USA Today--October 3, 1995
With the USFL-NFL window now closed, we await the USFL Collegiate Draft in January, but that does not mean that things are not still happening around the league. It has been a tumultuous month for many clubs, with several noteworthy trades, some significant free agent signings, and, just utter chaos for one franchise. We start there.
GENERAL DISASTER?
What to make of the cyclone of weirdness that has swept across the New Jersey Generals franchise? It began with the retirement of two of the club’s premiere players in HB Herschel Walker, the first true star of the USFL, and wideout Lam Jones, New Jersey’s leading receiver for the past decade. Then you had the hiring of Rich Kotite, former Eagles and Jets Head Coach, which led to an immediate uproar on sports radio and across all media platforms in this media mecca. Add in the departure of Irving Fryar via free agency, and the trading away of a Generals icon, and you have a mess. Ownership made it a bigger mess altogether by releasing Kotite after only 6 weeks on the job. In what may be a first of its kind move, the Generals, bowing to media and public pressure, released Kotite even before he was able to hold one practice.
Let’s start with Kotite. The release came with another firing as President of Football Operations Chuck Schmidt was dismissed and the new Executive VP and Director of Player Personnel Tom Flores was brought in. The Former Oakland & L.A. Raiders Head Coach, who briefly served as President and GM in Seattle before taking on coaching duties, is seen as a no nonsense, old school presence. Flores immediately lobbied ownership to allow him to rehire for the head coach position. Once the press got wind of this, a quick and devastating media blitz pushed the ownership group, led by Malcom Borg, to let Kotite go and allow Flores free rein to find a new coach. Within a week, Borg met with Flores and Kotite, and the very next day Rich Kotite stepped down. For metro area fans this was a win, dropping a coach who had worn out his welcome in the region through the way he had handled the Jets. For the franchise however this is an embarrassing turn of events, one which is still unresolved as now the Generals are likely to wait until December or January before a new coach is hired, allowing for the NFL season to play out and possible hires at the end of the rival league’s season to become an option.
As if the coaching fiasco was not enough, New Jersey now finds itself in a full top-to-bottom rebuild. This was, of course, going to be the case after the retirement of both Walker and Jones, but it was made worse with Flores’s immediate trading away of the third icon of the franchise, QB Doug Flutie. More on that in a minute, but we should first at least recognize what is lost from the Generals with the retirements of two of its biggest names on offense.
Herschel Walker defined the Generals, and in its early years, the entire USFL. Signed after his sophomore year by the USFL, his contract with New Jersey shot the league into the headlines and began a series of signings that would rob the NFL of its monopoly on top talent. The Heisman winner would be the first of 3 consecutive honorees to be signed by the new league (Rozier and Flutie would follow) and the first of countless top NFL draft picks who would opt for the energetic and innovative spring league.
And, lest we forget, Walker also brought the goods on the playing field. His rookie year with the Generals he set what is still the league rushing record with 1,767 yards. Since then, in his 13 seasons with the Generals, he rushed for over 1,000 yards 11 times, reaching 1,500 yards on 5 different occasions. He retires with an astounding 15,569 yards rushing, 93 touchdowns and a career 4.4 average yard per carry. Despite this dominance, he leaves the game with only 1 ring, the 1989 league championship, but he also leaves with 9 All-USFL honors, the 1989 MVP, 1989 Playoff MVP, 1983 Rookie of the Year, 1983 Offensive Player of the Year, and a jaw dropping 55 different AP Player of the Game honors.
Jones, while not as accomplished as his teammate, still casts a long shadow. Jones, in 11 seasons with the Generals caught 1,418 passes for 13,088 yards and 86 touchdowns. He too was a part of the 1989 championship for New Jersey, and appeared on the All-USFL roster 3 times. His best year was 1993, when he caught 94 passes for 1,682 yards and 14 touchdowns. His only under 1,000 yard season was back in 1988, when a late season injury held him just under at 996.
Both Jones and Walker are almost certainly headed into the USFL’s wing of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, with Walker a guaranteed first ballot entry. Their departure leaves New Jersey with huge shoes to fill for next season. We expect backup Bam Morris will be the frontrunner to take over carries as the lead back. His big, bruising style aligns well with the type of game that Walker brought, though he is nowhere near the same quality of receiver out of the backfield that Walker was. At receiver, the Generals made an immediate move to try to bring in talent, a story we will report in just a moment.
