USFL

For those of you who are too young, the United States Football League (USFL) was a league that competed against the NFL back in the middle 1980’s that featured great future NFL players such as Steve Young and Jim Kelly. It also almost forced the NFL to create a merger due to the popularity of the league.

However, a merger never occurred and just like the XFL and other leagues it collapsed and has been forgotten by many. At my age, I do not remember the XFL and was not alive when the USFL was around. I did, however, get to go to Arena Football League (AFL) games. I absolutely loved them and while I do not know why, AFL games just felt different than NFL games.

The number one part of the "New USFL" that peaked my interest has to be the new rules. While these rules are not new, they are much different from the NFL rules. Like the XFL, the commissioner wants to drive the fan's curiosity.

There will be no preseason and will just start with the regular season. This rule was adopted from the World Football League. Earning points will also allow field goals that are more than 50 yards will be worth four points instead of three.

Also, another rule from the XFL will be adopted in which a two-point conversion from the ten yard line will actually be worth three points. A brand new rule will change safeties from two to four points.

The season's layout will be similar to the Arena Football League. The season will start in Febuary or March and end in early July. I personally love this plan, as it gives me something to watch during the offseason of the NFL and college football seasons.  Now, it is not that I do not enjoy watching the NBA and college basketball seasons, but football just happens to be my favorite sport.

The USFL should survive for a long time, since it does not have to go against the NFL or college football and the summer is when things should heat up, since the only other sport will be baseball.

Unlike the UFL, the USFL should not be canceled within their first five years. The USFL already had its name known from the eighties and is in a good slot for the season. They are not up against anything come summer time and the league is much bigger than the UFL, which gives more small cities chances to earn money. This strategy is what the Arena Football League did, which is a major reason why the league lasted for 20 years.

Like the Arena Football League, the USFL will most likely get players who were not successful in the NFL and want a second chance to redeem themselves. Also like the old USFL, it should give players a jumping board to the NFL. The players will get a chance to improve on their skills before they become a free agent. Greats like Steve Young, Jim Kelly, and Herschel Walker all used the USFL as a jumping board to the NFL.

The USFL will be back in 2011 and should become very popular quickly taking players from college who didn't get drafted or just decide to join the USFL. Fans of smaller cities and in states that don't have an NFL team may finally get a taste of what it is like to have a pro team in their city. The USFL will excite many and give unlucky fans a chance to see a pro team in action in their own state and at a much lower price.

It's in the dark recesses of memory in the ownership corridors of the NFL. It's talked about in hushed tones, like a child whispering to Momma about the boogieman that's going to get them. It could derail the apple cart, ruin their golden goose, and release the League's stranglehold on the marketplace.

It's the United States Football League. The USFL...a league that nearly forced the NFL into a merger in the mid '80s.

There's a movement to resurrect it from the dead to begin play in 2011 with 10-12 teams, and 2011 just coincidentally happens the offseason that the NFL plans on locking out its players in a collective bargaining dispute.

The emergence of the USFL could provide the players some leverage in their war with the owners. At the same time, it could legitimize the league, allowing it to succeed where so many other summer leagues have failed.

Imagine, if you will, Dree Brews suiting up for the Los Angeles Express and Peyton Manning leading the charge for the Michigan Panthers. Imagine Chris Johnson blistering down the sidelines for the Birmingham Stallions, Ronnie Brown in the red and black of the Tampa Bay Bandits, and Donovan McNabb bringing a championship to Philadelphia with the Philadelphia Stars.

It could happen, folks.

The USFL was the model league for all future NFL alternatives, taking the NFL head on, battling tooth and nail for players with the big bad behemoth. It was David going against Goliath and consistently winning.

The USFL was the brainchild of David Dixon, a New Orleans antiques dealer, who had been instrumental in bringing the New Orleans Saints to town. In 1965, he envisioned football as a possible spring and summer sport.

After studying other failed leagues for 15 years, he formed a blueprint for the prospective league's operations, which included early television exposure, heavy promotion in home markets, and owners willing to absorb years of losses that 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 signed up 12 cities, including nine where there already were NFL teams. They quickly reached an over-the-air television deal with ABC Sports and a cable deal with then-fledgling ESPN.

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.

At first the USFL competed with the older, more established National Football League by following the Dixon plan and trying not to compete directly with it, primarily by playing its games on a March-June schedule, but also having slightly different rules and a salary cap.

Although the Dixon plan called for a $1.8 million salary cap in anticipation of slow growth, several teams exceeded it in the pursuit of stars.

Ironically, the league's biggest splash—the signing of Herschel Walker—has been considered to have foreshadowed the league's demise.

