1983: Newcomer JoJo Townsell Scores Winning TD as LA Defeats Wranglers

The Los Angeles Express were tied for the lead in the United States Football League’s Pacific Division as they hosted the Arizona Wranglers at the Memorial Coliseum on June 5, 1983, but with a mediocre 6-7 record. While the defense was adequate, the team was at the bottom of the league in running the ball while Head Coach Hugh Campbell split the quarterbacking between CFL and NFL veteran Mike Rae and rookie Tom Ramsey.

The Express also sought to bolster the receiving corps as the season progressed, adding WR Anthony Allen midway through and, two days prior to the contest with the Wranglers, rookie WR JoJo Townsell, a local talent out of UCLA (where he had been a teammate of Ramsey’s). It did not take long for the 5’9”, 180-pound receiver to make an impression.

Arizona, 4-9 coming into the contest, scored in the first quarter on a 25-yard field goal by Phil Denfeld, but Rae staked LA to a 7-3 halftime lead thanks to a one-yard touchdown plunge in the second quarter. The Wranglers moved back ahead in the third quarter with a 13-yard scoring run by RB Darryl Clark. Vince Abbott tied the score with a 33-yard field goal later in the period.

Arizona regained the advantage in the fourth quarter due to another Denfeld field goal, this from 34 yards. But with 2:38 remaining in the game, Ramsey passed to Townsell for a 26-yard touchdown to win the game for the Express, 17-13.

Neither team mounted much of a running attack, with LA actually outgaining the Wranglers 79 yards to 72. Time of possession was virtually the same, but the Express defense sacked Arizona’s quarterbacks a total of 9 times – both LB Eric Scoggins and NT Eddie “Meat Cleaver” Weaver recorded three apiece.

Of the two Los Angeles quarterbacks, Mike Rae completed 12 of 20 passes for 115 yards with no TDs and two interceptions; Tom Ramsey was successful on 11 of 14 throws for 101 yards with the winning TD and none picked off. Townsell was the headliner with two catches for a team-leading 57 yards and the critical TD, but Anthony Allen led the club in receptions with 6 (totaling 44 yards). RB John Barnett led the runners with 32 yards on 7 carries.

QB Alan Risher completed 14 of 17 passes for 143 yards with no interceptions for Arizona; QB Dan Manucci added another 41 yards while completing 5 of 12 passes with an interception (RB Harold Blue also completed a nine-yard pass). TE Mark Keel caught 6 passes for 44 yards and WR Neil Balholm gained 53 yards on four catches. RB Calvin Murray gained 44 yards on 10 carries to lead the team.

While the win over the Wranglers allowed the Express to stay even with Oakland at the top of the Pacific Division, ultimately LA finished second to the Invaders with an 8-10 record. It did not help that they had difficulty drawing fans to the Coliseum (there were 13,826 on hand for the June 2 contest). Arizona lost its remaining games to stay at the bottom of the division with a 4-14 tally.

The two late-arriving receivers performed well overall, with Allen catching 37 passes for 613 yards (16.6 avg.) and three touchdowns in eight games and Townsell making 21 catches for 326 yards (15.5 avg.) and three TDs over five contests. TE Ricky Ellis, who was with the Express all year (although not initially in the starting lineup) was the leader of the club’s solid group of receivers with 69 receptions for 716 yards and 6 TDs (he grabbed three passes for 21 yards against Arizona). But the lack of a running game badly hindered the offense (LaRue Harrington led the team in rushing for the year with just 547 yards and a 3.8 average).

List of the Day: Best Rushing Seasons, 1980s AFC

Earl Campbell

TOP 10
1- Earl Campbell, 1980 Houston Oilers
1934 yards, 373 att., 5.2 avg., 13 TD

2- Marcus Allen, 1985 Los Angeles Raiders
1759 yards, 380 att., 4.6 avg., 11 TD

3- Eric Dickerson, 1988 Indianapolis Colts
1659 yards, 388 att., 4.3 avg., 14 TD

4- Curt Warner, 1986 Seattle Seahawks
1481 yards, 319 att., 4.6 avg., 13 TD

5- Christian Okoye, 1989 Kansas City Chiefs
1480 yards, 370 att., 4.0 avg., 12 TD

