1983 USFL season
The 1983 USFL season was the inaugural season of the United States Football League.
| 1983 United States Football League season | ||
|---|---|---|
| Regular season | ||
| Duration | March 6 – July 3, 1983 | |
| Playoffs | ||
| Start date | July 9, 1983 | |
| Championship | ||
| Date | July 17, 1983 | |
| Site | Denver, Colorado | |
| Champions | Michigan Panthers | |
| ||
Rules differences from NFL
- Optional 2 point conversion after touchdown (the NFL would add this rule in 1994).
- Optional 1 inch kicking tee for extra points and field goal attempts.
- Clock stop on first downs within the last 2 minutes of the 2nd and 4th quarters.
- Intentional and unintentional pass interference.
- Six member officiating crew (no side judge).
- The USFL game ball was 3/8 of an inch shorter than the NFL game ball (both made by Wilson).
- There were no preseason games.
Expansion cities for 1984
During the 1983 season, the USFL announced expansion cities for the 1984 season.
- Pittsburgh April 28
- San Diego May 16; moved to Tulsa July 7
- Houston May 19
- Jacksonville June 14
- San Antonio July 11
- Memphis July 17
Regular season
W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, PCT= Winning Percentage, PF= Points For, PA = Points Against
y = Division Champion, x = Wild Card
| Atlantic Division | |||||||||||
| Team | W | L | T | PCT | PF | PA | Stadium | 1983 Capacity | Avg. Att. | Avg. % filled | Coach |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| y-Philadelphia Stars | 15 | 3 | 0 | .833 | 379 | 204 | Veterans Stadium | 72,204 | 18,650 | 26% | Jim Mora |
| Boston Breakers | 11 | 7 | 0 | .611 | 399 | 334 | Nickerson Field | 21,000 | 12,817 | 61% | Dick Coury |
| New Jersey Generals | 6 | 12 | 0 | .333 | 314 | 437 | Giants Stadium | 76,891 | 35,004 | 46% | Chuck Fairbanks |
| Washington Federals | 4 | 14 | 0 | .222 | 297 | 422 | RFK Stadium | 54,794 | 13,850 | 25% | Ray Jauch |
| Central Division | |||||||||||
| Team | W | L | T | PCT | PF | PA | Stadium | 1983 Capacity | Avg. Att. | Avg. % filled | Coach |
| y-Michigan Panthers | 12 | 6 | 0 | .667 | 451 | 337 | Silverdome | 80,638 | 22,250 | 28% | Jim Stanley |
| x-Chicago Blitz | 12 | 6 | 0 | .667 | 456 | 271 | Soldier Field | 65,793 | 18,133 | 28% | George Allen |
| Tampa Bay Bandits | 11 | 7 | 0 | .611 | 363 | 378 | Tampa Stadium | 72,812 | 39,896 | 55% | Steve Spurrier |
| Birmingham Stallions | 9 | 9 | 0 | .500 | 343 | 326 | Legion Field | 77,000 | 22,046 | 29% | Rollie Dotsch |
| Pacific Division | |||||||||||
| Team | W | L | T | PCT | PF | PA | Stadium | 1983 Capacity | Avg. Att. | Avg. % filled | Coach |
| y-Oakland Invaders | 9 | 9 | 0 | .500 | 319 | 319 | Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum | 54,615 | 31,211 | 57% | John Ralston |
| Los Angeles Express | 8 | 10 | 0 | .444 | 296 | 370 | Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum | 94,000 | 19,002 | 20% | Hugh Campbell |
| Denver Gold | 7 | 11 | 0 | .389 | 284 | 304 | Mile High Stadium | 75,123 | 41,736 | 56% | Red Miller/Charley Armey/Craig Morton |
