The United States Soccer League was a short-lived professional soccer league that began as an alternative to the NFL in the mid-1980s. The league featured some great players who would go on to become NFL stars, and even some who made it into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Today, most football fans remember the USFL as one of the most interesting and exciting things to happen in professional football history. Here are five little-known facts about the United States Soccer League.
-The USFL-NFL trial that effectively ended the league’s existence lasted 42 days.
-Video clips from a Memphis Showboats game are used as football background images in an episode of SpongeBob SquarePants.
-The first former USFL player to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame was quarterback Jim Kelly, who played with the Houston Gamblers before becoming a star for the Buffalo Bills and leading them to four straight Super Bowls.
-The first player selected out of college by the USFL was Dan Marino, who was selected with the first overall pick by the Los Angeles Express. He was also drafted by and opted to sign with the NFL’s Miami Dolphins that same year.
-When the USFL sued the NFL alleging antitrust violations, all NFL teams except the Los Angeles Raiders were listed as co-defendants. Raiders owner Al Davis was a witness for the USFL and thus was spared from being a defender in the lawsuit.