It's offseason so I thought I would bring up the Arizona Wranglers

[Lefty]

I don't know how many of you were here when the Wranglers of the USFL played here, but I thought it would be fun if everyone would discuss their experiences about the Wranglers.

I was a fan of the Wranglers and drove up to Tempe to see them play a few times. The only regret I have is that I never taped any of their games, especially their championship game against the Stars.

 

[Duckjake]

I don't know how many of you were here when the Wranglers of the USFL played here, but I thought it would be fun if everyone would discuss their experiences about the Wranglers.

I was a fan of the Wranglers and drove up to Tempe to see them play a few times. The only regret I have is that I never taped any of their games, especially their championship game against the Stars.

I knew a guy whose entire business was tied to the USFL team in Denver. That must have really hurt when the USFL went south.

Speaking of other Arizona Pro football teams remember when so many fans wanted Danny White as either OC or head coach for the Cards?

Who was the QB for the arena team? Bonner or something like that. Signed with the Cardinals for a few days at one time. I always thought the guy had better skills than what the Cards had at QB at the time.

 

[RON_IN_OC]

I remember going to Wranglers games, as a kid, to see Hershel Walker when he came to town.

 

[Scott MS]

Football in spring. A branding iron on the side of helmet. While it was fun, I can't tell you who was on the team. I went to the games while I was in middle school and remember it was hot outside. Sun Devil Stadium was pretty much the same back then as today.

I always though the succeeding Outlaws had a cooler name and much cooler helmets and colors.

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[Scott MS]

I do remember that in '84 the excitement was that George Allen was the head coach. The Wranglers made it to the USFL Bowl until they lost to the Philadelphia Stars.

On eBay:

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[Second Deck]

Was a season ticket holder to the wranglers also. Remember when the Cards came to town and there were lawsuits because Wrangler/outlaw season ticket holders got first choice. I still wish the league had been successful and was able to merge with NFL.

 

[Pavilore]

Good times

Still have my Wranglers cap Loved the USFL and wished they would have stayed around. I think they may have made it a while longer if The Donald hadn't forced them to try to go head-to-head with the NFL in the fall. Oh well...

I remember they had a QB by the name of Alan Risher who was decent and then they had Greg Landry as QB. Dr. Ted Dietrich, the famous heart surgeon, owned the team. I think he came from Chicago and the Wranglers and Blitz kind of swapped franchises. George Allen was the coach the year they played for the championship I think.

I didn't follow the Outlaws phase too much, wasn't Frank Kush the coach that last year? I think Doug Williams was the QB when the Oklahoma Outlaws merged with the Wranglers and came here. I can't remember for sure.

The league actually wasn't all that bad and I really enjoyed it while it lasted. Jim Kelly, Herschel Walker, Doug Flutie, Steve Young, Bobby Hebert, Reggie White, Steve Spurrier, George Allen and a lot more I am not remembering were a part of that league.

I loved the Wranglers unis and helmets, the color scheme was really cool I thought. The Michigan Panthers had the coolest panther logo on the helmet (way better than the Carolina Panthers ).

Although it was HOT, HOT, HOT to go to a game, we went to a few. We went to see the LA Express and Steve Young but he was hurt and didn't play (the Wranglers lost the game anyway) and once we saw them play the eventually champion Philadelphia Stars (Chuck Fusina was their QB). Fun times!

Hey, thanks for jarring my memory! Those were very fun times for me in my life, my boys were young, I was young and we had some great times watching the USFL.

R.I.P. USFL!

 

[Scott MS]

Good times. Off the subject, but my favorite old school team was actually the Phoenix Inferno, an indoor soccer team that played in '81-'83 in Veterans Memorial Coliseum with the Suns.

Every time they scored a goal, they had these huge torches that would ignite. I guess when you're 11 or 12 years old, that was pretty cool.

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[TruColor]

A little bit oif trivia - I was a HUGE USFL fan back in the day, and at various times, had talked to front office people for most of the teams.

