When it comes to the United States Football League, there are basically two camps. One thinks the original league (1983-85) has nothing to do with the newest version (2022- ), while the other likes to make a historical link between the circuit that gave pro football fans their first spring fling and the one playing today.
Traditionalists have a point. Aside from league and team names and a few logos, they’re nothing alike. The first USFL spent big money to lure players away from the NFL, while the current version hopes to help players make the jump to the NFL so they can earn big money.
“The one thing that’s unique about our league is kind of the rebuilding process that we have each season,” USFL president Daryl Johnston said earlier this week. “Our goal is to provide the opportunity for our players to have a chance to go back to the NFL, and this time, have an opportunity to stay, and we had several players throughout our league last season accomplish that.”
That’s a noble pursuit, and justifies the modern USFL’s existence regardless of your thoughts on how it relates (or doesn’t) to USFL Prime.
And we never have to worry about it moving to a fall schedule.
But historical links?
Birmingham Stallions coach Skip Holtz embraces them.
“The Stallions were here in 1983, 1984 and 1985, and then they were taken away,” Holtz said. “When I got this job (Clemson head football coach) Dabo Swinney called me and said, ‘Hey, you better take care of my team.’ I said, ‘What are you talking about?’ and he said, “I grew up in Alabama … those are my guys. I was one of those guys collecting Stallions wristbands and autographs.’ I think everybody’s excited that pro football is back.”
As for me, you know I can’t resist finding commonalities between my city’s sports past with its sports present, especially if I’m directly involved.
So here you go: the original Birmingham Stallions opened their second season against the New Jersey Generals in Birmingham, and the current Stallions tangled with the Generals in Week One of season two of the new millennium’s USFL, also in Birmingham.
I was there for both games.
On February 26, 1984, former NFL standout Brian Sipe led the Generals to a 17-6 victory over the Stallions in front of a (then) league record 62,300 fans at Legion Field. Sipe – who played 10 years with the Cleveland Browns – connected on 12 of 24 passes while Maurice Carthon scored both New Jersey TDs on 1-yard runs.
Birmingham’s only points came on 16 and 32-yard field goals courtesy of Scott Norwood.
Thirty-nine years later – and at a two-year-old venue roughly two miles away from Legion Field – another generation of Generals and Stallions hooked up.
And instead of going 60 minutes without a touchdown, this Birmingham team – defending USFL champions – got one on its first play from scrimmage, courtesy of a 61-yard scoring pass from J’Mar Smith to Austin Watkins.
The end result was a 27-10 victory, one that hinted these Stallions will once again be a force.
The first score was the biggest splash on a warm spring night in the Uptown, but it was just one example of why leagues like this can and should exist.
These are pro players who give off a college vibe, playing with the kind of joy that goes beyond a paycheck. All of them want to get to the NFL, but they were all exactly where they needed to be on Saturday.
And they were happy to be there, too.
“These guys are fun to watch play,” Holtz said. “They play with passion and energy and togetherness and they fly around and celebrate together. It’s a family atmosphere.”
Speaking of that … back in 1984 at the Stallions-Generals game, I was nestled between my dad and brother while we sat in frustration as Birmingham could get nothing going against the New Jersey defense. In fact, that was the game where my dad basically swore off spring football.
Saturday, as I was watching and notebooking the game, I got sidetracked when I started thinking how much they would’ve enjoyed it.
Pop was a college football-first fan, and the spirit and passion Holtz talked about – and the points – would’ve been very much to his liking.
I’m confident he would’ve given spring football another shot.
Bub was all about defense, and there was plenty of popping going on from wire-to-wire. A goal-line stand by Birmingham would’ve surely been the highlight of his evening, and turnovers on downs would’ve inspired fist-pumps.
Had we all been together, I don’t think any of us would’ve been comparing USFLs … we would’ve simply appreciated the action in the here and now.
It’s weird, though, how things hit you.
My dad died in 1994.
My brother died less than two months ago.
Yet somehow, a game played nearly four decades after we watched the Stallions and Generals at Legion Field brought us together again – at least in my heart.
And tonight, that’s the link that matters most to me.