Michigan Panthers are back home, but don’t expect the area to notice much
Panthers #Panthers
Relaxing in a Ford Field suite Sunday, Bobby Hebert was having the time of his life.
The 62-year-old former quarterback laughed and told stories in his thick Louisiana accent about that small window of his life when he and an upstart team in the United States Football League brought a championship to the Detroit area.
Playing with the Michigan Panthers gave Hebert, once known as the Cajun Cannon, a reservoir of good memories.
Start the day smarter. Get all the news you need in your inbox each morning.
“We could have beat the Lions,” Hebert proclaimed.
These days, the revived team that bears the same nickname and uniforms couldn’t make the same audacious claim. As he scanned the flip card in his hand, Hebert, remarked, “I don’t know any of the players.”
He’s far from the only one. The franchise and league for which he once played is barely recognizable to the common. That was reinforced long before the Panthers lost, 28-13, in their debut at Ford Field. When Hebert became an instant sensation up the road at the Pontiac Silverdome 40 years ago, he threw bombs to former Michigan star Anthony Carter and was surrounded by teammates who were established pros.
The USFL, in its first incarnation back then, was seen as an alternative to the NFL and a potential challenger to a league that has since grown into a hegemonic force in the American sports landscape. But now in its rebirth under new management, the USFL knows its place in an ecosystem where The Shield dominates. Instead of attracting stars like Jim Kelly, Reggie White, Mike Rozier, Herschel Walker and Steve Young as it once did, the eight teams in this reconstructed league are populated with castoffs and fringe players either hoping to sustain their playing careers or preserve dreams of one day playing in the NFL.
For that reason, it’s hard to imagine the USFL ensconcing itself in a market where big-time football is everywhere. This state is home to two prominent Big Ten programs and the Detroit Lions, a historically bad franchise now on the cusp of becoming a playoff contender.
In that sense, the timing of the USFL return to Michigan couldn’t have been worse. The Panthers’ first game in The D was held on the same weekend of the NFL draft. The Lions made waves over the previous three days by swapping picks, trading its top running back and selecting eight new players expected to help the team continue its upward surge. The flurry of transactions sucked up all the oxygen around here. Hardly anyone wanted to talk about much else — especially not a small-time football team in the second year of its rebirth.
The Panthers have been further hurt by the inability to nurture fan loyalty through the development of local connections. Until former Michigan State cornerback Josh Butler signed in late March, only two of their roster spots were filled by players who represented in-state college programs. Of course, the Panthers have tried to add more to a roster loaded with unrecognizable names.
Last year, they snagged ex-Michigan quarterback Shea Patterson with the No. 1 overall selection. But he flamed out, getting cut amid a miserable season when the Panthers posted a 2-8 record. This year, the team chose the mercurial former MSU left tackle Jarrett Horst with the top pick. But on Sunday, Horst was nowhere to be found. He had just signed with the Miami Dolphins as an undrafted free agent and began his push for a coveted NFL roster spot..
Horst’s decision reinforced the idea that this version of the USFL is small potatoes, which just so happens to be the pejorative phrase former president Donald Trump used to describe the league where he once held a considerable stake. Back in its first go-around during the 1980s, Trump had been the majority owner of the New Jersey Generals, the opponent the Panthers faced Sunday. With his outsized personality, he brought some sizzle to the USFL, pushing for it to move its spring schedule to the fall so it could directly compete with the NFL and maybe, just maybe force a merger with its more-established rival. The ambitious gambit didn’t work. The USFL folded after three seasons and disappeared from the public’s consciousness for the next few decades.
When it was revived last year, all regular-season games were played in a bubble in Birmingham, Alabama.
It was tantamount to a soft launch, a revival that didn’t make much of a ripple in these parts. Since then, the XFL, in its second reboot, has further crowded the niche space of minor league football. It was no surprise then that a small crowd — estimated at around 7,500 — turned out Sunday to watch the Panthers’ debut at Ford Field. The mezzanine level and upper deck remained empty while each of the sections in the lower bowl featured empty seats.
The on-field product didn’t give the fans in attendance much to cheer about during a three-hour slog, when the Panthers managed just 265 yards and trailed for the final 54 minutes.
“That one of the disappointments I had is not to have a better showing for the people that were here,” head coach Mike Nolan said, “because we’re a much better team than that and we didn’t show that today. I hope they come back and support us and continue to believe in us.”
That was never a doubt 40 years ago, when a raucous scene broke out at the Silverdome in July 1983. Fans spilled out of the stands, pried away the goalposts and mobbed Hebert to celebrate the Panthers’ penultimate victory during their championship run in the USFL’s inaugural season. The remembrance of that night, when a pro football team in Michigan neared the apex, brought a smile to Hebert’s face.
“It was unbelievable, the atmosphere,” he said.
But it is now a distant memory, consigned to a period in the past when the USFL had some star appeal.
These days, the USFL that Hebert once knew no longer exists.
The league — and the Panthers — may have the same names but not the identities they once forged. Instead, they are obscured by the NFL’s long shadow, and not even the bright lights of Ford Field could change that.
Contact Rainer Sabin at rsabin@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @RainerSabin.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan Panthers are back home, but don’t expect the area to notice much