1985 USFL CHAMPION BALTIMORE STARS
by Rick Benson, (also Wikipedia and sportsteamhistory.com)
The Baltimore Stars of the United States Football League (USFL) are probably the most unique footnote in the long and storied history of sports in Charm City. The Stars changed their address from Philadelphia to Baltimore in their third and final season in 1985 and were easily the most successful franchise in the brief history of the startup league that was originally built to provide pro football in the spring.
The USFL had star power and gave NFL players some contract leverage. Established stars such as Jim Kelly, Reggie White, Herschel Walker and Steve Young gave the upstart league credibility and the New York area franchise (New Jersey Generals) was owned by a casino mogul named Donald Trump. The USFL planned to play its 1986 schedule in the fall, directly opposite the NFL, thanks mostly to Trump's strong advocacy of direct competition with the older, established league. Two years earlier, Trump sold most of his fellow owners on a move to the fall by arguing that it would eventually force a merger with the NFL—in which the owners of any USFL teams included in a merger would see their investment more than double.
The Trump-led league's owners, voted to move play to the fall after the 1985 season. Although the Stars had a strong following, team owner and real estate magnate Myles Tanenbaum knew he couldn't hope to compete with the Philadelphia Eagles and moved the team to Baltimore. Unfortunately, he was unable to get a lease for Baltimore's Memorial Stadium. As a condition of the settlement between the city and the NFL's Colts after the Colts moved to Indianapolis, no pro football team could play at Memorial Stadium until 1986 even without this stipulation, baseball's Baltimore Orioles were using Memorial Stadium during the spring. With no other stadium in the immediate Baltimore area suitable even for temporary use, Tanenbaum was forced to play at the University of Maryland's Byrd Stadium in College Park, 40 miles south of Baltimore and in fact closer to Washington coincidentally, the Washington USFL franchise, the Federals, moved to Florida the same season. Meanwhile, the team continued to practice in Philadelphia, and also kept most of their operations there effectively forcing the Stars to play 18 road games in the USFL's last spring season. The Stars 28-24 victory over the Oakland Invaders in the 1985 USFL Championship game proved to be the last in the league’s brief history.
The Stars are widely acknowledged to have been the best team to see the field in USFL history; appearing in all three league championship games, winning the last two. They were led by two Penn State alums--quarterback Chuck Fusina (1978 Heisman Trophy runner-up) and wide receiver Scott Fitzkee, along with halfback Kelvin Bryant of UNC, offensive tackle Irv Eatman of UCLA, linebacker Sam Mills, and safety Scott Woerner. The team also featured Baltimore native punter Sean Landeta.
Soon after Trump bought the Generals after the USFL's inaugural season, which was played in the spring of 1983, he started pushing his fellow owners to move the league's games to the fall and go head-to-head with the NFL. "If God wanted football in the spring," Trump once said, "he wouldn't have created baseball."
Several teams were having financial difficulties at the time, and the league lacked the fall TV contracts that supported the NFL. The USFL instead tried to take on the NFL in the courts by filing an antitrust lawsuit. The hope was that the USFL would either merge with the established league or win a sizable settlement. The merger never happened, and despite winning the lawsuit, the USFL was ultimately awarded only $3 for its troubles. The league soon folded, and Trump's push for the fall schedule and a lawsuit against the NFL is generally cited as the main reason.
The Stars won the 1985 USFL championship; giving Baltimore the distinction of being the only city in the world with four different league champion franchises in professional football. But the USFL connection to Charm City is dubious at best. The Stars, despite their success in Philadelphia (a 15-3 record in 1983 and a 16-2 mark and league championship in 1984) and a reasonably strong fan base, were constantly battling their co-tenants (the MLB Phillies and the NFL Eagles) at Veterans Stadium. In 1984, they were forced to play their postseason playoff games at the University of Pennsylvania’s Franklin Field due to conflicts with the Phillies; the beginning of their nomadic existence.
Carl Peterson, who later became the president/general manager/chief executive officer of the Kansas City Chiefs, served as the team's General Manager for all three seasons.
Landeta and Mills both also had successful careers in the NFL. Landeta was one of the top punters in the NFL for two decades, and was the last former USFL player still active in the NFL at the time of his retirement in 2006. Mills had a sterling career with the Saints (alongside Mora) and the Carolina Panthers. The Panthers retired Mills' No. 51 jersey after his death from cancer in 2005.
