1983 Philadelphia Stars season

{{short description|Defunct football team in the USFL}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}}

{{Infobox NFL team season

| logo =

| logo_size =

| team = Philadelphia / Baltimore Stars

| teamcolor =

| year = 1983

| previous = None

| no_prevseason = None

| record = 15–3

| division_place = 1st Atlantic Division

| coach = Jim Mora

| general manager = Carl Peterson

| owner = Myles Tanenbaum

| stadium = Veterans Stadium

| playoffs = Won Divisional Playoffs (vs. Blitz) 44-38 (OT)
Lost USFL Championship (vs. Panthers) 22-24

| uniform =

}}

On May 11, 1982, the announcement of the USFL was officially made by league owner and antique dealer, David Dixon.{{Cite web|url=http://www.usflsite.com/history.php|title = USFL History - USFL (United States Football League)}} The league's Philadelphia team would be owned by real estate developer Myles H. Tanenbaum. He had originally wanted to name the team the Stallions in honor of Rocky Balboa, who was nicknamed "The Italian Stallion." However, when the Birmingham entry snapped up the Stallions name, Tanenbaum settled on "Stars."

George Perles was originally named as the team's head coach in July 1982. Perles, previously an assistant coach for the NFL's Pittsburgh Steelers, never coached a game for the Stars, opting to take the head coach position for Michigan State instead. On January 15, 1983, the Stars hired Jim Mora to be their head coach.{{Cite web |url=http://usflrevisited.webs.com/phi.htm |title=PHI - United States Football League - Revisited |access-date=2017-05-08 |archive-date=2015-04-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150410034457/http://usflrevisited.webs.com/phi.htm |url-status=dead }}

The Stars began in Philadelphia in the USFL's inaugural 1983 season and played their home games at Veterans Stadium (the "Vet"). They compiled the league's best regular season record of {{winning percentage|15|3|record=y}}, and advanced to the 1983 USFL championship game. Their "Doghouse Defense" allowed only 204 points in an 18-game season—the least in the history of the league. The Stars were led by fourth-year quarterback Chuck Fusina (1978 Heisman Trophy runner-up), fifth-year wide receiver Scott Fitzkee, rookie halfback Kelvin Bryant of North Carolina, rookie offensive tackle Irv Eatman of UCLA, rookie linebacker Sam Mills, and second-year safety Scott Woerner. The team also featured Towson's all-star rookie punter Sean Landeta. At the conclusion of the regular season, Bryant was named the USFL's Player of the Year by the Associated Press.{{Cite web |url=http://usflrevisited.webs.com/standingsawards.htm |title=Standings/Awards - United States Football League - Revisited |access-date=2017-05-08 |archive-date=2015-04-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150428121411/http://usflrevisited.webs.com/standingsawards.htm |url-status=dead }}

The Stars entered the playoffs as the top-seeded team. In the Semi-Finals, the Stars defeated the preseason favorites to win the 1983 title—George Allen's Chicago Blitz—by withstanding seven turnovers and erasing a 21-point deficit in the fourth quarter to win 44–38 in overtime.{{cite news |url=http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1983/07/10/page/33/article/blitz-has-big-fall-off-21-point-perch |work=Chicago Tribune |last=Jauss |first=Bill |title=Blitz has big fall off 21-point perch |date=July 10, 1983 |page=1, sec. 3}}{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=TdcxAAAAIBAJ&sjid=muMFAAAAIBAJ&pg=4308%2C5773119 |work=Reading Eagle |location=(Pennsylvania)|last=Zonca |first=Tony |title=Blitz sees Stars in comeback |date=July 10, 1983 |page=73}} In the league title game at Denver's Mile High Stadium on July 17, the Stars lost to Jim Stanley's Michigan Panthers, 24–22.{{cite news |url=http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1983/07/18/page/47/article/michigan-has-magic-touch-in-usfl-title-game |work=Chicago Tribune|last=Jauss |first=Bill|title=Michigan has magic touch in USFL title game |date=July 18, 1983 |page=1, sec. 4}} Just as they had against the Blitz, the Stars opened the game sluggishly, but finished with a flourish, after allowing the Panthers to carry a 17–3 lead into the fourth quarter.{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=OcAxAAAAIBAJ&sjid=SeMFAAAAIBAJ&pg=2158%2C4791410 |work=Reading Eagle |location=(Pennsylvania) |agency=Knight-Ridder |last=Domowitch |first=Paul |title=A final rally for title not in Stars |date=July 18, 1983 |page=17}}{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Fjo0AAAAIBAJ&sjid=r-4DAAAAIBAJ&pg=5117%2C1298192 |work=Spokesman-Review |location=(Spokane, Washington) |agency=Associated Press |last=Lowitt |first=Bruce |title=Panthers tops stars for crown |date=July 18, 1983|page=13}} Many observers of the time believed that the Stars, Panthers and Blitz were almost NFL-quality units.

One of the few blemishes on the Stars' first season was the box office. They only attracted 18,650 fans per game. In addition to bad weather, there were lingering memories of a gate-papering scandal involving the World Football League's Philadelphia Bell in 1974. The Bell had claimed that a total of over 120,000 fans had attended their first two games, but it subsequently emerged that all but 19,000 of the tickets had been given away for free or for significantly reduced prices.