Teams began to spend feverishly trying to gain more talent and legitimacy as a quality alternative to the NFL.

Donald Trump led the charge, leading to the eventual abolishment of the league's salary cap and championing a move to a fall schedule to challenge the NFL directly.

Of course, the move never happened as teams went bankrupt before they were able to compete and franchises moved and folded.

In another effort to keep themselves afloat while at the same time attacking the more established National Football League, the USFL filed an anti-trust 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 league sought damages of $567 million, which would have been tripled to $1.7 billion under anti-trust law. It also hoped to void the NFL's contracts with the three major networks.

To exact a resolution, 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 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, while technically a victory for the USFL, in fact devastated the league.

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.

The jury rejected the USFL's other claims. It also found that the USFL had changed its strategy to a more risky goal of a merger with the NFL.

In addition, the switch to a fall schedule caused the loss of several major markets. It also claimed that it was established that Donald Trump, owner of the New Jersey Generals, specifically wanted to force a merger knowing that the majority of teams would be eliminated.

Probably the most damning result was that 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 nominal damages, which was tripled under antitrust law to three dollars, essentially bankrupting the league.

Before you knew it, the USFL was gone. Collectively, owners lost $163 million dollars.

After the demise of the league, several other leagues sprouted up to try and replace the void left by the USFL.

Only the Arena League had any measure of success, lasting 22 seasons before finally folding in 2008.

The World League of American Football was founded in 1990 with the support of the NFL, but eventually folded in 1993.

It would be relaunched in '95 as NFLE (National Football League Europe), playing exclusively in Europe and lasting about 12 years before closing its doors for good in 2007.

The XFL was founded in 2001 by World Wrestling Entertainment's Vince McMahon. It folded after one season.

The United Football League debuted in 2009, beginning with just four teams competing directly against the NFL. It did poorly financially but confirmed it would return for a second season.

The new USFL will build upon the lessons learned from the failed experiments of the XFL and World League, not to mention the overspending zealous of the old USFL.

It's believed to already have lined up television contracts with the ESPN family of networks, including ABC, and plans on bringing back many of the old franchise nicknames to allow for familiarity.

Michael Dwyer, the founder and president of the new league, believes this new USFL will be "NFL friendly."

It could, however, become an ugly bargaining chip if the NFL owners do decide to go forward with a lockout of the players in 2011.

The presence of the USFL would enable the players to earn a paycheck, albeit not as impressive as what they'd make in the NFL, and allow them to stay in competitive shape, similar to when the NHL players were fleeing to play in Europe and Russia during their lock out.

Further, it would give the USFL some credible ground to stand on talent-wise, re-establishing the brand of competitive summer football, and allow it to rebuild a fanbase.

You know the NFL doesn't want this league to see the light of day, especially in trying labor times. It could upset the distinct advantage they have over the players while strengthening a new competitor that has the name recognition from challenging them in the past.

There's been a lot of questions and confusion concerning the new USFL and it remains to be seen whether the league will ever step foot on a field.

Dates for revealing names, locations, and other information has been missed.

In a statement made in November on their official Web site, the league remains dedicated to playing in 2011 with 10-12 teams.

"We have a strong sense of history and believe that the marketplace has demonstrated the desire to have 'spring football'," Dwyer said in the statement. "The USFL had a strong connection with many of its fans and we hope to re-ignite that passion and pick up where the others left off."

If they can get their act together, the USFL could be a significant fly in the ointment of the NFL's collective bargaining with their players.

Portions of the Wikipedia article on the USFL were used in this article. Please note that while a great source, Wikipedia is not always the most reliable place for accurate information. I have fact checked what was written here with other sources to confirm its accuracy.

Last week I watched my first UFL (United Football League) game on Versus between the Las Vegas Locomotives and California Redwoods. The games are, of course, played to a smaller crowd and the atmosphere has the look and feel of a Friday Night Lights remake. Surprisingly, the play-by-play is very good, more than enough to keep my interest.

I remembered that ESPN's Pardon the Interruption plugged the game earlier that day and happened to stumble upon it. I immediately started to recognize players formerly from college, the NFL, or the Madden video game series. I had become accustomed to their names in the past, and wondered where they ended up after their playing days were seemingly over.