6- Curt Warner, 1983 Seattle Seahawks
1449 yards, 335 att., 4.3 avg., 13 TD

7- Earl Campbell, 1981 Houston Oilers
1376 yards, 361 att., 3.8 avg., 10 TD

8- Freeman McNeil, 1985 New York Jets
1331 yards, 294 att., 4.5 avg., 3 TD

9- Eric Dickerson, 1989 Indianapolis Colts
1311 yards, 314 att., 4.2 avg., 7 TD

10-Earl Campbell, 1983 Houston Oilers
1301 yards, 322 att., 4.0 avg., 12 TD


Marcus Allen



Eric Dickerson



Curt Warner

BEST BY FRANCHISES NOT IN TOP 10
Buffalo Bills: Thurman Thomas, 1989
1244 yards, 298 att., 4.2 avg., 6 TD

Cincinnati Bengals: James Brooks, 1989
1239 yards, 221 att., 5.6 avg., 7 TD

New England Patriots: Craig James, 1985
1227 yards, 263 att., 4.7 avg., 5 TD

Cleveland Browns: Mike Pruitt, 1983
1184 yards, 293 att., 4.0 avg., 10 TD

San Diego Chargers: Earnest Jackson, 1984
1179 yards, 296 att., 4.0 avg., 8 TD

Denver Broncos: Sammy Winder, 1984
1153 yards, 296 att., 3.9 avg., 4 TD

Pittsburgh Steelers: Franco Harris, 1983
1007 yards, 279 att., 3.6 avg., 5 TD

Miami Dolphins: Lorenzo Hampton, 1986
830 yards, 186 att., 4.5 avg., 9 TD


Christian Okoye



Freeman McNeil



James Brooks

1984: Fred Besana Sets Mark as Invaders Defeat Bulls

QB Fred Besana had been a major find by the Oakland Invaders in the inaugural United States Football League season. After failing to catch on in the NFL and playing in the semi-pro California Football League with the Twin City Cougars from 1980-82, the University of California product joined the USFL at age 29. Besana had an outstanding year in ’83 as he placed second in the league passing standings and led in completions (345), completion percentage (62.7), and yards (3980). The Invaders won the Pacific Division, albeit with a 9-9 record.

1984 had proven to be a more difficult year for Besana and the Invaders. The club lost its first nine games and had problems putting points on the board – the Invaders were shut out three times during the streak, and scored fewer than 10 points in five contests. Besana suffered from nagging injuries – not helped by a lack of mobility and an offensive line that allowed a league-leading 69 sacks during the year. He also was missing two favorite receivers from 1983 in TE Raymond Chester, who retired, and WR Wyatt Henderson, who was lost in the expansion draft.

However, after finally breaking into the win column, Oakland proceeded to win five straight games to creep back into the postseason picture in a weak division. Besana was part of the turnaround, as he demonstrated to good effect on June 2 as the Invaders hosted the expansion Jacksonville Bulls at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum (the Bulls, one of six expansion teams in ’84, were the club that had claimed Henderson).

Besana, who had completed his last two passes in the previous week’s win over Oklahoma, proceeded to complete his first 17 passes against the Bulls for a USFL-record 19 straight. However, it didn’t translate into many points as Oakland scored just one TD on a five-yard pass from Besana to TE Brian Williams. Sandwiched between field goals of 21 and 32 yards by Jacksonville’s Brian Franco, it was good enough for a 7-6 halftime lead.

The Invaders finally pulled out the win with a 10-point fourth quarter that included a 37-yard field goal by Kevin Shea and three-yard touchdown run by FB Tom Newton. The Bulls scored a late TD on a two-yard pass by QB Robbie Mahfouz to WR Alton Alexis (followed by a failed two-point conversion attempt). It was too little, too late as Oakland eked out a sixth straight win by a 17-12 margin.

Thanks to the passing streak to start the game, Besana ended up with an 82.8 completion percentage (24 of 29 passes) for 214 yards with a TD and no interceptions. Brian Williams was the club’s top receiver with 8 catches for 88 yards and the one score. The Invaders outrushed the Bulls, 119 yards to 75, with Tom Newton the leading ground gainer at 72 yards on 10 carries.

As was usual during the year, the Bulls split the quarterback duties between veteran Matt Robinson (14 of 24 for 112 yards with two interceptions and no TDs) and Mahfouz (9 of 14 for 89 yards with a TD and none picked off). RB Larry Mason was the leading rusher with 45 yards on 8 attempts. Both WR Aubrey Matthews and TE Robert Young caught 6 passes, with Matthews gaining the most yards (65). In his Oakland homecoming, Wyatt Henderson had two catches for 22 yards.

While the Invaders outgained the Bulls and benefited from Besana’s accuracy, they also handicapped themselves by committing 11 penalties (for a total of 85 yards) as opposed to just two by the visitors. However, while Besana was sacked three times, the Oakland defense managed to sack the Jacksonville quarterbacks a total of seven times (DE Monte Bennett led with two).