You Wrangler fans might remember that they changed their uniforms before the 1984 season - they went with the flames on the side of the Copper pants - but always wore White jerseys the entire season. It turns out (and I know this because one of the front office people for the Wranglers told me this personally) that the USFL instigated a rule that stated that a team needed to give the league a year's "heads up" on any color changes to their primary jerseys. The Wranglers had worn "Flag" Blue jerseys in 1983, but with the uniform change for '84, had planned a Red jersey. Since the change was so last-minute, the USFL required that the Wranglers wear White the entire season, and then debut the Red jerseys in 1985. Of course, they ended up merging with the Oklahoma Outlaws and became the Arizona Outlaws, so the Red jerseys were never worn.

I've done a lot of research on the USFL teams' colors and graphics - I've got a page on my site dedicated to the league on my site:

http://www.ssur.org/research/USFLPaintSpecs/USFLPaintSpecs.htm

 

[Zeno]

I was just in grade school when the Wranglers & Outlaws played but my father and I made it to a couple of games a season.

I used to love it, got to see Hershel Walker, Doug Flutie, Marcus Dupree, Kelvin Bryant and I am sure many others I just can't remember.

My favorite player was Trumane Johnson (sp?)...he was exciting to watch. They also had 1 of the Zendejas brothers and "The General" John Lee (a DE I think).

 

[Mulli]

Who was the running back in Philadelphia, I think he played for the Skins later. Curtis something?

I liked the Minnesota Panthers helmets, but the Breakers not so much, if I remember correctly. I miss USFL.

 

[Zeno]

Who was the running back in Philadelphia, I think he played for the Skins later. Curtis something?

I liked the Minnesota Panthers helmets, but the Breakers not so much, if I remember correctly. I miss USFL.

Michigan Panthers

 

[Mulli]

Was it Calvin or Kelvin something who played for the Stars?

 

[Mulli]

Michigan Panthers

Oops, I was thinking Michigan the whole time I posted that. Bobby Hebert.

 

[Mulli]

Kelvin Bryant

 

[Chainthroer]

I remember players like Trumaine Johnson WR and Greg Landry QB (#11, photo attached). Landry had been in the NFL for a long time. First with Detroit (a lot of years) and then with the Baltimore Colts. It was fun.
I believe it was in 1985 when the Wranglers merged with Oklahoma and became the Outlaws. The most memorial event I saw was a sad one in about 1985. The Portland Breakers (previously New Orleans and before that Boston Breakers) played us in ASU stadium. Marcus Dupree was the Breakers TB. I was in the East stands and had a clear view. Marcus ran around the left toward the East sidelines. He took a bad hit at the knee. I didn't think he'd run again. Years later he tried short come back with the Rams.

 

[Gee!]

Good times. Off the subject, but my favorite old school team was actually the Phoenix Inferno, an indoor soccer team that played in '81-'83 in Veterans Memorial Coliseum with the Suns.

Every time they scored a goal, they had these huge torches that would ignite. I guess when you're 11 or 12 years old, that was pretty cool.

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When I was a kid my next door neighbors son used to play for them.. He'd be outside practicing or whatever and would always want to show me how to play.. I wasnt interested all that much but did sometimes.. I was too busy with basketball and baseball practice..

 

[Zeno]

The Inferno was fun too. I remember they used to do Youth Soccer Nights every season and I got to walk on the field before a couple of games in a parade type thing.

Then there was the Phoenix Pride...they played in the Pride Pavillion in Maryvale Mall(I think), I went o the soccer camps there a couple of summers as a kid.

 

[Stronso]

We used to have season tickets to the Wranglers and it was a blast.....I always hated it when they became the Outlaws - I just thought that was weak....

 

[40yearfan]

We used to have season tickets to the Wranglers and it was a blast.....I always hated it when they became the Outlaws - I just thought that was weak....

The worst thing was having to change from white cowboy hats to the black ones when they became the Outlaws. Code of the West, ya know?