Arizona Wranglers The Arizona Wranglers were a professional American Football team in the United States Football League in the mid 1980s . They played at Sun Devil Stadium on the campus of Arizona State University in Tempe , a suburb of Phoenix . History . Founding . The Wranglers were originally supposed to be in Los Angeles . However , the franchise ' s original owner , Alex Spanos , pulled out and bought into the NFL ' s San Diego Chargers . Jim Joseph , a Bay Area real estate executive and part - owner of the Oakland Invaders , won a coin flip and became the new owner of the Los Angeles franchise . A few months later , however , Bill Daniels and Alan Harmon were forced to move to Los Angeles after their initial bid for a team in San Diego fell through . The league forced Joseph to give up his franchise rights to Daniels and Harmon ; it felt that Daniels and Harmon ' s roots in the cable television industry would be better suited for the country ' s second - largest market . Joseph finally settled on a move to Phoenix , bringing professional football to the city for the first time . 1983 season . Joseph held fast to the USFL ' s original blueprint , aggressively marketing the team in Arizona while keeping tight controls on spending ( including player salaries ) . The result was a young team with some talent at the skill positions , but fewer quality starters in the starting lineup and less depth of talent than their opponents . The Wranglers were quite competitive at first , posting a 4 - 4 record and moving into a 4 way tie for first in their division . The Wranglers probably benefited most from the League ' s decision not to have a preseason . When the rest of their opponents reached midseason form , the undermanned Wrangler defense had trouble keeping the games within reach of the offense . The Wranglers only scored more than 23 points once all season - - - in their week 2 upset of George Allen ' s Chicago Blitz . Many argue the strains of playing football in the desert heat was the primary reason for the Wranglers ' late season collapse . The Wranglers played their first 6 home games by April 23 and only played 3 of their last 9 games at home . Perhaps the young Wranglers collectively hit a rookie brick wall with the extended length of the USFL season . Perhaps they were simply at a talent and depth disadvantage that presented itself when the rest of the league rounded into mid - season form . Whatever the cause , The Wranglers lost their last 10 games , finishing in a tie for the worst record in the league . Joseph lost millions of dollars in the 1983 season and decided to sell . The 1983 Wranglers featured the League ' s 6th ranked passer in rookie QB ( Alan Risher ) , 12th ranked rusher in 3rd year vet Leon Calvin Murray , and the league ' s # 7 , # 10 , # 11 receivers ( 1983 rookies TE Mark Keel , WR Jackie Flowers , and WR Neil Balholm , respectively ) . There defense started out good . The Wranglers signed San Francisco 49er ILB Jeff McIntyre and ILB Glen Perkins from the University of Arizona . But during pre - season McIntyre who had a personal services contract , asked to be traded because of contract issues with the owners and Glen Perkins knee injury slowed his play and development . Which explains why the Wrangler defense gave up a league worst 442 points . Transaction with the Chicago Blitz . In a stroke of luck for Joseph , Chicago Blitz owner Dr . Ted Diethrich , a Phoenix resident ( he founded the Arizona Heart Institute ) , wanted a chance to move closer to his business interest . He was also angered at the Blitz ' poor attendance despite fielding a team considered to be an NFL - quality unit . As the result of a deal between the two men , Diethrich sold the Blitz to fellow surgeon James Hoffman , and then bought the Wranglers from Joseph . Hoffman and