The Invaders ultimately won seven straight games before losing the final two contests and finishing at the bottom of the Pacific Division with a 7-11 record. Jacksonville ended up last in the Southern Division with a 6-12 tally.

Fred Besana ranked far lower in the USFL’s passing standings for the ’84 season, coming in at 11th. His yards-per-attempt (6.3) were nearly a yard below his ’83 figure (7.2), but he still completed a healthy 57.6 percent of his passes and threw for more touchdowns (14) than interceptions (12).

List of the Day: Best Rushing Seasons, 1980s NFC

Eric Dickerson

TOP 10
1- Eric Dickerson, 1984 Los Angeles Rams
2105 yards, 379 att., 5.6 avg., 14 TD

2- Eric Dickerson, 1986 Los Angeles Rams
1821 yards, 404 att., 4.5 avg., 11 TD

3- Eric Dickerson, 1983 Los Angeles Rams
1808 yards, 390 att., 4.6 avg., 18 TD

4- Gerald Riggs, 1985 Atlanta Falcons
1719 yards, 397 att., 4.3 avg., 10 TD

5- Walter Payton, 1984 Chicago Bears
1684 yards, 381 att., 4.4 avg., 11 TD

6- George Rogers, 1981 New Orleans Saints
1674 yards, 378 att., 4.4 avg., 13 TD

7- Tony Dorsett, 1981 Dallas Cowboys
1646 yards, 342 att., 4.8 avg., 4 TD

8- William Andrews, 1983 Atlanta Falcons
1567 yards, 331 att., 4.7 avg., 7 TD

9- Walter Payton, 1985 Chicago Bears
1551 yards, 324 att., 4.8 avg., 9 TD

10-James Wilder, 1984 Tampa Bay Buccaneers
1544 yards, 407 att., 3.8 avg., 13 TD


Gerald Riggs



Walter Payton



George Rogers

BEST BY FRANCHISES NOT IN TOP 10
New York Giants: Joe Morris, 1986
1516 yards, 341 att., 4.4 avg., 14 TD

San Francisco 49ers: Roger Craig, 1988
1502 yards, 310 att., 4.8 avg., 9 TD

Detroit Lions: Barry Sanders, 1989
1470 yards, 280 att., 5.3 avg., 14 TD

Philadelphia Eagles: Wilbert Montgomery, 1981
1402 yards, 286 att., 4.9 avg., 8 TD

St. Louis/Phoenix Cardinals: Ottis Anderson, 1981
1376 yards, 328 att., 4.2 avg., 9 TD

Washington Redskins: John Riggins, 1983
1347 yards, 375 att., 3.6 avg., 24 TD

Minnesota Vikings: Ted Brown, 1981
1063 yards, 274 att., 3.9 avg., 6 TD

Green Bay Packers: Gerry Ellis, 1981
860 yards, 196 att., 4.4 avg., 4 TD


Tony Dorsett



William Andrews



James Wilder



Joe Morris

1983: Long & Spencer Run Blitz to Win Over Wranglers

George Allen was a defensive-minded coach who preferred a conservative, run-based offense. With the Chicago Blitz of the United States Football League, the formula was unchanged from what it had been in the NFL. On May 30, 1983 the ground game lifted the Blitz to a win over the Arizona Wranglers before a sparse crowd of 13,952 at Soldier Field.

The running tandem of Kevin Long, an NFL veteran with five years of experience with the New York Jets, and rookie Tim Spencer (pictured above) keyed an attack that ran up 253 yards on the ground. It was especially welcome in that an inexperienced first-year quarterback, Tim Koegel, was getting his first start in place of 36-year-old veteran Greg Landry, who had suffered a broken ankle the week before.

Arizona, with a 4-8 record coming into the game, scored first when QB Alan Risher connected with WR Neil Balholm for a 21-yard touchdown pass play. The Wranglers went for two points and successfully converted for an 8-0 lead. Frank Corral put Chicago, 8-4 entering the contest, on the board later in the first quarter with a 40-yard field goal.

The Blitz took control in the second quarter, scoring 21 points on two more field goals by Corral, a 36-yard TD pass from Koegel to WR Trumaine Johnson that was followed by a successful two-point conversion, and a 40-yard punt return by WR Lenny Willis.

