The United States Football League (USFL) was a professional American football league that played for three seasons, 1983 through 1985. The league played a spring/summer schedule in each of its active seasons. The 1986 season was scheduled to be played in the autumn/winter, directly competing against the long-established National Football League (NFL). However, the USFL ceased operations before that season was scheduled to begin.
Douglas Richard Flutie is an American former football quarterback who played professionally for 21 seasons. He played 12 seasons in the National Football League (NFL), eight seasons in the Canadian Football League (CFL), and one season in the United States Football League (USFL). Flutie played college football for the Boston College Eagles, winning the Heisman Trophy in 1984 amid a season that saw him throw the game-winning touchdown pass in the final seconds against the Miami Hurricanes. He chose to begin his professional career with the USFL's New Jersey Generals; his unavailability to NFL teams resulted in him being selected 285th overall by the Los Angeles Rams in the 11th round of the 1985 NFL Draft, the lowest drafting of a Heisman winner. After the USFL folded, Flutie spent his first four NFL seasons with the Chicago Bears and the New England Patriots.
James Edward Kelly is an American former football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 11 seasons with the Buffalo Bills. He also spent two seasons with the Houston Gamblers of the United States Football League (USFL). Kelly played college football for the Miami Hurricanes, earning offensive MVP honors in the 1981 Peach Bowl.
The New Jersey Generals were a franchise of the United States Football League (USFL) established in 1982 to begin play in the spring and summer of 1983. The team played three seasons from 1983 to 1985, winning 31 regular season games and losing 25 while going 0–2 in postseason competition. Home games were played at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, which was called The Meadowlands for Generals games.
The Birmingham Stallions were a franchise in the United States Football League, an attempt to establish a second professional league of American football in the United States in competition with the National Football League. They played their home games at Birmingham, Alabama's Legion Field. They competed in all three USFL seasons, 1983–1985. During their run, they were one of the USFL's more popular teams, and seemed to have a realistic chance of being a viable venture had the USFL been better run.
The Houston Gamblers were an American football team that competed in the United States Football League in 1984 and 1985. The Gamblers were coached by veteran NFL head coach Jack Pardee in both their seasons. They were noteworthy for introducing former Middletown (Ohio) High School football coach Glenn "Tiger" Ellison's Run & Shoot offense to the world of pro football.
Joe Stanier Cribbs is an American former professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL) and United States Football League (USFL). He played college football at Auburn University along with future NFL backs William Andrews and James Brooks. He began his professional career in 1980 with the Buffalo Bills.
James Kent Hull was an American football offensive lineman in the National Football League (NFL) and United States Football League (USFL), more precisely a center for the New Jersey Generals of the USFL and Buffalo Bills of the NFL.
The 1983 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 26–27, 1983, at the New York Sheraton Hotel in New York City, New York. No teams elected to claim any players in the supplemental draft that year.
Robert Herber Parsons was an American football punter and tight end who played twelve seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played for the Chicago Bears from 1972 to 1983 and later played with the Birmingham Stallions of the United States Football League (USFL).
The 1973 Buffalo Bills season was the 14th season for the team and their 4th season in the National Football League (NFL). The Bills finished in 2nd place in the AFC East division and finished the 1973 NFL season with a record of 9 wins and 5 losses, the team's first winning record since 1966.
The 1989 Buffalo Bills season was the franchise's 30th overall season as a football team and the 20th in the National Football League. The Bills finished in first place in the AFC East and finished the National Football League's 1989 season with a record of 9 wins and 7 losses. Although Buffalo won the division and qualified for the postseason, their record was a drop off from their 12–4 mark in 1988.
The 1980 Buffalo Bills season was the franchise's 11th season in the National Football League, and the 21st overall. Their 11–5 record was tied for best in the AFC.
The 1979 Buffalo Bills season was the franchise's 10th season in the National Football League, and 20th overall.
The 1986 Buffalo Bills season was the franchise's 17th season in the National Football League, and the 27th overall.
The Bills–Dolphins rivalry is a National Football League (NFL) rivalry between the Buffalo Bills and Miami Dolphins. The teams, who are members of the AFC East, have played each other twice per year since the 1966 season. In the 116 regular season games between the teams in the series, the Dolphins lead 61–54–1 as of 2023. The teams have also met five times in the NFL playoffs. The Bills are 4–1 in the postseason, including a victory in the 1992 AFC Championship Game.
AJ Faigin was a prominent sports agent in the 1980s and 1990s, negotiating several landmark professional football contracts. AJ Faigin represented four Football Hall of Fame players who played in eight Super Bowls; as well as numerous Pro Bowl selections and First Round Draft Picks. After he left the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor's office, where in his twenties he successfully prosecuted major felony cases including homicides, he was asked by a college and law school acquaintance to join Lustig Pro Sports as general counsel. There he became a seasoned negotiator and recruiter for the firm; and known throughout professional football for his creative strategies in the era before Free Agency was won by football players.
Elway to Marino is a 2013 ESPN 30 for 30 documentary about the first round of the 1983 NFL draft. The film was released on April 23, 2013, directed by Ken Rodgers, and produced by NFL Films.
The No Punt Game is the nickname given to a National Football League game held between the Buffalo Bills and San Francisco 49ers on September 13, 1992 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco, California. The game is notable for being the first game in NFL history not to feature a single punt by either team, as the Bills and 49ers, led by quarterbacks Jim Kelly and Steve Young, respectively, combined for 1,086 total yards of offense, with both quarterbacks passing for over 400 yards. Promoted as a potential Super Bowl "preview", the No Punt Game featured several players now enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, including Kelly, Young, Andre Reed, James Lofton, Jerry Rice, Thurman Thomas and Bruce Smith, and is now remembered as one of the greatest games ever played.