Diethrich then engineered a swap of assets in which virtually the entire Blitz organization — including most of the players and the entire coaching staff ( led by head coach George Allen ) - - moved to Phoenix while the old Wranglers organization moved to Chicago . ( The most notable exception was that Wrangler triggerman Alan Risher stayed in Arizona to back up Veteran Greg Landry ) . The deal transformed the Wranglers from a cellar - dweller to a powerhouse almost overnight . However , trading a team that had been , at worst , the third - best unit in the league for a lesser version of the 1983 Wranglers raised questions about the USFL ' s credibility - - - especially in Chicago . 1984 season . The 1984 Wranglers finished in a tie for first in the Western Division . In the playoffs , they upset the powerful Houston Gamblers , then defeated the Los Angeles Express for the conference title . The Wranglers , despite having the worse record of the two participating teams , got to host the 1984 Western Conference championship game because the Los Angeles Express could not use their home field , the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum , because of preparations for the 1984 Summer Olympics . To accommodate the oppressive summer heat in the state , as well as the ABC Sports television schedule , the game kicked off at 8 : 30 p . m . local time ( 10 : 30 p . m . Eastern time ) . The Wranglers ' run ended in the championship game with a 23 - 3 defeat by the Philadelphia Stars . QB Greg Landry retired after the season . The Wranglers intended to change to Red jerseys for the 1984 season , but the league office had put in a rule that stated any team changing jersey colors ( in this case , blue to red ) had to wait one season before doing so . The Wranglers had intended to start wearing the red jerseys starting in the ' 85 season , but they ended up merging with the Oklahoma Outlaws and became the Arizona Outlaws . 1984 Arizona Wranglers Roster . ( Games Played / Games Started in parenthesis ) , Height , Weight , Age , College 1 . MINNIFIELD , Frank CB ( 18 / 15 ) , 5 . 09 , 180 , 24 , Ohio State ; 38 tkl , 13 ast , 7 PDs , 2 FR , 4 ICs / 74 yds 2 . JOHNSON , Trumaine WR ( 18 / 18 ) , 6 . 03 , 193 , 23 , Grambling ; 90 receptions , 1 , 269 yds , 14 . 1 avg , 13 TDs 3 . CORRAL , Frank K / P ( 18 / 0 ) , 6 . 02 , 210 , 28 , UCLA ; 11 / 21 FGM , 63 / 65 PATs , 96 pts , 69 punts , 41 . 4 avg , 58 long , 6 TB , 17 In - 20 7 . RISHER , Alan QB ( 18 / 0 ) , 6 . 02 , 190 , 23 , Louisiana State ; 64 / 104 , 61 . 5 % , 728 yds , 3 TDs , 7 ICs 8 . PORRAS , Tom QB ( IA / 18G ) , 6 . 02 , 193 , 26 , Washington 11 . LANDRY , Greg QB ( 18 / 18 ) , 6 . 04 , 207 , 37 , Massachusetts ; 283 / 449 , 63 . 0 % , 3 , 534 yds , 26 TDs , 15ICs 20 . DRAIN , Selwyn FS ( 15 / 0 ) , 6 . 00 , 190 , 22 , Ball State ; 13 tkl , 3 ast , 2 FR 21 . DENNISON , Doug RB ( 13 / 0 ) , 6 . 01 , 200 , 32 , Kutztown State , 8 car . , 48 yds , 1 TD , 30 rec . , 244 yds 22 . SHIELDS , Lance CB ( 18 / 6 ) , 6 . 00 , 175 , 23 , Drake ; 27 tkl , 10 ast , 2 PDs 24 . JOHNSON , Randy RB ( 7 / 0 ) , 5 . 11 , 205 , 21 , Texas - Arlington ; 13 car . , 53 yds 25 . BROWN , Eddie SS ( 16 / 4 ) , 5 . 11 , 190 , 31 , Tennessee ; 31 tlk , 17 ast , 4 PDs , 1 FR , 2 INT , 20 PR , 11 . 0 avg . 27 . BRADLEY , Luther FS ( 18 / 18 ) , 6 . 03 , 197 , 28 , Notre Dame ; 28 . SCHWARTZ , Don SS ( IA / 2G ) , 6 . 01 , 195 , 28 , Washington State 29 . WALTON , Ted SS ( 11 / 1 ) , 5 . 10 , 198 , 26 , Connecticut 32 . ALLEN , Carl CB ( 11 / 11 ) , 6 . 00 , 175 , 28 , Southern Mississippi 33 . LONG , Kevin FB ( 18 / 18 ) , 6 . 01 , 219 , 29 , South Carolina 40 . LAIRD , Bruce SS ( 13 / 13 ) , 6 . 01 , 195 , 33 , American International 42 . CLARK , Allan RB ( 18 / 0 ) , 5 . 10 , 190 , 26 , Northern Arizona 43 . BOATNER , Mack FB ( 18 / 0 ) , 6 . 