New Jersey Generals
Encyclopedia
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 1983-85, 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.
, but he opted to sell out in order to focus on a long list of unfinished construction projects. Trump sold his interest to Oklahoma oil magnate J. Walter Duncan, who took on former New England Patriots
coach Chuck Fairbanks
as a minority partner. Fairbanks also served as general manager and head coach.
The team made a big splash by signing Heisman Trophy
-winning underclassman Herschel Walker
, a running back from the University of Georgia
. While the USFL had followed the NFL's lead in banning underclassmen from playing, league officials were certain that this rule would never withstand a court challenge. In an even more ominous development, Walker didn't sign a standard player contract. Rather, he agreed to a three-year personal-services contract with Duncan. The contract was valued at $4.2 million--more than double the USFL's salary cap of $1.8 million. Nonetheless, the other owners knew having the incumbent Heisman winner in their fold would lend the USFL instant credibility, and allowed the contract to stand. Eventually, nearly all of the other teams jettisoned league founder David Dixon
's original blueprint and began signing star players to expensive contracts--a step which ultimately proved to be the league's undoing.
Despite the signing of Walker, who rushed for 1,812 yards and 17 touchdowns, the Generals finished their inaugural season with a 6-12 record. This was largely due to a porous defense which gave up the third-most points in the league (437).
from the Miami Dolphins
. Legend has it that Shula asked for a condominium in Trump Tower
as part of his deal and Trump balked at the prospect. Once Shula declined, the Generals hired former New York Jets
head coach Walt Michaels
. The Generals responded to their poor 1983 showing with an influx of veteran NFL
talent for 1984, including receiver Tom McConnaughey, quarterback
Brian Sipe
, defensive back
Gary Barbaro
, and linebacker
s Jim LeClair
and Bobby Leopold
. Both Walker and fullback
Maurice Carthon
rushed for over 1,000 yards (Walker 1,339; Carthon 1,042) as the Generals went 14-4, defeating the eventual champion Philadelphia Stars twice for that franchise's only two losses of the season. The Stars defeated the Generals 28-7 in a first round playoff game.
of Boston College
. Despite Flutie's inexperience, the Generals traded Sipe to the Jacksonville Bulls
to ensure Flutie would start. Flutie struggled at times but played well overall until he suffered a broken collarbone against the Memphis Showboats
in the season's 15th game and did not play again. The 1985 Generals finished 11-7 behind Walker's pro football-record 2,411 rushing yards but lost again to the Stars (transplanted to Baltimore) in the first round of the playoffs, 20-17.
during the extended offseason, adding such stars as quarterback Jim Kelly
and wide receiver Ricky Sanders
. Michaels was fired, replaced with former Gamblers coach Jack Pardee
, who planned to bring the Gamblers' high-powered run and shoot offense
with him. However, the USFL's "Dream Team" never took the field. The 1986 season was cancelled after the USFL won a minimal verdict in an antitrust
lawsuit against the NFL; the league folded soon afterward.
Numerous Generals players, including Flutie, Walker and center Kent Hull went on to productive NFL careers. Flutie also starred in the Canadian Football League
; Hull (with Gambler quarterback Kelly) played in four Super Bowl
s with the Buffalo Bills
, and Flutie (as of 2011) is the last quarterback to have led the Bills to the NFL playoffs.
|1983 || 6 || 12 || 0 || 3rd Atlantic || --
|-
|1984 || 14 || 4 || 0 || 2nd EC Atlantic || Lost Quarterfinal (Philadelphia)
|-
|1985 || 11 || 7 || 0 || 2nd EC || Lost Quarterfinal (Baltimore)
|-
!Totals || 31 || 25 || 0
|colspan="2"| (including playoffs)
United States Football League
The United States Football League was an American football league which was in active operation from 1983 to 1987. It played a spring/summer schedule in its first three seasons and a traditional autumn/winter schedule was set to commence before league operations ceased.The USFL was conceived in...
(USFL) established in 1982 to begin play in the spring and summer of 1983. The team played three seasons from 1983-85, winning 31 regular-season games and losing 25 while going 0-2 in postseason competition. Home games were played at Giants Stadium
Giants Stadium
Giants Stadium was a multi-purpose stadium, located in East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA, in the Meadowlands Sports Complex. Maximum seating capacity was 80,242. The building itself was 230.5 m long, 180.5 m wide and 44 m high from service level to the top of the seating bowl and 54 m high to...
in East Rutherford, New Jersey
East Rutherford, New Jersey
East Rutherford is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough population was 8,913. It is an inner-ring suburb of New York City, located west of Midtown Manhattan....