Landeta and Bart Oates were also teammates with the New York Giants. Oates was drafted by the Giants in 1985. Both Oates and Landeta went on to win a combined five Super Bowl rings throughout their NFL careers. Both won two rings apiece with the Giants in 1986 and 1990, while Oates earned an additional ring with the San Francisco 49ers in 1994. Oates was selected to five Pro Bowls during his career and to the UPI All-NFC team three times. He was extremely durable, starting 125 consecutive games during his Giants career.
The Stars won 41 of 54 regular-season games and were 7-1 in the postseason. For the team's entire run, they were coached by Jim Mora (Sr), who later became a head coach in the NFL for the New Orleans Saints and Indianapolis Colts. Mora was actually the Stars' second choice; Tannenbaum originally hired Pittsburgh Steelers defensive coordinator George Perles, but Perles opted instead to take the open job at his alma mater, Michigan State
The End of the USFL
BY GREG BISHOP Sports Illustrated 7/14/85
To follow the third and final United States Football League championship game, spectators needed the rosters, a vast knowledge of professional football and a map.
USFL Geography 101: The title contest pitted the Baltimore Stars against the Oakland Invaders. The Stars lived in Philadelphia and practiced at the University of Pennsylvania and played their games in College Park, Md. They didn’t do anything in Baltimore except drive through it. The Oakland franchise had combined with the Michigan franchise before the 1985 season, absorbing half of its players and some of its executives. The teams met at Giants Stadium, which was the home of both of New York’s NFL franchises but was actually located in the swamps of New Jersey. Somehow, because this was the USFL and the unusual was ordinary, all this made perfect sense.
Rain pelted the field on July 14, 1985, as one of the strangest seasons in the history of professional football barreled toward its conclusion. Fans in the stands wondered whether the league would survive beyond that evening, whether it would move to the fall, as planned, or merge with the NFL, as Donald Trump hoped.
Before the 1985 season, Pittsburgh and Chicago had folded, Arizona and Oklahoma had merged, New Orleans had relocated to Portland and Washington was sold and moved to Orlando. “There was that air of uncertainty,” says Ken Dunek, a Baltimore tight end. “Everything that was going on legally with the league was hanging over our head. We were hopeful that the league was going to continue, but we weren’t really sure.”
The title contest marked a rematch (sort of) of the first USFL title game, when Michigan triumphed over Philadelphia, 24-22, in 1983. In the years since, the league had continued to build its brand. Rosters were pocked with stars: Herschel Walker, Steve Young, Jim Kelly and Reggie White among them. Coaches included George Allen, Jim E. Mora, Marv Levy, Steve Spurrier and Lee Corso.
Baltimore stitched together a plan for the rematch. Behind a formidable defense, the Stars wanted to limit the big-play potential of Oakland quarterback Bobby Hebert and his star receiver, Anthony Carter. On offense, with Kelvin Bryant at running back and heavy rain falling, the Stars decided on a conservative approach.
As the game kicked off, Mora, the Stars coach, wondered how his team would respond to a tumultuous season, with the move and the logistical nightmare that accompanied it. “I didn’t feel as confident,” he says.
Contrary to their game plan, when the 1985 USFL title game started, the Stars threw the ball instead of running it. Their opening drive featured Chuck Fusina, the Penn State quarterback who had been a backup in the NFL with Tampa Bay, as he slung passes in the rain. One throw found Scott Fitzkee, another Penn State product, in the end zone on a 16-yard corner route for a 7-0 lead.
Television cameras captured Oakland’s coach, Charlie Sumner, smoking a cigarette on the sideline during a timeout. His Invaders tied the game when safety David Greenwood returned an interception 44 yards for a touchdown in the first quarter, but Baltimore otherwise dominated early.
The Stars defense chased Hebert all over the field, especially Sam Mills. He was exactly the kind of player who thrived in the USFL, an undersized linebacker who defied convention.
Mills had been cut, by Peterson’s recollection, four or five times, including once in the Canadian Football League, before the Stars signed him. A friend had told Peterson not to cut Mills until he saw Mills hit. Perles wanted to cut him. Not until we see him hit, Peterson said. Mora didn’t want to take Mills to training camp, according to Peterson. Not until we see him hit, Peterson said. So it went, until they saw Mills hit, and hit hard, and they realized he was their best defensive player every single practice. In one game against the New Jersey Generals, he stopped Walker, a future NFL star, three times in a row at the goal line.
