Tampa Bay Bandits Epilogue
Tampa Bay Bandits Epilogue
As the USFL's final season drew to a close, there were plenty of rumors and
speculation. There was talk that the Bandits would merge with Jacksonville and
Orlando forming one Florida team. The Renegades did not want to leave Orlando,
so talk moved to a Tampa Bay-Jacksonville combination. There were reports of
player's paychecks being late and of creditors cleaning out the Bandits
offices. On July 30, 1985, a group lead by Tampa businessman Lee Scarfone and
attorney Tony Cunningham purchased the Bandits for $3 million. They agreed to
keep the team in Tampa Bay for the 1986 season and pay Steve Spurrier $100,000.
Spurrier would get his salary whether the league survived or not.
John Bassett never got a chance to pursue his vision of another spring football league. On May 14, 1986, John F. Bassett died at the age of 47 at Toronto General Hospital. There were other tragedies involving the Bandits. General partner Stephen Arky killed himself in 1985 and the team's director of player personnel Bugsy Engelberg committed suicide two years later. Dave Jovonovic, the Bandits public relations director, killed his wife and then himself in 1991. Former Bandits linebacker James Harrell took his own life in 1992.
As many anticipated, the USFL never did play a game in the fall. The USFL did release a schedule for the 1986 season, which would have opened on Saturday September 13 with Arizona playing at Tampa Bay. Two four-team divisions were planned, the Liberty and Independence divisions, with three of the teams based in Florida. The fourth championship game was to take place on February 1, 1987 in Jacksonville. One more note from the season that never was, John Reaves signed a contract to play for Orlando in the 1986 season. Because of a salary dispute, the Bandits waived Reaves on August 5, 1985.
Eddie Einhorn, who unsuccessfully attempted to negotiate a television contract, testified that network executives told him "they felt the pressure" from the NFL. While Einhorn provided no specific evidence, he talked of "a pattern of coercion" in the negotiations. Howard Cosell took the stand and said NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle was "all over him," because ABC was televising the spring league.
New Jersey Generals owner Donald Trump told of a 1984 offer that Rozelle made to get him an NFL franchise, if he worked to keep the new league in the spring. Al Davis, the only NFL owner not named in the suit, testified about a conspiracy between the NFL and the City of Oakland. There was evidence of a 1984 NFL Management Council seminar entitled, "How to Conquer the USFL."
The NFL countered with a 1983 report by John Bassett, which was written after the USFL's first season. As chairman of the executive committee, Bassett criticized the owners for having "unleashed the bankroll to spend ourselves into a hole." A 1983 memo by Oakland Invaders owner Tad Taube was introduced. Speaking of the high salaries, Taube wrote: "We have sighted the enemy and they are us."
There were also transcripts of USFL meetings, supposedly talking about using the lawsuit to force a merger with the older league. It was revealed that USFL commissioner Harry Usher's contract had a clause for compensation for each USFL team absorbed into the NFL.
On July 29, 1986, after a 48 day trial and five days of jury deliberations, the NFL was found guilty of monopolizing professional football and using predatory tactics. However, the jury felt the NFL did not control the television market and stated the obvious, the USFL had abandoned its original plan for slow growth and most of their problems were a result of mismanagement. In the $1.69 billion lawsuit, the USFL was awarded only $1, which was trebled to $3. The check written by the NFL, for $3.76 including interest, has never been cashed.
On August 4, 1986, with the USFL more than $200 million in debt, the league suspended operations. The final chapter came on March 10, 1988, when the 2nd Court of Appeals in New York upheld the verdict. Judge Ralph K. Winter wrote, "There was ample evidence that the USFL failed because it did not make the painstaking investment and patient efforts that bring credibility, stability and public recognition to a sports league." The USFL did eventually win back millions in court costs.
The USFL was the first attempt at Spring football, but really did not answer the question could it work? In October 1991, plans were announced for the Professional Spring Football League. The ten team league was to begin play on February 29, 1992 and conclude with "The Red, White and Blue Bowl" on July 5. While in training camp, and ten days before the season opener, the PSFL suspended operations.
While there were skeptics, the Professional Spring Football League had
enlisted some big names in the effort. Staff and coaches included Roman
Gabriel, Steve Grogan, Walt Michaels, Craig Morton and Darrell Rogers. Tony
Collins, Major Harris and Barry Wagner were some of the better known players.