, which was called The Meadowlands
Meadowlands Sports Complex
The MetLife Sports Complex is a sports and entertainment facility located in East Rutherford, Bergen County, New Jersey, United States, owned and operated by the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority...
for Generals games.
Uniforms
Team colors were scarlet, white, royal blue and sunflower gold. The primary logo was a gold five-star general wreath. Team helmets were solid scarlet with the logo decal on each side and a white face-mask. Home uniforms featured red jerseys with white numbers trimmed in royal blue, with numbers on the sleeves and no striping; pants were white with a single wide red stripe trimmed in blue down the sides from hip to knee. Road jerseys were white with red numbers trimmed in blue. The team was the second in the New York metropolitan area to be known as "Generals," there having been a professional soccer team in the late 1960s known as the "New York Generals."1983
The franchise was originally owned by New York real-estate magnate Donald TrumpDonald Trump
Donald John Trump, Sr. is an American business magnate, television personality and author. He is the chairman and president of The Trump Organization and the founder of Trump Entertainment Resorts. Trump's extravagant lifestyle, outspoken manner and role on the NBC reality show The Apprentice have...
, but he opted to sell out in order to focus on a long list of unfinished construction projects. Trump sold his interest to Oklahoma oil magnate J. Walter Duncan, who took on former New England Patriots
New England Patriots
The New England Patriots, commonly called the "Pats", are a professional football team based in the Greater Boston area, playing their home games in the town of Foxborough, Massachusetts at Gillette Stadium. The team is part of the East Division of the American Football Conference in the National...
coach Chuck Fairbanks
Chuck Fairbanks
Chuck Fairbanks is a former American football coach, a head coach at the high school, collegiate and professional levels. The offensive and defensive systems he introduced and helped develop have proven influential in the NFL....
as a minority partner. Fairbanks also served as general manager and head coach.
The team made a big splash by signing Heisman Trophy
Heisman Trophy
The Heisman Memorial Trophy Award , is awarded annually to the player deemed the most outstanding player in collegiate football. It was created in 1935 as the Downtown Athletic Club trophy and renamed in 1936 following the death of the Club's athletic director, John Heisman The Heisman Memorial...
-winning underclassman Herschel Walker
Herschel Walker
Herschel Junior Walker is an American mixed martial artist and a former American football player. He played college football for the University of Georgia Bulldogs and earned the 1982 Heisman Trophy. He began his professional career with the New Jersey Generals of the United States Football League...
, a running back from the University of Georgia
University of Georgia
The University of Georgia is a public research university located in Athens, Georgia, United States. Founded in 1785, it is the oldest and largest of the state's institutions of higher learning and is one of multiple schools to claim the title of the oldest public university in the United States...
. While the USFL had followed the NFL's lead in banning underclassmen from playing, league officials were certain that this rule would never withstand a court challenge. In an even more ominous development, Walker didn't sign a standard player contract. Rather, he agreed to a three-year personal-services contract with Duncan. The contract was valued at $4.2 million--more than double the USFL's salary cap of $1.8 million. Nonetheless, the other owners knew having the incumbent Heisman winner in their fold would lend the USFL instant credibility, and allowed the contract to stand. Eventually, nearly all of the other teams jettisoned league founder David Dixon
David Dixon (businessman)
David Dixon was an American businessman and sports executive who helped create the New Orleans Saints NFL team, the Louisiana Superdome, World Championship Tennis and the United States Football League...
's original blueprint and began signing star players to expensive contracts--a step which ultimately proved to be the league's undoing.
Despite the signing of Walker, who rushed for 1,812 yards and 17 touchdowns, the Generals finished their inaugural season with a 6-12 record. This was largely due to a porous defense which gave up the third-most points in the league (437).
