|
1
9 8 2 |
| May
11 - The United States Football League announces
its formation at "21" in New York
City. |
| - |
|
1
9 8 3 |
| - |
| May
11 - Texas gets its first USFL franchise as the
Houston Gamblers are announced as a new club for
the 1984 season. |
| - |
| July
11 - Deciding that the Houston Gamblers needed a
natural rival and figuring that they'd be hard
pressed to deny his application based on his
wherewithall, the USFL awards a franchise to
Clinton Manges in San Antonio. |
| - |
| September
6 - The 'Slingers add 36 players to their roster
via the USFL Expansion Draft, selecting three
players from each of the league's 12 charter
franchises. |
| - |
|
1
9 8 4 |
| - |
| January
4 - The Gunslingers, who have the third overall
pick in the 1984 USFL Draft, trade the pick to
Chicago, in part reportedly because owner
Clinton Manges doesn't want to pay the market
rate for a first round draft choice. |
| - |
| February
26 - The Gunslinger era kicks off in front of
18,233 fans at Alamo Stadium, who watch the
hometown team fall at the hands of the New
Orleans Breakers, 13-10. |
| - |
|
To
see more of the
Gunslingers timeline, visit the
USFL.INFO
Timeline of the USFL |
|
| Years
Played in USFL: |
1984,
1985 |
| Club
Owner(s): |
Clinton
Manges |
| Playing
Site: |
Alamo
Stadium, San Antonio Texas |
| Head
Coach(es): |
Gil
Steinke (1984); Jim Bates (1985), Gil
Steinke (1985) |
| Overall
Record: |
12-24-0 |
| . |
. |
|
|
|
| Year |
Head
Coach |
W |
L |
T |
Pct. |
Finish |
Post-Season
Notes |
| 1984 |
Gil
Steinke |
7 |
11 |
0 |
.389 |
3rd,
Central Div. |
Failed
to Qualify |
| 1985 |
Jim
Bates |
3 |
9 |
0 |
.250 |
5th,
Western Conf. |
Resigned
During Season |
| - |
Gil
Steinke |
2 |
4 |
0 |
.333 |
6th,
Western Conf. |
Failed
to Qualify |
| Team
Totals |
12 |
24 |
0 |
.333 |
--- |
- |
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Simply
put, the San Antonio Gunslingers should
never have existed, and had the powers
that be in the USFL known what was in
store for them when choosing who would
join them among the ranks of the league's
owners, there's no way they would
have. As it turned out however, the
Gunslingers did provide one benefit to the
league - comedy.
. |
|
Not
that San Antonio was a bad town for football
during the early 1980's, quite the opposite, in
fact, but it wasn't quite ready at the time to
support a USFL franchise - and it certainly wasn't
ready for a franchise the likes of which Texas oil
magnate Clinton Manges operated. While
original USFL franchises were allegedly required
to be capitalized with $6 million, the Gunslingers
didn't come anywhere near meeting such a standard
- when it came to the 'Slingers, Manges squeezed
quarters until the eagles screamed, leaving a
trail of bounced checks and screwy stories along
the way.
How cheap was Manges? Well, rather than play
at a more modern facility that might cost an extra
few bucks, Manges chose for the Gunslingers to
play their home games at Alamo Stadium. Not
to be confused with today's Alamodome, Alamo
Stadium was a nice, cozy high school facility that
had a capacity of roughly 18,000. Seating
was increased to 32,000 and new AstroTurf was put
in at the league's urging, but they needn't have
bothered - the Gunslingers drew 18,233 for their
1984 home debut against the New Orleans Breakers,
and only cracked the 20,000 mark in attendance
once that season, in a Week 14 match-up against
the Denver Gold.
Rather than make an initial investment in the team
as other owners did, Manges appeared to simply pay
expenses out of pocket as they arose - which in
1984 worked out fine, but when oil prices fell and
Manges' money dried up like a tapped out well,
players were literally taking their lives into
their hands in an effort to outrace one another to
a bank that would cash their payroll checks - on
those rare occasions when they actually got
them. Players, stiffed out of their
paychecks, resorted to trading tickets for food
and staying with fans because they couldn't afford
to pay rent on their own apartments. Team
President Bud Haun at one point bailed out a
window of the Gunslingers "offices" - a
double-wide trailer parked at the stadium - to
avoid coaches who were looking for their
pay. Jim Bates, who was made the team's head
coach for the 1985 season, told his players he'd
quit if they weren't paid by a certain date.
They weren't, and to his credit, he walked,
forcing 1984 coach Gil Steinke to return and run
out the string.
Ineptitude and bizarre situations were also
hallmarks of the Gunslinger organization.
The team on the field wasn't ever confused with
the cross-state Dallas Cowboys of the NFL, losing
precisely two games for every one it won during
its two year existence. But the on-field
exploits of the 'Slingers are overshadowed by the
things that happened off the field.
Before he died in 2006, USFL Director of
Operations Peter Hadhazy recalled a member of the
team's front office asking the head size of every
player in the league, thinking that the team would
have to provide visiting teams with helmets...
members of the local press were banished from the
press box over petty issues, a player was deemed
"out" for one game because he got his
penis caught in his foot locker... checks bounced like
racquetballs... the league twice threatened to
revoke the franchise (and in the end, after the
1985 season had concluded, actually did so)...
think up the most odd thing you can imagine
happening to a football team, and it probably at
one point or another happened with the
Gunslingers. |
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