The rebirth of the USFL rolled out their league last week in a grand fashion in their safe pace in the state of Alabama. The quarterback play, as we expected, was weak. The play on the field in general was worth watching. Interesting rules. Flying drones. On the field interviews. The announcers drawn out by the coaches’ play calling in the headsets that are heard on the television. Universal cheerleaders. Every team had a nightmarish-looking mascot. Hide the kids & put your mom in the trunk when they take the field. Chicken Salad or Pizza?

You know food can be a touchy subject. Stay away from the politics and you have yourself a deal.

WEEK TWO USFL POWER RANKINGS ROLLING OUT

#1.

NEW ORLEANS BREAKERS (1-0) UP 1 SPOT

The Breakers really impressed me week one with a top notch defense. They are a two-headed monster backfield and a quarterback that is going to get better. Even the Breakers special teams blocked a punt. First the defense front seven led by former University Georgia Bulldog Davin Bellamy had three sacks. Bellamy may be the best defensive player in the league.

In the NFL the Bills and Cowboys have themselves a Diggs. With the last name Diggs, you must be expected to make big plays. The Breakers’ Diggs did that.

Vontae Diggs stole the show with 7 solo tackles and an interception pick six. The running game was electric for the Breakers. Both running backs had a touchdown. Jordan Ellis averaged 4.9 yards a carry as he rushed for 89 yards. TJ Logan Jr. had 56 yards on the ground and also chipped in on a two point conversion that went through the hands of a Philadelphia Stars defender. He caught it and converted. In his first professional coaching debut, Breakers Head Coach Larry Fedora’s team gets the win.

#2.

TAMPA BAY BANDITS UP 1 SPOT

Tampa Bay seems to be the sports landscape capital of the World. The Lightning in the NHL have won two Stanley Cups. Tom Brady’s Buccaneers won the Superbowl in his first season in Tampa Bay. The Rays are a great team but lost in the World Series two seasons ago. Last year the Rays were knocked off early in the MLB post-season. So now the experts have the Tampa Bay Bandits as the best team in the rebirth of the USFL. I think the Bandits have the best quarterback in the entire USFL league, named Jordan Ta’amu.

Is Ta’amu the best quarterback in the league? The Bandits played a great first half versus the Maulers last Monday night. In the second half, the Bandits did nothing. Maulers quarterback play was not very good as the eye test tells me that and on the scoreboard they put up 3 points. Maulers had 3 more points than the Bandits in the second half. Jordan Ta’amu had a great day mostly in the first half as he finished 20-32 for 185 passing yards with 1 touchdown pass. Ta’amu however had two interceptions. Not crowning the Bandits the championship automatically, because they are from Tampa Bay and have a quarterback that threw two interceptions and disappeared in the second half. I need to see more from the Bandits, but they should be one of the better teams in the league. Right now they are behind the Breakers.

#3.

BIRMINGHAM STALLIONS UP 1 SPOT

The Birmingham Stallions coming in, we know have the home field advantage as all games of the USFL are being played in Alabama. Stallions being the first game on the docket drew the biggest crowd on Saturday night. Stallions made it interesting as they had to fight back and made a comeback and secured the win at the last minute. Stallions had the dueling quarterbacks to find out that perhaps the second one was better than the first one. Alex McGough looked good early on as he threw a touchdown pass. Early on J’mar Smith looked bad and got better during the game filling in for perhaps an injured McGough. Smith led the comeback as he finished off the Generals going 11-21 for 156 yards with one touchdown pass. Quarterback controversy? Maybe. I like the Stallions defense as one of the better units in the league. Scooby Wright lived up to the hype.

Scooby forced a turnover as he forced a fumble in a key situation of the game. This was a turning point for the Stallions. The Stallions uniforms look very similar to the ESU Timberwolves in the movie The Program.

#4.

HOUSTON GAMBLERS UP 3 SPOTS

I was not really impressed with the Gamblers. Offensively the Gamblers quarterback situation was not very good. I thought former Northwestern star quarterback Clayton Thorson would have gave me more. Thorson started off well with a touchdown pass to wide receiver Isaiah Zuber. Thorson, a duel threat, only had 4 yards with his legs. Thorson finished his Houston debut hitting 9-17 passes for 73 yards with the touchdown pass and an interception. Houston still won the game because….