1984
At 66 years old, Duncan soon tired of flying 2,000 miles from Oklahoma to New York to see his team play. Prior to the 1984 season, he and Fairbanks sold their interest to Trump, the team's original owner. Trump tried to lure legendary coach Don ShulaDon Shula
Donald Francis "Don" Shula is a former American football cornerback and coach.He is best known as coach of the Miami Dolphins, the team he led to two Super Bowl victories, and to the National Football League's only perfect season. Shula was named 1993 Sportsman of the Year by Sports Illustrated....
from the Miami Dolphins
Miami Dolphins
The Miami Dolphins are a Professional football team based in the Miami metropolitan area in Florida. The team is part of the Eastern Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
. Legend has it that Shula asked for a condominium in Trump Tower
Trump Tower (New York)
Trump Tower is a 58-story mixed-use skyscraper located at 725 Fifth Avenue, at the corner of East 56th Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It was developed by Donald Trump and the Equitable Life Assurance Company, and designed by Der Scutt of Swanke, Hayden Connell...
as part of his deal and Trump balked at the prospect. Once Shula declined, the Generals hired former New York Jets
New York Jets
The New York Jets are a professional football team headquartered in Florham Park, New Jersey, representing the New York metropolitan area. The team is a member of the Eastern Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
head coach Walt Michaels
Walt Michaels
Walt Michaels was a former professional football player and coach who is best remembered for his six-year tenure as head coach of the NFL's New York Jets from 1977-1982.-Collegiate and early NFL career:...
. The Generals responded to their poor 1983 showing with an influx of veteran NFL
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
talent for 1984, including receiver Tom McConnaughey, quarterback
Quarterback
Quarterback is a position in American and Canadian football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive team and line up directly behind the offensive line...
Brian Sipe
Brian Sipe
Brian Winfield Sipe is a former professional American football quarterback who played in the National Football League from 1974 to 1983 and the United States Football League from 1984 to 1985....
, defensive back
Defensive back
In American football and Canadian football, defensive backs are the players on the defensive team who take positions somewhat back from the line of scrimmage; they are distinguished from the defensive line players and linebackers, who take positions directly behind or close to the line of...
Gary Barbaro
Gary Barbaro
Gary Wayne Barbaro is a former defensive back in the National Football League and United States Football League....
, and linebacker
Linebacker
A linebacker is a position in American football that was invented by football coach Fielding H. Yost of the University of Michigan. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up approximately three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage, behind the defensive linemen...
s Jim LeClair
Jim LeClair
James Michael LeClair is a former American football linebacker who played twelve seasons in the National Football League with the Cincinnati Bengals...
and Bobby Leopold
Bobby Leopold
Bobby Leopold is a former American football linebacker who played five seasons in the NFL, mainly for the San Francisco 49ers. He also played with the New Jersey Generals of the USFL....
. Both Walker and fullback
Fullback (American football)
A fullback is a position in the offensive backfield in American and Canadian football, and is one of the two running back positions along with the halfback...
Maurice Carthon
Maurice Carthon
Maurice Carthon is a National Football League coach as well as a former professional football running back.Carthon is currently an assistant head coach for the Kansas City Chiefs...
rushed for over 1,000 yards (Walker 1,339; Carthon 1,042) as the Generals went 14-4, defeating the eventual champion Philadelphia Stars twice for that franchise's only two losses of the season. The Stars defeated the Generals 28-7 in a first round playoff game.
1985
The 1985 season saw the heralded signing of Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Doug FlutieDoug Flutie
Douglas Richard "Doug" Flutie is a former American and Canadian football quarterback. Flutie played college football at Boston College, and played professionally in the National Football League, Canadian Football League, and United States Football League...
of Boston College
Boston College
Boston College is a private Jesuit research university located in the village of Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, USA. The main campus is bisected by the border between the cities of Boston and Newton. It has 9,200 full-time undergraduates and 4,000 graduate students. Its name reflects its early...
. Despite Flutie's inexperience, the Generals traded Sipe to the Jacksonville Bulls
Jacksonville Bulls
The Jacksonville Bulls were a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. They were members of the United States Football League during its final two seasons, 1984 and 1985...
to ensure Flutie would start. Flutie struggled at times but played well overall until he suffered a broken collarbone against the Memphis Showboats
Memphis Showboats
The Memphis Showboats were a franchise in the United States Football League. They entered the league in its expansion in 1984 and made the 1985 playoffs, losing in the semifinal round to the Oakland Invaders...
in the season's 15th game and did not play again. The 1985 Generals finished 11-7 behind Walker's pro football-record 2,411 rushing yards but lost again to the Stars (transplanted to Baltimore) in the first round of the playoffs, 20-17.
