Looks like the USFL, which folded in 1986, is coming back next year

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Looks like the USFL, which folded in 1986, is coming back next year

Post by BrentVU »

https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2 ... ring-2022/

Herschel Walker once played in it, and Steve Spurrier once coached in it. Whit Taylor too. Who else that we would know?


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Re: Looks like the USFL, which folded in 1986, is coming back next year

Post by AuricGoldfinger »

BrentVU wrote: Thu Jun 03, 2021 11:35 am https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2 ... ring-2022/

Herschel Walker once played in it, and Steve Spurrier once coached in it. Whit Taylor too. Who else that we would know?
Former Commodore great and Colts' first-round draft pick CB Leonard Coleman, who played one season with the Memphis Showboats.

G Pat Saindon, who played with Birmingham and went on to play in the NFL with the Saints and Falcons.
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Re: Looks like the USFL, which folded in 1986, is coming back next year

Post by MrMemorial »

Waymon Buggs - Arizona Wranglers
Ed Smith - Arizona Wranglers / Chicago Blitz
Martin Cox - Tampa Bay Bandits

misc: Joe Gilliam (TSU) - Washington Federals
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Re: Looks like the USFL, which folded in 1986, is coming back next year

Post by FayetteDore »

Pepper Rodgers and the Memphis Showboats, Baby!!
They had a great, albeit short lived, rivalry with the Birmingham Stallions.
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Re: Looks like the USFL, which folded in 1986, is coming back next year

Post by historybill »

I'm afraid I know a lot about the USFL since I covered the Birmingham Stallions for the now-defunct Huntsville News, back in the day. I vividly remember covering games between the Stallions and the Arizona Wranglers, the LA Express and the Boston Breakers. I can't believe I do, but I do.

I was about 17 at the time and it was a big thrill to stand there and interview people like Tom Banks, a former St. Louis Cardinals lineman playing for Birmingham. That guy was a super bad ass.

Birmingham's quarterback was Reggie Collier, an African American running QB who had humiliated Bear Bryant in college. These days, Collier would get a shot at the NFL, but this was pre-Warren Moon.

Some of the USFL franchises were successful, mainly the ones in small and medium sized markets. Birmingham and Memphis has pretty decent fan support. However, the league did awful in the big markets.

Also, and this is amazing in hindsight, all of the owners except one understood that the league just needed to survive for a while. However, one owner in particular broke ranks almost immediately, paid huge over the top salaries for college superstars, and doomed the league to failure.

One guess as to who that owner was.
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Re: Looks like the USFL, which folded in 1986, is coming back next year

Post by historybill »

Also, and I'm not making this up:

When the USFL folded, Vanderbilt University bought all the discarded uniforms of the team known as the Denver Gold. I think the VU team wore those pants the next year.

I can't believe I know this.
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Re: Looks like the USFL, which folded in 1986, is coming back next year

Post by oakparkDore »

To us Michigan Panther fans, the USFL will always mean Bobby Hebert to Anthony Carter. (I even continued to follow them when the Panthers merged with (and into) the Oakland Invaders.)
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Re: Looks like the USFL, which folded in 1986, is coming back next year

Post by VandyUVaJD »

historybill wrote: Fri Jun 04, 2021 1:02 pm I'm afraid I know a lot about the USFL since I covered the Birmingham Stallions for the now-defunct Huntsville News, back in the day. I vividly remember covering games between the Stallions and the Arizona Wranglers, the LA Express and the Boston Breakers. I can't believe I do, but I do.

I was about 17 at the time and it was a big thrill to stand there and interview people like Tom Banks, a former St. Louis Cardinals lineman playing for Birmingham. That guy was a super bad ass.

Birmingham's quarterback was Reggie Collier, an African American running QB who had humiliated Bear Bryant in college. These days, Collier would get a shot at the NFL, but this was pre-Warren Moon.

Some of the USFL franchises were successful, mainly the ones in small and medium sized markets. Birmingham and Memphis has pretty decent fan support. However, the league did awful in the big markets.

Also, and this is amazing in hindsight, all of the owners except one understood that the league just needed to survive for a while. However, one owner in particular broke ranks almost immediately, paid huge over the top salaries for college superstars, and doomed the league to failure.

One guess as to who that owner was.
A former President, mayhaps?
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Re: Looks like the USFL, which folded in 1986, is coming back next year

Post by TnValleyDore »

There is a great “30 for 30” titled something like “Who Killed the USFL?” that is a fun watch - a trip down memory lane for some and a bit of football history for others. Jim Kelley and Steve Young started there. Steve Spurrier brought “Bandit Ball” to Tampa. The idea of challenging a call and the “run and shoot” offense also originated in the league.

Bill, thanks for jogging my memory.
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Re: Looks like the USFL, which folded in 1986, is coming back next year

Post by VUaskew »

I remember the USFL very fondly.

Mouse Davis and the Houston Gamblers with Jim Kelly.

the Oklahoma Outlaws had a coach who went on to be inducted to the tollbooth hall of fame.

I really do believe the USFL could have found their way if they had stayed the course.
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Re: Looks like the USFL, which folded in 1986, is coming back next year

Post by AuricGoldfinger »

I'm not an attorney, but I still think the jury decision that was handed down after the USFL sued the NFL for conspiring to ruin them was one of the most creative things I've ever seen. The jury ruled in favor of the USFL...but awarded the sum of $1.00 in damages.
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Re: Looks like the USFL, which folded in 1986, is coming back next year

Post by historybill »

One of the things I'm wondering about is what legally happened.

How do you "buy" a business that has been gone for 35 years?

Did you really buy the business or are you just starting a new one and giving it that name?

But yes... it was $1 that they won in that federal courtroom.

Other memories:

* I went to an Arizona-Birmingham game in March 1983. At the beginning of the game it was gusting winds and freezing rain. I was cozy up in the press box. The rain stopped in the third quarter and in those days you could just walk down and stand on the sideline. So I got to walk down and stand on the sideline, and it was a real pro football game, but no one was there. Weird stuff.

* In those days reporters just walked around the locker room talking to people, and the players were mostly naked standing there, and it was pretty damned awkward. (Legion Field was even more of a dump then than it was in the 1990s.) I remember talking to Tom Banks and he kept yelling at someone who kept leaving the locker room door open. "Close the goddamned door!" he was yelling.

* Among the QB's who cycled through Birmingham were Cliff Stoudt, Bob Lane and Reggie Collier. Collier was a ridiculous athlete, Michael Vick-like running ability.

* The Stallions had a big defensive lineman named Mike Raines. One game he was hurt and his country and western band got to play at halftime.

* The best team was the Philadelphia Stars. Their coach was Jim Mora.
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Re: Looks like the USFL, which folded in 1986, is coming back next year

Post by TnValleyDore »

Despite being the best team, the Stars had trouble finding a home. The great Keith Jackson often called them the “I-95 Stars” because they traveled between Philly and Maryland their last year or two, playing several home games in Maryland.
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Post by Go Vandy! »

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Re: Looks like the USFL, which folded in 1986, is coming back next year

Post by VandyUVaJD »

AuricGoldfinger wrote: Tue Jun 08, 2021 10:17 am I'm not an attorney, but I still think the jury decision that was handed down after the USFL sued the NFL for conspiring to ruin them was one of the most creative things I've ever seen. The jury ruled in favor of the USFL...but awarded the sum of $1.00 in damages.
Agreed. And the award was trebled to $3.00. I am an attorney and I have tried antitrust cases to juries. The main reason for this verdict was that the case was not well tried. IMO.
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