Small Potatoes: Who Killed the USFL?

[pittland44]

The USFL had some rock solid players (Reggie White, Herschel Walker, Steve Young and Jim Kelly). They had an innovative method for challenging the NFL (don't, instead play in the spring). The USFL even had some innovative ideas that have now become standard (2 point conversion and instant replay with challenges). The question is why did it fail? The answer: Because Donald Trump is a dumbass who thought they could bully the NFL. What a dumb bastard.

[natureboyinyourface]

here's a dollar for your troubles.

[23smooth1]

The New USFL United States Football League will begin play in the Spring of 2012 with 12 teams.Play for the new league is currently planned to start in March 2012, and end in July. If this happen next year 2K Sports y'all better make a USFL 2K13 Football game. Think about it if USFL can make a comeback 2k Football can too.

[natureboyinyourface]

@23smooth1 could be a fresh start for tiki barber & the lot.

[XFL101]

@23smooth1 It's a hoax. Michael Dwyer has been announcing for the last 3 years that the league is suppose to launch. Go to facebook and type in "The New USFL is a Hoax" and you will see what I am talking about.

[620DK]

From the USFL to One Tree Hill and Smallville, Tollin came a long way. A lot of players, GMs, and a famous general partner (Burt Reynolds) still remember the good times before the league folded. Didn't know that the 2-point conversion and instant replay started there. If it comes back, it'll be 100% Trump-free.

[cochranexyz]

What I did not like about the USFL was the salaries went through the roof. OK, pay people what they are worth, but shit, salaries skyrocketed.

[Jefgg]

Donald Trump should have his balls cut off for running the USFL into the ground. The other owners were chimps for letting Trump convince them they would win in court and that they should move to the fall. Trump was looking for a cheap way into the NFL. A lot of people got screwed when the USFL ended. The big name players and coaches made out alright. But the little guys got it in the ass. And Trump only cares about Trump.  He has screwed more people than the government.

[jsutiger07]

@Jefgg I agree one of the biggest mistakes the USFL did was try to compete with the NFL in the fall. They really should of went in the spring that way america can have pro football all year long when the super bowl and probowl ends then late February start playing preseason games and then have the season thru March April, May, and June, have the playoffs and the championship game in July that way come august the NFL preseason starts. to me the biggest mistake was they let trump in the USFL

[Jefgg]

@jsutiger07 You are absolutely right and preaching to the choir. The USFL was a toy for Donald Trump. He could care less about the players, coaches, fans and others who got screwed by his bad business moves.

[jsutiger07]

@Jefgg so the big question is who killed the USFL?? two words: DONALD TRUMP!!! can you imagine networks like ABC CBS and NBC's ratings would be if the USFL was still here.

[24Reference]

Interesting that Donald Trump was involved in a failed football league just as Vince McMahon was.

[FRSFreeStateES]

What killed the USFL is that they moved to quickly and moved into markets where there were already NFL Franchises. And then they made they're worst mistake by trying to go up against the NFL in the Fall.

[lsdr]

Trump is the reason USFL closed. It could have had a chance but he had to try to run everything and ran it into the ground.

[OakyDoky24]

Donald looks like a fat guy who needs to get laid

[24Reference]

@OakyDoky24 I am certain he has no problems. Though I am sure the women are later overwhelmed with regret.

[tpggroup]

We could have football almost year round but Don "The Douche" screwed it up. From the old Birmingham Stallions fans "Up yours Jersey Boy".

[webere50]

UFL USFL I don't give a damn. You better cuss me out. I been mistaken, NFL did not sued USFL. USFL sued NFL. I saw the documentary on ABC 2 weeks ago. Cuss me out one more time, or I leaving you tube for good.

[scrambang]

The UFL is a big joke!, checked out a game or 2, can u say very generous attendance figures? lmao! One game looked around 150 in the stands fro crying out loud. They've got it very wrong and will be folding in no time....unless they decide to move to non-football season and start raiding some NFL players, could have a USFL II. With the threatening lockout/strike? coming up. I think the time is ripe now for an NFL-rival...