Jeff Fisher and the Panthers gave the Gamblers an early Christmas gift. Gamblers found the scoreboard with a defensive score with the ole scoop and run on a fumble. Maybe Fisher’s team had the chicken instead of the pizza as the Panthers quarterback could not grasp the ball on a shot gun formation as he fumbled more than once. Thought it was finger licking good. Gamblers scored all their points in the first half. Panthers fumbled the ball on a chance at a game winning drive at the end. A special mention is Donald Payne Jr., the heart and soul of the Gamblers defense, had 15.5 tackles with 13 of them solo. He’s just a beast on the Houston’s defense.

#5.

MICHIGAN PANTHERS Down 4 spots

The Michigan Panthers were unlike any of the coached teams of Jeff Fisher of the past. Panthers showed no discipline on the field as they were fighting each other.

I thought from the beginning the Panthers would be one of the best teams in the USFL as I had them number one in the power rankings coming in.

I thought the quarterbacks for Michigan would be their strength. Former number one draft pick for the Denver Broncos, Paxton Lynch, was hot garbage. The Panthers gave him a series or two. Lynch completed 2 passed out 5 attempts for 1 yard with an interception. Then Shea Patterson, who will and should be a top quarterback in this league, completed 68% of his passes. He had a 104.1 rating as he passed for 192 yards while throwing one touchdown pass. However Patterson had chicken grease on his fingers or something, fumbling three snaps in shot gun formation. Plus took three sacks. The Gamblers to me were waiting to give the game to the Panthers but they would not accept the win.

#6.

PHILADELPHIA STARS Same

The Philadelphia Stars played well in their first game. The Stars did some great stuff in all phases of the game. Bryan Scott behind center is definitely one of the better quarterbacks in the league as he finished 25-26 for 202 passing yards throwing 1 touchdown pass with one interception. Stars generated a nice running game to go along with Scott at quarterback. Chris Rowland was a nice security blanket for Bryan Scott as he caught seven balls for 74 yards doing his best Wes Welker imitation.

The Stars defense played well and are no slouch as New Orleans earned their points in the first week against them. I think when I see more, the Stars will be in the top half of the league.

#7.

NEW JERSEY GENERALS (0-1) UP 1 SPOT

I thought the Generals should have won on Opening night of the USFL as the team led the entire game only to lose to the Stallions in the last minute. The Generals were using dueling quarterbacks in the opener. That and the kicking game cost them a victory. Luis Perez may be the best bowler quarterback behind center all-time in any Spring football league ever established. Head Coach Mike Riley did not need to give De’Andre Johnson playing time when Perez was doing well as he finished the day going 13-18 for 143 yards & two touchdown passes. Perez had a nice thing going on with with his wide receiver Randy Satterfield who had 5 catches 100 yards and a score. Back up De’Andre Johnson had a rushing touchdown and had 98 yards on the ground. I think the Generals should ride with the hotter hand instead of mixing and matching. Generals defense can be scored on as the Stallions mounted a comeback in the first ever game of the rebirth of the USFL. Shalom Luani, one defender from that Generals defensive, stood out with 8 solo tackles and an interception.

If the USFL has an All-Madden team of some kind, Luani is one of my guys.

#8.

PITTSBURGH MAULERS (0-1) Down 3 spots

Maulers running back De’Veon Smith wanted pizza over the team’s choice of chicken salad at the team dinner.

Smith may have pulled a Jeff Spicoli in the movie Fast Times at Ridgemont High. Spicoli’s teacher Mr. Hand did not like it. Head Coach Kirby Wilson of the Maulers did not like Smith’s pizza idea either.