When Mora went to the Saints in 1986, he took Mills with him, and Mills made five Pro Bowls and played 12 seasons in the NFL. He died from intestinal cancer in 2005 at 45, but left an impression on everyone he played for or with. “People always ask me, all the years I coached, who was the best guy,” Mora says. “The guy I always talk about was Sam Mills. He was something special.”
The Stars took a 21-14 advantage into halftime of the 1985 USFL title game. Their early barrage of passes had given way to a steady dose of Bryant runs. He scored twice in the second quarter alone. “He was a great player,” says Allen Harvin, Bryant’s backup for two seasons. “I’ve seen him come out of piles, man, and there were four or five guys on him when he came out the other end.”
At this point, the Stars were thinking about their dynasty and how the 1985 game would cement it. They had lost in the title game their first season and won the championship in their second. “We had a team that everybody wanted to beat,” Harvin says.
After the 1984 triumph, Philadelphia had held a parade for the Stars, and to Dunek, it rivaled any parade for the Phillies or the 76ers. “The city really embraced the team,” he says. “They were so starved for a football winner. We would have owned that town.”
But before the Stars could become, as Peterson says, “the greatest football team that no one’s ever heard of,” the Invaders assumed a 24-21 lead in the third quarter behind a touchdown pass from—who else?—Hebert to Carter. It went for seven yards.
“I can remember such an empty feeling,” Hebert says of the moments after the Invaders’ loss. “I took about a 20-minute shower, just trying to gather my thoughts.”
It was easier for the Stars to play road games than home games. All they had to do was drop their cars off at the airport and fly. Home games required a three-and-one-half hour drive down to Maryland. “It was like playing 18 road games,” says Vince Tobin, the defensive coordinator. They even called themselves the I-95 Stars.
“It crossed your mind some, Is this going to last?” Mora says. “Are we going to merge?”
The move smothered interest. The Philadelphia papers that once regularly covered the Stars had stopped writing about them, Mora says. About halfway through the season, he had someone compile the stories from the Baltimore scribes and place them around the locker room, so the players could read about themselves.
The move to Baltimore translated into a shaky 0-2-1 start for the Stars, the defending champions. At one point, Mora held a meeting and told his players to stop feeling sorry for themselves. He challenged the players to respond, and they did, sneaking into the playoffs by winning their last six games.
As the 1985 USFL championship game neared its conclusion, Bryant scored for a third time and the Stars regained the lead, 28-24. The Invaders fumbled the ensuing kickoff and recovered. Their drive started at the 5-yard-line. But Hebert marched the Invaders down the field, into enemy territory. He found Carter on a broken play for 28 yards. The fourth quarter clock ticked under four minutes. The Invaders advanced to the 5-yard-line, with four shots to win the game.
On second-and-goal, Mills made a crucial tackle. But Tom Newton, the Invaders fullback, was whistled for unnecessary roughness. Depending on the vantage point, that call was either a phantom penalty or correct. Either way, it stood, the ball went back 15 yards, and after two incompletions, the Stars had secured their second title in three USFL seasons. “I can remember such an empty feeling,” Hebert says. “I took about a 20-minute shower, just trying to gather my thoughts.”
For the team named for, but not from, Baltimore, victory produced relief more than elation. “I was worn out,” Mora says. “I was glad it was over. Like, whew, we got it.”
In hindsight, Dunek says, “We rallied and won, which I think is one of the greatest accomplishments in sports because of all the hardships that team had to go through. We would have been competitive in the NFL.”
And yet, another cloud hung over the championship celebration. “I think we all knew it was a possibility this was the last game ever,” Tobin says.
Fusina, the winning quarterback, says he thinks few players considered the fate of the USFL during its final season. But that’s all they thought about once it ended.
Lombardi had won an all-expenses-paid vacation to Europe for six, his reward for work on the league’s labor agreement. He went to Italy for week, only to receive a call from Taubman. “Get back here ASAP,” the owner told him.
“It went downhill from there pretty quick,” Lombardi says.