[scrambang]

@ BoSoxnation...I was bashing another league on the gimmicks thing.

XFL--wrestling-styled tv presentation,that stupid 2-player run for the ball instead of the coin toss, just the overall presentation of the XFL was very gimmicky(u see what i mean?) and of course the quality of play was dreadful.

[webere50]

NFL is jealous because is going to be on ESPN and ABC. So the NFL needs to accept it or I stop watching NFL. ABC stop airing pro football since 2006 and I was pissed because they lost rights to the NFL. I just want to see the USFL (another pro football league) on ABC again. Even though I wasn't born in the 80's. I just heard of it on ESPN's 30 for 30 films. Don't reply me with any message with cuss words I don't allow it.

[webere50]

USFL returns in 2011

[scrambang]

And where's the proof in that?... If it does return, it wouldn't be the same. The old USFL was a rebel league,creating excitement through raids of blue chip college prospects,some NFL Pro-Bowlers,a few great coaches as well,some over the hill gangers.The Original USFL had a big-league type feel, no gimmicks.Sounds to me this New USFL won't be competing with the NFL, which is rather lame. We're headed for XFL,WLAF-style football. If it does indeed happen,i'll give it 1-2 max before it goes down.

[BoSoxnation1972]

@scrambang Did you just say the USFL had no gimmicks? ROTFLMAO That's a good one Booster! Especially since you can watch video of the board meeting between owners where they talk about COMING UP WITH GIMMICKS to sell their product!

[huntercalgary]

@BoSoxnation1972

twerp...............lol

[huntercalgary]

@BoSoxnation1972

you know everything skippy......lol

[ESKgraffwriterBreC]

@scrambang yeahyeah you know whats up but itll be called the ufl.

[ESKgraffwriterBreC]

@webere50 no man itll be the ufl united football .... yeah its run by some rich ass black dude. they already got 5 teams. i really hope they get a team going for Jersey. theyre take mid sized city like vegas san jose and all those other places and gettin them with a team. i think itll be cool cuz i hate not watching football in the spring. google UFL. should be tight!!!! haha Donald knows he fucked up and should have stuck threw it!

[CFLscout]

Many fail to mention , however, that the reason this league did as well as it did and generated alot of publicity is due to tghe fact that they did go after and successfully sign NFL players- veteran free agents & 1st day NFL draft prospects...

[24Reference]

@CFLscout They created too much expense starting out. A lot of these sports league fail because they create too much expense starting out. Though of failed sports leagues in the last 30 years, the USFL certainly had the most talent. Former NFL MVP Brian Sipe chose to go to the USFL due to a salary increase. As did several NFL Hall of Famers (Kelly, Young and White are the three that come to mind). One of the reasons this players chose to do this was the money.

[24Reference]

@CFLscout My main point is the league was built for sort term success and then finally failure. Where as the ABA was able to get 4 teams into the NBA. The USFL was unable to buy into NFL most likely due poor management. As times passes it becomes more unlikely that an unstart league will be able to compete with the NFL. The best thing an upstart league could do would be to do after undrafted free agents and build a talent base that way. The best idea would be to have...

[24Reference]

@CFLscout Practice squad teams where the league had eight teams and four uninvolved teams formed one practice squad team (the name of the league is unimportant.) One team could be made of ps players from an AFC East, AFC West, NFC North and NFC South. Then invert for the other remaining teams. Then locate the teams in a non-team basised area. Teams could go to San Jose, Memphis, Las Vegas, Louisville, Oklahoma City, Portland and Albuquerque. 

[Waters1964]

The USFL lives at the Virtual USFL blog.............

[thegov1020]

simple anaswer i think the hair killed the USFL unfortnally

[drunkenstooge]

The Donald is such a douche bag.

[scrambang]

@drunkenstooge Sure, everybody can blame Donald, but did you know the year before Trump enters the league, a man by the name of George Allen was raiding NFL talent which surely couldn't have come cheap, and the league did sign some very big-time talente rookies. Trump and Oldenburg in LA took it to another level however the signs of dismise were there in 1983. another dumb move was the Arizona-Chicago switch,why pull a winning team out of a big market?...that was very dumb,imo!

