay Packers to vic ...
for their Super Bowl championship game, it was loaned to the winning team for one year rather than a new trophy being made each year for the winning team to keep. After the Philadelphia/Baltimore Stars won the final USFL championship in 1985, General Manager Carl Peterson
Carl D. Peterson (born May 26, 1943) For more than 50 years, Carl Peterson was a creative force in the world of American Football, starting at the high school level, through small college ball, to major college football, and on to professional fo ...
kept the trophy, and donated it to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2018.
Drafts
The USFL held its 1983, 1985 and 1986 college drafts at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in New York. The 1984 draft was held at the Roosevelt Hotel in New York. The 1983–85 drafts were in January while the 1986 draft was held in May.
The USFL held an expansion draft in September 1983 for the 6 expansion teams that started play in 1984. In December 1984, they had a dispersal draft for Chicago, Pittsburgh, Oklahoma and Michigan.
In addition to the four college drafts, the league also held three USFL Territorial Draft The United States Football League had two types of drafts as their main sources for player recruitment: the Collegiate Draft and the Territorial Draft. The Collegiate Draft resembled its NFL counterpart (the NFL Draft), in which teams were given a p ...
s that allowed teams to select collegiate players from within their geographic area before they entered the general collegiate draft.
First overall pick in college drafts
Of the four first overall draft picks in its history, only 1984 top pick Mike Rozier
Michael T. Rozier (born March 1, 1961) is a former American college and professional football player who was a running back in the United States Football League (USFL) for two seasons and the National Football League (NFL) for seven seasons duri ...
actually played in the USFL. Dan Marino
Daniel Constantine Marino Jr. (born September 15, 1961) is an American former football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 17 seasons with the Miami Dolphins. After a successful college career at Pittsburgh and be ...
and Jerry Rice
Jerry Lee Rice (born October 13, 1962) is an American former professional football wide receiver who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 20 seasons. Known primarily as a member of the San Francisco 49ers, winning three championshi ...
chose to play in the NFL, where they were also picked in the first round by the Miami Dolphins
The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team pla ...
and San Francisco 49ers
The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...
, respectively, and each went on to have Hall of Fame careers. The USFL ceased operations soon after the 1986 draft, so Mike Haight
Michael James Haight (born October 6, 1962) is a former American football offensive tackle in the National Football League for the New York Jets and Washington Redskins. He played college football at the University of Iowa. He played high sch ...
never signed with nor played in the league, instead being drafted by the NFL's New York Jets
The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The J ...
.
Further reading
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References
External links
USFL: A team-by-team history
Remember the USFL
{{Profootball
Defunct American football leagues in the United States
Defunct national American football leagues
Defunct professional sports leagues in the United States
Sports leagues established in 1983
Sports leagues disestablished in 1986
1983 establishments in the United States
1986 disestablishments in the United States