For three seasons, the USFL provided perhaps the NFL’s most direct challenge. It was that growing ambition to truly compete with the NFL that likely caused its demise, however. The brainchild of bu…
provided perhaps the NFL’s most direct challenge. It was that growing ambition to truly compete with the NFL that likely caused its demise, however.
The league enjoyed initial success, showcasing breakout stars such as Herschel Walker and Jim Kelly. It provided a true spring alternative for players to take their talents, helping to raise collective salaries in football — teams from both leagues were now forced to bid against each other. “I think, plain and simply, the USFL owners, to our advantage as players, spent much more than they were receiving from television and tickets,” longtime punter Sean Landeta, who played 22 seasons in the NFL and was the last active NFL player who played in the USFL, told The Post. “We the players benefitted from that. To prove what I’m saying, the average NFL salary, I think, was around $75,000 in 1983. In the three years the USFL was around, it went from $75,000 to about $230,000.
Engulfed in turmoil, it shrunk to eight teams following the 1985 season. Led by an outspoken section of owners — spearheaded by Generals owner Donald Trump — the USFL voted to move its season to the fall to directly compete with the NFL. The long-term goal was likely to somehow force a merger with the NFL, raising the value of the USFL teams in the process.In the USFL’s current state at the time, a merger became extremely unlikely.
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