1983 USFL season

1983 USFL season
1983 USFL season
Duration	March 6 – July 3, 1983
Date	July 17, 1983
Finals venue	Denver, Colorado
Finals champions	Michigan Panthers
Seasons
	1984 →

The 1983 USFL season was the inaugural season of the United States Football League.

Breakers

Federals

Generals

Stars

Bandits

Blitz

Panthers

Stallions

Express

Gold

Invaders

Wranglers

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USFL teams: Pacific, Central, Atlantic

Rules differences from NFL

Optional 2 point conversion after touchdown (the NFL would add this rule in 1994).
Optional 1 inch kicking tee for extra points and field goal attempts.
Clock stop on first downs within the last 2 minutes of the 2nd and 4th quarters.
Intentional and unintentional pass interference.
Six member officiating crew (no side judge).
The USFL game ball was 3⁄8 inch (1 cm) shorter than the NFL game ball (both made by Wilson).
There were no preseason games.

Expansion cities for 1984

During the 1983 season, the USFL announced expansion cities for the 1984 season.

Pittsburgh April 28^[1]
San Diego May 16;^[2] moved to Tulsa July 7^[3]
Houston May 19^[4]
Jacksonville June 14^[5]
San Antonio July 11^[6]
Memphis July 17^[7]

Regular season

W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, PCT= Winning Percentage, PF= Points For, PA = Points Against

y = Division Champion, x = Wild Card

Team	W	L	T	PCT	PF	PA	Stadium	1983 Capacity	Avg. Att.	Avg. % filled	Coach
Atlantic Division
y-Philadelphia Stars	15	3	0	.833	379	204	Veterans Stadium	72,204	18,650	26%	Jim Mora
Boston Breakers	11	7	0	.611	399	334	Nickerson Field	21,000	12,817	61%	Dick Coury
New Jersey Generals	6	12	0	.333	314	437	Giants Stadium	76,891	35,004	46%	Chuck Fairbanks
Washington Federals	4	14	0	.222	297	422	RFK Stadium	54,794	13,850	25%	Ray Jauch
Central Division
Team	W	L	T	PCT	PF	PA	Stadium	1983 Capacity	Avg. Att.	Avg. % filled	Coach
y-Michigan Panthers	12	6	0	.667	451	337	Silverdome	80,638	22,250	28%	Jim Stanley
x-Chicago Blitz	12	6	0	.667	456	271	Soldier Field	65,793	18,133	28%	George Allen
Tampa Bay Bandits	11	7	0	.611	363	378	Tampa Stadium	72,812	39,896	55%	Steve Spurrier
Birmingham Stallions	9	9	0	.500	343	326	Legion Field	77,000	22,046	29%	Rollie Dotsch
Pacific Division
Team	W	L	T	PCT	PF	PA	Stadium	1983 Capacity	Avg. Att.	Avg. % filled	Coach
y-Oakland Invaders	9	9	0	.500	319	319	Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum	54,615	31,211	57%	John Ralston
Los Angeles Express	8	10	0	.444	296	370	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum	94,000	19,002	20%	Hugh Campbell
Denver Gold	7	11	0	.389	284	304	Mile High Stadium	75,123	41,736	56%	Red Miller/Charley Armey/Craig Morton
Arizona Wranglers	4	14	0	.222	261	442	Sun Devil Stadium	70,030	25,776	37%	Doug Shively

Michigan won the tiebreaker with Chicago based on season series 2-0-0

Playoffs

Away team	Score	Home team	Date
Divisional playoffs
Chicago Blitz	38–44 (OT)	Philadelphia Stars	July 9, 1983
Oakland Invaders	21–37	Michigan Panthers	July 10, 1983
USFL Championship Game Mile High Stadium, Denver Colorado
Michigan Panthers	24–22	Philadelphia Stars	July 17, 1983

Division playoffs			USFL Championship

A1	Philadelphia	44 (OT)

