The USFL is back? Why?

[BillJ]

I have to preface this by saying that I am a huge fan of the USFL that played from 1983-1985...

Apparently, a new version of the USFL is supposed to begin playing in 2022, to be, at least, partially broadcast by FOX. Why? There seriously can't be that much nostalgia for the USFL. Hell, you'd have to be 40 years old to even have faint memories of the league. This also feel like it will be a cheap fly-by-night minor league for NFL never beens that hasn't exactly soared in other versions like the WLAF, NFL Europe, XFL, UFL, AAF, the XFL 2 and a few I'm sure I've missed.

While its' original purpose wasn't to compete with the NFL, that is exactly what it ended up doing by going after highly talented college talent (Herschel Walker, Marcus Dupree, Reggie White) and signing NFL free agents. That was what drove TV and ticket interest. Not the 51st guys on 50 man NFL rosters.

Then one has to imagine that the competitive landscape of Spring time in 1983 is nothing compared to that same landscape in 2020. Where most major markets have some combination of the NBA, NHL, MLB and MLS franvhises playing in that same time frame.

Maybe I'm just a grumpy old man shaking my fists at the clouds, but this seems doomed to failure.

*Apparently the man who says he owns the USFL IP may not actually own it.

https://www.inquirer.com/eagles/usfl-fox-philadelphia-stars-spring-20210603.html

But Ehrhart, who was the USFL’s executive director in its final season and still has the $3 check the league received in 1986 after “winning” its antitrust suit against the NFL, would love to know where Woods and Fox claim to have gotten the rights to the USFL name and logo and those of the original teams.

“I was surprised when I heard about it this morning,” said Ehrhart, a longtime Memphis attorney and the executive director of the Auto Zone Liberty Bowl. “I want to dig into it and see who they’re claiming they acquired these rights [to the name] from. Because it didn’t come from any legitimate source.

“My guess is there’s some knucklehead out there who claimed he had registered the name and had the rights to it. We’re not being antagonistic. But if they want to do this, they should do it the right way and talk to the actual people, not some guy who sent in an internet registration or something like that.”

Ehrhart said that the league retained the rights to the USFL name after the ’86 legal battle with the NFL. He said league officials also licensed the rights to the team logos and still even get a royalty check every month.

 

[Spider]

As the Reverend Mother Mohiam told Paul Atreides, "They have all tried and died".

There'll be more spring leagues, and if they have a Houston team in them I'll watch. I might even buy a hat. But I won't hold any expectations for their success.

 

[Oddish]

I remember Baltimore boasting that it was the only city boasting a Lombardi trophy*, a USFL trophy, and a CFL Gray Cup.

*With two different teams.

 

[BillJ]

I remember Baltimore boasting that it was the only city boasting a Lombardi trophy*, a USFL trophy, and a CFL Gray Cup.

*With two different teams.

The thing about the Stars was that they actually played in College Park, Md. and that their offices and practices were still in Philadelphia. The proposed move to the Fall of '86 forced them out of Veteran's Stadium.

They were Baltimore's team in name only.

 

[Timby]

The thing about the Stars was that they actually played in College Park, Md. and that their offices and practices were still in Philadelphia. The proposed move to the Fall of '86 forced them out of Veteran's Stadium.

They were Baltimore's team in name only.

Having lived there for a year, I can tell you that Baltimore has quite the inferiority complex. We just pat them on their heads and say, "That's nice."

 

[BillJ]

I'll never understand the rationale for the move to Fall, other than Donald Trump wanting in the NFL for cheap. They lost multiple markets that were actually supporting teams (Philadelphia, New Orleans, Detroit, Oakland, Denver, even the Pittsburgh Maulers were drawing close to 20,000 a game with a terrible team).

 

[Aragorn]

As the Reverend Mother Mohiam told Paul Atreides, "They have all tried and died".

There'll be more spring leagues, and if they have a Houston team in them I'll watch. I might even buy a hat. But I won't hold any expectations for their success.

I'm putting together my own spring league. Even though it'll be adults playing, we're going with grade school playground rules -- 20 vs. 20, with 1 QB and 19 WR on offense, no kicking, optional punting.

And Rick Mirer still won't be able to find an open receiver.

 

[Timby]

Rick Mirer

You motherfucker. You just reminded me that the Bears traded a first-round pick for that sack of shit. I should make you sit a seven-day ban for that.

