Former Wranglers preach patience, stability for new USFL
July 30, 2021
Before Rick Neuheisel coached the Arizona Hotshots at Sun Devil Stadium, he played quarterback for the San Antonio Gunslingers, a team in the USFL that also had a franchise based at the Tempe stadium. The USFL is returning in 2022. (Photo by Christian Petersen/AAF/Getty Images)
PHOENIX – The United States Football League of the mid-1980s brought sports fans a three-season whirlwind of front-office intrigue, roster turnover and eventually litigation, occasionally interrupted by some decent spring football.
Before imploding in spectacular fashion in 1986 amid a failed move to the fall, the league, broadcast on a fledgling ESPN, introduced future stars like Steve Young and Herschel Walker to fans nationwide.