ThePhiladelphia / Baltimore Stars were a professionalAmerican football team which played in theUnited States Football League (USFL) in the mid-1980s. Owned by real-estate magnate Myles Tanenbaum, they were the short-lived league's dominant team, playing in all three championship games and winning the latter two. They played their first two seasons in Philadelphia as thePhiladelphia Stars before relocating to Baltimore, where they played as theBaltimore Stars for the USFL's final season. Coached byJim Mora, the Stars won a league-best 41 regular season games and 7 playoff games.

On May 11, 1982, the announcement of the USFL was officially made by league owner and antique dealer,David Dixon.^[1] The league's Philadelphia team would be owned by real estate developer Myles H. Tanenbaum. He had originally wanted to name the team the Stallions in honor ofRocky Balboa, who was nicknamed "The Italian Stallion." However, when theBirmingham entry snapped up the Stallions name, Tanenbaum settled on "Stars."^[2]

George Perles was originally named as the team's head coach in July 1982. Perles, previously an assistant coach for theNFL'sPittsburgh Steelers, never coached a game for the Stars, opting to take the head coach position forMichigan State instead. On January 15, 1983, the Stars hired Jim Mora to be their head coach.^[3]

The Stars began in Philadelphia in the USFL's inaugural1983 season and played their home games atVeterans Stadium (the "Vet"). They compiled the league's best regular season record of 15–3 (.833), and advanced to the 1983 USFL championship game. Their "Doghouse Defense" allowed only 204 points in an 18-game season—the least in the history of the league. The Stars were led by fourth-year quarterbackChuck Fusina (1978Heisman Trophy runner-up), fifth-year wide receiverScott Fitzkee, rookie halfbackKelvin Bryant ofNorth Carolina, rookie offensive tackleIrv Eatman ofUCLA, rookie linebackerSam Mills, and second-year safetyScott Woerner. The team also featuredTowson's all-star rookie punterSean Landeta. At the conclusion of the regular season, Bryant was named the USFL's Player of the Year by theAssociated Press.^[4]

The Stars entered the playoffs as the top-seeded team. In the Semi-Finals, the Stars defeated the preseason favorites to win the 1983 title—George Allen'sChicago Blitz—by withstanding seven turnovers and erasing a 21-point deficit in the fourth quarter to win 44–38 in overtime.^[5][6] In the league title game atDenver'sMile High Stadium on July 17, the Stars lost toJim Stanley'sMichigan Panthers, 24–22.^[7] Just as they had against the Blitz, the Stars opened the game sluggishly, but finished with a flourish, after allowing the Panthers to carry a 17–3 lead into the fourth quarter.^[8][9] Many observers of the time believed that the Stars, Panthers and Blitz were almost NFL-quality units.

One of the few blemishes on the Stars' first season was the box office. They only attracted 18,650 fans per game. In addition to bad weather, there were lingering memories of a massive gate-papering scandal involving theWorld Football League'sPhiladelphia Bell in 1974. The Bell had claimed that a total of over 120,000 fans had attended their first two games, but it subsequently emerged that all but 19,000 of the tickets had been given away for free or for significantly reduced prices.^[2]

Sources^[10][11][12]

The Stars remained in Philadelphia for the1984 season but were forced to relocate their post-season home games toFranklin Field due to a conflict with thePhiladelphia Phillies. The Stars roared through the regular season with the league best 16–2 (.889) record, and routedGeorge Allen'sArizona Wranglers, 23–3 for the league title inFlorida atTampa Stadium on July 15.^[13][14] It was the last traditional professional football championship for the city of Philadelphia until the Eagles'Super Bowl LII victory at the end of the 2017 season, and its first since the1960 NFL championship. The Stars were also becoming increasingly popular among fans, as average home attendance jumped from approximately 18,000 in 1983 to 28,000 in 1984.^[15]

After the league championship game, the Stars played a rare post-season exhibition game with Tampa Bay inEngland on July 21, and defeated the Bandits 24–21 atWembley Stadium inLondon.

