Wednesday, July 10, 2019

1984 Midseason All-Pro Team

Gordon Wong, DB, Jacksonville
We are eight games into the USFL/WFL's 11th season, so it seems a good time to pause and see which players have been tearing up the league during the first half of the 1984 season. These are unofficial awards and intended for amusement and entertainment purposes only.

Offense

QB James Perry, Memphis Showboats: Perry leads the league in TD passes (34), passing yards (3,843), interceptions (18) and QBR (101.26) and has the Showboats tied with the Houston Gamblers for first place in the Southwest Division.
RB Mark Lambert, Houston Gamblers: Leads the league in total yards (1,166) despite having only played in five games. In those five games, Lambert is averaging 79 yards rushing (4.9 per carry) and 155 receiving (18.4 per catch). His nine total TDs are tied for second in the league.
RB Mark Peterson, Birmingham Stallions: Averaging 6.1 yards per carry and leading the league in rushing yardage (706) and pass receptions (77).
RB/WR Corey True, Denver Gold: Leads the league with 11 total TDs and is averaging 79 yards rushing (6.6 per carry) and 44 receiving.
WR Jerome Betancourt, Memphis Showboats: Has already topped 1,000 yards receiving halfway through the season. Averaging 30 yards per reception and has six TD catches. His ratings are interesting—86 speed, 58 acceleration, 57 pass catching, 61 route running.
WR Robert Wheeler, Pittsburgh Maulers: Wheeler's nine TDs lead all receivers and his 52 receptions are fourth in the league.
TE Ernest McNeill, Memphis Showboats: Leads all league TE in receptions (51) and receiving yardage (530)
OL Eugene Burlingame, Pittsburgh Maulers: 801 plays, 1 sack allowed
OL David Aybar, Washington Federals: 694 plays, 1 sack allowed
OL Michael Warren, San Jose SaberCats: 693 plays, 1 sack allowed
OL Christopher Jarman, Houston Gamblers: 686 plays, 1 sack allowed
OL Danny Keating, Houston Gamblers: 675 plays, 0 sacks allowed
OL Clarence Clemons, San Antonio Gunslingers: 654 plays, 2 sacks allowed, 508 pass blocks
OL Ira Buffington, Jacksonville Bulls: 636 plays, 0 sacks allowed, 316 run blocks
OL Andre Ochs, Chicago Blitz: 584 plays, 0 sacks allowed, 316 run blocks
P John Feldman, Boston Breakers: 46.4 average, leads league in net (45.6) and inside 20 (36)
K Tommie Prather, Jacksonville Bulls: Can't do much better than 20-for-20 (all), 9-for-9 (40-yards-plus) and 5-for-5 (50-plus).

Defense

DL Raphael Alvarez, Jacksonville Bulls: Leads all DL with 30 tackles.
DL William Milligan, Pittsburgh Maulers: Leads the league with 7 sacks.
DL John Broussard, Washington Federals: Tied with league lead with 20 hurries.
DL John Thompson, Charlotte Hornets: Tied for league lead with 20 hurries.
LB Jim Grisby, Tampa Bay Bandits: Leads league with 81 tackles.
LB Robert Tate, Chicago Blitz: Third in league with 62 tackles.
LB Phillip Williamson, Jacksonville Bulls: Among league leaders in both tackles (54) and interceptions (5).
LB Troy Irwin, Los Angeles Express: 34 tackles, 7 INT, 39.0 catch allowed, tied league record with four INT in one game.
DB Gordon Wong, Jacksonville Bulls: Leads league with 12 interceptions. The league record for interceptions in a season is 14, set last year by Honolulu MLB Douglas Oneal. Has also allowed only 29.8 percent of passes thrown his way to be completed.
DB Oliver Serrano, Cleveland Thunderbolts: Among league leaders in tackles (52) and interceptions (3).
DB Albert Arsenault, Memphis Showboats: 32 tackles, 5 INT, 33.3 catch allowed
DB Jaco Pastorius, San Antonio Gunslingers: 32 tackles, 4 INT, 23.3 catch allowed

First Half Awards

First Half Offensive MVP: QB James Perry, Memphis Showboats
First Half Defensive MVP: DB Gordon Wong, Jacksonville Bulls
First Half Offensive Rookie: LG Tuan Umana, New York Stars (378 pass blocks, 203 run blocks, 539 plays, 0 sacks allowed)
First Half Defensive Rookie: CB Willie Lawhon, Boston Breakers (50 TKL, 1 INT, 37.5 catch allowed) and FS Stephen Harris, Oklahoma Outlaws (51 TKL, 2 INT, 36.7 catch allowed)

An Honor for Hellbringer

Hellbringer, Michigan
There are 12 coaches in this league who have been with the USFL/WFL from Day 1. Today we add an honorary 13th coach to that list—Michigan Panthers head coach Hellbringer.

The league's first allocation draft took place July 10, 2017. At that time, ROLL_T1D3 was directing the Panthers (poorly). He left the league soon afterward and Hellbringer (then known as Hellbriner) took over the Panthers. He brought what was then a talent-challenged team through several seasons of trial, error, and frustration before Michigan finally claimed its first division title in 1982. The Panthers now have several of the league's brightest young stars on their roster and are likely to be a contender in the Midwest Division for many seasons to come.

Today we recognize Hellbringer and grant him the official title of USFL/WFL Original Coach.

A Public Service Announcement About Forum Deportment


We have had very few problems with coach interaction in this league. However, we recently lost a coach who abandoned his team after a heated online discussion with other coaches in another forum (not ours).

I wanted to re-emphasize that a positive culture is part of what makes our league unique and has sustained it for many seasons. I know this league is filled with 32 flawed human beings and, being that this is a competitive venture, disagreements will take place. I encourage discussion, and will tolerate disagreements, but ask that those conversations remain civil and don't venture into the personal.