Houston Gamblers
| Houston Gamblers | |
| Founded | 1984 |
| Folded | 1985 |
| Based in | Houston, Texas, United States |
| Home field | Houston Astrodome |
| League | USFL |
| Conference | Western Conference |
| Division | Central Division |
| Team History | Houston Gamblers (1984-85) |
| Team Colors | Black, Gambler Red, Gray, White, Yellow-Gold
|
| Head coaches | 1984-5 Jack Pardee (23-15) |
| Owner(s) | 1984 Alvin Lubetkin, Bernard Lerner, Dr. Jerry Argovitz, Fred Gerson 1985 Alvin Lubetkin, Dr. Jerry Argovitz, |
| Division championships | 1984 |
The Houston Gamblers were an American football team that competed in the United States Football League in 1984 and 1985. The Gamblers were coached by veteran NFL head coach Jack Pardee in both their seasons. They were noteworthy for introducing former Middletown (Ohio) High School football coach Glenn "Tiger" Ellison's Run & Shoot offense to the world of pro football.
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[edit] The Run & Shoot puts the USFL on the map
Run & Shoot advocate and chief refiner Darell "Mouse" Davis was hired by the progressive Pardee to install the offense as the team's Offensive Coordinator. (Davis was a former head coach at Portland State University where he developed the St. Louis Cardinals 2 time Pro Bowl QB Neil Lomax.) Led by former Miami Hurricanes QB Jim Kelly (who snubbed the NFL's Buffalo Bills to play in the USFL) the Gamblers wrecked secondaries across the USFL, getting national media attention in demolishing the league's single season scoring record. (The Gamblers scored 618 points in 1984. The 1983 USFL record was 456.) Kelly became the USFL's answer to the NFL's Dan Marino, and the league's second superstar player (after Herschel Walker).
The Gamblers also got the attention of a few NFL teams. The run & shoot offense would be adopted as the base set for the Detroit Lions, Atlanta Falcons and the Houston Oilers. All 3 teams were in the upper half of the league in scoring while using the run & shoot. In spite of this fact, the offense was widely discredited as a gimmick in the NFL when none of the 3 teams won a Super Bowl. Even after those teams moved away from the run & shoot as their base sets, the influence of Mouse Davis and Jim Kelly left a lasting impact on the league. In the 1970s most teams ran the 2 back "pro-set" as their base offense with fixed routes. Today, almost all NFL teams incorporate extensive packages of 4 WR sets and option routes for WRs depending on coverages faced, innovations that are the basis of the run & shoot.
[edit] The Playoffs, 1985, and Beyond
The Gamblers appeared in the playoffs in each of their two seasons, but suffered narrow first-round defeats both times. In 1984, the expansion Gamblers finished the regular season with the best record in the Western conference and were the favorites in the West to go to the championship game. They held a 16-3 lead over George Allen's star laden Arizona Wranglers with just 7 minutes remaining before falling 17-16 in a furious Wrangler comeback. The Wranglers would go on to play in the 1984 Championship Game.
Following the August 22, 1984 USFL Owners meeting where the majority of owners decided to move to the fall, things started to crumble for the league, especially for teams in cities with existing NFL teams, like the Gamblers. Kelly, one of the more public faces of the USFL, voiced the concerns of many fans when he called the schedule switch "100 percent" wrong, saying, "It's the worst thing they could have done."
The Run N' Shoot attack of the Gamblers grew even stronger in 1985. With the departure of "Mouse" Davis to the Denver Gold, innovator and future face of the Run N' Shoot John Jenkins took over as offensive coordinator. Jenkins version of the Run N' Shoot brought more complexity and excitement to the Gamblers. In the first game of the season against the LA Express, down 31 - 13 with 8 minutes left in the 4th Quarter, the Gamblers unleashed the first ever no huddle offense before a 2 minute drill in a professional football game (would later become Jim Kellys base offense with the Buffalo Bills). The Gamblers due to the "Hurry Up" would come back to win the game 34 - 33 which Sports Illistrated dubbed The Greatest Game Never Seen because it was not televised. In the first 5 games in 85, Jim Kelly had one of the hottest starts in professional football history. In Week 4 the Gamblers beat Mouse Davis's Denver Gold 36 - 17 in the first ever Spread Run N' Shoot verses Spread Run N' Shoot Game which is now the norm for professional football. After this game Jim Kelly was on pace to throw for 7,434 yards and 78 touchdowns. But due to a leg injury to Kelly, he fell way short of that mark missing 6 games of the regular season. However, if you combine Kelly's and back up quarterback Todd Dillon's stats together, they threw for a combined 6,118 yards (Professional American Football Record). The Gamblers offense also set a record for the first time ever in profesional football, had 3 receivers catch over 1,000 yards in Clarence Verdin, Gerald McNeil, and Richard Johnson. The team made the playoffs with a 10-8 record and again lost in a nailbiter to an excellent team, the 13-5 veteran, Cliff Stoudt/Joe Cribbs/Jim Smith-led Birmingham Stallions, 22-20.
The ownership of the Gamblers ran into financial difficulty in the team's second season. While the Gamblers had been a solid draw the year before, area fans were not about to abandon the Houston Oilers. Attendance dropped by almost 9,000 from 1984. At one point, the Gamblers had trouble making payroll, and needed an advance through the league just to go to the playoffs. Facing an expensive move to the fall and knowing they could not hope to compete with the Oilers, the owners decided to get out. After briefly entertaining an offer to move to New York City, they agreed to sell the Gamblers' assets to New Jersey Generals owner Donald Trump for an undisclosed amount. Trump then merged the Gamblers with the Generals for the 1986 season. The Generals would have Jim Kelly at QB and Herschel Walker at RB, leading observers to dub it the USFL's "dream team." Kelly was even featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated in a Generals uniform. That season however would never be played. [1]
The most notable players on the team were Kelly, future Washington Redskins wide receiver Ricky Sanders, future Detroit Lions wide receiver Richard Johnson, future Indianapolis Colts kick returner Clarence Verdin, and future Cleveland Browns wide receiver Gerald McNeil. Todd Fowler, the featured running back on the team, was also notable as the first USFL player the rival NFL signed away from the league in 1985 (by the Dallas Cowboys).
[edit] Single season leaders
- Rushing Yards: 1009 (1984), Todd Fowler
- Receiving Yards: 1445 (1984), Richard Johnson
- Passing Yards: 5219 (1984), Jim Kelly (also league record)
[edit] Season-by-season
Note: W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties
| Season | W | L | T | Finish | Playoff results |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1984 | 13 | 5 | 0 | 1st WC Central | Lost Quarterfinal (Arizona) |
| 1985 | 10 | 8 | 0 | 3rd WC | Lost Quarterfinal (Birmingham) |
| Totals | 23 | 15 | 0 | (including playoffs) | |
[edit] External links
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