With Walker and Jones both gone, that left Flutie as the sole remaining “icon” from the early years of the franchise and its success. That did not last long either. In one of his first moves as GM, Tom Flores ended the Flutie-Johnson QB debate by trading away the former All-USFL QB (1989, 1993). After flirting with the Arizona Wranglers, who are looking to upgrade from Robbie Bosco despite several playoff seasons, Flores found a taker, and a price he liked for Flutie in Michigan. Flutie will be joining the Michigan Panthers as their new starter after the short-lived late-career stint of former Super Bowl Champion Joe Montana. Flutie heads to Michigan with a chance to reignite his love for the game after a tough few years in the Meadowlands. In return, New Jersey gets depth at LB with the arrival of utility backer Ty Hallock, and a chance to start rebuilding with Michigan’s 3rd round pick.
Flutie has never fully lived up to the hype coming out of Boston College. His career has been up and down, with turnover issues coming along with some amazing highlight reel plays. Known as a scrambling QB, Flutie often was running for his life behind an undermanned NJ line. He was known for the seemingly impossible pass while in mid-scramble, but he was also known as a QB who would put the ball in dangerous places. He leaves New Jersey having thrown 217 TD’s for the Generals, but also 170 interceptions, including an upside down 8-16 ratio this past season, a stat line that speaks volumes as to why then Head Coach Sam Wyche benched him in favor of rookie Rob Johnson. Flutie’s best year in New Jersey was 1993, when he threw for 4,633 yards, 35 touchdowns and 17 interceptions (a far better ratio than his typical year.) Flutie insists he still has a lot of game left in him, and it appears Michigan is hoping that is the case.
So, 2 months into the offseason and the Generals have no coach, no stars, and no clear path forward. Flores is now clearly in charge, and it will be his vision, and the coach he hires, the players he drafts or acquires and the vision he brings that will define the future of the Generals franchise.
TRADE NEWS
While the Flutie to Michigan deal was clearly the most dramatic and impactful of the trades we have seen this offseason, it is hardly the only one of importance. Several teams opted to go the trade route to try to solve their most pressing needs, looking ahead at a draft that has some blue chippers sprinkled throughout but is not viewed as a particularly deep draft.
Outside of the Doug Flutie trade, the most prominent moves revolve around the Atlanta Fire and their search for a lead running back. Having traded to acquire Jeff Blake midseason, Atlanta’s search continued in the offseason. In their first move, they sent DT Tony Siragusa to Oakland in return for former NY Jet Blair Thomas. Thomas, whose outstanding career at Penn State made him a prized early 1st round draft pick in the NFL (after turning down the selection by Washington in the USFL Draft). After a decent, but unsatisfactory rookie and sophomore year in New York (620 and 728 yards respectively), Thomas started having injury problems, and saw his yards and games played decline to 440 in 1992 and 221 in 1993. After being released by the Jets, he signed on with Oakland, and spent last season sitting behind Siran Stacy on the Invader bench. He carried the ball only 51 times for a 3.6 average last season in mop up duty. But it seems the promise of his Penn State years was enough for Atlanta to gamble on the 28-year-old back. This was evident by their next move, sending 1995’s club rushing leader Bernie Parmalee on his way. Atlanta sent Parmalee to LA, where he will likely spell Marcus Allen as the backup, in return for TE Deems May and a 7th round pick. So it will apparently be Blair Thomas and Ricky Blake who will battle for carries in Dan Reeve’s I-back system.
Two other running backs also shifted teams in the early weeks of the offseason, with Seattle sending backup Torey Wright to Orlando (who lost 2 HBs to retirement and free agency) for a 7th round pick, and Washington sending the scatback Terrell Fletcher to Tampa Bay as part of a deal that sees guard Wayne Boatwright coming to DC.
St. Louis finally resolved their QB debate, clearly favoring 2nd year QB Todd Collins over veteran David Archer. They ship Archer off to Texas, where he will back up Kelly Stouffer, and in return bring in DT David Wise and a late round pick.
Finally, among players who are likely to be in the starting 11 come week one, the biggest move was by the defending champions, who send off a 2nd round pick to New Orleans in order to shore up their line by acquiring RT Brian Williams. With significant free agent defections along the line, the trade for Williams is clearly a quick fix to an urgent need for the Maulers.
