Category: United States Football League

Head Coach Red Miller on the cover of the 1983 Denver Gold media guide from the United States Football League

Denver Gold

August 28, 2011

The Denver Gold were – at first – a hugely popular spring football entry in the United States Football League. Debuting in 1983 with ex-Broncos head coach Red Miller at the helm, the Gold led the USFL in attendance, regularly drawing crowds of over 40,000 to Mile High Stadium. The team’s popularity waned during the next two seasons thanks to mediocre performance on the field and an ill-advised effort orchestrated by New Jersey Generals owner Donald Trump to shift the USFL schedule to a fall season that would compete head-to-head with the NFL. Read more…

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Illustration of quarterback Doug Williams on the cover of the 1984 Oklahoma Outlaws media guide from the United States Football League

Oklahoma Outlaws

April 24, 2011

United States Football League (1984) Born: July 7, 1983 – USFL expansion franchise Died: December 5, 1984 – Merged with Arizona Wranglers First Game: February

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1984 Pittsburgh Maulers media guide from the United States Football League

Pittsburgh Maulers

February 27, 2011

The original Pittsburgh Maulers were a One-Year Wonder in the United States Football League during the spring of 1984. The Maulers were best known for signing 1983 Heisman Trophy-winning running back Mike Rozier of the University of Nebraska before he could enter the 1984 NFL draft. But Rozier was banged up from his senior season of college football and the rest of the roster was awfully thin. The Maulers staggered to a wretched 3-15 record. When a faction of USFL leaders headed by Donald Trump announced that the USFL would abandon the league’s spring football niche to compete head-to-head with the NFL in the fall of 1986, Maulers owner Edward DeBartolo Sr. cut his losses and folded the team after only one season.

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