USFL '86: Jacksonville, or, a Tight Sun Belt

Jacksonville, the class of the league, finished '85 the league's attendance winner, the most profitable, and so ingrained in the city that Pete Rozelle worked back-channels at BCCI and other international institutions to secure zero-interest loans, with 50-year payment schedules, for Tom Benson in exchange for buying and keeping the Saints in New Orleans; relocation of a moribund franchise seemed suicide, a new dynamic.

The Bulls started the year 0-2, but their veterans--guys like Archie Griffin, Brian Sipe, Tom Dinkel, and major coup Deron Cherry--flashed the horns and smelled the flowers, rattling off 12 straight wins--a league record--and finishing a conference best 13-5. Second year Gary Clark set a professional football record for receiving yardage, breaking Trumaine Johnson's record from the year before (2,241 yards along with 29 touchdown catches). Worries of a swoon in the final month, however, proved pertinent: they looked ragged in a hot, rain-soaked 24-14 loss to Baltimore in the conference semis, their second straight elimination by the Stars. The running commentary in the off-season was that the Bulls were really built for fall-ball or a benevolent God willing to drown the rest of the state and swing in costal breezes.

Owner Steve Bullard stayed committed. In the August raid, he bought an all-new backfield, signing veterans Mike Pruitt, former Billy Sims understudy Ken Jenkins, and ex-Colt Frank Middleton. On Christmas day, rookies Kent Austin, Alonzo Johnson, and Pat Swilling all signed while still on the field after the Blue-Gray game. The controversial all-star competition--they paid all the players and maintained a Lost Cause theme--found new life thanks to the USFL, who increasingly resorted to covert ops to clip rookies during their Cold War with the NCAA; the Blue-Gray organizers benefited from the exposure and started drawing greater prospect attention.

Austin, a standout at Ole Miss but one who "didn't fit" the NFL paradigm, was the only quarterback on the Bulls roster by this point. Brian Sipe retired shortly after the playoff loss; the former NFL MVP cited rib and neck injuries in the last month of the season and Sam Mills, who punctured his lung after shoving him into the mud, done. 

Buck Belue--30-50-646-8-1 in '85--made just $45,000 and was waiting on a new deal when Volodymyr Shukhevych--new owner of the CFL Atlantic Schooners--offered 3-years, $1 million CAD; the son of a Ukrainian immigrant--rumors that papa came via Operation Paperclip have yet to be substantiated--Voldy skimmed his father's fortune from an early investment in Canadian Tire to buy the team in '84. After talks broke down with Lynn Dickey--the Bulls offered more than the Pack but still half what he made in '85--Bullard, Csonka, and the rest of the front office scrambled. Everett's signing in Chicago made Vince Evans available, but with few assets--they traded most of their early open picks to Denver for Calvin Turner and Daryl Hemphill--the Bulls sent their '88 and '89 top picks to Chicago for the disgruntled hurler, much to the disappointment of Walter Payton, who was close to Evans. Hardcore fans and season ticket holders--economics professors in the city's junior college system, tanning salon franchisees, weather futures traders, regional video chain loss-prevention officers, junk car suppliers--questioned the move early, but all--small holders but masters of all they survey--clammed themselves up, embracing the club's flexibility in an age that demands it.

Belue would become a minor hero upon his arrival in Halifax in late October: he'd get the Schooners, mired in a professional football record 29 game losing streak, their first win since July '84, throwing for 200 and running another century in a 23-22 comeback win over Montreal in the last game of '85. They finished 1-15. The future looked bright.