1983 Season
The Stars began in Philadelphia in the 1983 season. They played their home games at Veterans Stadium (the "Vet"), compiled the league's best regular season record (15-3), and made it to the 1983 USFL championship game before losing. The 1983 squad's "Doghouse Defense" allowed only 204 points in an 18 game season—the least in the history of the league. They were led by fourth-year QB Chuck Fusina (1978 Heisman Trophy runner-up), fifth-year WR Scott Fitzkee, Rookie HB Kelvin Bryant of UNC, Rookie OT Irv Eatman of UCLA, Rookie LB Sam Mills, and second-year S Scott Woerner. The team also featured TSN all-star rookie punter Sean Landeta.
The Stars were able to defeat the preseason favorites to win the 1983 title—George Allen's Chicago Blitz—by withstanding 7 turnovers and coming back from 21 down in the fourth quarter to win 44-38 in overtime. In the league title game, the Stars were edged out by Jim Stanley's Michigan Panthers, 24-22. Just as they had against the Blitz, the Stars opened the game sluggishly, but finished with a flourish, after allowing the Panthers to carry a 17-3 lead into the fourth quarter.
The Stars' solid season led some to suggest that they could have been a fairly competitive NFL team, along with Michigan and Chicago. The fact this comparison was even being made gave the USFL much-needed credibility.
Read more about this topic: Philadelphia/Baltimore Stars
Famous quotes containing the word season:
“Utterly frozen is this youthful lady,
Even as the snow that lies within the shade;
For she is no more moved than is the stone
By the sweet season which makes warm the hills”
—Dante Alighieri (1265–1321)