De’Veon Smith would end up being cut from the Maulers after that incident. I think Head Coach Kirby Wilson needs to pick one man behind center. Either Josh Love or Kyle Lauletta. One has to be pizza and the other chicken salad. The Maulers were committed to the run. With dueling quarterbacks, it kills drives and any kind of momentum waiting for a guy to knock off the rust. Kyle Lauletta went 2-11 in passing attempts for 8 yards. Why Lauletta get 11 pass attempts is baffling. Maulers have a nice defense as Bandits scored only 17 points in the game; all in the first half of the contest.

I remember playing football in the front yard of the house as a little lad. Those words, “Go deep I hit you,” as I break out of the blocks like track star after hearing the word hike like a starter’s pistol. I’d be sprinting on a go route, a fly pattern grammar school football called it in the play book. My father, brother, or one of my friends would heave the ball in the air trying to hit me in stride. Sometimes it looked the way it was drawn up in the dirt of the grass or diagramming the play from the quarterback’s fingers on his shirt. Sometimes the ball would be off or a dropped pass occurred. Even running into a tree may have ended the afternoon of fun. As a kid I’d be watching the Bears’ Jim McMahon on a broken play chuck the ball down the field hitting wide receiver Willie Gault, who had blazing speed on a big play. Before the 1980’s, and probably still the best in the business at throwing the bomb maybe of all-time in the professional football game, was quarterback Daryle Lamonica who wore the Raiders bonnet and played in the 1960’s early 1970’s.

Daryle Lamonica played college ball at the University of Notre Dame who was Fresno, California native. In 1963, Lamonica was drafted by two teams to play professional football. The Green Bay Packers of the NFL (National Football League) and the Buffalo Bills of the AFL (American Football League.) Lamonica chose Buffalo out of the two coldest places to play in both leagues. This was before the NFL and AFL merged in 1970. Lamonica played in the cold for the fighting Irish so he would adapt. In Buffalo, Lamonica’s talents were wasted as the back-up QB to one of the Bills greats in Jack Kemp. In 4 seasons, Lamonica would go 4-0 as a starter for the Bills as he did play in 56 games and threw 16 touchdown passes but had 23 interceptions. Bills would eventually trade Lamonica to the Oakland Raiders in 1967. After 4 games in the black and silver in 196,7 Lamonica would earn the nickname of the Mad Bomber.

The Raiders would use Daryle Lamonica’s strength which was his arm in their offense to create a passing attack style instead mostly running the ball while relying on the defense. The Mad Bomber would strike on 30 touchdown passes in 1967. Daryle Lamonica’s powerful arm would lead the Raiders to a 13-1 regular season record as he completed 220 passes out of 425 attempts for 3,228 yards which earned him his first MVP award. In 1969 Lamonica threw 34 touchdown passes which today is still a Raider record. In the same year, the Mad Bomber led the league in every notable quarterback stat category and earned his second MVP award. The Mad Bomber led the Raiders to their first ever Superbowl when the NFL and AFL emerged into one league. Lamonica would face the team he did not pick in 1963 as the Raiders would lose to the Green Bay Packers in Superbowl II, 33-14. The Mad Bomber would never make it back to another Superbowl. The Mad Bomber did have the Raiders making the playoffs 7 out of the 8 seasons behind center in Oakland. Five of those seasons for Head Coach John Madden.

Everyone will remember the famous Heidi game that Daryle Lamonica was a part of. Many would not see the Heidi game. In 1968 the Mad Bomber led one of the best comebacks at the time as he threw 4 touchdown passes versus the Jets. The game went longer than expected, and NBC switched over to the movie, Heidi, with one minute remaining in the game. The Raiders and Lamonica would win that game and many viewers would not able to see the ending. Like a cliff hanger, ‘tune into the same time next week same bat channel same bat television’ for the conclusion of the Mad Bomber and the caped crusader.

