March 6, 1983 marked the debut of the United States
Football League with the first game starting in Tampa between the Tampa Bay
Bandits and Boston Breakers, just ahead of four other Sunday afternoon contests.
The Bandits were owned by John Bassett, a Canadian
businessman who had once operated the Memphis Southmen in the World Football
League. The head coach was Steve Spurrier, a Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback
at the University of Florida who played in the NFL with the 49ers and
Buccaneers and had most recently been offensive coordinator at Duke.
33-year-old John Reaves (pictured above) was the starting quarterback and, like his coach, had
also starred at Florida but had little success as a pro and had been dogged by
drug and alcohol problems off the field. Reaves had last played for Houston in
1981 and was selling real estate in that city when the opportunity to play in
the new league came along.
Boston also had a veteran quarterback in John Walton, a
35-year-old who had last played as a backup with the Philadelphia Eagles in
1979 before becoming head coach at Elizabeth City State for three years. Walton
was also a veteran of the Continental and World Football Leagues along the way
and had demonstrated a strong passing arm. Head Coach Dick Coury was an
experienced NFL assistant who had also been head coach with the WFL’s Portland
Storm.
There was plenty of hoopla surrounding the opening game
at Tampa Stadium with a good crowd of 42,447 fans in attendance on a sunny,
80-degree afternoon. The Bandits came out fast, running their first eight plays
without a huddle, but it was Boston’s Tim Mazzetti who put the first points on
the board a minute before the end of the first quarter with a 30-yard field
goal.
In the second quarter, the Bandits put together a 75-yard
drive in six plays that culminated in Reaves throwing to RB Ricky Williams for
a five-yard touchdown with six minutes remaining in the first half. Zenon Andrusyshyn
added the extra point. Boston responded with an eight-play, 80-yard series that
also led to a TD on a pass from John Walton to RB Anthony Steels. Mazzetti
successfully added the PAT to give the Breakers a three-point lead at 10-7.
In their first possession of the third quarter, the
Bandits drove 83 yards to score again. Reaves completed all four of his passes,
the last one for a six-yard touchdown to WR Eric Truvillion. Moving the ball
effectively later in the period and ahead by 14-10, it seemed as though the
Bandits were on the verge of taking control of the game as they faced
third-and-goal at the Boston three yard line. However, Reaves fired a pass into
the end zone that was tipped twice before being intercepted by CB Terry Love
five yards deep in the end zone. Love proceeded to run 102 yards before being
brought down at the Tampa Bay three by Truvillion. Three plays later, the
Breakers re-took the lead on a one-yard carry by FB Tony Davis and Mazzetti
added the point after.
The momentum had shifted and Tampa Bay’s next possession
also ended with an interception, but the Breakers were unable to add points. With
10:17 left in the game, Reaves went long to WR Willie Gillespie for a 33-yard
touchdown that put the Bandits back in front to stay, Andrusyshyn capping the
score with his third extra point of the contest.
That was it for the scoring. Holding a four-point lead
and with 1:35 left in the contest, the Bandits were in possession at their own
29 and Coach Spurrier gambled by seeking to convert a fourth-and-one situation.
The Breakers stopped the ensuing running play by RB Greg Boone but were flagged
for being offsides. Tampa Bay was able to run out the clock and win by a final
score of 21-17.
The Bandits easily outpaced Boston in total yards (470 to
225) and first downs (26 to 14). However, the Breakers led in time of
possession (31:02 to 28:58) and Tampa Bay turned the ball over twice, to one
turnover suffered by the visitors.
John Reaves had a fine performance, completing 28 of 39
passes for 358 yards and three touchdowns, along with two interceptions. Ricky
Williams, who played collegiately at Florida State, got the starting nod at
running back due to a foot injury suffered by RB George Ragsdale on the opening
kickoff and rushed for 97 yards on 25 carries and also had 6 catches for 49
more yards that included a TD (his only production of the season, as he went
down with a knee injury the following week). WR Danny Buggs led the club with 7
pass receptions for 112 yards and Eric Truvillion contributed 6 catches for 88
yards and a score.
For the Breakers, John Walton was successful on 17 of 28
throws for 163 yards and a TD along with one interception. Tony Davis rushed
for 29 yards and a touchdown on 12 attempts while RB Anthony Steels gained 23
yards on 6 carries and added 4 receptions for 35 yards. Veteran WR Charlie
Smith, a former teammate of Walton’s in Philadelphia, gained a team-leading 48
yards on his two catches.
“I was very much pleased with what I saw,” said former
Steelers RB Rocky Bleier, who was on hand to cover the game for a Pittsburgh
television station. “It was wide open, there was a good selection of plays and
there wasn’t the kind of sloppy play you might expect for a game like this.”
The opening-week win was the first of four straight for
the Bandits, but they stumbled during the second half of the season and the
resulting 11-7 record left them third in the Central Division and just short of
the playoffs. The loss of John Reaves with a broken wrist was a factor,
although backup Jimmy Jordan performed well until also going down with an
injury.
Boston recovered to go 11-7 as well, good enough for
second in the Atlantic Division although also on the outside looking in for the
postseason.