Two weeks after the championship game, Oakland released most of its front-office staff. San Antonio let go of all 46 of its players. Portland failed to make its payroll.
Mora went to work every day at the Stars administrative offices in Philadelphia. Like everyone else, he waited.
Hebert had to get over the championship loss in a hurry. He figured he was going to Seattle, to play for the Seahawks. Instead, he went to the Saints. He started six games at quarterback in 1985 and figured afterward he had been involved in something like 44 football games in one season. “I remember I wanted to get as far as I could away from football,” he says. “I went scuba diving.”
Lombardi had met Trump in 1984, when he had flown with Taubman to the USFL league meetings in Dallas and there was another young couple on the plane. The man, his hair perfectly coiffed, spent most of the flight telling Lombardi what he didn’t know about the league, or football in general. He later asked Taubman who the man was—Trump, along with, Ivana.
The USFL sued the NFL over its antitrust exemption. The trial started on May 12, 1986, in U.S. District Court in New York. It ended on July 29, when a jury ruled that the NFL did indeed monopolize pro football, and that it damaged the USFL, but with a caveat. The jury awarded all of $1 in damages, trebled eventually to $3.
That was the USFL in four words: three years and $3.
“The NFL was predatory,” says Lombardi. “But when all was said and done, the USFL was its own worst enemy.” Adds Peterson: “We won the lawsuit but lost the battle.”
Owners suspended play until 1987 to reassess, and their reassessment reached an obvious conclusion: to disband. Lombardi says that was the best thing that ever happened to him. He went into public speaking. “The finding was probably appropriate,” he says. “The NFL was predatory. But when all was said and done, the USFL was its own worst enemy. It brought most of that on itself.”
Adds Peterson: “We won the lawsuit but lost the battle.”
The USFL’s demise resulted from several factors. Its revenue could not keep pace with its expansion. Hebert recalls friends and teammates who are still, in 2015, owed game checks. The planned move to the fall also had great consequences. The Stars, in fact, were one of three teams to vote against it.
Many of the participants blame Trump, the owner who declared war on the NFL and pushed for the fall schedule and hoped, they all believe, to run an NFL franchise after a merger rather than solidify an upstart league as real competition. His backdoor strategy is the one that failed.
“I don’t think there’s any great love for Donald Trump among the people involved in the NFL,” Dunek says.
“I just disagreed with his decision,” Fusina says, “and it was obviously the wrong one.”
“I consider Donald a very good friend,” Peterson says. “Donald is Donald. He makes no bones about that. It’s about Donald. He was the Jerry Jones of the USFL.”
The NFL later adopted some USFL practices, such as the two-point conversion and the coaches’ challenge flag. It welcomed all the USFL’s stars, including several players and coaches and executives from the 1985 title game: Oates and Landeta went to the Giants, Bryant to the Redskins, Peterson to the Chiefs, Hebert, Mora and Mills to the Saints, Carter to the Vikings.
The USFL produced Hall of Famers such as White, Young, Kelly and Gary Zimmerman, along with Walker, Doug Williams and Ricky Sanders. Spurrier coached in the NFL, as did Dom Capers and Tobin. Peterson and Bill Polian became NFL executives.
The survivors of a spring football league remain split on whether it could be replicated. Mora thinks it “could work right now.” Hebert says “the NFL is so powerful it would squash it.”
After the Stars won the 1984 USFL championship, they threw a big party in Philadelphia. Not so in Baltimore in 1985. “We rallied, and we did this incredible thing, and we just packed our bags and went home,” Dunek says.
The Stars still hold the best three-year record in the history of pro football, a full 48-13-1. Bryant still scored the last touchdown in USFL history. Peterson still has one USFL trophy in his home, while Lombardi once bumped into a pizza parlor owner in Florence, Italy, wearing a Michigan Panthers sweatshirt.
Dunek is compiling a documentary about those stars. Working title: The Team that Time Forgot.
There were, to be fair, a couple celebrations. First, the team held a small party at The Sheraton near the Meadowlands. Then, a few weeks later, Peterson finagled a trip to Washington through a contact, George H.W. Bush, then the vice president of the United States. Maybe 25 players attended a small ceremony in a government office in July of 1985. Peterson had hoped they would get to meet the president. They never did.
Dunek later had the rings appraised.
Turns out, they were cubic zirconia.
