United States Football League

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United States Football League
Sport	American football
Founded	1982
No. of teams	23 (all)
Country	United States
Folded	1985
Last champions	Baltimore Stars

The United States Football League was a professional American football league that played three seasons between 1983 and 1985. In the process, the National Football League had its greatest competitor since the 1960s version of the American Football League.

Contents 1 Organization 2 Franchise instability 3 Competition vs. NFL 3.1 Competing by not competing 3.2 Spring vs. fall 3.3 USFL v. NFL 4 Aftermath 5 Teams 5.1 In 1986 6 Season by season 7 1983 8 1984 9 1985 10 Championship games 11 MVP Awards 12 Commissioners 13 All-Time Leaders 14 The USFL and Wrestling 15 External links 16 See also

[edit] Organization

The USFL was the brainchild of David Dixon, a New Orleans entrepreneur who in the 1960s envisioned football as a possible spring and summer sport. In the early 1980s, Dixon gathered a group of owners from twelve cities and announced the league's launch on May 11, 1982, to begin play in 1983.

[edit] Franchise instability

While no teams folded during any season of the USFL, it was a close call in many cases, and some franchises folded before or after a season's play. The league experienced a great deal of franchise instability, relocation, and closure:

• During the 1983-1984 off-season:
  • The Boston Breakers franchise, which was unable to gain access to Foxboro Stadium and had played the 1983 season in Boston University's small Nickerson Field, relocated to New Orleans.
  • The owners of the Arizona Wranglers and Chicago Blitz franchises basically traded teams, with virtually all 1983 Arizona players playing in Chicago for 1984 and vice-versa. The result of this was that Chicago ended up losing a playoff caliber team and got one that was worst in its division.
  • Needing fresh capital, the league expanded from 12 to 18 teams, adding the Pittsburgh Maulers, Houston Gamblers, San Antonio Gunslingers, Memphis Showboats, Oklahoma Outlaws and Jacksonville Bulls.
• During the 1984-1985 off-season:
  • The Breakers moved a second time, this time to Portland, Oregon.
  • The owner of the Los Angeles Express franchise went bankrupt, abandoning his franchise and putting the league's television contract with ABC in jeopardy.
  • Upon the league's announcement that they would begin play in the fall of 1986, the league champion Philadelphia Stars announced they would relocate to Baltimore, Maryland for 1985.
  • The league's 1983 champion Michigan Panthers would merge with the Oakland Invaders, as team owner Alfred Taubman did not wish to compete head-to-head with the NFL's Detroit Lions in 1986.
  • The Washington Federals were relocated to Orlando, Florida where they would become the Orlando Renegades.
  • The Arizona Wranglers (see Chicago Blitz of 1983) would merge with the Oklahoma Outlaws, forming the Arizona Outlaws. The Outlaws had originally intended to merge with the Oakland Invaders, but an agreement between their owners couldn't be reached.
  • The Pittsburgh Maulers, owned by billionaire shopping mall magnate Edward J. DeBartolo Sr. folded; and
  • The Chicago Blitz (see Arizona Wranglers of 1983) also folded. Eddie Einhorn was granted a new franchise for Chicago, but it was repeatedly announced that the team Einhorn had purchased was not the Blitz.

[edit] Competition vs. NFL

[edit] Competing by not competing

At first the USFL competed with the older, more established National Football League by trying not to compete directly with it, primarily by playing its games on a March-June schedule but also having different playing rules, most notably:

• The two-point conversion (since adopted by the NFL, in 1994).
• For the 1985 season, a method of challenging officials' rulings on the field via instant replay (using a system that is almost identical to that used by the NFL today).

Initially the league was viewed as innovative and a serious challenger to the establishment NFL thanks to its willingness to sign marquee talent such as Herschel Walker, Brian Sipe, Doug Flutie, Mike Rozier, Reggie White, Jim Kelly, Steve Young and other young stars of the day.

[edit] Spring vs. fall

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. 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, the voices of New Jersey Generals owner Donald Trump and others would eventually prevail. On October 18, 1984, the league's owners voted to begin playing a fall season in 1986. However, the USFL would never play a fall game.

[edit] USFL v. NFL

In another effort to keep themselves afloat while at the same time attacking the more established National Football League, the USFL filed an antitrust lawsuit against the older league, claiming it had established a monopoly with respect to television broadcasting rights, and in some cases, to access of stadium venues.

The USFL claimed that the NFL had bullied ABC, CBS and NBC 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 of $567 million, which would have been tripled to $1.7 billion under antitrust law.

