Los Angeles Express The Los Angeles Express was a team in the United States Football League based in Los Angeles , California . Playing at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum , the Express competed in all three of the USFL seasons played , 1983 - 1985 . History . Pre - history . Cable television pioneers Alan Harmon and Bill Daniels were awarded a USFL franchise for San Diego when the league announced its formation in 1982 . However , the city refused to grant the team a lease to play at Jack Murphy Stadium under pressure from the stadium ' s existing tenants - - baseball ' s Padres , the NFL ' s Chargers , and the NASL ' s Sockers . The only other outdoor facility available in the area was Balboa Stadium , the original home of the Chargers . However , it was a relatively antiquated facility ( built in 1915 ) that hadn ' t had a major tenant since the Chargers moved into the Murph in 1967 , and was now largely used by high school teams . This was an untenable situation for a team that was aspiring to be part of a major sports league . With only eight months before the season was to start , Harmon and Daniels decided to move to Los Angeles with the league ' s blessing - - in the process , forcing Jim Joseph , second owner of the Los Angeles USFL franchise , to move his team to Phoenix as the Arizona Wranglers . 1983 Season . The Express made a serious run at Eric Dickerson , and actually matched the Los Angeles Rams ' offer for him . However , Dickerson signed with the Rams , apparently because family members were skeptical about the USFL . They also signed Dan Marino , who made some appearances on behalf of the Express before signing with the Miami Dolphins . Despite losing two defensive backs to knee injuries , the Express finished fifth in the league in total defense . However , a patchwork offensive line limited the team ' s offensive firepower ; they finished last in rushing ( Herschel Walker rushed for 72 more yards than the entire Express team ) . They finished one game out of the playoffs . 1984 Season . Billionaire investor and vacuum cleaner salesman J . William Oldenburg bought the team and hired veteran executive Don Klosterman as general manager . John Hadl was hired to coach the team . Klosterman spent an enormous amount of money assembled an impressive stable of young talent , capped off by the signing of Steve Young , a quarterback who had played at the namesake university of his lineal ancestor , Brigham Young University . Agent Leigh Steinberg negotiated for Young what was then reported to be the largest professional sports contract ever signed up until that point - - a 10 - year deal worth over $ 40 million . The payments were actually to be in the form of an set up to pay him $ 1 , 000 , 000 annually for the next 42 years , so the value of the contract was considerably less than stated . The team struggled to compete with the popularity of the Rams and the Los Angeles Raiders , who had just won the Super Bowl . Southern California , like many areas in the country , didn ' t take the new league seriously . On three occasions , the team drew crowds of fewer than 11 , 000 people . In spite of its overwhelming talent and one of the league ' s highest payrolls , the young team struggled with adjusting to the pro game and injuries , only finishing two games over 500 at 10 - 8 . However , this tied the Wranglers for first place in the Pacific Division . The Express won the division title on a tiebreaker , and got to play the Michigan Panthers who had limped into the playoffs with a 4 - 8 record in their last 12 games since losing star WR Anthony Carter for the season , while Arizona got Jim Kelly ' s red hot 13 - 5 Houston Gamblers . The playoff game against the Panthers drew only 7 , 900 fans . As it turned out , that game was the longest in professional history - - a three - overtime , 93 minute and 33 second affair won by the Express 27 - 21 . The Wranglers had managed to upset the Gamblers 17 - 16 on a late rally . The Express should have hosted the conference championship game , but were forced to play in Arizona because the Coliseum was being readied for the 1984 Summer Olympics . They lost to the Wranglers , 35 - 23 . Offseason disaster . The bubble burst for the Express in 1985 . Oldenburg had lost a reported $ 15 million on the team in 1984 despite their significant improvement on the field that year . The league got a rude shock midway through the season when several of Oldenburg ' s financial dealings in other areas caught up with him . He had tried to sell the team after the 1984 season , but was delayed when a savings and loan sued him for breach of contract . He was eventually cleared to sell the team , but by that time he couldn ' t find a buyer . Oldenburg turned the team over to the league . The league couldn ' t fold the team because of a clause in its television contract with ABC requiring the league to have teams in the nation ' s three largest markets . While ABC hadn ' t concerned itself with the demise of the Chicago Blitz after the 1984 season , the league ' s owners feared that ABC would pull its contract if the Express were shut down - - an action that would have probably killed the league . Potential buyers were scared off by the prospect of having to assume the burden of huge player contracts . 1985 Season . As bad as the situation with the Blitz had been for the league in 1984 , the Express were even worse in 1985 . Not only did the Express ' roster costs dwarf Chicago ' s due to the large contracts , but the league had contracted in the off - season and there were only 13 other teams to contribute to supporting the Express . The injury bug bit the team hard , decimating the roster . The other owners had decided to run the Express on a shoestring budget until another owner could be found , and were resistant to allow more money for signing replacements . Even with these measures , the Express nearly missed one game when the bus driver ' s check bounced and he refused to drive them to the Coliseum . Young and other players chipped in enough money to make up the difference , and the driver took them to the game . Young had to play this game at tailback because the Express didn ' t have any healthy running backs . The young Express players played tentatively , fearing injuries that might diminish their future NFL prospects . Attendance continued to plummet ; they only drew 8 , 500 fans per game in a 100 , 000 - seat stadium . League Commissioner Harry Usher was under fire to find an owner and " fix " the Express problem . Desperate for a solution , the commissioner had the team try a smaller stadium . The league played its last home game at Shephard Stadium on the campus of Los Angeles Pierce College , a junior college in the San Fernando Valley . The stadium was expanded to 16 , 000 - person capacity for the game . Usher and the league owners hoped if the game did well they might have some ammunition to land a potential owner , but the game was still not a sellout as only 8 , 200 actually attended to see Young and the Express lose 21 - 10 to Doug Williams and the Arizona Outlaws . This experiment was so embarrassing that Usher nearly lost his job . The team ' s final record was 3 - 15 , dead last in the league . Unable to find a new owner for the Express , the league announced the team would suspend operations for the 1986 season . However , many of the very issues that plagued the Express in 1985 made it very likely the team would not have returned even if the league had succeeded in winning a large payoff from the NFL to finance a move to the fall . Additionally , the Express would have had to compete against two NFL teams . Aftermath . After trying all season , Steve Young was finally able to buy his way out of the USFL . He went on to a Hall of Fame career in the NFL , and still receiving $ 1 , 000 , 000 a year from an annuity purchased by a team in a league that hasn ' t played a down of football in almost two decades . Presumably , the annuity will continue to pay him until 2026 . Season - by - season . ! Totals | | 22 | | 34 | | 0