That
undoubtedly was the question running through the
mind of Michigan Panthers owner A. Alfred Taubman
as he stood along side the 1983 USFL Championship
trophy his team had just won for him by defeating
the Philadelphia Stars, 24-22, at Mile High
Stadium in Denver. In pursuit of that
48-pound hunk of marble, silver and gold, Taubman
had spent in excess of $6 million - triple what
USFL founder David Dixon had recommended for teams
in their first year. Six million. It
was a staggering figure even for a man of
Taubman's considerable wealth, and one that had
him wondering whether his decision to take a stab
at pro football in the spring was a sane
one.
The Panthers on the field however were a true
Cinderella story. Beginning the season a
miserable 1-4-0 including a loss to the moribund
Washington Federals, with each week Taubman was
becoming more and more embarrassed at the team's
performance. He decided to do something
about it - to spend whatever it took to get the
best talent available. On March 19th the
Panthers signed Thom Dornbrook, an offensive
lineman who had left the NFL's Pittsburgh Steelers
and was a member of the team that won Super Bowl
XIV. One month later to the day, he signed
another Steeler, defensive lineman John Banaszak,
a member of the famed "Steel Curtain"
defensive unit. Eight days after that, he
snagged a third member of the black and gold,
adding tackle Ray Pinney to the roster. With
these additions the team began to gel, winning 11
of its 13 remaining regular season games to finish
12-6-0 and capture the USFL's Central Division
championship over the Chicago Blitz, who were
heavy pre-season favorites not only to win the
Central Division title but the USFL Championship
Game as well.
As
the division champion with the league's
second-best record in 1983, the Panthers got to
host a Divisional Playoff game against the Pacific
Division champion Oakland Invaders. Long
suffering Detroit football fans, who had been
lukewarm to the Panthers during the regular
season, came out in droves to support their spring
team. 60,237 would be on hand to witness as
the Panthers earned a trip to the USFL title game
by thrashing the Invaders, 37-21.
In the inaugural USFL Championship Game the
following week, the Panthers were having an easy
time of it, handling the 16-3-0 Philadelphia Stars
with relative ease and enjoying a 17-3 lead
through three quarters. Then, all hell broke
loose. The Stars scored 19 points in the
fourth quarter, and if not for a 48 yard touchdown
strike from Bobby Hebert to Anthony Carter with
3:01 remaining, Taubman could have left Denver's
Mile High Stadium without so much as his
trophy. As it was though the Panthers won,
24-22.
The 1984 season was supposed to be an easy defense
of at least the Panthers Central Division title,
thanks to a division that featured a Chicago Blitz
team that was a transplanted version of the
Arizona Wranglers, together with three expansion
teams - the Houston Gamblers, Oklahoma Outlaws and
San Antonio Gunslingers. The Panthers
should've coasted on paper, but the Gamblers had
other ideas, winning 13 games and forcing the
Panthers (at 10-8-0) to have to beat out the
Denver Gold just to make the playoffs as the new
Western Conference wild-card qualifier.
The Panthers made it, going up against the Pacific
Division champions for the second year in a row,
this time in the form of the L.A. Express and
their hotshot rookie quarterback Steve
Young. In a duel that will be forever be
remembered by those in attendance at the L.A.
Coliseum - all 7,964 of them - the teams went into
overtime tied at 21... then double overtime...
then triple overtime. It was as if
the Panthers knew that fate was about to step
in. After 93 minutes and 33 seconds of
football however, the Panthers gave up a Mel Gray
touchdown run, and everything in one instant came
to an end - the game, the playoff run, the chance
at back to back titles, and as they would learn
months later, the very franchise itself.
An advocate of spring football from its inception,
Alfred Taubman was somewhat taken aback at ensuing
developments. In August his fellow owners
were meeting to decide whether to continue as a
spring venture or take the NFL on head to head in
the fall beginning in 1986. Suspecting that
the outcome was a fait accompli, Taubman sent son
Robert to represent the team at the meeting.
The vote went as expected, but while the owners'
vote to move to the fall was no surprise, young
Taubman's notification to Commissioner Chet
Simmons was - the Michigan Panthers were merging
with the Oakland Invaders for 1985, leaving one of
the league's more popular fan bases without a
team.
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