Tampa Bay Football History Network - Tampa Bay Bandits Prologue

Tampa Bay Bandits Prologue

There have been quite a few professional football leagues formed over the years. Taking on the National Football League, which has been around since 1920, has proven to be a pretty stiff challenge for most of the upstarts. The exceptions, twice the NFL agreed to merge with the competition, are the AAFC and the AFL. The All-American Football Conference operated for four seasons, from 1946 to 1949, before four AAFC teams were brought into the NFL. The most serious challenge came from the AFL, which was actually the fourth American Football League, in 1960. That AFL lasted ten seasons and all ten franchises joined the NFL. The United States Football League was founded on a different concept. They were going to play in the spring.

The formation of the United States Football League was officially announced at a press conference at the 21 Club in New York City on May 11, 1982. One of the franchises would be placed in Tampa Bay and be owned by John Bassett. The other charter members of the twelve team league were the Arizona Wranglers, Birmingham Stallions, Boston Breakers, Chicago Blitz, Denver Gold, Los Angeles Express, Michigan Panthers, New Jersey Generals, Oakland Invaders, Philadelphia Stars and Washington Federals. The league said it would develop its own stars and not compete directly with the National Football League for players. Chet Simmons, an executive with the ESPN cable TV network and former president of NBC Sports, was named as the first USFL commissioner. The league obtained television contracts with ABC to broadcast one game a week and ESPN for two games each week.

John Bassett was well known as the owner of several prior sports franchises and had been a Davis Cup tennis player for the Canadian team. At one time, he had minority ownership in the Canadian Football League's Toronto Argonauts and owned the Ottawa Nationals of the old World Hockey Association. Bassett had experience forming a new football league and had owned a team in the World Football League. In 1974, the WFL took on the NFL. The original plans called for franchises in Mexico City, Rome, Toronto and Toyko, hence the name World Football League. Bassett was to be the owner of the Toronto Northmen, however, something called the Canadian Football Act was enacted to protect the Canadian Football League from competition. The cost of operating other foreign teams proved too prohibitive. There were rumors Bassett would relocate to Buffalo or Seattle, before settling on Tennessee and renaming the team the Memphis Southmen. Bassett's experience at operating a sports franchise showed. When the Southmen played their first game in July of 1974, Elvis Presley sang the national anthem. In one of the most significant player acquisitions in the history of professional sports, Bassett paid $3.5 million to bring Miami Dolphins Super Bowl stars Larry Csonka, Jim Kiick and Paul Warfield to the team for the 1975 season. When the WFL folded before the end of its second season, Memphis was one the few teams still able to meet its obligations. The Memphis and Birmingham franchises did apply for membership in the NFL, however, no action was taken on their applications.

On June 25, John Bassett, and Miami attorney Stephen W. Arky, announced a third owner in the team, Burt Reynolds. Reynolds had played football at Florida State and became a limited partner in the Tampa Bay team. Since Reynolds had stared in the movie "Smokey and the Bandit," it was rumored the team was going to be nicknamed the Bandits. The rumors were true, and on August 4, the team officially adopted the nickname Bandits. On September 24, the team logo was revealed, along with the team colors of red, white, silver and black.

There seemed to be two candidates for the head coaching position. Jack Pardee, a former NFL and WFL head coach, and Duke offensive coordinator Steve Spurrier. On November 22, the Bandits announced the 1966 Heisman Trophy winner from the University of Florida, and the quarterback during the Buccaneers' first season, would be the team's head coach. It was Spurrier's first head coaching job. John Bassett said, "He's the youngest head coach in pro football and the only Heisman Trophy winner in Florida."

The Tampa Bay Bandits became the masters of marketing and the Burt Reynolds connection paid off. On November 2, country and western singer Jerry Reed, a friend of Reynolds, released the fight song for the team "BanditBall." Over the winter, billboards and newspaper supplements appeared using Reynolds then girlfriend Loni Anderson. Anderson was pictured in a Bandits jersey with the caption, "All the fun the law allows." The billboards became a hot property, as they disappeared as quickly as they were put up. It is possible that someone still has a copy hanging in their den. There was one mistake in the Anderson advertising, since the USFL footballs had not yet been created, she was holding an official NFL football.

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