Tonight I dove into my USFL book.
Perhaps that’s a bit unclear, so lemme try again.
For the past, oh, two years I’ve been slaving over a book about the old United States Football League. It’s been an absolute labor of love. It doesn’t pay well, it’s not a topic that automatically sells, many people under the age of, oh, 30 have no idea the USFL even existed. But I believe in this book and I love this book, so I’ve interviewed more than 400 players, coaches, administrators, reporters, fans—and now I’m pretty much done.
A few days ago, however, someone from NFL Films asked if I was planning on attending the upcoming Philadelphia Stars reunion.
“Um, the what?”
It turns out the Stars were reuniting this weekend in Philadelphia—coincidentally, the same time I was going to be vacationing in central Pennsylvania, roughly two hours from the City of Brotherly Love. So I called the organizer, asked if it’d be cool if I attended … and, well, I went.
My one-word assessment: Awesome.
The reunion was held in a South Philly bar and restaurant. Roughly, oh, 40 members (players, coaches, execs) of the USFL’s two-time title holders attended, ranging from Carl Peterson and Jim Mora to Chuck Fusina and William Fuller. I’m pretty sure this was my first-ever team reunion, and it felt very much like members of a military platoon coming together 30 years post-Vietnam. Why? Because even with the decades having passed, and the muscle transformed into fat, and the hair replaced by bald, and athletic struts replaced by careful shuffles, those assembled embraced as if they were long-lost brothers. There were no racial divides, no political divides, no geographical divides. The love was tangible, and easily displayed via thick hugs and deep laughs.
From a personal standpoint, I was overcome by glee. The USFL has been my life. I’ve dug, absorbed, embraced. And here, at long last, was the ending I sought. No, the men were not famous or (for the most part) wealthy. There were no autograph seekers, and Philly doesn’t long for the Stars or the USFL.
But if bonds matter, this was the most important night of these people’s lives.
That’s priceless.