 

[Oddish]

Having lived there for a year, I can tell you that Baltimore has quite the inferiority complex. We just pat them on their heads and say, "That's nice."

They also had a football team's marching band with no football team for 12 years. Inferiority complex or no, that's a neat trick.

 

[ichab]

As someone who grew up in the Tampa Bay area in that time, I have very fond memories of the bandits. It was Steve Spurrior's first head coaching gig and they were so much more fun to watch than the 2-14 bucs. Attendance at bandit games were over 40,000, which was higher than most USFL teams. Then someone named Donald Trump took over the New Jersey Generals, convinced the owners to move the league to a fall schedule and that was the beginning of the end of the USFL. One of many examples of his failure as a businessman. 30 for 30 did a really good documentary on this called "Small Potatoes: Who killed the USFL?"

 

[Skywalker]

I still think there's room for a spring football league, but they probably need to be partnered with and/or owned outright by the NFL in order to succeed.

I actually like some of the new rules XFL 2.0 came up with, particularly the way they handled kickoffs.

 

[XCV330]

I remember watching the original USFL a bit as a kid. My spring league that (Well spring/summer) that I enjoyed was the Arena League. Way more exciting games, taking away the punt option, in my opinion, plus the extra point on drop-kick scoring. It lasted far longer that most and even came back to life for awhile, but its gone now. I suspect this USFL will go into the dumpster of dead leagues with the AFL, USFL, XFL, CBA, ABA..

This one sounds even less interesting. They'll attract the kind of players that could have barely made it into AFL2 (remember them?), playing all their games in Birmingham, Alabama, somehow trying to get people to feel like they have a geographical stake in the game. I don't get it

I remember going to a Tennessee Thundercats game (yes, that was their name.. and yes, to whatever your next question is), part of the ill-fated IPFL, who were playing the Boise Beef (no, I have no answers). The 'cats qb got arrested for failure to pay child support, the backup apparently had quit or something the day before and they were about to forefeit the game in front of the fans when the final QB on the roster was found working out at a gym nearby. They managed to get him to the door and suited up just in time. They won too. It was fun. But it lasted about as long as this USFL will probably last.

 

[Jedi Marso]

Give me a football league that is willing to fucking hit and not be woke. I'll watch. My standards at this point are prettylow.

 

[BillJ]

Give me a football league that is willing to fucking hit and not be woke.

So trying to avoid concussions and other life altering injuries is now woke? I may disagree with how the NFL enacts its policies, but the goal is not a bad thing that should be mocked.

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

So trying to avoid concussions and other life altering injuries is now woke? I may disagree with how the NFL enacts its policies, but the goal is not a bad thing that should be mocked.

It's not that fine a line. Protecting players, esp QB's and throwing flags for a slap on the helmet are pretty far ends of the spectrum. It's a physical and occasionally violent game.

So much more is known about concussions and CTE now, if you choose to play the game you know the risks.

Imagine 16 games a week played like the Pro Bowl. Just put the belt with the 2 velcro™ flags on each player and call it a day.

 

[BillJ]

It's a physical and occasionally violent game.

To a degree, yes.

That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t take precautions where you can. A player should never be using his helmet to tackle with. Players should never go to the head area, really for any reason. The only way to ingrain it is too flag them every time it happens.

There are trickier issues that are tougher to defend, like a defender landing with his weight on a QB? There are safety concerns of a flat footed player being driven into the ground in that manner. While hidden under the guise of safety it is more about economics and supply. Good QB’s make between $30 and 45 million dollars a year and there simply aren’t that many of them. So the focus has become about protecting the investment you’ve made. Which makes sense.

 

[XCV330]

I hope USFL avoids instant reply review challenges. Another thing that has slowed down the game and made it a coaches game and not a players game (I hardly watch NFL, anymore). If I want to have a slow lethargic safe game of people hunched over and yelling over an oblong object, I have discovered my true love, curling.

I do think the league began to err a little overly on the side of caution when it came to head injuries but I'd rather it be where it is now, than where it was.

 

[BillJ]

I hope USFL avoids instant reply review challenges.

I'd rather they not have them. But since they actually started the whole replay challenge thing in the original USFL, I doubt they abandon it. It is a legacy calling card of the league.

 

[XCV330]

I'd rather they not have them. But since they actually started the whole replay challenge thing in the original USFL, I doubt they abandon it. It is a legacy calling card of the league.

I forgot about that

 

[Aragorn]

First game tonight being simulcast on NBC and FOX. Anyone watching?