1983 Boston Breakers season


The team started out in 1983 as the Boston Breakers, owned by Boston businessman George Matthews and former New England Patriots wide receiver Randy Vataha. However, finding a stadium proved difficult. The lack of a professional-quality stadium had stymied previous attempts at pro football in Boston before the Patriots arrived in 1960.
The largest stadium in the region was Schaefer Stadium in Foxborough, home of the Patriots. However, it was owned by the Sullivan family, owners of the Patriots, and Matthews and Vataha were not willing to have an NFL team as their landlord. As a result, their initial choice for a home facility was Harvard Stadium, but Harvard University rejected them almost out of hand. They finally settled on Nickerson Field on the campus of Boston University, which seated only 21,000 people – the smallest stadium in the league. The team's cheerleaders were called "Heartbreakers".
Coach Dick Coury put together a fairly competitive team led by quarterback Johnnie Walton and Canadian Football League veteran halfback Richard Crump. The Breakers finished 11–7, finishing one game behind the Chicago Blitz for the final playoff spot. Walton, who had retired from pro football years earlier and had spent the previous three years coaching college football, was the league's seventh ranked passer. Coury was named coach of the year.
Despite fielding a fairly solid team, playing in Nickerson Field doomed the team in Boston. The stadium had been built in 1955, and had not aged well. It was so small that the Breakers lost money even when they sold out as visiting teams got a portion of the gate proceeds. The Breakers and Washington Federals were the only teams to draw fewer than 14,000 per game in 1983. The other 10 teams drew over 18,000 per game.
Concluding that Nickerson Field was not suitable even for temporary use, Matthews again approached Harvard, but the school refused again. He then hashed out a deal to move to Foxborough, but ultimately decided against being a tenant of an NFL team. He considered an offer to sell a stake in the team to Jacksonville, Florida businessman Fred Bullard, but pulled out after Bullard proposed firing Coury in favor of Florida State coach Bobby Bowden. After floating offers to move to Seattle, Honolulu, and Portland, Matthews decided to move to New Orleans. He sold a 31 percent interest to New Orleans real estate developer Joe Canizaro, and the move was approved by the USFL on October 18, 1983. Matthews later sold his remaining stake to Canizaro, but Vataha remained as team president.

USFL draft

RoundPickPlayerPositionSchool
214Leonard SmithDefensive BackMcNeese State
335Clint SampsonWide ReceiverSan Diego State
438George HarrisLinebackerHouston
559John TuggleRunning BackCalifornia
662John CourtneyDefensive TackleSouth Carolina State
783Dan DufourCenterUCLA
886Todd SeabaughLinebackerSan Diego State
9102Tom HolmoeDefensive BackBYU
9107Marcus MarekLinebackerOhio State
10110Lorenzo BouierRunning BackMaine
10115Mark BrownLinebackerPurdue
11131Walter RossRunning BackNorthern State
12134Herkie WallsWide ReceiverTexas
12139Jeff TurkDefensive BackBoise State
13155Darral HambrickWide ReceiverUNLV
14158Charles YoungDefensive TackleNorth Texas