C2	Chicago	38
			A1	Philadelphia	22

			C1	Michigan	24
P1	Oakland	21

C1	Michigan	37

Statistics

1983 regular season stat leaders

Name, Team	Att	Comp	%	yards	YDs/Att	TD	TD %	Long	INT	INT %	Rating
1983 Passing Leaders (over 100 attempts)
Bobby Hebert, MICH	451	257	57.0	3568	7.91	27	6.0	t81	17	3.8	86.8
Fred Besana, OAK	550	345	62.7	3980	7.24	21	3.8	t80	16	2.9	85.1
Greg Landry, CHIC	334	188	56.3	2383	7.13	16	4.8	52	9	2.7	83.5
Jimmy Jordan, TB	238	145	60.9	1831	7.69	14	5.9	49	14	5.9	80.0
Chuck Fusina, PHIL	421	238	56.5	2718	6.46	15	3.6	52	10	2.4	78.1
Alan Risher, ARIZ	424	236	55.7	2672	6.30	20	4.7	t98	16	3.8	74.7
Johnnie Walton, BOS	589	330	56.0	3772	6.40	20	3.4	t86	18	3.1	74.0
Mike Rae, LA	319	175	54.9	1964	6.16	11	3.4	t61	10	3.1	71.9
Mike Hohensee, WASH	190	92	48.4	1297	6.83	9	4.7	t80	7	3.7	71.3
Bobby Scott, NJ/CHIC	374	210	56.1	2813	7.52	11	2.9	t65	19	5.1	68.9
Tom Ramsey, LA	307	160	52.1	1975	6.43	13	4.2	t82	14	4.6	67.4
Mike Kelley, TB	166	81	48.8	1003	6.04	4	2.4	43	5	3.0	63.4
Bob Lane, BIRM	346	175	50.6	2264	6.54	14	4.0	53	18	5.2	63.3
Kim McQuilken, WASH	334	188	56.3	1912	5.72	7	2.1	55	14	4.2	62.4
John Reaves, TB	259	139	53.7	1726	6.66	9	3.5	51	16	6.2	60.4
Ken Johnson, DENV	248	121	48.8	1115	4.50	6	2.4	t56	12	4.8	49.4
Joe Gilliam, WASH	102	40	39.2	673	6.60	5	4.9	t52	12	11.8	39.0
Reggie Collier, BIRM	108	47	43.5	604	5.59	1	0.9	t46	7	6.5	37.7
Dan Manucci, ARIZ	119	52	43.7	577	4.85	2	1.7	t48	8	6.7	36.3
Jeff Knapple, DENV/NJ	213	105	49.3	1191	5.59	3	1.4	41	19	8.9	34.0

POS Name, Team	Att	Yds	Avg.	Long	TDs
1983 Rushing leaders
HB Herschel Walker, NJ	412	1812	4.4	t83	17
HB Kelvin Bryant, PHIL	318	1442	4.5	45	16
HB Ken Lacy, MI	232	1180	5.1	59	6
HB Tim Spencer, CHIC	300	1157	3.9	25	6
HB Arthur Whittington, OAK	282	1043	3.7	24	6
HB Kevin Long, CHIC	262	1022	3.9	33	12
HB Richard Crump, BOS	190	990	5.2	62	8
HB Ken Talton, BIRM	228	907	4.0	28	5
HB Craig James, WASH	202	823	4.1	24	4
HB Harry Sydney, DENV	176	801	4.6	45	9
HB Billy Taylor, WASH	171	757	4.4	34	5
HB Calvin Murray, ARIZ	179	699	3.9	34	4
HB Greg Boone, TB	174	694	4.0	21	5
HB Allen Harvin, PHIL	139	681	4.9	49	7
HB Larry Canada, DENV	142	631	4.4	t24	3

POS Name, Team	Rec	Yds	Avg.	Long	TDs
1983 Receiving Leaders
WR Trumaine Johnson, CHIC	81	1322	16.3	56	10
WR Danny Buggs, TB	76	1146	15.1	51	5
WR Ricky Ellis, LA	69	716	10.4	36	6
TE Raymond Chester, OAK	68	951	14.0	57	5
WR Eric Truvillion, TB	66	1080	16.4	46	15
HB Arthur Whittington, OAK	66	584	8.8	3.7	2
TE Mark Keel, ARIZ	65	802	12.3	27	2
HB Billy Taylor, WASH	64	523	8.2	55	2
WR Joey Walters, WASH	63	959	15.2	42	6
WR Jackie Flowers, ARIZ	63	869	13.8	t98	11
WR Neil Balholm, ARIZ	63	703	11.2	27	5
WR Nolan Franz, BOS	62	848	13.7	50	4
WR Gordon Banks, OAK	61	855	14.0	41	2
TE Michael Cobb, MICH	61	746	12.2	31	5
WR Anthony Carter, MICH	60	1181	19.7	t81	9
WR Scott Fitzkee, PHIL	55	731	13.3	44	3
WR Charles Smith, BOS	54	1009	18.7	t58	5
WR Wyatt Henderson, OAK	54	801	14.8	t53	9
HB Herschel Walker, NJ	53	489	9.2	t65	1
HB Kelvin Bryant, PHIL	53	410	7.7	50	1

