Portland Breakers

The Portland Breakers were an American football team that played in the United States Football League (USFL) in the mid-1980s. Before moving to Portland, Oregon, the franchise was previously in Boston, Massachusetts as the Boston Breakers and New Orleans, Louisiana as the New Orleans Breakers.[1]

This article is about the men's American football club. For the women's soccer club of a similar name, see Boston Breakers. For other uses, see Boston Breakers (disambiguation).
Portland Breakers
Founded1982
Folded1985
Relocated1984, 1985
Based inBoston, Massachusetts (1983)
New Orleans, Louisiana (1984)
Portland, Oregon (1985)
Home fieldNickerson Field (1983)
Louisiana Superdome (1984)
Civic Stadium (1985)
LeagueUSFL (1983–1985)
ConferenceEastern Conference (1984)
Western Conference (1985)
DivisionAtlantic Division (1983)
Southern Division (1984)
Team HistoryBoston Breakers (1983)
New Orleans Breakers (1984)
Portland Breakers (1985)
Team colorsBreaker Blue, Royal Blue, Silver, White                    
Head coaches1983–1985 Dick Coury (25-29)
Owner(s)1983 George Matthews and Randy Vataha
1984 Joseph Canizaro, Neal Kaye Sr. and Randy Vataha
1985 Joseph Canizaro

History

Boston Breakers

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–far and away the smallest stadium in the league.[2] The team's cheerleaders were called "Heartbreakers."

Coach Dick Coury put together a fairly competitive team led by QB Johnnie Walton (then 36 years old, a former Continental Football League and World Football League alumnus who had been out of football since the late 1970s) and Canadian Football League Veteran HB 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 7th ranked passer. Coury was named coach of the year.

Despite fielding a fairly solid team, playing in Nickerson doomed the team in Boston. The stadium had been built in 1955 (though parts of it dated to 1915), 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 less than 14,000 per game in 1983. The other 10 teams drew over 18,000 per game. (What fans did come to the games were generally passionate; the documentary Small Potatoes: Who Killed the USFL? made note of a particular Breakers victory in which fans stormed the field afterward.)

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 seriously 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. (Bullard would ultimately land an expansion franchise, the Jacksonville Bulls.) After floating offers to move to Seattle, Honolulu and Portland, Matthews ultimately 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.[2]

1983 Boston Breakers schedule
Week Day Date Opponent Game site Attendance Television Final score W/L Record
Regular Season
1 Sunday March 6, 1983 at Tampa Bay Bandits Tampa Stadium 42,437 17–21 L 0–1
2 Sunday March 13, 1983 at Denver Gold Mile High Stadium 41,926 21–7 W 1–1
3 Sunday March 20, 1983 Washington Federals Nickerson Field 18,430 19–16 W 2–1
4 Sunday March 27, 1983 at New Jersey Generals Giants Stadium 41,218 31–21 W 3–1
5 Saturday April 2, 1983 Birmingham Stallions Nickerson Field 10,976 ABC 27–16 W 4–1
6 Sunday April 10, 1983 Oakland Invaders Nickerson Field 7,984 ABC 7–26 L 4–2
7 Sunday April 17, 1983 at Arizona Wranglers Sun Devil Stadium 20,911 44–23 W 5–2
8 Sunday April 24, 1983 at Philadelphia Stars Veterans Stadium 10,257 ABC 16–23 L 5–3
9 Sunday May 1, 1983 Michigan Panthers Nickerson Field 10,971 24–28 L 5–4
10 Saturday May 7, 1983 at Los Angeles Express Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum 16,307 ESPN 20–23 L 5–5
11 Sunday May 15, 1983 Denver Gold Nickerson Field 4,173 17–9 W 6–5
12 Sunday May 22, 1983 at Washington Federals RFK Stadium 7,303 21–14 W 7–5
13 Sunday May 29, 1983 Philadelphia Stars Nickerson Field 15,668 ABC 21–17 W 8–5
14 Monday June 6, 1983 Chicago Blitz Nickerson Field 15,087 ESPN 21–15 W 9–5
15 Sunday June 12, 1983 at Birmingham Stallions Legion Field 20,500 ESPN 19–31 L 9–6
16 Sunday June 19, 1983 Tampa Bay Bandits Nickerson Field 15,530 ESPN 24–17 W 10–6
17 Saturday June 25, 1983 at Oakland Invaders Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum 30,396 ESPN 16–17 L 10–7
18 Sunday July 3, 1983 New Jersey Generals Nickerson Field 15,798 34–10 W 11–7

