When you’re my age (don’t say it), you think fondly of the USFL.
There was a certain sense of excitement when their games were on because it had the individual star power as opposed to the team star power.
You didn’t tune in to watch the New Jersey Generals. You tuned in to see Herschel Walker. If you were watching the Stars, you were watching Kelvin Bryant. And so on… and so on.
Since the death of the original USFL, I always asked the question… what could think had been if Donald Trump didn’t convince his partners to kill it?
Would the USFL been my childhood’s AFL? ABA?
In 2021, the USFL has been re-born. It’s the latest attempt to have a professional football league that doesn’t compete with the NFL.
All the games will be played in Birmingham, Alabama and there will be eight teams. The playoffs will be played in Canton, Ohio.
All the team names and logos resemble the originals giving people like me a sense of nostalgia.
We are the USFL 🏈
🐾 @USFLPanthers
🎖 @USFLGenerals
⭐️ @USFLStars
⚒️ @USFLMaulers🐎 @USFLStallions
🎰 @USFLGamblers
🌊 @USFLBreakers
🤠 @USFLBandits pic.twitter.com/IWppp5b2Sz— USFL (@USFL) November 22, 2021
The league did a great job getting coaches that mainstream football fans have heard of.
Jeff Fisher – Michigan Panthers
Larry Fedora – New Orleans Breakers
Skip Holtz – Birmingham Stallions
Kirby Wilson – Pittsburgh Maulers
Mike Riley – New Jersey Generals
Todd Haley – Tampa Bay Bandits
Kevin Sumlin – Houston Gamblers
Bart Andrus – Philadelphia Stars
Only time will tell if coaches will look at the league as a place to get their careers back on track for the NFL or Power 5 college football. It wouldn’t be a bad thing if that happened. It would make the league even more attractive.
Just like a lot of professional basketball leagues, the USFL has partnered with education centers to help players get their degrees. The league partnered with Strayer University and Capella University to offer a college degree program that is tuition-free and debt-free. This will be open to USFL players and staff.
As a fan of the original attempt, I want to see the personality of the players. Don’t be the NFL-light. Be what the original USFL wanted to be… fun.
If it isn’t fun. If the fans don’t get to know the players. It will be a failure again… not because of an impatient owner but because of a set of owners didn’t understand the landscape for summer football.
It wouldn’t be the first time.
