History Lesson 1: The USFL and WFL

I am going to try to fill in some gaps during slow times in our league with brief historical notes about the USFL and WFL. You may be curious about the origins of your team

Tommy Reamon, Florida Blazers (1974)

Let me start off by thanking punisher, who contributed a bunch of helpful links in our league forum. But I will start this off with some non-web resources.

The USFL played from 1983 to 1985. The WFL was around in 1974 and part of 1975. There was only one championship game, as the league folded midway through its second season. One of the more interesting things I read about the WFL was that Florida Blazers RB Tommy Reamon, named to the all-league team in 1974, never received a paycheck that season. I doubt he was alone. The USFL was, in many ways, legit. The WFL was just a mess.

I found the ESPN 30 for 30 documentary Small Potatoes: Who Killed the USFL? extremely entertaining. When you watch the last scene, an emotional interview with a former Tampa Bay Bandits player, you will understand just how strong the tie was for many football fans and players. You will also shake your head at what a shame it was that the league chose to go head-to-head with the NFL in court when it very well could have forged a lasting niche with a schedule that ran from late February through mid-July. Small Potatoes used to be on Netflix, but not any more. You can pay to watch on YouTube or other outlets.

I know we have some accountants and "numbers guys" in our league. You might enjoy the book The One Dollar League by Jim Byrne. It details some of the financial history of the USFL and how those transactions impacted the league's eventual downfall. This book is out of print, so it is super expensive, but you might be able to find a copy at your local library.

Here are two books I have not read:

The United States Football League, 1982-86
Fallen Generals: The History of the New Jersey Generals, the USFL's Glamour Team

Jeff Pearlman is apparently getting ready to write another.

Want to buy a t-shirt and rep your team? You can do it here.

There are tons and tons of USFL videos on the USFL Forever YouTube channel. I guess that is sort of a web resource, but it was too good to leave out. As long as you're on YouTube, you might as well check out this documentary about the WFL too.