| Arizona Wranglers | 4 | 14 | 0 | .222 | 261 | 442 | Sun Devil Stadium | 70,030 | 25,776 | 37% | Doug Shively |
Michigan won the tiebreaker with Chicago based on season series 2-0-0
Playoffs
| Away team | Score | Home team | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Divisional playoffs | |||
| Chicago Blitz | 38–44 (OT) | Philadelphia Stars | July 9, 1983 |
| Oakland Invaders | 21–37 | Michigan Panthers | July 10, 1983 |
| USFL Championship Game Mile High Stadium, Denver Colorado | |||
| Michigan Panthers | 24–22 | Philadelphia Stars | July 17, 1983 |
Statistics
1983 regular season stat leaders
| 1983 Passing Leaders (over 100 attempts) | |||||||||||
| Name, Team | Att | Comp | % | yards | YDs/Att | TD | TD % | Long | INT | INT % | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bobby Hebert, MICH | 451 | 257 | 57.0 | 3568 | 7.91 | 27 | 6.0 | t81 | 17 | 3.8 | 86.8 |
| Fred Besana, OAK | 550 | 345 | 62.7 | 3980 | 7.24 | 21 | 3.8 | t80 | 16 | 2.9 | 85.1 |
| Greg Landry, CHIC | 334 | 188 | 56.3 | 2383 | 7.13 | 16 | 4.8 | 52 | 9 | 2.7 | 83.5 |
| Jimmy Jordan, TB | 238 | 145 | 60.9 | 1831 | 7.69 | 14 | 5.9 | 49 | 14 | 5.9 | 80.0 |
| Chuck Fusina, PHIL | 421 | 238 | 56.5 | 2718 | 6.46 | 15 | 3.6 | 52 | 10 | 2.4 | 78.1 |
| Alan Risher, ARIZ | 424 | 236 | 55.7 | 2672 | 6.30 | 20 | 4.7 | t98 | 16 | 3.8 | 74.7 |
| Johnnie Walton, BOS | 589 | 330 | 56.0 | 3772 | 6.40 | 20 | 3.4 | t86 | 18 | 3.1 | 74.0 |
| Mike Rae, LA | 319 | 175 | 54.9 | 1964 | 6.16 | 11 | 3.4 | t61 | 10 | 3.1 | 71.9 |
| Mike Hohensee, WASH | 190 | 92 | 48.4 | 1297 | 6.83 | 9 | 4.7 | t80 | 7 | 3.7 | 71.3 |
| Bobby Scott, NJ/CHIC | 374 | 210 | 56.1 | 2813 | 7.52 | 11 | 2.9 | t65 | 19 | 5.1 | 68.9 |
| Tom Ramsey, LA | 307 | 160 | 52.1 | 1975 | 6.43 | 13 | 4.2 | t82 | 14 | 4.6 | 67.4 |
| Mike Kelley, TB | 166 | 81 | 48.8 | 1003 | 6.04 | 4 | 2.4 | 43 | 5 | 3.0 | 63.4 |
| Bob Lane, BIRM | 346 | 175 | 50.6 | 2264 | 6.54 | 14 | 4.0 | 53 | 18 | 5.2 | 63.3 |
| Kim McQuilken, WASH | 334 | 188 | 56.3 | 1912 | 5.72 | 7 | 2.1 | 55 | 14 | 4.2 | 62.4 |
| John Reaves, TB | 259 | 139 | 53.7 | 1726 | 6.66 | 9 | 3.5 | 51 | 16 | 6.2 | 60.4 |
| Ken Johnson, DENV | 248 | 121 | 48.8 | 1115 | 4.50 | 6 | 2.4 | t56 | 12 | 4.8 | 49.4 |
| Joe Gilliam, WASH | 102 | 40 | 39.2 | 673 | 6.60 | 5 | 4.9 | t52 | 12 | 11.8 | 39.0 |
| Reggie Collier, BIRM | 108 | 47 | 43.5 | 604 | 5.59 | 1 | 0.9 | t46 | 7 | 6.5 | 37.7 |
| Dan Manucci, ARIZ | 119 | 52 | 43.7 | 577 | 4.85 | 2 | 1.7 | t48 | 8 | 6.7 | 36.3 |
| Jeff Knapple, DENV/NJ | 213 | 105 | 49.3 | 1191 | 5.59 | 3 | 1.4 | 41 | 19 | 8.9 | 34.0 |
| 1983 Rushing leaders | |||||
| POS Name, Team | Att | Yds | Avg. | Long | TDs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HB Herschel Walker, NJ | 412 | 1812 | 4.4 | t83 | 17 |
| HB Kelvin Bryant, PHIL | 318 | 1442 | 4.5 | 45 | 16 |
| HB Ken Lacy, MI | 232 | 1180 | 5.1 | 59 | 6 |
| HB Tim Spencer, CHIC | 300 | 1157 | 3.9 | 25 | 6 |
| HB Arthur Whittington, OAK | 282 | 1043 | 3.7 | 24 | 6 |
