Let’s be honest – the professional football history between the cities of Birmingham and New Orleans is neither long nor storied.
There were a pair of games between the two in 1984 during the second season of original United States Football League (plus a controlled scrimmage during the preseason), but the Breakers played in Boston in 1983 and Portland in 1985, so no yearly feud was established during the circuit’s three-year run.
And while the Ham had franchises in the World Football League, World League of American Football, Canadian Football League, XFL and Alliance of American Football, the Big Easy did not. Football power brokers were content with the NFL Saints.
But Stallions and Breakers players in the new USFL are doing their best to make sure Birmingham vs. New Orleans becomes a significant spring thing on the gridiron.
So far, so good.
Saturday’s 24-20 Stallions victory at Protective Stadium marked the fifth time the teams have played since the modern version of the league opened for business in 2022, making it the most frequent rivalry in the USFL’s young history.
Last year’s playoff clash has to be considered the biggest to date, of course, but the most recent slobber-knocker is solidly in second place.
It was a game that Birmingham looked to have well in hand – leading 24-9 late in the third quarter – only to see New Orleans come back with a chance to win at the end.
“What a great game, but we expected it would be,” Birmingham coach Skip Holtz said. “I thought it was a great game the first go-round. It was a one score game at 31-38 when they went down and scored to make it 45-31, but that was a great football game.
“This one had ups and downs and twists and turns, for sure. You thought it was going one way but then it goes another, and that’s what happens when two great football teams compete. Everybody wants to fight to the very end.”
There were hard hits, dropped balls, big plays … it was a great game for spectators, just like New Orleans’ 45-31 conquest was in Week Three.
It’s how a rivalry game should be.
“There’s no give-up on our football team,” New Orleans coach John DeFilippo said. “I’m proud of the way our guys fought the whole game. There were a lot of up and down moments. We’ll be disappointed tonight, but then it’s on to Michigan.”
During the inaugural season – in an effort to generate some added interest in the league – USFL officials decided to establish “official” rivalries.
Birmingham vs. Houston was dubbed the “Double Down Derby,” and New Orleans vs. the Tampa Bay Bandits was christened the “Breaker Bay Brawl.”
They made for nice alliterations. And the Stallions-Gamblers series is interesting in that Houston handed Birmingham its lone loss in 2022 and is the only team to hold a winning record over Holtz’s team (2-1).
Tampa Bay, on the other hand, has “relocated” to Memphis and revived the Showboats nickname. Not sure if anyone has coined “Boat Breaker Bash” yet, but I assume it’s available.
Anyway, last season Birmingham recorded 22-13, 10-9 and 31-17 victories over New Orleans on the way to a USFL championship, but lost this year’s first leg.
The Stallions hold an edge in all-time series wins, but each one has had high stakes.
The first ever meeting was a battle of unbeatens; the second saw Birmingham wrap up the USFL South; the third was a playoff game; the fourth featured two undefeated teams; and this one saw Birmingham (5-2) surge back to the top of the South Division (although they’ll drop to second if the Gamblers beat the Showboats on Sunday) while New Orleans (4-3) now finds itself on the outside looking in due to a three-game losing streak.
“This is where character shows up on a team, good or bad,” DeFilippo said. “And I know we have a lot of good character on this team. And I know we’ll bounce back and I know there’ll be no finger-pointing. It’s my job to make sure this team doesn’t splinter, and it’s easy to do in pro football when you’ve lost three in a row. But the Birmingham Stallions played a very good football game today.”
Geography has a lot to do with rivalries (the Breakers are spending their second consecutive season working and playing in Birmingham, so there’s that), but sometimes they happen organically. And that seems to be how the Stallions vs. Breakers story is playing out.
I’m not sure what to call it – “Magic City/Crescent City Fracas” seems a bit wordy – but it’s most certainly a rivalry worth watching.
“You know it’s going to come down to the end,” Holtz said. “Both teams played hard, both teams put it all on the field. Our guys didn’t even want to come in for the celebration. They are spent … they put everything on that field. “This team … they want to win, they’ve grown accustomed to winning, they work to win, and I’m just really proud of the way they went out and the way they competed today.”
Good commentary! Thank you.