USA Today, June 22, 1984
The Roster Wars between the NFL and the upstart USFL have seen a lot of action over the past few weeks. Just as the NFL prepares to open camp for its 1983 fall season, the USFL has been signing veteran players in preparation for their second season in the spring of 1984. Likewise, the NFL has been signing away some of the USFL’s top players, those who had signed only 1 year contracts for the just completed 1983 season.
The USFL will be seeking to replace some solid talent lost to the NFL this May and June, including several starting quarterbacks, such as Arizona’s Alan Risher, Los Angeles’s Tom Ramsey, and Denver’s Ken Johnson. Risher, who led the USFL in completion percentage is the newest quarterback to try to provide wins for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, while Ramsey will try to win a starting job in St. Louis and Johnson in Baltimore.
The signing of Risher by the Bucs appears to be direct retaliation for the earlier signing of disgruntled Bucs starter Doug Williams by the USFL. Williams, who still has not selected which of the three USFL franchises which bid on his services (Jacksonville, Denver, and Arizona), left the NFL with a bitter taste in his mouth after negotiations with Tampa fell through.
Williams was not the only NFL starting signal caller to defect to the USFL. Only days after New Jersey Generals 1983 starter Bobby Scott announced his retirement, the Generals announced the signing of long time Cleveland Brown Brian Sipe. Another AFC North QB, Pittsburgh’s Cliff Stoudt, signed with Birmingham of the USFL, as did former Buffalo Bill RB Joe Cribbs.
The signing of Cribbs was yet another “swap” with the NFL, as the Stallions lost one of their brightest talents, RB Cornelius Quarles, who signed with the Houston Oilers. Other notable signees by the NFL include DE Francis Murphy (Denver Gold to the LA Rams), WR Tom McConnaughey (NJ Generals to the Miami Dolphins) and WR Bob Metzger (Oakland Invaders to the New Orleans Saints).
Meanwhile the NFL to USFL veteran pipeline was made up mostly of backups and marginal players, but a few known names beyond Williams, Sipe and Stoudt made the jump. The biggest of these was the signing of KC All-Pro safety Gary Barbaro to the New Jersey Generals.
Also of note were the following USFL signings:
Arizona: DE Mike St. Clair
Boston: TE Dan Ross
Chicago: QB Vince Evans
Denver: G George Yarno
Houston: CB Donald Dykes
Jacksonville: RB Sydney Thornton, QB Matt Robinson
Memphis: K Efran Herrera, WR Mel Gray
Michigan: DL Larry Bethea
New Jersey: LB Jim LeClair
Pittsburgh: QB Glen Carano
Tampa Bay: LB James Harrell
Washington: K Nick Mike-Meyer
With the signing of these veterans, along with a good number of 1983 NFL draftees, and with the USFL scheduled to hold their own draft of collegiate talent in December, the battle for star players seems to be in full effect between the two leagues. The NFL has the clout and the money to outspend the USFL, however, as the signings of Sipe, Williams and Cribbs shows, the USFL also can do some damage. With each USFL team allowed 3 players exempt from their salary cap structure, the potential is limited, but with an emphasis on signing young stars such as RB Hershel Walker, and quarterbacks like Jim Kelly and Todd Blackledge, the reality of a player drain is becoming an uncomfortable one for the NFL. And, we can expect, as USFL contracts, most of which were for only 2 or 3 years, continue to expire, the NFL will come calling to bring the best and brightest back into the fold.
Comments