Here are the teams, and some names you may recognize:

Las Vegas Locos

Head Coach: Jim Fassel (former N.Y. Giants Super Bowl coach)

Defensive Assistant Coach: Sam Garnes (former N.Y. Jets linebacker, N.Y Giants Safety)

Running Backs Coach: Amp Lee (former Minnesota Vikings running back)

Notable Players: Wendell Bryant DT, former Arizona Cardinal first-round bust; David Kircus WR, former Detroit Lion; J.P. Losman, former Buffalo Bills starting QB; Tab Perry WR/RB, former Michigan Wolverine and Cincinnati Bengal six-round bust; Marcel Shipp RB, former Arizona Cardinal; Gary Stills LB, former Kansas City Chief

NY Sentinels

Head coach: Ted Cottrell (former Vikings defensive coordinator)

Offensive line Coach: Jon Tice (former Vikings offensive line coach)

Notable Players: Quinn Gray QB, former Jacksonville Jaguar; Ryan Hoag WR, former Minnesota Viking; Simeon Rice DE, former Tampa Bay Bucs pro-bowl lineman; LeBrandon Toefield RB, former LSU Tiger

Florida Tuskers

Head Coach: Jim Haslett (former New Orleans Saints head coach)

Offensive Coordinator: Jay Gruden (former Arena League head coach, brother of former Tampa Bay coach, Jon Gruden)

Notable Players: Tatum Bell RB, former Denver Bronco and Detroit Lion; Taye Biddle WR, former Carolina Panther; Patrick Chukwurah LB, former Viking; Dexter Jackson, former Tampa Bay Bucs Super Bowl MVP; Ricky Manning Jr CB, former Chicago Bear and Carolina Panther; Michael Pittman RB, longtime Arizona Cardinal; Darrion Scott DT, former Viking, Odell Thurman LB, former Bengals Second-round pick; Jermaine Wiggins TE, former Patriot and Viking

California Redwoods

Owned by Paul Pelosi, husband of politician Nancy Pelosi.

Head Coach: Dennis Green (former Arizona Cardinals and Minnesota Vikings coach)

Notable Players: Afembayi Ayenbadejo FB, former Viking and Raven; Derrick Frost P; Doug Gabriel TE, former Buc and Raider, B.J. Sams KR, former Baltimore Raven

Rules Varying from the NFL's Rulebook

• No tuck rule. (Sorry, Raiders fans.)
• Touchdown celebrations allowed. Only permitted in the end zone and on the bench, but can involve multiple players. (The old USFL was famous for these fun times. Its creativity is perhaps the biggest draw to these games.)
• Overtime (OT) follows college rules. No sudden death—rather each team is guaranteed to get the ball once. Teams must tie the score to continue, or overtake the lead to win.
• Territorial Draft: Essentially, the teams have preferential rights to a player who played college or professional ball in the team's home region.
  

USFL (United Football League) Influence

ESPN's 30 for 30 series played a story last night called "Small Potatoes: Who Killed the USFL?"

All I knew about the USFL was that a few old players, namely Steve Young and Reggie White, made their professional debuts there. I didn't know that at least three former Heisman Trophy Winners (Doug Flutie, Hershel Walker, and S. Young) all made their professional debuts there. Other alumni included Jim Kelly, Mike Rozier, and former Super Bowl winning quarterback Doug Williams.

What the 30 for 30 presentation showed was Donald Trump, who bought into the New York/New Jersey Generals franchise, basically killed the league by trying too hard and too quickly to directly compete with the NFL. He took the NFL to court, and won, only to get a $3 settlement. He also created a buzz that was good for the league.

Additionally, he clashed with the smaller owners whom he overshadowed both financially and socially. Most notably, his Tampa Bay Bandits rival, John Bassett, who teamed with minority owner Burt Reynolds. (Yes, that Burt Reynolds.)

But this article isn't about Mr. Trump; it's about the parallels that can be drawn between a once-popular spring league (the USFL), and a similar league (the UFL) that is trying to learn from its predecessor's mistakes.

Best of luck to them. The first thing they are doing right is not directly competing with the NFL for fans or coverage. If the product is good enough, it should survive. After all, the Arena League lasted 20 years. Perhaps this new league will fill the void left by the Arena League's hiatus.

Who knows?

But, one thing I do know is that I am going to give the league another chance this Thursday when the California Redwoods take on the Florida Tuskers at 7:00 pm on Versus. You should too.

You never know whom you might remember from yesteryear. And you may realize that football can still be fun without the media, the egos, and the endorsement deals. What the UFL offers is players hoping for a second chance, some playing the game because they love it, and others simply hoping to get noticed.

He has won a National Championship. He is unblemished in bowl games. He has revived three separate programs. He even dabbled in the professional game.

He started coaching in 1959, only nine years after Joe Paterno.

Howard Schnellenberger has done many things in the college football world.