The Wranglers never got back into the game, with a 36-yard field goal by Phil Denfeld in the third quarter accounting for their remaining points. Chicago added two more field goals by Corral, a one-yard touchdown run by Spencer, and a safety to win the contest handily, 36-11. The margin could have been wider – while the veteran kicker Corral connected on four field goal attempts, he also missed three.

Long was the top rusher for the Blitz, gaining 102 yards on 19 carries. Spencer added another 90 yards on 16 attempts, including the short TD. Reserve RB Mack Boatner accounted for 47 yards on 8 runs. In all, Chicago ran the ball 50 times and averaged 5.1 yards-per-carry. Meanwhile, Koegel completed 12 of 29 passes for 202 yards with an interception and a touchdown. Trumaine Johnson had a typically solid outing, leading the receivers with 4 catches for 117 yards and a score.

The Blitz defense throttled Arizona’s offense. The Wranglers accumulated only 62 net yards of passing offense and gained 46 yards on 21 running plays. Chicago ran up five sacks, with DE Junior Ah You leading the way with two (Koegel wasn’t sacked at all). Arizona had just seven first downs (as opposed to Chicago’s 25) and was forced to punt 9 times. They also suffered 9 fumbles, losing 4 of them (the Blitz turned the ball over three times).

RB Calvin Murray led the Wranglers in rushing with 34 yards on 9 carries. Alan Risher threw 24 passes and completed 15 of them for 104 yards and the lone touchdown while having none picked off. Both Murray and RB Steve Howell caught 6 passes, with Murray’s 36 yards topping the receivers.

The Blitz, preseason favorites to dominate the USFL, failed to live up to expectations, but nevertheless concluded the regular season with a 12-6 record; that put them in second place in the Central Division behind eventual-champion Michigan due to tiebreakers. It was good enough for the lone wild card spot, but they lost to the Philadelphia Stars in the Semifinal round of the playoffs. Arizona fell to the bottom of the Pacific Division, continuing to lose the rest of the way and ending up with a 4-14 tally. Oddly enough, these franchises ended up switching locations for the 1984 season.

Both Tim Spencer and Kevin Long (pictured below) rushed for a thousand yards in ’83, with Spencer, despite nagging injuries, placing fourth in the league with 1157 yards on 300 carries (3.9 average) and six touchdowns and Long ranking sixth with 1022 yards on 262 attempts, also for a 3.9-yard average but with 12 TDs.

List of the Day: Best WFL Season Performances

(1974-75)


Tommy Reamon

TOP 5 RUSHING
1- Tommy Reamon, 1974 Florida Blazers
1576 yards, 386 att., 4.1 avg., 11 TD

2- J.J. Jennings, 1974 Memphis Southmen
1524 yards, 322 att., 4.7 avg., 11 TD

3- Jim Nance, 1974 Houston/Shreveport
1240 yards, 300 att., 4.1 avg., 8 TD

4- Anthony Davis, 1975 Southern California Sun
1200 yards, 239 att., 5.0 avg., 16 TD

5- John Land, 1974 Philadelphia Bell
1136 yards, 243 att., 4.7 att., 8 TD


Jim Nance



Tony Adams

TOP 5 PASSING YARDAGE
1- Tony Adams, 1974 Southern California Sun
3905 yards, 276-510, 54.1 %, 23 TD, 18 INT

2- Jim Corcoran, 1974 Philadelphia Bell
3631 yards, 280-545, 51.4 %, 31 TD, 30 INT

3- Bob Davis, 1974 Florida Blazers
3079 yards, 227-414, 54.8 %, 21 TD, 23 INT

4- Virgil Carter, 1974 Chicago Fire
2629 yards, 195-358, 54.5 %, 27 TD, 16 INT

5- John Huarte, 1974 Memphis Southmen
2416 yards, 154-294, 52.4 %, 23 TD, 16 INT


Jim "King" Corcoran



Virgil Carter

TOP 5 PASS RECEPTIONS
1- Tim Delaney, 1974 Hawaiians
89 rec., 1232 yards, 13.8 avg., 8 TD

2- Rick Eber, 1974 Houston/Shreveport
66 rec., 771 yards, 11.7 avg., 5 TD

3- James McAlister, 1974 Southern California Sun*
65 rec., 772 yards, 11.9 avg., 4 TD

4- Dennis Homan, 1974 Birmingham Americans
61 rec., 930 yards, 15.3 avg., 8 TD

5(tied)- Alfred Jenkins, 1974 Birmingham Americans
60 rec., 1326 yards, 22.1 avg., 12 TD

5(tied)- Ed Marshall, 1974 Memphis Southmen
60 rec., 1159 yards, 19.3 avg., 19 TD

