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The United States Football League (USFL) was an 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.
The Michigan Panthers were a professional American football team based in Pontiac, Michigan. The Panthers competed in the United States Football League (USFL) as a member of the Western Conference and Central Division. The team played its home games at the Pontiac Silverdome in Pontiac.
Reginald Howard White was an American professional football player who played defensive end in the National Football League (NFL) for 15 seasons during the 1980s and 1990s. He played college football for the University of Tennessee, and was recognized as an All-American. After playing two professional seasons for the Memphis Showboats of the United States Football League (USFL), he was selected in the first round of the 1984 Supplemental Draft, and then played for the NFL's Philadelphia Eagles, Green Bay Packers, and Carolina Panthers, becoming one of the most awarded defensive players in NFL history.
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.
Sean Edward Landeta is an American former professional football player who was a punter in both the United States Football League (USFL) and the National Football League (NFL). Landeta played 22 seasons in the NFL for five different teams between 1985 and 2006. He was named to the NFL 1980s All-Decade Team as the first punter and the 1990s All-Decade Team as the second punter, as chosen by the Hall of Fame Selection Committee members.
Gary Wayne Anderson is an American former professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL), United States Football League (USFL) and Canadian Football League (CFL) from 1983 to 1995.
Anthony Carter is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver for 13 years in the United States Football League (USFL) and National Football League (NFL). He finished his college football career as the University of Michigan's all-time leading receiver. He is also known as "AC".
William Calvin Bradley is a former American football coach and former two-time All-Pro defensive back in the National Football League (NFL). He played with the Philadelphia Eagles for most of his career. As an assistant coach he won two Grey Cups in the Canadian Football League (CFL). He was also the defensive backs coach of the San Antonio Commanders of the Alliance of American Football.
Richard Marlon Wood is a former American football All-American linebacker who played for the New York Jets and Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League (NFL). He was the team captain and leading tackler of the Buccaneers' early teams, coached by John McKay.
Michael Robert Prior is a former American football safety who played for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Indianapolis Colts and Green Bay Packers in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Illinois State.
Daniel Anthony Turk was an American football center and long snapper in the National Football League for the Pittsburgh Steelers, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Oakland Raiders, and Washington Redskins. He played college football at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.
The 1985 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season was the franchise's ninth season in the National Football League, the ninth playing their home games at Tampa Stadium and the first season under head coach Leeman Bennett. The team failed to improve on a 6–10 season, once again finishing at 2–14, the same as in 1983.
The 1986 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season was the franchise's 11th season in the National Football League playing their home games at Tampa Stadium and their second under head coach Leeman Bennett. The team matched their 2–14 season from 1985, for one of the worst seasons in franchise history, and according to statistics site Football Outsiders, the sixth-worst team in the NFL since 1950. There is some sentiment that the 1986 team was even worse than the winless team of 1976, and the 473 points conceded was not beaten by any NFL team until the 2001 Indianapolis Colts gave up 486. The Buccaneers selected Bo Jackson with the top pick in the draft, but were unable to convince him to join the team. Three weeks after the draft, Jackson signed a three-year baseball contract with the Kansas City Royals. Despite holding four of the first forty selections in the draft, and the presence of a great influx of fresh talent from defunct USFL teams, the Buccaneers were unable to find any impact players in either the draft or free agency. They entered the season with a roster nearly identical to the previous season's 2–14 team.
Paul Edward Brown is a former American football safety in the National Football League for the Cleveland Browns, the Washington Redskins, and the Los Angeles Rams. He played college football at the University of Tennessee.
Gordon Gerard Banks is a former American football wide receiver in the National Football League for the New Orleans Saints and Dallas Cowboys. He also was a member of the Oakland Invaders of the United States Football League (USFL). He played college football at Stanford University.
Alan David Risher is a former quarterback for the LSU Tigers and the United States Football League (USFL), where he played for the Arizona Wranglers. The USFL was a 12 team league in 1983, so although Risher was drafted 170th overall in the league's 1983 draft, he was actually the team's 15th round pick that year. Risher was the starting quarterback for the Wranglers for most of the league's initial 1983 season. He is known best for directing what is widely acknowledged as the greatest upset in USFL history. He backed up Greg Landry on the 1984 Western Conference Champion Wranglers squad.
Bret Clark is a former professional American football player. Clark played for the in-state Nebraska Cornhuskers football team, for whom he was an All-American defensive back during his senior year of 1984. After college, he played one season with the United States Football League's Tampa Bay Bandits, then started at safety for three seasons with the National Football League's Atlanta Falcons. A serious and chronic knee injury ended his professional football career in 1988.
Marcus Quinn is a former safety in the National Football League (NFL) and the United States Football League (USFL). He played college football at LSU.
David Martin is a former gridiron football cornerback who played in the National Football League (NFL), the Canadian Football League (CFL) and the United States Football League (USFL). He played college football at Villanova.
Charles Eldon "Chas" Fox III is a former American football wide receiver who played one season with the St. Louis Cardinals of the National Football League (NFL) in 1986, though he also spent time with the Kansas City Chiefs. He played college football at Furman.