[copraiders1]

@drunkenstooge Excuse me? He is THE douche bag.

[scrambang]

And to reiturate furthur, the NFL wasen't built in a day either, i'm rather sure the NFL was plagued by poor play,mistake prone football in the beginning as well. The problem with alternative leagues is that nobody is patient with it, they watch a single game and write it off!. Im' sure alot of folks wrongly did that with the USFL or otherwise, it would be around today!. Is there room for a spring league? I believe so, but it takes patience and Americans have Attention Deficit Syndrome!

[BoSoxnation1972]

"reiterate further?" To reiterate is to go over something again, and you cannot reiterate further on a topic you haven't covered! LMAO

Now regarding your point about having room for a Spring League, that was exactly the point I originally made! The league should have remained a Spring League with no competition. It was an exciting brand of football, and did provide innovation such as the challenge rule. But it was Trumps greed and ego that caused it's demise.

[jetsfan8710]

Great stuff also in the documentary. Probably had the best cast for a documentary ever in the 30 for 30 series. Can't wait to see the NEW USFL in 2010

[beantna]

the one that starts around :25 sec

[beantna]

what is the name of the song in the background????

i have to find it, its such a good song.

[21jammer]

nice to know there are more HUMBLE MUCH RICHER guys out there

[cleterock]

Cant wait to see this! Trump + Football. It's a cant miss. I like the personal angle that Mike Tollin brought to the project.

[BoSoxnation1972]

The USFL was a joke. No football league will ever be able to take on the NFL and win. Even if it stayed as a Spring league, the top names would always prefer the NFL. They could buy a few big named has beens and a few young kids out of college, but that's about it. After a few years the good players would defect to the NFL.

[youngobes]

we'll never know

[BoSoxnation1972]

Ofcourse we will. About ever 15-20 years, a group of rich knuckleheads who are meglomaniacs and want publicity, try and start a new football league. Remember Vince McMahon and the XFL? It's only about another decade until another idiot tries it.

[youngobes]

i don't recall the XFL having and future NFL hall of famers in it, or having players skip the NFL for it. but hey you're entitled to your own opinion.

[BoSoxnation1972]

Are you joking Scooter? LMFAO I was comparing the ineffectiveness of an alternate league. For you to even compare how many HOF players in that league, then you're a donk! How many hall of famers started in the WHA and the ABA? And regarding the XFL having future hall of famers? LMAO Lets look at the ARENA LEAGUE! Kurt Warner? Arena League future HOF NFL player! Now suck on that, asswipe!

[youngobes]

dude, seriously? are you that insecure that you need to resort to petty name-calling? nice job tough guy

[BoSoxnation1972]

Oh did my name calling offend you Scooter? Sorry jism-head. I'll try and lay off of your sensative feelings, you anus sucking douche nozzle!

[youngobes]

hahahaha, ok there internet gangster.

[Santana2163]

What are you TALKING about, did you even see the story? The USFL was taking all of the big superstars out there, 2 heisman trophy winners (Hershel Walker, can't remember the 2nd), they had Jim Kelly, Steve Young and they had really good coaches. They also came up with the 2 point conversion and the red flag.

If I'm not mistaken I think they were making more money than what NFL players were back then.

[BoSoxnation1972]

Hershal Walker? Sure! Star! Steve Young? You mean the back up QB for the Tampa Bay Bucs for years...excuse me! ROTFLMAO Like I said Scooter! They can buy a few big names, and out of the top 25 players RANKED, they were lucky to score 5! (that's 20% Scooter) And regarding coaches, they had Steve Spurrier! He cant even coach a top 10 program in COLLEGE! He is a weakass donk! Dont embarrass yourself Scooter!

[Santana2163]

As for the 2 point conversion, they stole from college right? Was the NFL using it back then or did they decide on it AFTER the USFL started using it. See you didn't say anything about the red flag either...

