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===The 1984 season=== {{main|1984 USFL season}} * The USFL went to a seven-man officiating crew in 1984 adding the side judge. * After a game 1 blowout 53–14 road loss to the expansion [[Jacksonville Bulls]], [[Washington Federals]] head coach [[Ray Jauch]] was fired. In week 2, star RB [[Craig James (running back)|Craig James]] was injured. The team collapsed. Despite solid play from 2nd year QB [[Mike Hohensee]], WR [[Joey Walters]], and HB [[Curtis Bledsoe]], the team would finish 3–15, losing twice to the 3–15 expansion Pittsburgh Maulers and going 0–7 vs. the expansion teams. With seven games to go in the season, a press conference was held to announce the Federals had been sold to [[Sherwood "Woody" Weiser]] who intended to move the team to [[Miami]]. The team would be coached by [[Miami Hurricanes]]' coach [[Howard Schnellenberger]]. * After two games, William Tatham Jr., son of Oklahoma Outlaws owner [[William Tatham]], announced [[Skelly Stadium]] was insufficient to support a pro team and that the Outlaws would be moving the following year. In spite of this lame duck status, awful spring weather, and a season-ending ten-game losing streak, the team drew an average of 21,038 fans per game. * A few games into the season, with the Chicago Blitz struggling and the fans staying away in droves, the team was near financial collapse. The league was forced to take over the Blitz for the remainder of the 1984 season in order to protect the league's TV deals which called for teams in the New York, Los Angeles and Chicago markets. With 4 games to go, a press conference was held announcing that [[Eddie Einhorn]] would become the new owner of the USFL's Chicago franchise.<ref>{{cite news|title=Einhorn heads USFL Team|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1984/05/31/sports/einhorn-heads-usfl-team.html|newspaper=NY Times|date=31 May 1984|access-date=2 February 2017|archive-date=February 21, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170221151750/http://www.nytimes.com/1984/05/31/sports/einhorn-heads-usfl-team.html|url-status=live}}</ref> At the press conference, it was stated that although the new team would not be the Blitz, Einhorn's franchise would retain the rights to all Blitz players and coaching staff—strongly implying the team would play in the 1985 season. * The expansion [[Houston Gamblers]] rookie QB [[Jim Kelly]] of the University of Miami emerged as the league's second superstar carrying his team to win the central conference with a 13–5 record. Kelly threw 44 TDs and piled up over 5,000 yards. The Gamblers would fall to the eventual league runner up Arizona Wranglers in the playoffs, 17–16. * The [[Los Angeles Express (USFL)|Los Angeles Express]]' signings of high-profile collegiate players culminated with the signing of BYU QB [[Steve Young (American football)|Steve Young]] to a $40 million guaranteed contract—at the time, far and away the largest contract in pro football history. The young talent was slow to adapt to the pro game and the Express continued to hover around .500. With one of the leagues' highest payrolls and poor attendance, financial losses mounted. It is estimated that the Express lost as much as $15 million in 1984. The Express did manage to make the playoffs and defeated the defending league champion Panthers 27–21 in triple overtime, before falling to the eventual league runners-up, Allen's [[Arizona Wranglers]], 35–23. * In spite of seeing his Wranglers team make it to the title game,<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.usfl.info/wranglers/index2.html |title=USFL.info - Arizona Wranglers |access-date=2008-12-23 |archive-date=2008-10-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081013191920/http://www.usfl.info/wranglers/index2.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> Ted Diethrich had seen enough. He had lost millions for the second year in a row. Despite fielding a dramatically improved team, he had only had seen a negligible increase in attendance in Arizona over the previous year's numbers. * The Philadelphia Stars again finished with the league's best record and made it to the title game, this time defeating Diethrich's Wranglers, 23–3.
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