Each NFL franchise was named as a co-defendant, with the exception of the then-Los Angeles Raiders; Raiders owner Al Davis was a major witness for the USFL. Howard Cosell 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 handed down a verdict that devastated the league. While the jury declared the NFL a "duly adjudicated illegal monopoly", and found that the NFL had willfully acquired and maintained monopoly status through predatory tactics, it rejected the USFL's other claims.

The jury found that the USFL had changed its strategy to a more risky goal of merger with the NFL. Furthermore, the switch to a fall schedule caused the loss of several major markets. Most importantly, the jury found that the NFL did not attempt to force the USFL off television. In essence, the jury felt that while the USFL was harmed by the NFL's de facto monopolization of pro football in the United States, most of its problems were due to its own mismanagement. It awarded the USFL only one dollar in damages, which was tripled under antitrust law to three dollars. It later emerged that the jury incorrectly assumed that the judge could increase the award.

The verdict was a classic Pyrrhic victory. The USFL had essentially staked its future on the outcome of the suit, and considered the television-related claims to be the heart of its case. Almost immediately upon announcement of the verdict, it announced it was suspending operations for the 1986 season, with the intent of returning in 1987. 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, many USFL players had already signed contracts with NFL teams, and the league was some $160 million in debt. This made it unlikely the USFL would have been able to put together a viable product in any case. With nearly all of its players under contract to the NFL and Canadian Football League, Usher announced the league would stay shuttered in 1987 as well.

Despite the post-trial statements of several jurors indicating that they wished to award much greater sums to the USFL (one juror alone stated a $100 million award, tripled to $300 million, was what he thought appropriate), the USFL's appeal was rejected by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit in 1988. This decision was the end of the USFL, which formally dissolved shortly afterward. However, due to a provision of antitrust law which allows an "injured" party in an antitrust action to recover its attorney fees and costs of litigation, the USFL was awarded over $5.5 million in attorney fees and $62,220.92 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 in 1990, long after the USFL had ceased operations.

The USFL finally received a check for $3.76 in damages in 1990, including interest. Notably, the check has not yet been cashed.

[edit] Aftermath

Though the NFL would be loath to admit it during the remainder of the 1980s and 1990s, it is widely acknowledged that the USFL had a dramatic impact on the National Football League 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 would go on to very successful careers in the NFL.

The NFL would also eventually have franchises in some of the markets where the USFL proved fertile or renewed interest in the game, including Arizona (the St. Louis Cardinals moving there in 1988), Jacksonville (the Jaguars being awarded as an expansion franchise for the 1995 season), and Tennessee (the Houston Oilers, before making Nashville their permanent home, spent a year in Memphis).

The last player of the USFL on an NFL roster was Sean Landeta, who was signed in late 2006 by the New York Giants. Three USFL alumni are now enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame: Reggie White, Jim Kelly and Steve Young.

[edit] Teams

• Arizona Outlaws (1985; result of Arizona/Oklahoma merger)
• Arizona Wranglers (1983, 1984; Arizona and Chicago owners traded franchises)
• Baltimore Stars (1985; moved from Philadelphia)
• Birmingham Stallions (1983-1985)
• Boston Breakers (1983)
• Chicago Blitz (1983, 1984; Arizona and Chicago owners traded franchises)
• Denver Gold (1983-1985)
• Houston Gamblers (1984-1985)
• Jacksonville Bulls (1984-1985)
• Los Angeles Express (1983-1985)
• Memphis Showboats (1984-1985)
• Michigan Panthers (1983-1984)
• New Jersey Generals (1983-1985)
• New Orleans Breakers (1984; moved from Boston)
• Oakland Invaders (1983-1985; merged with Michigan for 1985 season)
• Oklahoma Outlaws (1984)
• Orlando Renegades (1985)
• Philadelphia Stars (1983-1984)
• Pittsburgh Maulers (1984)
• Portland Breakers (1985; moved from New Orleans)
• San Antonio Gunslingers (1984-1985)
• Tampa Bay Bandits (1983-1985)
• Washington Federals (1983-1984)

[edit] In 1986

Prior to the jury award in USFL v. NFL, the league had planned to go forward with a 1986 season comprising eight teams, divided into an "Independence Division" and a "Liberty Division":[1]

• Independence Division
  • Arizona Outlaws
  • Jacksonville Bulls (merged with Denver Gold)
  • Orlando Renegades
  • Tampa Bay Bandits

• Liberty Division
  • Baltimore Stars
  • Birmingham Stallions
  • Memphis Showboats
  • New Jersey Generals (merged with Houston Gamblers)

However, due to the legal aftermath pertaining to the USFL, this divisional format, and the whole 1986 season, would never come to fruition.

[edit] Season by season

W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, PCT= Winning Percentage, PF= Points For, PA = Points Against

Qualified for playoffs

[edit] 1983