Daryle Lamonica would play in 151 games behind center for the Bills and Raiders in 12 seasons. The Mad Bomber played when you could hit the quarterback without drawing a flag. During the time where defenders could clothesline you to bring you down. Hit you high & hit you low. Lamonica only completed 49% of his passes for his entire career which these days of the NFL would be frowned upon. The Mad Bomber was a gunslinger. No question about that as he threw 164 touchdown passes while getting intercepted 138 times. The Mad Bomber passed for 19,154 yards during those 12 seasons. Lamonica can be compared to Justin Herbert because both can throw the deep ball well. These days in the NFL it’s yards after the catch hitting receiver in stride and hoping he breaks it for a big gainer. The Mad Bomber would launch a pass in the air that went 30 to 40 yards before hitting the target down the sideline in stride. Former Bengal Jeff Blake threw a nice long ball in his days playing for the Bengals.

“Go deep, I hit you,” is not done very often any more in the game of football. Many quarterbacks don’t even attempt that kind of pass in present times. The Mad Bomber perfected this pass play. Lamonica did win games so you can compare him to Jimmy Garoppolo as a guy who found a way to win the games at the end of regulation. Lamonica’s winning percentage behind center was very Garoppolo-like as he finished with a 66-16-6 record as a starter. Maybe not always pretty, but effective. I was not alive to watch Daryle Lamonica play. Only when watching the highlights and reading about him did I become a fan. The Mad Bomber unfortunately passed away this week at the age of 80. Daryle Lamonica may have one of the best nicknames of all-time in the sports world as the Mad Bomber. Just a perfect nickname for a guy who wore the silver and black most of his career. I think the Mad Bomber’s stats would have been better if he played during present times. I like the fact that he stayed on the field during the time where defenses were out for blood. Daryle Lamonica will always be a legend as fathers and son’s to this day still say, “Go deep, I hit you” in the front yard on a brisk autumn day with the leaves changing colors.

Here we go again as we welcome another Spring Football league into already a crowded sports mix. It is football, so like a flaming car wreck found on the highway we have to watch. The USFL has resurrected and they will be playing their first week on Easter weekend… how fitting. We have seen the Covid-19 Virus invasion shut down the XFL part two in the middle of their season. Part two of the XFL was way better than part one in the 1990’s. Then the American Alliance (AAF) ran out of money in 2019 and that league folded like a house of cards being put up in a windstorm. All’s the USFL has to do is complete the regular season just to do better than these leagues from the past. I will get invested and perhaps the USFL can have post-season play with a championship, which sounds like a novel idea. This USFL has money. This USFL has their games on television just like the others. This USFL has a green glowing football.

It’s Fox, who brought you the glowing puck in their NHL games, what do you expect? The USFL has no Donald Trump in this go around. This league may work. It was a fun league to watch in the 1990’s and gave the NFL a run for their money. The NFL took a lot of genius ideas from the original USFL. We expect the NFL to be watching once again to take the new genius ideas this USFL will impose. I will throw out my first edition of the USFL power rankings. This is before the season even begins so I’m expecting to be wrong on most things. Maybe once I warm up by week 4 like the quarterbacks of the USFL, I should be able to razzle and dazzle you with my weekly power rankings.

#1.MICHIGAN PANTHERS

They say history intends to repeat itself so the Panthers get my number 1 ranking coming in because in the original USFL they won the very first championship. Head Coach Jeff Fisher always has a pretty good defense backing him in all those teams he was head coach of in the NFL. Fisher has assembled a nice defensive unit from experienced players of Spring leagues past. The Panthers could use soft Cam Newton, former Carolina Panther, as their quarterback. Panthers of the USFL and Panthers of the NFL had very similar uniforms and pretty much the same helmet logo. Fisher has his quarterback room looking good which is the biggest key. Shea Patterson, a 25 year old former Wolverine, has plenty of experience in the CFL. Patterson clung on to multiple NFL camps before Canada, soaking in intelligence. Back up quarterback has the Panthers signing Paxton Lynch former Bronco of the NFL.

Fisher has himself a 1-2 punch behind center if needed. Paxton Lynch could actually find out if this quarterback thing is worthwhile in years to come.

#2. NEW ORLEANS BREAKERS

The Breakers have assembled a nice defensive front to KILL THE QUARTERBACK!!! Breakers have former Bulldog Davin Bellamy with a nice front seven on the defensive front, including a rag tag bunch with names like Andre Saint-Amour, Christopher Okoye and James Folston Jr. Breakers might have found a group like the Ukraine Red Dawn unit giving the Russian military fits.