Bottom line, I wished they still could have had stayed as a spring football league... who knows what could have happened

[BoSoxnation1972]

The year Kelly was drafted, 6 quarterbacks were taken in the first round! Young was a BACKUP in Tampa when he finally made it to the NFL. Steve Spurrier, couldn't survive in the NFL, & the 2 point conversion they stole from college! Dont watch an ESPN special and pretend to know the history of football Scooter! You'll just embarrass yourself!

The 2 point conversion has been around since 1958 in college assclown!

[Santana2163]

Does your old ass feel better now by namecalling instead of just answering my question? Did i ever say that I knew the entire history of football?

No matter what u say, grabbing Walker was huge for the USFL and yes even though he was a backup he still became a STAR! Didn't he compete with Montana (legend) with the 49ers years later? As for coaches they also had Jim Mora...

[BoSoxnation1972]

wow Scooter! Steve Young was NOTHING for years in the NFL. Would I rate him as top 20 QB's of aLL time? SURE! But that was not a coup by any means! Tom Brady is one of the top 10 QB's of all-time, but it wasnt a huge deal when the Patriots drafted him in round 6! I will agree that getting Hershal Walker was HUGE for the USLF! But all that league could do was get a few high profile players, and a few has beens...they could not compete with the NFL. Thats my point assclown! LMAO

[scrambang]

Well, your initial comments of..."USFL was a joke" had me thinking,here's another pompous nfl jackass backer. All i'm simply trying to say is, If the majority of the public had patience, any alternative league could suceed however few Americans have such...So any alternative venture is bound to fail, not remembering at all that the NFL once had humble beginnings too. NFL didn't appear out of nowhere to become the monster establishment that it is today. It took them years to build their product.

[BoSoxnation1972]

Did you just say that Hershel Walker was Joe Montana's backup? ROTFLMAO Slow down Scooter, you're confusing yourself. I realize that you meant to say Steve Young, but you are getting flustered. Yes, Young developed into a great QB. Getting Walker was also a HUGE deal for the USFl. However the USFL needed to stay as a spring league if it wanted success. Trump did make a great point about owners failing to be able to pay its own players though.

[Santana2163]

I wasn't trying to say that Walker was Montana's backup! lol I was making two points in one sentence (one about walker and young), my mistake.

But yeah, I'm not saying that the USFL would have made it (thanks mostly to ur point about the owners), I just wished it had lasted longer so I could have seen it.

[cleterock]

There was a league that took on the NFL and won - it was called the AFL. A competitor league that stole big name NFL players for 10 years and racked up a Super Bowl win before the NFL finally extended the offer to merge the 2 leagues? That league is now the American Football Conference and the Pats play in it. If you're a Boston fan, I figured you'd know all this.

[BoSoxnation1972]

The AFL won 2 out of 10 titlples, & the Jet win is still considered the greatest championship upset in NFL history. Prior to the merger, the NFL was only a 16 team league, while the AFL was 10. There was plenty of room for expansion, which is why the AFL succeeded. They did not compete in the same cities other than NY, the largest in the country! If you can't grasp the difference with a league starting in untouched cities, and franchising teams in established NFL cities, then youre an idiot.

[scrambang]

Comments like yours seem to come from somebody who never watched a USFL game in his life and his USFL knowledge is all text. Anybody in the know(ME) knows the USFL was a very good and entertaining league. It had alot of influence on the NFL after their demise...

[BoSoxnation1972]

Did you just refer to yourself as being "in the know?" LMFAO Move along Booster! You're an embarrassment! LOL Everyone from Boston watched the USFL intently because Doug Flutie, who put BC football on the map, and was the most celebrated local athlete of his generation. When he got signed by the Generals, who already had Hershal Walker, kids who had never seen a USFL game began watching. If Flutie didn't break his collarbone late in the year in 85, NJ could have won the USFL championship.

[scrambang]

Flutie or no Flutie, The Stars still handle the Generals. The Stars were the class of the league. They would've taken out the Eagles. Wasen't a "loser leaves town game" proposed? Had that gone through, We might have seen the Eagles in Phoenix lmao!