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 (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 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 (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 fewer than 14,000 per game in 1983. The other 10 teams drew over 18,000 per game. (The fans who came 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 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 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.

Personnel

Staff

Roster

USFL draft

Round Pick Player Position School214Leonard SmithDefensive BackMcNeese State335Clint SampsonWide ReceiverSan Diego State438George HarrisLinebackerHouston559John TuggleRunning BackCalifornia662John CourtneyDefensive TackleSouth Carolina State783Dan DufourCenterUCLA886Todd SeabaughLinebackerSan Diego State9102Tom HolmoeDefensive BackBYU9107Marcus MarekLinebackerOhio State10110Lorenzo BouierRunning BackMaine10115Mark BrownLinebackerPurdue11131Walter RossRunning BackNorthern State 12134Herkie WallsWide ReceiverTexas12139Jeff TurkDefensive BackBoise State13155Darral HambrickWide ReceiverUNLV14158Charles YoungDefensive TackleNorth Texas

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

Standings

Awards Award Winner Position All-USFL Team Marcus Marek LB All-USFL Team Tim Mazzetti K USFL Coach of the Year Dick Coury Head coach USFL Coach of the Year (TSN) Dick Coury Head coach

Final statistics Offense Breakers Passing C/ATTYdsTDINTJohn Walton330/58937722018Doug Woodward16/2613631Tim Mazzetti1/11500Charlie Smith0/1000Breakers Rushing CarYdsTDLGRichard Crump190990862Tony Davis139443621Anthony Steels55237118Dennis Johnson44165120Andy Johnson1362014John Walton1232210Doug Woodward428012Derek Hughes61507Charlie Smith31308Frank Lockett8–707Mitch Hoopes1–110–11Joe Restic1–210–21Breakers ReceivingRecYdsTDLGNolan Franz62848450Charlie Smith541009558Richard Crump44315422Tony Davis42260118Frank Lockett37535386Beau Coash25343144Dennis Johnson23110112Anthony Steels20148327Andy Johnson17150022Louie Giammona1375116David Bayle7106022Dwayne Strozier112012Chris Combs111011Billy Taylor1101

Defense Breakers SacksSacksDaryl Wilkerson6.0Ray Philips6.0Larry McClain6.0Jeff Gaylord4.0Oudious Lee4.0Terry Love3.0Ben Needham2.0Charles Harbison2.0Bill Roe2.0Joe Restic2.0Ernie Price1.0Robert Geathers1.0Billy Don Jackson1.0Marcus Tarver1.0Marcus Marek1.0

Breakers InterceptionsIntYdsTDLGPDWoodrow Wilson445032Marcus Marek423010Ben Needham31008Joe Restic3808Terry Love31050102Charles Harbison266046Tim Smith250031Ray Philips21207Lyndell Jones133033Mike Brewington110010M.L. Carter1000

Breakers FumblesFFFmbFRYdsTDRichard Crump9300Tony Davis7300Andy Johnson4100Dave Riley3100John Walton3100Woodrow Wilson3100Nolan Franz2100Dennis Johnson2000Ira Matthews2000Daryl Wilkerson12150David Bayle1000Derek Hughes1100Mike Katolin1000Oudious Lee1100Frank Lockett1300Charlie Smith1100Tim Smith1000Anthony Steels1000Doug Woodward1100

Special teams Breakers KickingFGM–FGAXPM–XPATim Mazzetti27-3538-38

Breakers PuntingPntYdsLngBlckDario Casarino552345720Mitch Hoopes23866600Joe Restic11386510

Breakers Kick ReturnsRetYdsTDLngWoodrow Wilson15336043Ira Matthews13210027Anthony Steels13204026Derek Hughes6123025Louie Giammona483027Frank Lockett266040Charlie Smith345022Charles Harbison218010Bill Gompf118018Richard Crump113013Ben Needham1505

Breakers Punt ReturnsRetYdsTDLngWoodrow Wilson15122026Anthony Steels845012Louie Giammona1044013Nolan Franz529010Ira Matthews315010

References