Sources[3][4][5]

New Orleans Breakers

In New Orleans, the team played in the spacious Louisiana Superdome, also home to the NFL's New Orleans Saints. They started out the season 5-0, and all signs pointed to them running away with the Southern Division. However, they only won three more games to finish 8-10. This included a 35-0 thrashing by the Philadelphia Stars and losses in their last six games. In spite of adding NFL star TE Dan Ross and rookie HBs Buford Jordan and Marcus Dupree (whose signing was technically against USFL rules as he was underage), the team struggled. Walton was inconsistent and ultimately retired after the season, while Dupree would experience constant problems with his knees throughout his time with the Breakers.

Years later, defensive lineman Jeff Gaylord recalled that the Breakers' slide came because many of his teammates were sucked into New Orleans' drug culture. According to Gaylord, cocaine use ran rampant in the locker room, and its lure was too much for many of his teammates who had grown up poor.[6]

On the positive side, New Orleans supported the team well, averaging 30,557 per game. Many of them came to see Dupree, who grew up in neighboring Mississippi. Jordan ran for 1,276 yards (4th in the league), and Ross and WR Frank Lockett had strong years.

After the season, the league owners decided to go for broke and move to the fall starting in 1986. This put teams like New Orleans, Michigan, and Philadelphia in an awkward situation. Canizaro knew that the Breakers could not hope to compete with the Saints, and opted to move before the 1985 season rather than play a lame duck season in New Orleans.

1984 New Orleans Breakers schedule
Week Day Date Opponent Game site Attendance Television Final score W/L Record
Preseason
1 Bye —
2 Bye —
3 Saturday February 11, 1984 at Birmingham Stallions Legion Field 12,000 10–30 L 0–1
4 Saturday February 18, 1984 vs. Memphis Showboats Cajun Field 20–0 W 1–1
Regular Season
1 Sunday February 26, 1984 at San Antonio Gunslingers Alamo Stadium 18,233 13–10 W 1–0
2 Sunday March 4, 1984 at Oakland Invaders Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum 41,200 13–0 W 2–0
3 Sunday March 12, 1984 Memphis Showboats Louisiana Superdome 45,269 37–14 W 3–0
4 Monday March 19, 1984 at Jacksonville Bulls Gator Bowl Stadium 48,303 ESPN 38–9 W 4–0
5 Sunday March 25, 1984 Chicago Blitz Louisiana Superdome 43,692 ABC 41–35 OT W 5–0
6 Monday April 2, 1984 at Birmingham Stallions Legion Field 28,100 ESPN 17–31 L 5–1
7 Sunday April 8, 1984 Pittsburgh Maulers Louisiana Superdome 39,315 ABC 27–24 W 6–1
8 Monday April 16, 1984 Tampa Bay Bandits Louisiana Superdome 35,634 ESPN 13–35 L 6–2
9 Sunday April 22, 1984 Denver Gold Louisiana Superdome 22,139 ABC 20–18 W 7–2
10 Friday April 27, 1984 at Philadelphia Stars Veterans Stadium 34,011 0–35 L 7–3
11 Monday May 7, 1984 Arizona Wranglers Louisiana Superdome 22,937 ESPN 13–28 L 7–4
12 Sunday May 13, 1984 Michigan Panthers Louisiana Superdome 21,053 ABC 10–3 W 8–4
13 Sunday May 20, 1984 at Tampa Bay Bandits Tampa Stadium 42,592 ABC 20–31 L 8–5
14 Sunday May 27, 1984 Birmingham Stallions Louisiana Superdome 23,748 ABC 14–31 L 8–6
15 Friday June 1, 1984 at Memphis Showboats Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium 31,198 17–20 L 8–7
— Friday June 8, 1984 at New Jersey Generals Giants Stadium Postponed; rescheduled for June 10.
16 Sunday June 10, 1984 at New Jersey Generals Giants Stadium 23,114 ABC 21–31 L 8–8
17 Friday June 15, 1984 Jacksonville Bulls Louisiana Superdome 21,233 17–20 OT L 8–9
18 Sunday June 24, 1984 at Washington Federals RFK Stadium 6,386 17–20 L 8–10

