The inaugural season of the 2022 iteration of the United States Football League is set to conclude Sunday night, as the Birmingham Stallions and Philadelphia Stars compete for the league’s first championship. NBC Sports’ Paul Burmeister provided a breakdown of the league’s first season of existence this week touching on several points with a few being relevant to the NFL. 
Burmeister made a point to mention a number of standout players for the USFL’s opening year:
- LB Frank Ginda, Michigan Panthers. Ginda spent time on practice squads for the Cardinals, Dolphins, and Saints, taking time in between to participate in the short-lived Alliance of American Football and XFL 2.0. Ginda finished second in the USFL in tackles and came to the league to improve his abilities in pass coverage with playing experience.
- RB Reggie Corbin, Michigan Panthers. Corbin’s head coach, Jeff Fisher, said himself that Corbin should be in the NFL. After four years at Illinois, Corbin got a workout for the Seahawks after college but tested positive for COVID-19 upon arrival and was sent home before he could work out. He helped the Panthers lead the league in rushing yards per game this year.
- LB Donald Payne, Houston Gamblers. Payne spent four years in the NFL, mainly as a core special-teamer in Jacksonville. The one player in the league with more tackles than Ginda, and the only player in the league with over 100 tackles, Payne made it clear that he isn’t aiming just to get another NFL opportunity, he’s aiming to make another NFL 53-man roster.
- WR KaVontae Turpin, New Jersey Generals. Despite being on a team that ran the ball more than any other team in the USFL, Turpin led the league in receiving yards. He’s agile and tough with great top-end speed. His ability to shed tackles helped him excel as a return man this season. Turpin could easily find his way to the NFL with his receiving prowess and return abilities.
- DE Chris Odom, Houston Gamblers. Odom spent time in the NFL playing for Atlanta, Green Bay, and Washington. Known more for stopping the run with his hand in the dirt, Odom took after ex-teammates Clay Matthews and Nick Perry and led the USFL in sacks and forced fumbles. He has NFL experience and proved that he can dominate the lower levels of professional football.
Here are a few other points that Burmeister touched on in his season breakdown:
- When asked what comes next for the league, Burmeister brought up roster sizes. The initial roster rules allowed teams to have a total roster of 45 players with 38 active on gameday. Concerns over issues with in-game and practice injuries led the league to expand rosters to 50 total players with 40 allowed to be active on gamedays. That initial increase is likely just the beginning. With many teams hesitant to go full-contact in practices, in fear that they could suffer injuries that would diminish their already minuscule roster, more players would allow for more extensive practice sessions that could lead to an overall increase in quality of play.
- Another factor Burmeister mentioned for what could be in store for the USFL’s future was locale. The league played all their games at one team’s home stadium in Birmingham, Ala. While Birmingham provided a great home-field advantage for the Stallions, attendance at games that didn’t include the hometown team was severely lacking. Noticing the drastic improvement of gameday action for Stallions’ games, the league has made plans to share the love. While not yet ready to give each team a home stadium and organize the travel necessary for such a scenario, the league has entertained the idea of providing one of the teams in their North Division the same advantage that Birmingham enjoyed. The four teams in the North Division that could potentially play host next season are the Michigan Panthers, the New Jersey Generals, the Philadelphia Stars, and the Pittsburgh Maulers.
I think it would be better if all the teams were in cities without NFL teams as fans are likely not to bother paying attention to their city’s USFL team if they already have an NFL team (unless the NFL is horrifically bad). Possible cities could be: St. Louis, Milwaukee, Oakland, San Diego, San Antonio, Albuquerque, Tucson, Portland, or Salt Lake City.
Your typical football fan has no interest in the addition of these 3rd rate leagues or pointless attempts to expand to Europe…the just want to see the quality of play in the NFL improve.
The league is having sellers remorse getting rid of the European teams. At least in Europe, people came to the games. And since the NFL has been exploring ways to re-open that market, it would have been better just to front them instead.
The USFL couldn’t give away tickets. The attendance, from when I clicked on the game was about 20-40 people.
Europeans go to the games because the alternative is staying home and watching Coronation Street or Antique Roadshow. Frankly, I’d choose ARS over the USFL in a heartbeat…lol.
I’ve watched the USFL all season and it’s better than watching any other sport on TV. These guys are all great football players. Obviously there’s a big talent difference but there’s definitely guys on NFL 53 man rosters who could be swapped out. How do they not mention Victor Bolden Jr? Spring/ summer football has been great. I look forward to my weekends watching USFL. I’m the only one I know that watches it, it’s definitely sad, it’s definitely true that they couldn’t give away tickets to fill the seats. If I lived closer I would have been at every game. More football players deserve chances to show what they can do in the spotlight. And anyone reading this, give the USFL a chance, give these kids another shot at making it. The reality is it may not last forever so I’m going to enjoy it while it lasts.
Jeff Fisher? Why does this guy keep getting chances?
he’s coaching in the USFL not the NFL… But he also has 173 wins in the NFL so clearly he’s a decent coach
Whatever talents Jeff Fisher had have disappeared into the sands of time. All that’s left are character flaws.
Brownsbacker9. Would like to see Jeff Fisher replaced after this season. Not head coach caliber but you can never take away his experiences in the NFL even if they aren’t all good experiences.
He was hired most likely because of his name. A new league needs names and they usually aren’t getting it from the players
7-9. He coached a long time. I realize he’s in the USFL but I wouldn’t even give him a chance there. It’s clearly for name recognition and not from his success.
moved
Stadium is pretty busy for the championship!! Let’s go! Greatest country in the world.
I’m curious as to why we have such specific timetables for secondary leagues’ success. How long was the NFL in existence before being buoyed by bloated T.V. contracts? How long was it an afterthought nationally in the United States?
Seventy years ago, if I had told you that football would be the runaway choice for most popular sport in the country and that baseball would be a fading third, you would probably eat your shoe. Or someone’s shoe. The NFL did not grow over night, or even the course of many nights. It happened in phases, and lost a lot of teams along the way. Of course, it also didn’t have a massive established power to compete with. There’s no saying that the USFL will ever be successful at all, and I have doubts that it will last even half as long as its predecessor. If it does succeed, though, it’s going to have to survive for wayyy longer than a handful of seasons. It’s impossible to say right now what will happen. If it’s still around after some years, we can revisit the question.
I really wish I could give this more than one upvote. I haven’t found any restaurants that offer gourmet shoe eating. Perhaps Ak185 has some recipes to share for those who prefer a delicious footwear meal at home. Is it true that roasted Nike tastes just like chicken?
After you brine them, Nikes taste like really authentic Vietnamese food for some reason.
The wife invited the in-laws to have dinner with us later this week so what wine would go best with Birkenstock stew?
Sweat and vegan Californian gravel, preferably a 2016.