00 , 220 , 25 , Southeastern State ( La . ) 44 . SANCHEZ , Lupe CB ( 9 / 4 ) , 5 . 10 , 197 , 22 , UCLA 46 . SPENCER , Tim RB ( 18 / 18 ) , 6 . 01 , 216 , 23 , Ohio State 50 . OHTON , Dave LS ( 5 / 0 ) , 5 . 10 , 220 , 22 , Arizona State 51 . SULLIVAN , Gerry C ( 18 / 18 ) , 6 . 04 , 250 , 31 , Illinois 52 . WHITE , Stan LB ( 18 / 18 ) , 6 . 01 , 225 , 34 , Ohio State 53 . MELONTREE , Andy LB ( 18 / 0 ) , 6 . 03 , 214 , 26 , Baylor 54 . CASEY , Derrick LB ( 5 / 0 ) , 6 . 01 , 230 , 23 , San Francisco State 55 . FAHNHORST , Jim LB ( 18 / 18 ) , 6 . 04 , 230 , 25 , Minnesota 56 . SMITH , Ed LB ( 18 / 18 ) , 6 . 02 , 218 , 26 , Vanderbilt 57 . FIELD , Doak LB ( 14 / 0 ) , 6 . 02 , 224 , 25 , Baylor 58 . GHEESLING , Bruce LB ( 18 / 0 ) , 6 . 01 , 212 , 23 , Furman 59 . PIETTE , Tom LS ( 17 / 0 ) , 6 . 04 , 243 , 23 , Michigan State 61 . THAYER , Tom G ( 16 / 16 ) , 6 . 04 , 261 , 22 , Notre Dame 62 . KEHR , Rick G ( IA / 2G ) , 6 . 03 , 270 , 24 , Carthage 63 . BUBEN , Mark DE ( 18 / 1 ) , 6 . 03 , 260 , 27 , Tufts 64 . LEE , John DE ( 18 / 17 ) , 6 . 02 , 261 , 31 , Nebraska 65 . KIEWEL , Jeff G ( IA / 18G ) , 6 . 04 , 254 , 23 , Arizona 67 . STADNIK , John T ( 13 / 10 ) , 6 . 04 , 278 , 24 , Western Illinois 68 . HUFFMAN , David G ( 18 / 18 ) , 6 . 07 , 255 , 26 , Notre Dame 70 . LATHROP , Kit DT ( 18 / 18 ) , 6 . 04 , 254 , 27 , Arizona State 71 . LORCH , Karl DE ( 18 / 18 ) , 6 . 04 , 235 , 33 , Southern California 72 . HICKMAN , Dallas DE ( 14 / 0 ) , 6 . 06 , 234 , 28 , Alabama A & M 73 . STEVENSON , Mark G ( IA / 3G ) , 6 . 03 , 276 , 28 , Western Illinois 74 . EHRMANN , Joe DT ( 14 / 9 ) , 6 . 03 , 248 , 34 , Syracuse 75 . TAYLOR , Rob T ( 18 / 18 ) , 6 . 06 , 280 , 23 , Northwestern 76 . GIDDENS , Frank T ( 15 / 8 ) , 6 . 07 , 320 , 24 , New Mexico 77 . THOMAS , Todd T / LS ( 5 / 0 ) , 6 . 06 , 270 , 24 , North Dakota 79 . SMITH , Robert DE ( 4 / 0 ) , 6 . 07 , 256 , 22 , Grambling 80 . HILL , Al ( IA / 8G ) , 6 . 03 , 205 , 24 , Arizona 81 . WRIGHTMAN , Tim TE ( IA / 9G ) , 6 . 03 , 225 , 24 , UCLA 82 . DOUGLAS , Larry WR ( 16 / 2 ) , 6 . 01 , 192 , 26 , Southern 83 . LOCKLIN , Kerry TE ( 2 / 0 ) , 6 . 04 , 235 , 30 , Washington 85 . BROWN , Clay TE ( 2 / 0 ) , 6 . 03 , 220 , 25 , Brigham Young 85 . TOLBERT , Mark WR ( 10 / 0 ) , 5 . 09 , 175 , 25 , Cal - Poly Pomona 86 . RICKER , Paul TE ( 18 / 18 ) , 6 . 03 , 233 , 27 , Norwich 87 . COZEN , Doug TE ( 4 / 0 ) , 6 . 04 , 241 , 26 , Illinois 88 . BUGGS , Wamon WR ( 4 / 4 ) , 6 . 02 , 198 , 23 , Vanderbilt 89 . WILLIS , Lenny WR ( 18 / 14 ) , 5 . 11 , 188 , 30 , Ohio State 91 . EPPS , Nick DE ( 4 / 0 ) , 6 . 03 , 247 , 21 , Illinois 99 . YOUNG , Wilbur DT ( 15 / 9 ) , 6 . 06 , 285 , 34 , William Penn HEAD COACH : GEORGE ALLEN Quarterbacks Coach : Roman Gabriel Offensive Line : John Payne Secondary : Donald " Deek " Pollard Defensive Line : John Teerlinck Offensive Backs : Ray Wietecha Strength & Conditioning : Warren Anderson Merger with the Oklahoma Outlaws . Despite making it to the Championship game , Diethrich was bleeding in red ink . He expected his all - star team ' s attendance to be much greater than the 25 , 776 fans per game the no - name Wranglers averaged in 1983 . Despite fielding a winning team , the Wranglers ' 1984 attendance figures ( 25 , 568 fans per game ) were lower than the 1983 numbers , as fans were slow to warm to the new players . Diethrich sold the assets of the Wranglers to Oklahoma Outlaws owner William Tatham . Tatham was looking for a larger market with an acceptable stadium . Tatham relocated the Outlaws to Arizona for the 1985 season , merging the rosters into the Arizona Outlaws . Single season leaders . Rushing Yards : 1207 ( 1984 ) , Tim Spencer Receiving Yards : 1258 ( 1984 ) , Trumaine Johnson Passing Yards : 3534 ( 1984 ) , Greg Landry Season - by - season . ! Totals | | 16 | | 23 | | 0