Sources[7][8][9]

Portland Breakers

Searching for a home, Canizaro considered moving to Sacramento and Columbus, and even weighed merging with the Birmingham Stallions. However, he was particularly intrigued when he visited Portland. It was a fairly large market with a reasonably adequate facility by USFL standards in 32,000 seat Civic Stadium (the stadium capacity has since been reduced). The move to Portland was announced on November 13, 1984.[1] It marked a return home of sorts for Coury, who had led the World Football League's Portland Storm in 1974. Initially, Portland seemed to welcome the Breakers with open arms. The Breakers sold out 6,000 of its highest-priced tickets within twelve hours.[2]

On the field the team struggled, as the strain of playing in three cities in three years finally caught up with them. The team opted to go with former Jacksonville starter Matt Robinson as Walton's replacement, rather than seeking a more proven USFL QB without a home, like Craig Penrose, Alan Risher, or Mike Hohensee, or trading for someone like Oakland's Fred Besana, or even signing an NFL vet. Robinson ultimately proved to not be an adequate replacement for Walton, finishing with a 62.6 QB rating. HB Jordan did have another strong year with over 800 yards as did Lockett. However, their season effectively ended when Dupree suffered a season-ending knee injury in the season opener. While they managed to upend four playoff teams, they never recovered from a six-game losing streak and finished 6-12.

The Breakers were one of nine teams slated to play in the USFL's first fall season, and were slated to be one of only two teams west of the Mississippi River. However, they had only drawn 19,919 per game, nowhere near enough to break even. This was partly because Civic Stadium was located in an area of downtown with little parking (a stop on the MAX Light Rail line would not open for another decade).[2] With such meager attendance, meeting payroll became an adventure. At one point midway through the season, the players were only paid every other week. With four games to go, the checks stopped coming altogether.[6] They were forced to waive their entire roster after missing their final payroll. Coury later recalled that he and his staff never got paid the full salaries stipulated in their contracts.[2]

After talks to merge with other teams failed, Canizaro folded the franchise while the USFL's antitrust suit against the NFL was underway, citing over $17 million in losses over three years. It had been obvious even before Canizaro folded the franchise that the Breakers would never play another down.

Canizaro was the only league owner who moved his team twice and both moves were tremendous distances. There was some discussion of transplanting the Denver Gold organization to Portland, but this idea was ultimately abandoned as the Gold (whose owners opposed moving to the fall) instead merged with the Jacksonville Bulls. The entire league suspended operations not long afterward after it was awarded only $3 in damages.

The Breakers had the distinction of being the only team to play for the entire duration of the USFL for three cities, each season in a different city without relocating mid-season. Unlike many USFL teams, the Breakers never changed their name, logo or colors when they relocated.