Sources^[16][17][18]

The league's owners, led byDonald Trump of theNew Jersey Generals, voted to move play to the fall following the 1985 season. This put the Stars in a difficult position. Tanenbaum said that the Stars would have had to start the 1986 season on an extended road trip due to the Phillies sharing Veterans Stadium as well. Had the Phillies advanced to theWorld Series, the Stars would not be able to play a home game until November at the earliest.^[2] Moving full-time to Franklin Field was quickly ruled out due to thePenn Quakers football team playing there on Saturdays when the USFL had planned to play in the fall. The only other football venue in Philadelphia wasJohn F. Kennedy Stadium, next door to the Vet. However, the 60-year-old stadium was in a poor state of repair after not being well maintained in several years; it would be condemned only four years later. In any case, it seated over 100,000 people, meaning even a decent-sized USFL crowd would have been swallowed up in the environment.

At the time, thePhiladelphia Eagles were in visible distress only five years after making it to the Super Bowl due to Eagles ownerLeonard Tose's gambling and other debts. The Stars were one of the few USFL teams that had a realistic possibility of forcing their NFL counterparts out of town. At one point, Tose unsuccessfully tried to trade the Eagles for the equally distressedBuffalo Bills and/or relocate to Arizona. However, officials with the city of Philadelphia had shown clear favoritism to the Eagles despite their financial struggles, scuttling Tose's efforts and securing an agreement to keep the Eagles in Philadelphia.^[19]

With no venue in the Delaware Valley suitable even for temporary use, Tanenbaum moved the team toBaltimore, which was still smartingfrom the loss of the NFL Colts three years earlier. Indeed, even as Tanenbaum prepared to move the Stars, the city of Baltimore was attempting to strip the Colts from ownerRobert Irsay viaeminent domain.^[2][20]

It initially appeared that the Stars would be bolstered by a merger with thePittsburgh Maulers. OwnerEdward J. DeBartolo, Sr. had folded the Maulers after just one season because knew he could not even begin to compete with thePittsburgh Steelers. He agreed to join Tanenbaum as a minority partner, but decided to get out altogether soon afterward.^[2]

Baltimore welcomed the Stars with open arms. Tanenbaum quickly signed a broadcasting deal with Baltimore's most powerful radio station,WBAL, and built a good relationship with then-mayorWilliam Donald Schaefer. However, he ran into a problem when he discovered that the Stars could not play at Baltimore'sMemorial Stadium until 1986 due to objections from theBaltimore Orioles. Reportedly, Orioles general managerHank Peters and managerJoe Altobelli were concerned about the Stars tearing up the turf, and persuaded ownerEdward Bennett Williams to lock out the Stars.^[2] With no other stadium in the immediate Baltimore area suitable for temporary use, Tanenbaum was forced to play at theUniversity of Maryland'sByrd Stadium inCollege Park, 29 miles (47 km) southwest of Baltimore and aWashington suburb (coincidentally, the Washington USFL franchise, the Federals, moved to Orlando as theOrlando Renegades the same season). This was all compounded by theWashington Redskins' success during these years which included playing in theSuper Bowl in January1983 and1984. Further complicating matters, the team kept its operations in Philadelphia and commuted to College Park for games—effectively consigning the Stars to 18 road games for the league's lame-duck spring season.^[21]

At least in part due to all the moving, the Stars initially struggled in 1985, but won nine of their last 13 games to secure a wild-card berth. They did so in front of a mostly empty Byrd Stadium, however. While Baltimore-area fans were happy to see the return of pro football after a two-year absence, they balked at making the 35-minute drive downInterstate 95 to see the Stars play in College Park. Most were waiting for the team to begin play in the city's venerable Memorial Stadium a year later.