But his current stint with the Florida Atlantic Owls might be coming to an end soon.

His 48-48 mark with the program is nothing to write home about...unless you consider the following: Schnellenberger has been coaching the Sun Belt Conference team since 2001, the programs first year of extinction.

FAU joined the SBC after being a Division 1-AA team its first four years, followed by a single year as a Division 1-A independent. Competing against programs that possess great fluidity and tradition is tough, especially when you are starting from scratch.

Starting in 1979, his twentieth year as a coach, Schnellenberger brought the University of Miami back into college football's limelight. His highlight was winning the 1983 National Championship. Coincidentally, that was his final year with the Hurricanes.

He jumped ship to coach a USFL team in Southern Florida. When those plans fell through, Schnellenberger took over at the University of Louisville.

His career coaching record of the Cardinals is below .500, due mainly to a rough first three years. During the next three seasons however, Schnellenberger brought UL to two bowl games, winning them both, as well as their highest ever ranking.

The guy has a complex named after him there...

Following the 1994 season, and in a rather arrogant manner, Schnellenberger took over the reigns to the Oklahoma Sooners.

Oklahoma suffered their second losing season since World War II.

In the midst of much speculation of whom to blame, cavalier coach or haughty "Sooner" players, Schnellenberger resigned.

From 1996-1998, Schnellenberger tried his luck in finance. Dismayed, he decided to recommit himself to the sport he loves.

FAU was putting together a football team, and who better to have at the helm than a coach who revived two programs? He lived in Florida, to boot.

Though old, he was experienced. Schnellenberger could recruit, and he recruited well.

As an Independent Division 1-AA team, in only its first four years of existence, Schnellenberger lead the Owls to a record of 26-21.

FAU jumped to Division 1-A as an Independent, and they faired rather poorly: 2-9.

The next three seasons were much more constructive. From 2006-2008, Schnellenberger placed the Owls at records of 5-7, 8-5 and 7-6, respectively. The latter two years featured FAU defeating Memphis 44-27 and Central Michigan 24-21 in bowl games.

With the 2007 New Orleans bowl invitation, FAU became the youngest program ever to be invited to a bowl get, let alone win one.

The Owls victory over CMU in the 2008 Motor City Bowl preserved Schnellenberger's perfect bowl record at 6-0. But his team, despite their marginal bowl win over the Chippewas, had an upsetting season.

Though Schnellenberger has done a rather stupendous job at Florida Atlantic, he may not have done enough. This could be his last year with the program, seeing as the Owl's best player (Rusty Smith, QB) is also leaving after this year.

The coach has an immediate knock against him in the fact that he is 75 years old.

If Schnellenberger cannot manage to lead the Owls to a more-than-impressive season, I have a hard time picturing a 76 year old man engineering a very young team with a new starting quarterback.

With another year of the NFL showing that it has earned its No Fun League nickname I find myself pondering the future and the past. I have to say that even with the economy on the decline, as a student majoring in sports management with a specialization in coaching and as a regular football fan I'm excited about the future.

For the subject of greatest accomplishment in sports, I sat trying to think of which record stood out the most. Was it Ty Cobb’s .366 career batting average, or Cy Young’s 511 wins? Should it be Rocky Marciano’s 49-0 record or Bill Russell’s 11 championships?

But then I thought I’d take this another way, instead of looking for that great career record or some single game achievement, I thought I’d take a look at a player. Look at a career and find in it greatness, and who did I look to but Doug Flutie.

Doug Flutie is the quarterback you couldn’t help but love. He was always a fan favorite who between three leagues logged in 21 years of professional play. Playing his high-school ball in Natick Massachusetts, Flutie went on to play quarterback for Boston College.

It was there that his magic began to shine. In 1984, Flutie achieved some of the things he is best known for. It was this senior season that Flutie threw for 3,454 yards and 27 touchdowns, while winning the Heisman Trophy, but more importantly, there was “the pass”.

The day after thanksgiving, Flutie and his BC Eagles played against the highly touted Miami Hurricanes. Lead by Bernie Kosar, the Hurricanes seemed to be an unstoppable force. But the Eagles fought them every inch of the way. After Kosar lead his team on a dramatic drive that would give the Hurricanes a 45-41 lead, Flutie came out and completed two quick passes that left six seconds on the clock.

On the final play of the game, Flutie dropped back in the pocket and scrambled around until he tossed up that fateful Hail Mary that was caught in the end zone by wide receiver, and roommate, Gerard Phelan. This play not only won BC the game, but has gone down as one of football's greatest moments.

