# 1983 Boston Breakers season

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.

## USFL Draft

| Round | Pick | Player | Position | School |
| 2 | 14 | Leonard Smith | Defensive Back | McNeese State |
| 3 | 35 | Clint Sampson | Wide Receiver | San Diego State |
| 4 | 38 | George Harris | Linebacker | Houston |
| 5 | 59 | John Tuggle | Running Back | California |
| 6 | 62 | John Courtney | Defensive Tackle | South Carolina State |
| 7 | 83 | Dan Dufour | Center | UCLA |
| 8 | 86 | Todd Seabaugh | Linebacker | San Diego State |
| 9 | 102 | Tom Holmoe | Defensive Back | BYU |
| 9 | 107 | Marcus Marek | Linebacker | Ohio State |
| 10 | 110 | Lorenzo Bouier | Running Back | Maine |
| 10 | 115 | Mark Brown | Linebacker | Purdue |
| 11 | 131 | Walter Ross | Running Back | Northern State |
| 12 | 134 | Herkie Walls | Wide Receiver | Texas |
| 12 | 139 | Jeff Turk | Defensive Back | Boise State |
| 13 | 155 | Darral Hambrick | Wide Receiver | UNLV |
| 14 | 158 | Charles Young | Defensive Tackle | North Texas |

## Schedule

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

## Rewards

| 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/ATT | Yds | TD | INT |
| John Walton | 330/589 | 3772 | 20 | 18 |
| Doug Woodward | 16/26 | 136 | 3 | 1 |
| Tim Mazzetti | 1/1 | 15 | 0 | 0 |
| Charlie Smith | 0/1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Breakers Rushing |||||
| | Car | Yds | TD | LG |
| Richard Crump | 190 | 990 | 8 | 62 |
| Tony Davis | 139 | 443 | 6 | 21 |
| Anthony Steels | 55 | 237 | 1 | 18 |
| Dennis Johnson | 44 | 165 | 1 | 20 |
| Andy Johnson | 13 | 62 | 0 | 14 |
| John Walton | 12 | 32 | 2 | 10 |
| Doug Woodward | 4 | 28 | 0 | 12 |
| Derek Hughes | 6 | 15 | 0 | 7 |
| Charlie Smith | 3 | 13 | 0 | 8 |
| Frank Lockett | 8 | –7 | 0 | 7 |
| Mitch Hoopes | 1 | –11 | 0 | –11 |
| Joe Restic | 1 | –21 | 0 | –21 |
| Breakers Receiving |||||
| | Rec | Yds | TD | LG |
| Nolan Franz | 62 | 848 | 4 | 50 |
| Charlie Smith | 54 | 1009 | 5 | 58 |
| Richard Crump | 44 | 315 | 4 | 22 |
| Tony Davis | 42 | 260 | 1 | 18 |
| Frank Lockett | 37 | 535 | 3 | 86 |
| Beau Coash | 25 | 343 | 1 | 44 |
| Dennis Johnson | 23 | 110 | 1 | 12 |
| Anthony Steels | 20 | 148 | 3 | 27 |
| Andy Johnson | 17 | 150 | 0 | 22 |
| Louie Giammona | 13 | 75 | 1 | 16 |
| David Bayle | 7 | 106 | 0 | 22 |
| Dwayne Strozier | 1 | 12 | 0 | 12 |
| Chris Combs | 1 | 11 | 0 | 11 |
| Billy Taylor | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |

