Has it really been 30 years? The USFL kicked off its first season on March 6, 1983, with a nationally televised game between the New Jersey Generals and the Los Angeles Express. The league flamed out after three years, but it left a mark on the spot.
I remember settling in to watch that opener on ABC. To me, it was a disappointment. There was little atmosphere, with a crowd of 34,000 seeming smaller in the spacious LA Coliseum. Herschel Walker had a mediocre debut, running for only 65 yards. The Express won 20-15. The uniforms weren't very good, making the teams look more like CFL teams than NFL franchises.
But as we look back, the USFL did break some new ground. Most notably:
It was the first pro league to use instant replay. The coaches even used red challenge flags, just like what the NFL uses now.
The Houston Gamblers, with Jim Kelly putting up huge numbers, were the first pro team to use a run-and-shoot offense. They were the reason the Oilers and Falcons tried that offense in the late '80s and early '90s. Much of the NFL now incorporates some spread concepts in obvious passing situations.
The USFL landed Herschel Walker, who left Georgia after his junior year. In the mid-'80s, the NFL had never allowed an underclassman into its draft, but the USFL help change that. Again, ahead of its time.
The USFL had the two-point conversion, another innovation that has made its way into the NFL.
The league landed some big names. Three Heisman winners - Walker, Mike Rozier and Doug Flutie. Reggie White, Jim Kelly, Marcus Dupree, Craig James, Greg Landry, Dan Ross, Steve Young, Brian Sipe, Doug Williams, Anthony Carter, Joe Cribbs and Kelvin Bryant. Coaches George Allen, Jim Mora and Marv Levy.
Some players used the USFL to springboard to NFL fame. Sam Mills for sure. Bobby Hebert became an NFL starter. Ricky Sanders and especially Gary Clark became big parts of Washington's receiving corps. Gary Anderson was a very good multi-purpose back for the Chargers. I remember him diving over a defender into the end zone for a spectactular touchdown on opening day in 1986. That was my first year playing fantasy football, and he was one of the guys I drafted.
* Seven USFL alums are in the Hall of Fame. Reggie White, Gary Zimmerman, Chris Doleman, Steve Young, Jim Kelly, Marv Levy, George Allen.
If the fantasy football craze had come along sooner, the USFL would have added a really nice wrinkle into the history of the game. There would have been extensive scouting of USFL players blending back into the NFL for the 1986 season. And heck, maybe a stand-alone publication for USFL fantasy football.
Had we published a USFL fantasy magazine, the cover guy every year probably would have been Herschel Walker. He was dynamite in 1985, running for 2,411 yards, adding another 467 as a pass catcher, and scoring 22 TDs. Walker was kind of a disappointment in the NFL, largely remembered for the lopsided trade that helped Jimmy Johnson build a dynasty. Walker was kind of a straight-line runner. But he was a big, fast dude, and he had 1,000-yard seasons with Dallas and Minnesota. Had he not been in the USFL, he might have had another pair of 1,400-yard seasons. Walker piled up over 7,000 run-rec yards in three years with the Generals, with 61 TDs.
Two other USFL players scored 20 touchdowns in single seasons. Receiver Jim Smith, who earlier had 9- and 7-TD seasons for the Steelers. And Gary Anderson for the wide-open Tampa Bay Bandits. Jim Kelly averaged 290 passing yards and threw 44 TDs for Houston one year (that was in 18 games). Richard Johnson caught 115 balls and 15 TDs one year for Houston, but he didn't work out for the Lions when they tried to plug him into their NFL run-and-shoot a few years later.
I've highlighted a few of the league's stars at our Facebook page.
Mike Tollin put together a nice hour-long documentary for ESPN a few years ago. In it, he argues that Donald Trump pretty much single-handedly ruined the USFL. Trump was kind of a Jerry Jones or Daniel Snyder on steriods. He wanted to take on the NFL too quickly, leading the charge to move to a fall schedule. Without Trump, many argue, the USFL might have slowly grown into being a viable spring league - definitely a developmental league, and maybe better. Tollin's documentary can be seen online, including on Netflix.
In Tollin's documentary, he points out that 15 USFL players made the NFL's Pro Bowl in the 1986 season.
There are a number of USFL appreciation websites. I think the best one is usfl.info. If you want to learn more about the league, go there. This website points out that the league's 1984 draft lottery was rigged because the league wanted the Pittsburgh Maulers to have the No. 1 pick. Owner Ed DeBartolo Sr. (the father of the 49ers owner) was already in negotiations to sign Mike Rozier before the lottery.
If anybody else has any recollections of this league, I'd like to hear them. It's a league I wish had stuck around longer.
Ian Allan
March 06, 2013