USFL Teams: Boston Breakers

By Wikipedia

The Boston/New Orleans/Portland Breakers were a professional football team that played in the United States Football League in the mid Awesome80s.

At a glance... Franchise Facts Established 1982 Located Boston (1983) New Orleans (1984) Portland (1985) Owners George Matthews (1983) Randy Vataha (1983) Joseph Canizaro (1984-85) Records   W L T % 1983  11 7 0 .611 1984  8 10 0 .444 1985  6 12 0 .333 Postseason/Titles None   Nicknames Breakers Stadium Nickerson Field (1983) (20,535) Superdome (1984) (69,658) Civic Stadium (1985) (32,500)

The team started out in 1983 as the Boston Breakers. They had hoped to play at Foxboro Stadium, then the home of the NFL's New England Patriots. When this failed to materialize, they were forced to play at Nickerson Field on the campus of Boston University, a rather antiquated facility that seated only 21,000.

See also: 1983 Breakers, 1984 Breakers, 1985 Breakers

This was an untenable situation for an organization that was attempting to be part of a major sports league; when no suitable solution to the venue problem could be found in the Boston area, the team's management decided to move it. They relocated for the 1984 season to New Orleans, Louisiana and became the New Orleans Breakers. Here, they played in the Louisiana Superdome, also home to the NFL's New Orleans Saints. Thus, when the USFL announced its plans to play a fall schedule, the team was forced to move again to Portland, Oregon in 1985 and became the Portland Breakers. The proposed fall play never happened as the team, and the entire league, folded after the 1985 season when the USFL's antitrust suit resulted in its being awarded only $3 in damages.

The only real "name" player that the Breakers had was Marcus Dupree who played in 1984 and 1985 for them. The lack of name players did not prevent the 1983 squad from going 11-7.

Unlike many other USFL teams, the Breakers never changed their name, logo or colors when they relocated.

Single Season Leaders

• Rushing Yards: 1296 (1984), Buford Jordan
• Receiving Yards: 1189 (1984), Frank Lockett
• Passing Yards: 3772 (1983), John Walton

USFL Bibliography
Books:
The $1 League: The Rise and Fall of the USFL by Jim Byrne
The Sporting News Official USFL Guide and Register, 1984
The Sporting News Official USFL Guide and Register, 1985
USFL Media Guides (each team published one each year)

Magazines:
Kickoff Magazine (published by league; 9 issues per year + playoffs; sold at games)
The Sporting News (regular coverage + special "preview" inserts)

These and many other USFL items can be found at eBay - check our links on the far right of this page!