At quarterback the Breakers have Kyle Sloter from Northern Colorado. Sloter may not be the best quarterback in this Spring football league, but the man has some big weapons to throw to. Johnnie Dixon and Shawn Poindexter, to me, might be the best 1-2 point in the entire league at the wide receiver position.

#3.TAMPA BAY BANDITS

When the Bandits played back in the 1980’s, Burt Reynolds was part owner of the team. Bandits need a celebrity mustache in present times.

I nominate Mr. Blue Bloods, the original Magnum PI, Tom Selleck. The Bandits have some NFL experience on the defensive side of the ball. The Bandits probably on paper have the best quarterback in the league. Jordan Ta’amu is a duel threat who was impressive for the St. Louis Battlehawks of the XFL remake in 2020. My only problem is Todd Haley is the head coach and gets my vote for biggest dirt bag in the entire league. Can Todd Haley manage his big ego and keep it in check before he arrives at the field.

#4. BIRMINGHAM STALLIONS

The Stallions have the home field advantage the entire year as all the games in the USFL will be played on-site in Alabama. The Stallions have built one of the best defenses in the entire USFL. I think defense will be able to take advantage of bad quarterback play for at least the first few weeks of play. The Stallions are very Scappy-like and may have the best linebacker in the league.

Dish out the Scooby snacks in the stands in Birmingham. Scooby Wright has played in the NFL. Scooby has been a raving dog unleashed in Spring Leagues of the past such as the AAF and the XFL.

#5. PITTSBURGH MAULERS

Maulers by far have the best logo in the entire USFL reboot.

Maulers have somewhat of a quarterback controversy brewing. Josh Love or Kyle Lauletta?

Kyle Lauletta has the NFL experience playing for the New York Giants. I love the WAC Conference in College sports. Josh Love showed me the love at San Jose State University, a young gunslinger just lighting up the skies with missiles, hitting his receivers in stride. Maulers have that insurance policy if something goes wrong with one of their guys.

#6. PHILADELPHIA STARS

The Stars, back in the 1980’s, was the best franchise if you are counting victories and championships of which they won two of those. Stars made some great finds back then.

Short and stout linebacker Sam Mills wrecked havoc on opposing teams in the USFL. Mills then went on to the NFL and did the same thing for the Saints and the Panthers. Could the Stars quarterback Bryan Scott be that next Sam Mills to show the world his talent behind center?

Bryan Scott was tabbed the name of Aaron Rodgers of the division three of College Football. Scott could be the sleeper quarterback in this years USFL.

#7. HOUSTON GAMBLERS

No Jim Kelly and the run and shoot offense this go around in the USFL for the Gamblers. Houston will rely on instead a duel threat quarterback, former Big Ten star from Northwestern, Clayton Thorson.

Thorson has been in the huddles in the dreaded NFC East with the Eagles, Cowboys and Giants. Thorson is the only Big Ten quarterback ever in history to throw for over 10,000 yards while rushing for 20 touchdowns. Maybe the Josh Allen of the USFL. Gamblers wide receiver Isaiah Zuber caught some passes for the Patriots’ Evil Empire.

At least I did not think of all those Stormtroopers for the Evil Empire being Wes Welker look-a-likes.

#8. NEW JERSEY GENERALS

The Generals are X-EL-Presidente Donald Trump’s former team back in the 1980’s. Generals have the worst odds in the entire USFL. Maybe Las Vegas Nevada is a Blue State.

I thought Randall Flagg was still Mayor of Las Vegas. The Generals in my opinion have the best head coach of this Spring Football league in Mike Riley, just because of all the experience he brings from the Canada league and other Spring leagues past. The Generals had to settle on Luis Perez as their starting quarterback, former professional bowler and a guy who resurrects from all these last few Spring leagues, such as the AAF and XFL. Perez has never been the guy from the start either; a guy that learned the quarterback position from watching YouTube videos. I like Perez and his story, but he may not be the guy to lead the Generals to the promised land.