As a result, attendance sagged to the point that the Stars might have lost home-field advantage for the playoffs even with a winning record.ABC Sports, embarrassed at the dwindling attendance from around the league, told Usher it did not want to televise playoff games in near-empty stadiums. Since ABC had disproportionate influence on league affairs due to the structure of its contract with the USFL, Usher had little choice but to agree. However, the Stars managed to upend the favored New Jersey Generals and Birmingham Stallions in successive weeks to reach the title game atGiants Stadium inNew Jersey. Once there, the Stars won the USFL title beating theBobby Hebert-ledOakland Invaders, 28–24.^[22][23] Soon afterward, Tanenbaum sold controlling interest to fellow real estate magnateStephen Ross.^[2]

As it turned out, this was the final USFL game ever played. On July 29, 1986, a federal grand jury found in favor of the USFL in its antitrust suit against the NFL. However, the USFL was only awarded $1 in damages, tripled to $3 under antitrust law.^[24][25] The league's abandonment of Philadelphia was a factor in the adverse jury award. The jury foreman explained that while they agreed the NFL was a monopoly, they could not agree on the size of the award. As a result, the jury misinterpreted the law and decided on the $1 award, feeling it would be changed by the presiding judge. However, the judge was not able to increase the amount once it was stipulated by the jury. As a result, the league suspended operations a day later, never to return.

Number 19 was never issued to any player in that lone season out of respect to the Colts' greatJohnny Unitas.

Sources^{[26][27][28][29][30]}

The Stars are widely acknowledged to have been the best team to see the field in USFL history.

The Stars won 41 of 54 regular-season games and were 7–1 in the postseason. For the team's entire run, they were coached byJim Mora (Sr), who later became a head coach in theNFL for theNew Orleans Saints andIndianapolis Colts. Mora was actually the Stars' second choice; Tannenbaum originally hiredPittsburgh Steelers defensive coordinatorGeorge Perles, but Perles opted instead to take the open job at his alma mater,Michigan State.

Carl Peterson, who later became the president/general manager/chief executive officer of theKansas City Chiefs, served as the team'sGeneral Manager for all three seasons.

Sean Landeta andSam Mills both also had successful careers in the NFL. Landeta was one of the top punters in the NFL for two decades, and was the last former USFL player still active in the NFL at the time of his retirement in 2006. Mills had a sterling career with the Saints (alongside Mora) and theCarolina Panthers. The Panthers retired Mills' No. 51 jersey after his death from cancer in 2005.

Landeta andBart Oates were also teammates with theNew York Giants. Oates signed with the Giants in 1985. Both Oates and Landeta went on to win a combined five Super Bowl rings throughout their NFL careers. Both won two rings apiece with the Giants in 1986 and 1990, while Oates earned an additional ring with the San Francisco 49ers in 1994. Oates was selected to five Pro Bowls during his career and to the UPI All-NFC team three times. He was extremely durable, starting 125 consecutive games during his Giants career.

Rushing Yards: 1470(1983),Kelvin Bryant, 1406 (1984),Kelvin Bryant, 1207 (1985),Kelvin Bryant

Receiving Yards: 731(1983),Scott Fitzkee, 1895 (1984),Scott Fitzkee, 882 (1985),Scott Fitzkee

Passing Yards: 2718(1983),Chuck Fusina, 3837 (1984),Chuck Fusina, 3496 (1985),Chuck Fusina

Interceptions: 8(1983),Scott Woerner, 7 (1984), Mike Lush, 10 (1985) Mike Lush

Sacks: 8.5(1983), Don Fielder, 6 (1984) George Cooper, 10 (1985) John Walker

• USFL.info – Philadelphia-Baltimore Stars
• 1983 USFL Championship Game
• 1984 USFL Championship Game
• 1985 USFL Championship Game

• Philadelphia/Baltimore Stars
• 1982 establishments in Pennsylvania
• 1984 disestablishments in Pennsylvania
• 1985 establishments in Maryland
• 1986 disestablishments in Maryland

• Articles with short description
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