1985 Portland Breakers schedule
Week Day Date Opponent Game site Attendance Television Final score W/L Record
Preseason
1 Bye —
2 Saturday February 9, 1985 vs. Denver Gold Pomona, California 9–27 L 0–1
3 Saturday February 16, 1985 vs. Los Angeles Express John Shepard Stadium,
Los Angeles Pierce College,
Los Angeles, California		 5,500 17–38 L 0–2
Regular Season
1 Sunday February 24, 1985 at Arizona Outlaws Sun Devil Stadium 20,351 7–9 L 0–1
2 Saturday March 2, 1985 Los Angeles Express Civic Stadium 25,232 ESPN 14–10 W 1–1
3 Sunday March 10, 1985 at Denver Gold Mile High Stadium 17,870 17–29 L 1–2
4 Saturday March 16, 1985 Orlando Renegades Civic Stadium 25,885 23–17 W 2–2
5 Sunday March 24, 1985 at Houston Gamblers Houston Astrodome 22,031 20–27 L 2–3
6 Monday April 1, 1985 San Antonio Gunslingers Civic Stadium 19,882 ESPN 0–33 L 2–4
7 Saturday April 6, 1985 Oakland Invaders Civic Stadium 23,388 30–17 W 3–4
8 Sunday April 14, 1985 at New Jersey Generals Giants Stadium 38,245 ABC 7–34 L 3–5
9 Sunday April 21, 1985 at Baltimore Stars Byrd Stadium 14,832 17–26 L 3–6
10 Saturday April 27, 1985 at Los Angeles Express Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum 8,410 12–17 L 3–7
11 Monday May 6, 1985 Houston Gamblers Civic Stadium 18,457 ESPN 7–45 L 3–8
12 Saturday May 11, 1985 at Birmingham Stallions Legion Field 28,500 ESPN 0–14 L 3–9
13 Sunday May 19, 1985 Arizona Outlaws Civic Stadium 15,275 21–30 L 3–10
14 Saturday May 25, 1985 Memphis Showboats Civic Stadium 16,682 ESPN 17–14 W 4–10
15 Sunday June 2, 1985 at Oakland Invaders Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum 12,740 20–38 L 4–11
16 Saturday June 8, 1985 Tampa Bay Bandits Civic Stadium 15,521 27–24 W 5–11
17 Friday June 14, 1985 Denver Gold Civic Stadium 18,953 ESPN 23–17 W 6–11
18 Sunday June 23, 1985 at San Antonio Gunslingers Alamo Stadium 19,603 13–21 L 6–12

Sources[10][11][12]

Top "name" players

Among the top "name" players that the Breakers had were LB Marcus Marek, HB Marcus Dupree of OU, QB Johnnie Walton, K Tim Mazzetti, QB Matt Robinson, HB Buford Jordan, P Jeff Gossett, OT Broderick Thompson and TE Dan Ross.

Coaches and executives

Coury was the team's coach for all three seasons. He was no stranger to Portland, having coached the Storm of the World Football League in 1974. Defensive coordinator was the late Pokey Allen who would later take Portland State University to two national championship games. The Offensive coordinator during the 1983 season was College Football Hall of Fame and former NFL Most Valuable Player Roman Gabriel. After the 1984 season, Jim Fassel was hired as Offensive coordinator, but after five months on the job, he left to become Head Coach at the University of Utah. In 1985, the Offensive coordinator was Pete Kettela, a former head coach of the Edmonton Eskimos. Allen would hire former Breaker executive Steven "Dream" Weaver as his marketing director and whose publicity stunts raised his Portland State teams to a national acclaim. The team president for the Portland Breakers was the legendary John Ralston, who was also a founder of the USFL. Other executives included Jack Galmiche, John Brunelle and Brian Feldman. Feldman was the only executive who worked in all three cities.

Single-season leaders
  • Rushing Yards: 1,296 (1984), Buford Jordan
  • Receiving Yards: 1,189 (1984), Frank Lockett
  • Passing Yards: 3,772 (1983), Johnnie Walton

Season-by-season
Season records
SeasonWLTFinishPlayoff results
Boston Breakers
198311702nd Atlantic--
New Orleans Breakers
198481003rd EC Southern--
Portland Breakers
198561205th WC--
Totals25290

Head coaches
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References
  1. Baum, Bob (November 14, 1984). "Portland latest home of Breakers". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. p. 1D.
  2. Reeths, Paul (2017). The United States Football League, 1982-1986. McFarland & Company. ISBN 1476667446.
  3. statscrew.com 1983 Boston Breakers Game-by-Game Results
  4. usflsite.com 1983 USFL Season
  5. profootballarchives.com 1983 Boston Breakers (USFL)
  6. Pearlman, Jeff (2018). Football For A Buck: The Crazy Rise and Crazier Demise of the USFL. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. ISBN 978-0544454385.
  7. statscrew.com 1984 New Orleans Breakers Game-by-Game Results Retrieved December 28, 2018
  8. usflsite.com 1984 USFL Season Retrieved December 28, 2018
  9. profootballarchives.com 1984 New Orleans Breakers (USFL) Retrieved December 28, 2018
  10. statscrew.com 1985 Portland Breakers Game-by-Game Results
  11. usflsite.com 1985 USFL Season Retrieved December 28, 2018
  12. profootballarchives.com 1985 Portland Breakers (USFL) Retrieved December 28, 2018
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