### Defense

Breakers Sacks :
| | Sacks |
| Daryl Wilkerson | 6.0 |
| Ray Philips | 6.0 |
| Larry McClain | 6.0 |
| Jeff Gaylord | 4.0 |
| Oudious Lee | 4.0 |
| Terry Love | 3.0 |
| Ben Needham | 2.0 |
| Charles Harbison | 2.0 |
| Bill Roe | 2.0 |
| Joe Restic | 2.0 |
| Ernie Price | 1.0 |
| Robert Geathers | 1.0 |
| Billy Don Jackson | 1.0 |
| Marcus Tarver | 1.0 |
| Marcus Marek | 1.0 |
Breakers Interceptions :
| | Int | Yds | TD | LG |
| Woodrow Wilson | 4 | 45 | 0 | 32 |
| Marcus Marek | 4 | 23 | 0 | 10 |
| Ben Needham | 3 | 10 | 0 | 8 |
| Joe Restic | 3 | 8 | 0 | 8 |
| Terry Love | 3 | 105 | 0 | 102 |
| Charles Harbison | 2 | 66 | 0 | 46 |
| Tim Smith | 2 | 50 | 0 | 31 |
| Ray Philips | 2 | 12 | 0 | 7 |
| Lyndell Jones | 1 | 33 | 0 | 33 |
| Mike Brewington | 1 | 10 | 0 | 10 |
| M.L. Carter | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Breakers Fumbles :
| | Fmb | FR | Yds | TD |
| Richard Crump | 9 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Tony Davis | 7 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Andy Johnson | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Dave Riley | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| John Walton | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Woodrow Wilson | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Nolan Franz | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Dennis Johnson | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ira Matthews | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Daryl Wilkerson | 1 | 2 | 15 | 0 |
| David Bayle | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Derek Hughes | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Mike Katolin | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Oudious Lee | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Frank Lockett | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Charlie Smith | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Tim Smith | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Anthony Steels | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Doug Woodward | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |

### Special Teams

Breakers Kicking :
| | FGM–FGA | XPM–XPA |
| Tim Mazzetti | 27-35 | 38-38 |
Breakers Punting :
| | Pnt | Yds | Lng | Blck |
| Dario Casarino | 55 | 2345 | 72 | 0 |
| Mitch Hoopes | 23 | 866 | 60 | 0 |
| Joe Restic | 11 | 386 | 51 | 0 |
Breakers Kick Returns :
| | Ret | Yds | TD | Lng |
| Woodrow Wilson | 15 | 336 | 0 | 43 |
| Ira Matthews | 13 | 210 | 0 | 27 |
| Anthony Steels | 13 | 204 | 0 | 26 |
| Derek Hughes | 6 | 123 | 0 | 25 |
| Louie Giammona | 4 | 83 | 0 | 27 |
| Frank Lockett | 2 | 66 | 0 | 40 |
| Charlie Smith | 3 | 45 | 0 | 22 |
| Charles Harbison | 2 | 18 | 0 | 10 |
| Bill Gompf | 1 | 18 | 0 | 18 |
| Richard Crump | 1 | 13 | 0 | 13 |
| Ben Needham | 1 | 5 | 0 | 5 |
Breakers Punt Returns :
| | Ret | Yds | TD | Lng |
| Woodrow Wilson | 15 | 122 | 0 | 26 |
| Anthony Steels | 8 | 45 | 0 | 12 |
| Louie Giammona | 10 | 44 | 0 | 13 |
| Nolan Franz | 5 | 29 | 0 | 10 |
| Ira Matthews | 3 | 15 | 0 | 10 |

## Standings

Atlantic Division :
| Team | W | L | T | PCT | PF | PA | Stadium | 1983 Capacity | Avg. Att. | Avg. % filled | Coach |
| y-Philadelphia Stars | 15 | 3 | 0 | .833 | 379 | 204 | Veterans Stadium | 72,204 | 18,650 | 26% | Jim Mora |
| Boston Breakers | 11 | 7 | 0 | .611 | 399 | 334 | Nickerson Field | 21,000 | 12,817 | 61% | Dick Coury |
| New Jersey Generals | 6 | 12 | 0 | .333 | 314 | 437 | Giants Stadium | 76,891 | 35,004 | 46% | Chuck Fairbanks |
| Washington Federals | 4 | 14 | 0 | .222 | 297 | 422 | RFK Stadium | 54,794 | 13,850 | 25% | Ray Jauch |