FREE AGENCY
Not a lot of big signings in the USFL free agent pool, but a pretty significant NFL players jumped ship and joined the spring league during the transfer window this August. Let’s start with the one predicted move that came to pass.
Shocking no one, the Seattle Dragons have signed former Bull, General, and Breaker QB Timm Rosenbach. The former Washington State Cougar will be the clear frontrunner for the starting gig in Seattle, with returning QB David Klingler struggling last season as he subbed for an injured Dave Krieg. Rosenbach, who had his best season in 1994 with the Breakers (3,205 yards, 19 TD, QBR of 85.8), will try again to start anew with a new club. The good news for Rosenbach is that Seattle only 2 weeks earlier had swung a deal with Texas to bring Eric Metcalf up to the Pacific Northwest as the club’s new standout #1 receiver.
Krieg, who was unceremoniously let go by Seattle after only 1 injury-plagued season, was the first major USFL to NFL signing, as he was snatched up by the Arizona Cardinals and has already earned the starting job, though after a 1-4 start to the fresh NFL season, we are not sure how long that will last.
The Krieg signing, along with the signing of Orlando LB Alex Moyer (Tampa), Bandits DT Jason Gregory (Cincinnati), and Jacksonville SS Eric Reid (Eagles) highlight the very few USFL players snatched up during NFL training camps. The pendulum definitely swung a little bit more in the USFL’s direction with their signings of NFL talent.
Chief among the USFL’s top signings from the fall league was New Jersey’s first attempt to restock their offense. Former Cleveland Brown wideout Keenan McCardell signed with the Generals for 4 years, hopefully taking on the lead receiver role. McKardell has shown some flashes in Cleveland, but has not been able to crack the starting lineup. That is unlikely to be an issue with the barren cupboard that New Jersey begins with in their receiver room. The Former UNLV receiver is sure to have chances to make a splash.
The Wranglers also addressed a need with a big-name player, but one whose full potential has not been realized yet. Arizona signed former Dallas Cowboy (and Miami Hurricane), DT Russell Maryland to an incentive-laden 2-year contract after he was let go by Dallas. Maryland has been an on-again, off-again starter in Dallas, and has accumulated 14.5 sacks in five seasons in Big D. With two All-USFL DE's outside of him in Arizona (Noga and Haley) Maryland should be poised to focus on occupying space and interior linemen.
Seattle stayed busy, with their third big move, again clearly looking to improve their last place offense, signing former Lion LT Lomas Brown to a 3-year deal. With Brown and Metcalf, QB Timm Rosenbach has some options compared to what we saw in Seattle’s offense last year. Brown will be key to keeping Rosenbach upright as the veteran QB is not the most nimble, but with protection, Rosenbach has shown that he can be an effective passer.
Philadelphia addressed the retirement of kicker David Trout by jumping on Saints kicker Chip Lohmiller. The former Redskin kicker and Golden Gopher product was a 2nd round pick of Washington in 1988, one of the highest picks for a kicker in NFL history, but had only a middling career with the Skins, averaging only a 71.8% field goal percentage, hardly comparable to David Trout’s 80.4%.
Birmingham tried to strengthen its shaky defense by signing 2x Super Bowl Champion LB Cornelius Bennett from the Buffalo Bills. Bennett, who was part of a dominant Bills team that appeared in 3 Super Bowls from 91-93 (including the dramatic victory over the Giants in 1990 and the blowout of Detroit in 1993) returns home to Birmingham, his birth city, and Alabama, his college home, to play with the Stallions.
Finally, the Tampa Bay Bandits believe they have upgraded their QB depth, finding a backup for Troy Aikman after the release of John Fourcade this offseason. Tampa has signed former NY Giant and Ohio State QB Kent Graham. Graham, taken in the 6th round of the 1992 NFL Draft, started 3 games his rookie year, losing all three, and has started only 1 more in the two subsequent years. He has a strong arm, but clearly needs some development. Sitting behind Aikman is likely to help that process.
So, there you have it. A pretty interesting start to the USFL preseason, with more to come for certain. With a second NFL-USFL transfer portal opening at the conclusion of the 1995 fall season for the senior league, with the upcoming 1995 Draft, and with one franchise still looking for its next head coach, we are sure to see some interesting moves in the months to come before the USFL season kicks off in March.