We'd have a football Sunday about to start right now, Generals getting loose at MetLife, lit up in red. Discuss your favorite things about the USFL, mine was that we had football in the spring. After a few guys jumped over it was pretty good too, a lot of big-time players were in that league.
I agree with this sentiment, I was hoping the UFL would be an answer but they stupidly decided to play in the fall.
I followed the league in 1985. That was its third and final season. My favorite four uniforms in no particular order- Tampa Bay Bandits Portland Breakers Denver Gold Jacksonville Bulls Favorite team- New Jersey Generals Favorite Western Conference team- Denver Gold My father's two were the Generals and Houston Gamblers. I disliked the Birmingham Stallions and Baltimore Stars.
Trust me, if there's a new pro league that is destined for failure, Birmingham will be first in line to get a team. The last league they tried to get into Birmingham never played a single game before folding. That followed the XFL (which I actually enjoyed: I know I was one of 42 people in the US who did), and the Canadian League. The expanded field barely fit inside of Legion Field, and as much as people clamor for football here, no one wants to go to Legion Field in the first place, much less watch what is deemed as 3rd rate Canadian football. I watched the Generals games fondly when I was growing up, since they were on Channel 11, I think. They had the right idea, just overspent themselves into oblivion. I knew pretty quickly when Steve Young signed that 40 year deal, or however long it was, that it would never last.
The ESPN show 30 for 30 "Who Killed the USFL" is a must watch if you haven't seen it. Once you see it you'll realize Trump blows. He should have shown a little restraint with his moves and made sure the league was healthy, but no...I've never been a fan, and continue to despise him. I went to a couple of Generals games. Hell, Walt Michaels was the coach. I loved that. At least they were called NJ - surprising since you figured they'd be starving for NY marketing money. The Houston Gamblers had to be the most entertaining team. Philadelphia Stars under Jim Mora were consistently good too. All in all I guess they were the best team. Wasn't Reggie White on that team?
Houston was merging w/ the Generals for the next season so we likely would have seen a Generals championship if the league didn't fold. I watched the World league of American Football and even went to NY/NJ Knights games so I would love the USFL back as it was but that will never happen again.
This is actually one of the two 30 for 30s I watched it was very entertaining and another example of Trump being an egomaniac douche. I hope the USFL comes back. I don't really watch the NHL or NBA so some football right now would be awesome.
That's funny. When I first started watching football the WFL was around, and they had the Birmingham Americans. Larry Czonka was in that league and the New York Stars for some reason moved to Charlotte. That was the first time I'd ever heard of Charlotte. If I remember correctly, that was part of the deal to play at the Meadowlands, which was run by New Jersey at the time. They felt the stadium was more important to being considered big time than the name, and they were probably right. I went to one of those but barely remember it, just tailgating. The genius of the USFL was having it in the spring to avoid the NFL and allowing territorial drafting, so players had a better chance to be with their local teams. That enticed a bunch of guys to switch leagues. We lost Jerry Holmes to the Pittsburgh Maulers. Memphis if I remember right at one point had one of the better CB tandems in either league.
Wow- i haven't thought of the NY Knights in about 30 years! I had a buddy who got season tickets, I think for $2 each. Didn't they fold halfway through their first season? I remember he had a bunch of leftover tickets.
The league lasted a while over in Europe when the NFL bought it out, but the US based teams went away.