Since the PSFL never played a down, the Arkansas Miners, Carolina Cougars,
Miami Tribe, Nevada Aces, New England Blitz, New Mexico Rattlesnakes, Oregon
Lightning Bolts, Utah Pioneers and Washington Marauders are just answers to
trivia questions.
Speaking of trivia, who are the Outlaws? That was the nickname of the Tampa
Bay team in the PSFL. The Outlaws general manager was Terry Bledsoe and Boyd
Dowler was the head coach. Dowler caught forty touchdown passes for the Green
Bay Packers between 1959 and 1969. Players on the roster included former Bucs
and Storm linebacker Keith Browner, one time Storm and Florida State
quarterback Chip Ferguson, and former Florida wide receiver Willie Snead. The
team's colors were sky blue and scarlet and home games were going to be played
at Tampa Stadium.
In February 2001, the Extreme Football League gave spring football a shot. The XFL was the brainchild of World Wrestling Federation chairman Vince McMahon. On February 3, 2000, when the formation of the XFL was announced, McMahon admitted "Everyone is skeptical. I even expect people to say, 'Oh my God no. The World Wrestling Federation in pro football, oh no!'"
Eight teams played a ten game schedule with the Galen Hall coached Orlando Rage the only Florida entry. The first league championship game, dubbed "The Million Dollar Game" for the pot the winning team would split, was played April 21, 2001 at the Los Angeles Coliseum. The Los Angeles Xtreme defeated the San Francisco Demons 38-6 before a crowd of 24,153. J.K. McKay, a one time Buccaneer and son of the Bucs first coach, was the Vice President and General Manager for the league champions.
NBC was a partner in the XFL and broadcast games on Saturday nights. After
higher than expected ratings for the premiere telecast, rating dropped
dramatically to record lows. The league was criticized for concentrating more
on gimmicks than game play. Using wrestling announcers, with annoying
screaming and artificial enthusiasm, certainly did nothing to improve the
dismal ratings. Rule changes, some made as the season progressed, added little
to low scoring games. Less than three weeks after the season ended, on May 10,
2001, the expected announcement came. Vince McMahon spoke about the end of the
XFL experiment. "It's really unfortunate that the numbers did not play out for
us. Despite where our heart was, which unquestionably was with the XFL, we
just couldn't make it financially."
Then there was the All American Football League. In July of 2006, the AAFL
announced the league would play primarily at college stadiums and require
players to be college graduates. The initial 2007 start-up date was pushed
back to 2008, then postponed again until 2009. The six-team league planned a
ten game schedule. The idea was for rosters to be comprised of players from
the team's state. "Team Florida" was scheduled to be coached Shane Matthews
and play at Gainesville's Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. The 2008 schedule did
have one game in Tampa and another in Jacksonville. Since nothing has been
heard from the AAFL lately, it is doubtful the league will actually play a
game.
On August 13, 2008 there was an announcement about the formation of the New
United States Football League. The 12-team league, using some of the original
USFL cities and nicknames, plans to begin play on February 20, 2010. A sixteen
game season, with no preseason games, will run until the end of June. Along
with rules changes, such as a four-point safety, the New USFL plans to sell
stock to the fans. Michael Dwyer is the founder and chairman of the new league
with Tom Shapiro, former Assistant City Attorney of Santa Barbara, California
as as Commissioner. Shapiro spoke of the new league, "Americans love football,
it's a fact that's been proven year after year. We've worked long and hard to
develop a winning league concept that Americans can really buy into. In fact,
30% of each team will be sold to the public in stocks, with an additional 20%
of each team held by the league. We think this will help create fan loyalty
and discourage teams from moving around."
Whether there will be a New USFL will be seen, however, an impressive Advisory Committee has been assembled headed by Jack Youngblood and Darrel "Mouse" Davis. A number of former USFL players are also on that committee including Anthony Davis, Ray Bentley, Derek Holloway, Bart Oates, Anthony Carter, Tom Ramsey, Bobby Hebert and the Tampa Bay Bandits own Gary Anderson. Michael Dwyer said, "We will be bringing back as many of the original team names as we can based upon the cities/stadiums we have lined up." However, it seems that there may be only one team planned for Florida and it may in Orlando. So, the New USFL may not feature the New Tampa Bay Bandits.
We will never know what would have become of the old USFL, if it had not decided to take on the NFL. Some may question the plausibility of Spring football itself. Considering professional football in a multi-billion dollar industry, there will always be somebody trying to give it another shot.
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