1986
The USFL planned to play its 1986 schedule in the fall, directly opposite the NFL, thanks mostly to Trump's strong advocacy of direct competition with the older, established league. The Generals merged with the Houston GamblersHouston Gamblers
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...
during the extended offseason, adding such stars as quarterback Jim Kelly
Jim Kelly
James Edward Kelly is a former American football quarterback in the NFL for the Buffalo Bills and the USFL's Houston Gamblers....
and wide receiver Ricky Sanders
Ricky Sanders
Ricky Wayne Sanders is a former American football wide receiver who played for eight seasons with the Washington Redskins and one for the Atlanta Falcons in the National Football League from 1986 to 1994...
. Michaels was fired, replaced with former Gamblers coach Jack Pardee
Jack Pardee
-NFL:-External links:...
, who planned to bring the Gamblers' high-powered run and shoot offense
Run and shoot offense
The run and shoot offense is an offensive system for American football which emphasizes receiver motion and on-the-fly adjustments of receivers' routes in response to different defenses...
with him. However, the USFL's "Dream Team" never took the field. The 1986 season was cancelled after the USFL won a minimal verdict in an antitrust
Antitrust
The United States antitrust law is a body of laws that prohibits anti-competitive behavior and unfair business practices. Antitrust laws are intended to encourage competition in the marketplace. These competition laws make illegal certain practices deemed to hurt businesses or consumers or both,...
lawsuit against the NFL; the league folded soon afterward.
Numerous Generals players, including Flutie, Walker and center Kent Hull went on to productive NFL careers. Flutie also starred in the Canadian Football League
Canadian Football League
The Canadian Football League or CFL is a professional sports league located in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football, a form of gridiron football closely related to American football....
; Hull (with Gambler quarterback Kelly) played in four Super Bowl
Super Bowl
The Super Bowl is the championship game of the National Football League , the highest level of professional American football in the United States, culminating a season that begins in the late summer of the previous calendar year. The Super Bowl uses Roman numerals to identify each game, rather...
s with the Buffalo Bills
Buffalo Bills
The Buffalo Bills are a professional football team based in Buffalo, New York. They are currently members of the East Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
, and Flutie (as of 2011) is the last quarterback to have led the Bills to the NFL playoffs.
Single season leaders
- Rushing Yards: 2411 Herschel WalkerHerschel WalkerHerschel Junior Walker is an American mixed martial artist and a former American football player. He played college football for the University of Georgia Bulldogs and earned the 1982 Heisman Trophy. He began his professional career with the New Jersey Generals of the United States Football League...
(1985) (USFL Record)
- Receiving Yards: 715 Sam Bowers (1983)
- Passing Yards: 2540 Brian SipeBrian SipeBrian Winfield Sipe is a former professional American football quarterback who played in the National Football League from 1974 to 1983 and the United States Football League from 1984 to 1985....
(1984)
- Sacks: 13 James Lockette (1985)
Season-by-season
|-|1983 || 6 || 12 || 0 || 3rd Atlantic || --
|-
|1984 || 14 || 4 || 0 || 2nd EC Atlantic || Lost Quarterfinal (Philadelphia)
|-
|1985 || 11 || 7 || 0 || 2nd EC || Lost Quarterfinal (Baltimore)
|-
!Totals || 31 || 25 || 0
|colspan="2"| (including playoffs)
Trivia
- The 1985 Generals team was the second USFL team to feature two Heisman Trophy winners, with Doug Flutie and Herschel Walker. The Jacksonville BullsJacksonville BullsThe Jacksonville Bulls were a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. They were members of the United States Football League during its final two seasons, 1984 and 1985...
had Archie GriffinArchie GriffinArchie Mason Griffin is a former American football running back. Griffin played seven seasons in the NFL with the Cincinnati Bengals. He is college football's only two-time Heisman Trophy winner...
and Mike RozierMike RozierMichael Rozier is a former American collegiate and professional football running back who won the Heisman Trophy in 1983. He was born in Camden, New Jersey. Mike and his wife, Rochelle, an attorney, reside in South Jersey and together they have one son. Mike has two other children who reside in...
.
- Actress Lisa EdelsteinLisa EdelsteinLisa Edelstein is an American actress and playwright. She is best known for her role as Dr. Lisa Cuddy on the television drama House.-Early life and education:...
worked as a cheerleader for the New Jersey Generals at the age of 16. She organized a protest, because the team was forcing the cheerleaders to go and stand in bars while wearing their uniforms. Lisa said she felt this was "akin to prostitution" and started a cheerleader strike.