Regardless of his solid collegiate career, the NFL would not take the 5’9" quarterback seriously, deeming him too short to play the position at the pro level. So it was with the USFL’s New Jersey Generals that Flutie would play his first professional season, a season in which he threw for over 2,000 yards and 13 touchdowns in 15 games. Upon the collapse of the league, Flutie went to the NFL, were he spent his first three season not doing much, and only playing in six games.

However, with the NFL players' strike in ’87, Flutie took his chance and crossed the picket lines to start playing for the New England Patriots. After 17 games and some 1,800 yards in three seasons with the Patriots, Flutie left for the Canadian Football League, signing with the British Columbia Lions.

Struggling in his first CFL season, Flutie and the Lions went 6-11. Over the next seven seasons, Flutie wouldn’t post a losing record again. After throwing over 450 completions for more then 6,500 yards and earning the Most Outstanding Player award with the Lions in 1991, Flutie signed with the Calgary Stampeders.

Soon after, he won his first Grey Cup, a game in which he was named Grey Cup MVP. Over his eight year career, Flutie won three Grey Cups, earning the MVP award in each, earned seven Most Outstanding Player awards, and threw more than 40,000 yards and 250 touchdowns. In 1998, Flutie left the CFL for a return to the NFL.

After four games and a 1-3 record, the Buffalo Bills gave Flutie the starting quarterback job. In his first start, he led the team to a fourth-quarter comeback, throwing two touchdowns, to beat the Indianapolis Colts. With Flutie taking the reins, the Bills won eight more games and ended their season with a 9-6 record, and earned his first Pro-Bowl appearance and the Comeback Player of the Year award.

After leading the team to a 10-5 record in ’99, Flutie was replaced by Rob Johnson, and Flutie would eventually be cut after spending a year on the bench.

After throwing a career high 3,464 yards in 2001 with the Chargers, Flutie spent the next three years battling with Drew Brees for the starter’s job. In 2005, Flutie spent his last season in the NFL with the Patriots, playing back up to Tom Brady, and getting little play time. But he made some of it count by being the first player in 64 years to make a successful dropkick in a game against the Dolphins.

After that season, Flutie announced it was time to “hang up [his] helmet” and retire at the age of 43.

You can make the argument that as an NFL player, Flutie was nothing special; he just threw for 14,000 yards and 86 touchdowns in 13 seasons.

However, when you look at his combined career numbers, pooling the NFL, CFL, and USFL years, you can’t help but take notice. He’s played in 241 games, only five less than Fran Tarkenton, the NFL's all-time leader for games played by a quarterback.

His 58,179 yards, 369 touchdowns, and 4,286 completions would put him third on the NFL’s all-time list for all three categories. I think that’s pretty impressive for a guy who was too short to play quarterback.

From the sports world comes news of a pair of unfortunate demises, with two leagues once full of promise seeing closure of sorts.

Last week saw an all-time great trivia answer from the world of football retire. No, we're not referring to Brett Favre (or even Warren "The QB Killa" Sapp), but rather Sean Landeta. As a punter mostly for the New York Giants, Landeta strung together a pro football career spanning 24 seasons, beginning with the Philadelphia Stars.

That's right: The Philadelphia Stars of that late, great institution of the 1980s, the United States Football League. Whoa, flashback.

Exactly 25 years to the day after the USFL kicked off, Landeta became the last USFL player to hang up the football cleats; the three-year league - truly America's last major sports league to have any measure of success after subsuming by bigger leagues of the American Football League, American Basketball Association, and World Hockey Association in 1970s - that inspired a generation of nostalgia can now finally and emphatically be called inactive.

Meanwhile, though reports of its demise may be slightly exaggerated by some, it appears as though the ambitious All-American Football League, with six teams comprised of locally based players, is dead before the first kickoff.

Nothing is official yet over at AAFL headquarters, but the writing on the wall (and from the PR department) reads, "Every effort is being made to ensure that the '08 season will be played as planned, but this depends upon locating a new majority owner with the needed liquidity, which in turn depends upon the league being able to finalize a TV deal. Otherwise, the inaugural season will be postponed to '09."

Interestingly enough, if the AAFL is aborted, its death will be directly tied to the subprime mortgage crisis. It turns out that the business of AAFL CEO Marcus Katz, the Educational Loan Administration Group, is suffering drastic effects from the loan disaster. Katz can no longer cover the startup costs for the league, and thus the association is essentially without financial backing.

The league has given itself until the middle of next week to find someone willing to provide support. Hey, we'll volunteer; will you take a check? The RF365FL, anyone?

Loving football of all sorts, really, throughout the year at RealFootball365.com.