Football For A Buck Quotes

“I was at a party in Beverly Hills, and everyone in sports was there. Magic Johnson, Wayne Gretzky, Kareem. And I spotted my idol—Hank Aaron! I walked up to him and introduced myself. He said, “I know who you are. You made a great decision going to the USFL.” I was shocked. Then he leaned in and whispered, “Tom, you always have to get the money. Get the fucking money. Because they don’t care about you.” —Tom Ramsey, quarterback, Los Angeles Express”
― Jeff Pearlman, Football For A Buck: The Crazy Rise and Crazier Demise of the USFL

“Almost all of the USFL veterans interviewed for this book considered the Donald Trump of the mid-1980s and the Donald Trump of 2017 to be eerily familiar. Thirty-three years after insisting his fellow owners would pay for Doug Flutie, he was insisting Mexico would pay for a border wall. Thirty-three years after being accused of cozying up to Pete Rozelle, he was being accused of cozying up to Vladimir Putin. Thirty-three years after Roy Cohn and Harvey Myerson, his chief advisers were the equally controversial Steve Bannon and Stephen Miller. Thirty-three years after insisting the USFL needed to move to fall ASAP (then lacking a concrete plan for implementation), he was insisting America needed a ban on immigration ASAP (then lacking a concrete plan for implementation).”
― Jeff Pearlman, Football For A Buck: The Crazy Rise and Crazier Demise of the USFL

“I will never get the hours back in my life that I spent covering the Federals, said David Remnick, the team's Washington Post beat writer. I'll be on my deathbed thinking about that.”
― Jeff Pearlman, Football For A Buck: The Crazy Rise and Crazier Demise of the USFL

“...during film sessions..."He would embarrass you deliberatley... run the play you messed up back and forth, back and forth for everyone in the room to see 100 times.”
― Jeff Pearlman, Football For A Buck: The Crazy Rise and Crazier Demise of the USFL

“Still, Trump was given an early pass. He was new and eager, and sometimes a person’s thoughts don’t come across correctly.”
― Jeff Pearlman, Football For A Buck: The Crazy Rise and Crazier Demise of the USFL

“Every year millions of American men buy televisions in order to watch football. The various companies that produce TVs are aware of this, and try to run advertisements for their contraptions that feature games. Unfortunately, the NFL only sells footage to its official television company. That means if, say, Zenith is the NFL’s TV of choice, Panasonic, Sony, and myriad other entities can’t use league action. “So every year—every single year—I get calls from the companies, wanting to purchase USFL stock footage,” Cohen said. “I averaged about $100,000 a year for a long time. Dom was right.” Don’t blink, or you might miss ubiquitous snippets of USFL game footage. That game Julie Taylor was watching in the student lounge on Friday Night Lights? Blitz-Bandits at Tampa Stadium. The “Bubble Bowl” game in the SpongeBob SquarePants episode “Band Geeks”? Bandits-Showboats at the Liberty Bowl. A Scientology advertisement stars Anthony Carter scoring a touchdown for the Panthers; Russ Feingold, a United States senator running for reelection in 2010, ran a spot with Gamblers receivers Clarence Verdin and Gerald McNeil dancing in the end zone;”
― Jeff Pearlman, Football For A Buck: The Crazy Rise and Crazier Demise of the USFL

“The good news for the Washington Federals is they do not have a quarterback controversy. The bad news is they do not have a quarterback.”
― Jeff Pearlman, Football For A Buck: The Crazy Rise and Crazier Demise of the USFL

“I was a big Doug Plank fan,” said Tim Ehlebracht, a Blitz wide receiver. “Then my first day of practice I come over the middle, he hits me, and I end up in the hospital after landing on my head.”
― Jeff Pearlman, Football For A Buck: The Crazy Rise and Crazier Demise of the USFL

“He led the USFL with 28 sacks for 199 yards lost (both professional football records), but also led in manic mayhem. Early on during training camp, Corker—nicknamed Sack Man—gathered the team in a circle and guided the Panthers in prayer. “He started praying like a Baptist black preacher,” said Dave Tipton, a defensive tackle, “and I thought, Wow, Corker must walk with the Lord.” Not quite. Blessed with the world’s largest penis, Corker never shied away from showing it off to fellow Panthers. “The biggest johnson in the USFL,” said Matt Braswell, the team’s center. “We had women reporters come into the locker room, and Corker would position himself so he was in full view of any females. He had this vat of Nivea skin cream, and he would just make sure to completely rub it and moisturize it.” Corker operated on a clock that required only two to three hours of sleep per night, and was powered by the dual fuels of alcohol and cocaine. He kept a gun in his car’s glove compartment, missed as many meetings as he attended, and proudly pasted his pay stubs to his locker, so that teammates could marvel at the money he was being docked. Once, Hebert drove with Corker from Pontiac to Detroit for a promotional appearance. It was snowing outside, the roads were slippery—“and Corker was driving, smoking one joint after another,” said Hebert. “We both walked in reeking of pot.” In a USFL urban legend that actually checks out, Corker was once found naked on the ice at Joe Louis Arena in the early-morning hours. He had passed out, and spent so much time on the cold surface that some of his skin had to be ripped off. “That,” said Bentley, “surprised none of us.”
― Jeff Pearlman, Football For A Buck: The Crazy Rise and Crazier Demise of the USFL

“Sibilia could not get past two things: (1) that the USFL’s dysfunction was the greatest culprit in the league’s failings, and (2) Trump was awful. “He was extremely arrogant and I thought that he was obviously trying to play the game. He wanted an NFL franchise . . . the USFL was a cheap way in.”
― Jeff Pearlman, Football For A Buck: The Crazy Rise and Crazier Demise of the USFL

“History also shows that salaries never go back to an old level. All this reminds me of the old commentary that goes, ‘When a man with money meets up with a man of experience, the man with experience usually ends up with the money and the man with the money ends up with experience.’ I have no intention of going bankrupt signing wealthy players.”
― Jeff Pearlman, Football For A Buck: The Crazy Rise and Crazier Demise of the USFL

“paled on the bizarre-o-meter, however, compared with what happened on September 30, 1983, when the roster of the Chicago Blitz and the roster of the Arizona Wranglers were traded for each other. Yes, traded for each other. It was, unofficially, the largest singular professional sports transaction of all time. Wrote”
― Jeff Pearlman, Football For A Buck: The Crazy Rise and Crazier Demise of the USFL

“You came to the USFL either as a marquee guy brought in to bring credibility to the league, or as a washed-up NFL reject. That was me. The reject. —Matt Braswell, center, Michigan Panthers”
― Jeff Pearlman, Football For A Buck: The Crazy Rise and Crazier Demise of the USFL