USFL returning to football field in 2022
USFL #USFL
The United States Football League has been dormant since the 1980s. That will all change come 2022 when the league returns.
Yes, the USFL is making a comeback. And it already has something it didn’t have the first go-round, a website: USFL2.com.
One can be assured it will be unlikely the league makes the kind of splash it did in its original incarnation.
Donald Trump owned the New Jersey Generals. Yes, the former president. That team signed Herschel Walker out of Georgia before the NFL had a chance to draft the running back. Doug Flutie also played for the Generals.
Other names to play in the league: Reggie White, Jim Kelly, and Steve Young. The original USFL spent big and tried to compete for all talent while playing in the spring. Games were shown on ABC. This go-round it will be on FOX Sports.
Per FOX Sports:
Initially launched in 1983, the USFL originally was an upstart spring football league consisting of 12 teams which featured some of the most exciting, and recognizable young football stars in the country. When relaunched next year, the new USFL retains rights to key original team names.
The league will target a minimum of eight teams and deliver high-quality, innovative professional football to fans throughout the spring season.
“I’m extremely passionate about football and the opportunity to work with FOX Sports and to bring back the USFL in 2022 was an endeavor worth pursuing,” said Brian Woods, co-founder of the new USFL and founder and CEO of The Spring League (TSL). “We look forward to providing players a new opportunity to compete in a professional football league and giving fans everywhere the best football viewing product possible during what is typically a period devoid of professional football.”
Per ESPN:
Launched originally to serve as more of a complement to the NFL than a direct competitor, the USFL helped change professional football in its short life span. The USFL featured rules innovations, helped usher in underclassmen being drafted by the NFL, and pushed the NFL to pay bigger salaries and create real free agency.
In the end, the USFL’s most enduring legacy was the $3 judgment it “won” in an antitrust suit against the NFL, a ruling that finished off the league in 1986 before it carried out the Trump-backed move from spring to fall.
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