Denver Gold The Denver Gold was a franchise in the United States Football League , an attempt to establish a second major professional football league in the United States , playing a springtime season , from 1983 to 1985 . The Gold played their home games at Mile High Stadium in Denver , Colorado . History . Holding fast to the USFL ' s original blueprint . The team ' s original owner , Denver real estate mogul Ron Blanding , held fast to the USFL ' s original blueprint , keeping tight controls on expenses ( including player salaries ) while heavily marketing the team in the Rockies . The strategy paid off , as the Gold led the league in attendance during its inaugural season . Denver Broncos alliance and 1983 season . The Gold attempted to utilize some of the goodwill established by the rival NFL ' s Denver Broncos by involving former Broncos players and coaches in the Gold organization . The Gold ' s original coach was Red Miller , who led the Broncos to their first - ever Super Bowl . He was fired in the middle of the season and replaced by popular ex - Broncos quarterback Craig Morton . Despite one of the toughest defenses in the league , a weak offense kept the Gold out of the playoffs in 1983 . Blanding , however , was more satisfied with the fact that he actually turned a profit . Unwilling to join the other teams in reckless spending , however , Blanding sold the Gold to auto dealer Doug Spedding for $ 10 million . Blanding was reportedly the only USFL owner who made a return on his investment . 1984 season . The Gold remained competitive again in 1984 . The defense was not as good but Morton was able to improve the offense developing QB Craig Penrose into a consistent reliable player . Morton was widely seen as a players coach and it was widely reported that Spedding expected the Gold to make the playoffs in order for Morton to keep his job . This did not happen . The team finished one game out of the playoffs and Morton was fired . 1985 Season . In hopes of getting over the hump , Spedding hired Houston Gamblers offensive coordinator Mouse Davis for the 1985 season . Davis was the chief advocate of the Run & Shoot offense in the USFL and had implemented the system in Houston that helped Make Jim Kelly a superstar . Davis brought in former Chicago Blitz QB Vince Evans . Evans split time with Bob Gagliano , a 4th string QB under Morton . Neither QB was great running the offense , but good schemeing by Davis and talent at the other spots shot the gold up to 4th in the league in offense . Diminishing local support . Unfortunately , just after Davis took over , the USFL announced that it would switch to a fall schedule for the 1986 season . The vote destroyed the Gold ' s viability . While the Gold had been one of the USFL ' s attendance leaders ( drawing over 40 , 000 fans per game in 1983 ) , fans in the Denver area were not about to abandon the Broncos . Despite finally getting into the playoffs with an 11 - 7 record , the Gold ' s attendance crashed by over 20 , 000 to 14 , 400 fans per game . As a result , despite finishing second in the Western Conference , they were forced to play on the road against the lower - seeded Memphis Showboats under pressure from ABC . The network , who had considerable influence over the USFL due to the structuring of the league ' s television contract , did not want the embarrassment of having a game played in a near - empty stadium . Spedding also knew that the Gold could not hope to compete with the Broncos ; shortly after the 1985 season , he cut a deal to merge the Gold with the Jacksonville Bulls . Instead they , and the USFL as a whole , were doomed by the ill - advised attempt to move the playing season to the fall in direct competition with the more established league . The league ' s high - stakes anti - trust suit against the NFL , awarded only $ 3 to the USFL . The jury cited the league ' s abandonment of Denver and several other major markets as one reason why it awarded the USFL only nominal damages . With no new funds to cover their irresponsible spending , the league folded . Single season leaders . Rushing Yards : 1261 ( 1985 ) , Bill Johnson Receiving Yards : 1432 ( 1985 ) , Leonard Harris Passing Yards : 2695 ( 1985 ) , Bob Gagliano Season - by - season . ! Totals | | 27 | | 28 | | 0