Awards

Offense

Position	Player(s)
Quarterback	11 Bobby Hebert, Michigan Panthers
Running back	34 Herschel Walker, New Jersey Generals 44 Kelvin Bryant, Philadelphia Stars
Wide receiver	2 Trumaine Johnson, Chicago Blitz 84 Eric Truvillion, Tampa Bay Bandits
Tight end	87 Raymond Chester, Oakland Invaders
Offensive tackle	75 Irv Eatman, Philadelphia Stars 74 Ray Pinney, Michigan Panthers
Guard	78 Buddy Aydelette, Birmingham Stallions 63 Thom Dornbrook, Michigan Panthers
Center	67 Bob Van Duyne, Tampa Bay Bandits

Defense

Position	Player(s)
Defensive end	79 Mike Raines, Birmingham Stallions 70 Kit Lathrop, Chicago Blitz
Defensive tackle	68 Fred Nordgren, Tampa Bay Bandits
Linebacker	57 John Corker, Michigan Panthers 52 Stan White, Chicago Blitz 54 Sam Mills, Philadelphia Stars 56 Marcus Marek, Boston Breakers
Cornerback	33 Jeff George, Tampa Bay Bandits 34 David Martin, Denver Gold
Safety	27 Luther Bradley, Chicago Blitz 25 Scott Woerner, Philadelphia Stars

Special teams

Position	Player(s)
Kicker	5 Tim Mazzetti, Boston Breakers
Punter	10 Stan Talley, Oakland Invaders
Kickoff returner	40 Eric Robinson, Washington Federals
Punt returner	34 David Martin, Denver Gold

Season awards

Award	Winner	Position	Team
USFL Most Valuable Player	Kelvin Bryant	RB	Philadelphia Stars
USFL Most Valuable Player (AP)	Kelvin Bryant	RB	Philadelphia Stars
USFL Player of the Year (TSN)	Bobby Hebert	QB	Michigan Panthers
USFL Man of the Year	Raymond Chester	WR	Oakland Invaders
USFL Coach of the Year	Dick Coury	Head coach	Boston Breakers
USFL Coach of the Year (TSN)	Dick Coury	Head coach	Boston Breakers
USFL Outstanding Running Back	Herschel Walker	RB	New Jersey Generals
USFL Outstanding Quarterback	Bobby Hebert	QB	Michigan Panthers
USFL Leading Scorer Award	David Trout	K	Philadelphia Stars
USFL Leading Receiver	Trumaine Johnson	WR	Chicago Blitz
USFL Defensive Player of the Year	John Corker	LB	Michigan Panthers
USFL Outstanding Lineman	Kit Lathrop	DL	Chicago Blitz
Special Teams Player of the Year	Stan Talley	P	Oakland Invaders
USFL Executive of the Year (TSN)	Carl Peterson	General manager	Philadelphia Stars

References

^ "Pittsburgh Gets USFL Team". Sarasota Herald-Tribune. Associated Press. April 29, 1983. p. 14B.
^ "San Diego gets USFL franchise". The Times-News. Associated Press. May 17, 1983. p. 15.
^ "Tulsa awarded new USFL franchise after San Diego spurns proposal". The Nevada Daily Mail. Associated Press. July 8, 1983. p. 8.
^ "USFL Selects Houston For Expansion Team". The Victoria Advocate. Associated Press. May 20, 1983. p. 4B.
^ "Jacksonville Gets USFL Team For 1984 Season". Ocala Star-Banner. Associated Press. June 15, 1983. p. 8C.
^ "San Antonio Gets USFL Team". Gainesville Sun. Associated Press. July 12, 1983. p. 3B.
^ "Memphis Gets USFL Franchise". Sarasota Herald-Tribune. United Press International. July 18, 1983. p. 9B.