| HB Kevin Long, CHIC | 262 | 1022 | 3.9 | 33 | 12 |
| HB Richard Crump, BOS | 190 | 990 | 5.2 | 62 | 8 |
| HB Ken Talton, BIRM | 228 | 907 | 4.0 | 28 | 5 |
| HB Craig James, WASH | 202 | 823 | 4.1 | 24 | 4 |
| HB Harry Sydney, DENV | 176 | 801 | 4.6 | 45 | 9 |
| HB Billy Taylor, WASH | 171 | 757 | 4.4 | 34 | 5 |
| HB Leon Murray, ARIZ | 179 | 699 | 3.9 | 34 | 4 |
| HB Greg Boone, TB | 174 | 694 | 4.0 | 21 | 5 |
| HB Allen Harvin, PHIL | 139 | 681 | 4.9 | 49 | 7 |
| HB Larry Canada, DENV | 142 | 631 | 4.4 | t24 | 3 |
| 1983 Receiving Leaders | |||||
| POS Name, Team | Rec | Yds | Avg. | Long | TDs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WR Trumaine Johnson, CHIC | 81 | 1322 | 16.3 | 56 | 10 |
| WR Danny Buggs, TB | 76 | 1146 | 15.1 | 51 | 5 |
| WR Ricky Ellis, LA | 69 | 716 | 10.4 | 36 | 6 |
| TE Raymond Chester, OAK | 68 | 951 | 14.0 | 57 | 5 |
| WR Eric Truvillion, TB | 66 | 1080 | 16.4 | 46 | 15 |
| HB Arthur Whittington, OAK | 66 | 584 | 8.8 | 3.7 | 2 |
| TE Mark Keel, ARIZ | 65 | 802 | 12.3 | 27 | 2 |
| HB Billy Taylor, WASH | 64 | 523 | 8.2 | 55 | 2 |
| WR Joey Walters, WASH | 63 | 959 | 15.2 | 42 | 6 |
| WR Jackie Flowers, ARIZ | 63 | 869 | 13.8 | t98 | 11 |
| WR Neil Balholm, ARIZ | 63 | 703 | 11.2 | 27 | 5 |
| WR Nolan Franz, BOS | 62 | 848 | 13.7 | 50 | 4 |
| WR Gordon Banks, OAK | 61 | 855 | 14.0 | 41 | 2 |
| TE Michael Cobb, MICH | 61 | 746 | 12.2 | 31 | 5 |
| WR Anthony Carter, MICH | 60 | 1181 | 19.7 | t81 | 9 |
| WR Scott Fitzkee, PHIL | 55 | 731 | 13.3 | 44 | 3 |
| WR Charles Smith, BOS | 54 | 1009 | 18.7 | t58 | 5 |
| WR Wyatt Henderson, OAK | 54 | 801 | 14.8 | t53 | 9 |
| HB Herschel Walker, NJ | 53 | 489 | 9.2 | t65 | 1 |
| HB Kelvin Bryant, PHIL | 53 | 410 | 7.7 | 50 | 1 |
Awards
Season awards
| Award | Winner | Position | Team |
|---|---|---|---|
| USFL Most Valuable Player | Kelvin Bryant | Running back | Philadelphia Stars |
| USFL Most Valuable Player (AP) | Kelvin Bryant | Running back | Philadelphia Stars |
| USFL Player of the Year (TSN) | Bobby Hebert | Quarterback | Michigan Panthers |
| USFL Man of the Year | Raymond Chester | Wide receiver | Oakland Invaders |
| USFL Coach of the Year | Dick Coury | Head coach | Boston Breakers |
| USFL Coach of the Year (TSN) | Dick Coury | Head coach | Boston Breakers |
| USFL Outstanding Running Back | Herschel Walker | Running back | New Jersey Generals |
| USFL Outstanding Quarterback | Bobby Hebert | Quarterback | Michigan Panthers |
| USFL Leading Scorer Award | David Trout | Placekicker | Philadelphia Stars |
| USFL Leading Receiver | Trumaine Johnson | Wide receiver | Chicago Blitz |
| USFL Defensive Player of the Year | John Corker | Linebacker | Michigan Panthers |
| USFL Outstanding Lineman | Kit Lathrop | Defensive lineman | Chicago Blitz |
| Special Teams Player of the Year | Stan Talley | Punter | Oakland Invaders |
| USFL Executive of the Year (TSN) | Carl Peterson | General manager | Philadelphia Stars |
See also
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