*Running Back


Ed Marshall



Tim Delaney

TOP 5 PASS RECEIVING YARDS
1- Alfred Jenkins, 1974 Birmingham Americans
1326 yards, 60 rec., 22.1 avg., 12 TD

2- Tim Delaney, 1974 Hawaiians
1232 yards, 89 rec., 13.8 avg., 8 TD

3- Ed Marshall, 1974 Memphis Southmen
1159 yards, 60 rec., 19.3 avg., 19 TD

4- Dave Williams, 1974 Southern California Sun
979 yards, 59 rec., 16.6 avg., 11 TD

5- Jack Dolbin, 1974 Chicago Fire
942 yards, 54 rec., 17.4 avg., 7 TD


John Huarte



Anthony Davis

[Updated 4/13/12]

1968: George Halas Retires as Head Coach of Bears

By the spring of 1968, George Halas was a 73-year-old man with a bad hip that was hindering his mobility (it was a legacy of his brief major league baseball career with the Yankees back in 1919). Yet it was still something of a shock to pro football fans on May 27, 1968 when he announced that he was retiring as head coach of the Chicago Bears after a total of 40 years.

It is hard to do justice to the pro football career of “the Papa Bear” in just a few paragraphs. It has been said that Halas didn’t invent pro football, it just seemed that way. His involvement extended beyond a single franchise – he was a significant figure in the development of the entire NFL. Halas was present at the 1920 organizational meeting of what would become the National Football League, representing the Decatur Staleys. From that beginning, as a player, coach, and business manager, he became a part-owner of the team in 1921, when the Staley Starch Works decided to forego operating a company-sponsored football team, and moved the franchise to Chicago.

After a year as the Chicago Staleys (A.E. Staley provided Halas $5000 in startup money with the stipulation that the Staley name be kept for a year), Halas rechristened the team the Bears after working out a lease agreement to play at Wrigley Field, home of major league baseball’s Cubs. He retired as a player in 1929 and also gave up coaching, handing the reigns to Ralph Jones while working out business matters with co-owner Ed Sternaman. After buying out Sternaman, Halas returned to coaching the team in 1933 and left for a second time in 1942 to join the US Navy during World War II. Once discharged, he again took up coaching in 1946 and retired following the ’55 season. He came back one last time in 1958, after having effectively maintained control while longtime assistant Paddy Driscoll was head coach.

While Halas had the ultimate job security of owning the team, the fact was that he was an outstanding and innovative coach, leading the Bears to a title for the first time in 1921 and the last time over forty years later, in 1963. In all, he coached the team to six championships, with at least one in each of his stints (1921, 1933, 1940, 1941, 1946, 1963). They also won championships under Jones (1932) and co-coaches Luke Johnsos and Hunk Anderson (1943), with Halas still a major presence in the running of the club.

Halas pioneered in the development of the T-formation with man-in-motion, assisted by Ralph Jones and University of Chicago coach Clark Shaughnessy. He was the first coach to hold daily practices and regularly analyze game film of opponents. He was an outstanding judge of talent, of coaches as well as players, surrounding himself at all times with able assistants (most notably Driscoll, Johnsos, Anderson, George Allen, and Jim Dooley) – and Halas also pioneered in the use of an assistant coach as an “eye-in-the-sky” during games. The results were reflected in a 318-148-31 record (.682) with a 6-3 postseason tally. The Bears had winning records in 34 of his 40 seasons on the sideline.

Off the field, Halas was a party to many rules changes and innovations that helped the league to gain appeal and improved the game (use of hashmarks, allowing passing from anywhere behind the line of scrimmage, structuring of the league into divisions with a championship game concluding the season, etc.). He also recognized the value of revenue sharing among the teams for the good of the overall competitive balance of the league and the significance of radio and television as tools for popularizing pro football.

As a coach, Halas was a strong disciplinarian and an emotional leader who was notorious for storming up and down the sideline while berating referees during the course of a game. He took criticism for being tight with money and complicit in the unofficial color line that kept African-American players out of the NFL during the 1930s and 40s. However, he also was the first coach to allow a black and white player to room together on the road (Gale Sayers and Brian Piccolo) and could be generous to players in need (during Piccolo’s ultimately losing battle with cancer, Halas reportedly paid all of his medical bills).

There were contradictions, but there could be no question that George Halas set high standards for later generations of coaches and showed farsightedness in moving the league forward. The influence of “the Papa Bear” is still felt decades after his death in 1983 – and some 90 years after he helped found the NFL.