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.
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.
William Jeffrey Hostetler is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for the New York Giants, Los Angeles/Oakland Raiders, and Washington Redskins. His nickname is "Hoss."
Joseph Carlton Ferguson Jr. is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 17 seasons, primarily with the Buffalo Bills. He played college football at Arkansas.
Brandon Hugh "Babe" Laufenberg is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Indiana Hoosiers and was selected in the sixth round of the 1983 NFL Draft. He played in the NFL for the Washington Redskins, San Diego Chargers, New Orleans Saints, Dallas Cowboys, and Kansas City Chiefs. He also was a member of the Ohio Glory in the World League of American Football (WLAF).
Robert Donald Chandler was an American professional football player who was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL) for twelve seasons.
Vincent Tobias Evans is a former professional American football quarterback who was selected by the Chicago Bears in the sixth round of the 1977 NFL Draft. Evans played college football at the University of Southern California (USC) and was the MVP of the 1977 Rose Bowl after the Trojans' 14–6 victory over Michigan.
Jay Brian Schroeder is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at UCLA, after which he was selected in the third round of the 1984 NFL draft by the Washington Redskins where he played for four seasons. He then played for the Los Angeles Raiders for five seasons and spent one season each with the Cincinnati Bengals and Arizona Cardinals.
Jeffrey Allan Kemp is a former American football quarterback who played professionally in the National Football League (NFL) for the Los Angeles Rams, San Francisco 49ers, Seattle Seahawks, and Philadelphia Eagles. He played college football at Dartmouth College in the Ivy League, and was not selected in the 1981 NFL Draft. In 1984, Kemp led the Rams with thirteen touchdown passes and a trip to the playoffs. As a back-up to the injured Joe Montana in 1986, he threw eleven touchdown passes for the 49ers.
Daniel Kanell is an American sports broadcaster and former professional football player who is employed by CBS Sports, along with Fox Sports 1 and SiriusXM. He played as a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL). Kanell played college football for the Florida State Seminoles, earning second-team All-American honors in 1995. He also played in the Arena Football League (AFL).
Dennis Wendell Shaw is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for the Buffalo Bills, St. Louis Cardinals, New York Giants, and the Kansas City Chiefs. He played college football for the San Diego State Aztecs.
Preston Jackson Dennard is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL) for the Los Angeles Rams, Buffalo Bills and Green Bay Packers. He played college football for the New Mexico Lobos.
Russell Todd Hilger was an American professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL). He played eight seasons for the Los Angeles Raiders, Detroit Lions, Indianapolis Colts and Seattle Seahawks.
Scott Thomas Dreisbach Jr. is a former American football quarterback.
Eldridge Reno Dickey was an American football player. After playing for Tennessee State University from 1965 to 1968, he was selected by the Oakland Raiders in the first round of the 1968 NFL/AFL Draft. Dickey became the first African-American quarterback selected in the first round by an American Football League (AFL) or National Football League (NFL) team. Despite a strong performance during training camp, Dickey was moved to wide receiver for the start of the season. He never played at quarterback in an AFL or NFL game.
Donald Patrick Dufek Jr. is a former American football player who played safety and special teams for eight seasons with the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League (NFL). He had previously played for the Michigan Wolverines football team in Ann Arbor from 1973 to 1975. He was chosen to serve as team captain for both the Seahawks and Wolverines.
Donald Edward Dufek Sr. was an American football player and athletic director at Grand Valley State University and Kent State University. He is the father of All-American football players Don, and Bill as well as Joe who all played in the National Football League (NFL).
The 1985 Buffalo Bills season was the franchise's 16th season in the National Football League, and the 26th overall. It was Buffalo's second-consecutive 2–14 season. Head coach Kay Stephenson was fired after an 0–4 start. Defensive coordinator Hank Bullough took over, going 2–10 for the remainder of the season. For the second consecutive season, the Bills went winless on the road.
Steve Smith is a former American football quarterback. He was the starting quarterback for the University of Michigan Wolverines from 1981 to 1983. He also played in the Canadian Football League for the Montreal Concordes in 1984 and the Ottawa Rough Riders in 1985.
The 1974 Michigan Wolverines football team was an American football team that represented the University of Michigan in the 1974 Big Ten Conference football season. In their sixth year under head coach Bo Schembechler, the Wolverines compiled a 10–1 record, outscored opponents 324 to 75, and were ranked #3 in final AP Poll. Michigan won the first ten games of the 1974 season in convincing fashion, including blowout victories over Colorado (31-0), Navy (52-0), Minnesota (49-0), and Purdue (51-0). In the final game of the season, #2 Michigan faced #3 Ohio State. The Wolverines lost by a score of 12-10, as place-kicker Mike Lantry missed a last-minute field goal that would have given Michigan a victory.