HOF
Posted 21 November 2025 - 01:18 AM
Bastards. I was two years old, living in Virginia Beach when the move happened, and I still hate Bob Irsay with every fiber of my being.
Well, at least Baltimore can claim to be the first city to host an AFC championship game. Irsay couldn't take that distinction away.
CFB Analyst
Posted 21 November 2025 - 11:11 AM
Good catch, but I've always considered the Stars as Baltimore in name only since they played their home games in College Park. They even kept their offices in Philadelphia and commuted to College Park for home games.
I think they were set to play their games the next season in Memorial Stadium, since the league was shifting to a fall schedule and there would be less conflict with the Orioles. Then the league folded.
HOF
Posted 21 November 2025 - 11:25 AM
I think they were set to play their games the next season in Memorial Stadium, since the league was shifting to a fall schedule and there would be less conflict with the Orioles. Then the league folded.
Trouble was, there were pending conflicts with other NFL teams over stadium usage and the NFL obviously had priority to those facilities. They also lost their television contract with ABC/ ESPN since they did not want to compete directly with the NFL. Stupid move. Had the league stuck to its original spring schedule, it might have succeeded.
CFB Analyst
Posted 21 November 2025 - 11:28 AM
Trouble was, there were pending conflicts with other NFL teams over stadium usage and the NFL obviously had priority to those facilities. They also lost their television contract with ABC/ ESPN since they did not want to compete directly with the NFL. Stupid move. Had the league stuck to its original spring schedule, it might have succeeded.
Some teams were doing very well. Others really struggled, even playing in the NFL's offseason. But it was all one man's grand vision to take down the NFL (or hope the league would merge his team in). Wonder whatever happened to him.
HOF
Posted 21 November 2025 - 08:43 PM
Some teams were doing very well. Others really struggled, even playing in the NFL's offseason. But it was all one man's grand vision to take down the NFL (or hope the league would merge his team in). Wonder whatever happened to him.
Trouble was, there were pending conflicts with other NFL teams over stadium usage and the NFL obviously had priority to those facilities. They also lost their television contract with ABC/ ESPN since they did not want to compete directly with the NFL. Stupid move. Had the league stuck to its original spring schedule, it might have succeeded.
I agree that the move to the fall was stupid. The USFL had gained their niche as a spring/summer football league. They had a TV contract and they were attracting potential NFL talent. Naturally some teams did better than others. The league suffered some growing pains but it was drawing some surprising interest and had only completed 3 years. The level of play was not as bad as a lot of people thought it would be. A slow steady spring course might have made them a viable entity moving forward.
That one man bought the NJ Generals with the grand plan of moving the league to the fall and bringing an anti-trust lawsuit against the NFL. He never intended for the USFL to play one game in the fall. The whole idea was to win the lawsuit and force a merger with the NFL accepting the stronger of the USFL teams. One of those teams would be the Generals meaning he would become an instant NFL owner.
The plan worked......almost. The USFL won their lawsuit, but the jury only awarded them $1. Being an antitrust lawsuit the award was tripled. The USFL died immediately after that. The owner of the Generals had convinced his fellow owners to follow him into battle against the NFL just like General Custer at Little Big Horn.
Interestingly enough, that owner was only the owner of the Generals for the last two seasons. He initially was going to buy the franchise from the start, but backed out in 1982 to pursue purchasing an NFL team. He believed he could buy the Baltimore Colts from Bob Irsay who was unhappy with his lease in Baltimore. Now imagine what that would have been like!
HOF
Posted 21 November 2025 - 09:21 PM
Surely he has learned from his past and isnt F'ing others over anymore
Some teams were doing very well. Others really struggled, even playing in the NFL's offseason. But it was all one man's grand vision to take down the NFL (or hope the league would merge his team in). Wonder whatever happened to him.
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