The Denver Gold was an American football franchise in the United States Football League (USFL) from 1983 to 1985. The Gold played their home games at Mile High Stadium in Denver, Colorado; and were co-tenants in the spring with the Triple-A Denver Zephyrs baseball team (Denver Bears prior to 1984).
History
Holding fast to the USFL's original blueprint
When the USFL first organized, league officials identified Denver as a critical market. However, they had a difficult time finding an owner. Ultimately, the league's first operations chief, John Ralston, got in touch with local real estate magnate Ron Blanding, an old friend from his days as head coach of the National Football League's Denver Broncos. After some pleading, Blanding agreed to sign on. Hobart made his first pro start on June 8, a two-point loss to eventual champion Philadelphia, decided by a late field goal.
The offense ranked a respectable eleventh in passing and fourteenth in rushing among the eighteen USFL teams in 1984. Running back Harry Sydney was the main offensive weapon rushing for 961 yards and ten touchdowns to lead the Gold. Quarterback Craig Penrose tossed twelve TD's and was picked fourteen times over eleven starts in fourteen appearances.
The Gold offense was centered around a short passing game featuring running backs Sydney and Vincent White making 44 and 37 receptions respectively to finish 1–2 in team receiving. WR Leonard Harris was the most effective wideout for the Gold catching just 35 passes but had whopping 18.8 average per catch. Former New Jersey General TE Victor Hicks caught 31 passes to lead the tight ends.
The most stable and effective part of the Gold offense in 1984 was the offensive line. Tackles Steve Rogers and Ray Wagner along with guards George Yarno and Greg Feasel and centre Tom Davis did a solid job opening holes and creating pass protection most of the season.
The defensive unit struggled off and on throughout the season and actually shifted from a 3–4 set to a 4–3 defense late in the year to compensate for their lack of quality linebackers.
To address some of their needs, the Gold acquired DE Dennis Edwards (who had 6 sacks in 1983), from the Los Angeles Express and former Dallas Cowboy DE Bruce Thornton from the Chicago Blitz in mid-March. Thornton would contribute 6 sacks for the Gold in his limited playing time over the last 13 games.
In June, the Gold also acquired another former Dallas Cowboys alum in LB Bruce Huther from the 3–15 Pittsburgh Maulers. Huther was the starting middle linebacker over the last few games.
With the departure of Choate and Whittington in training camp, the Gold were not able to convert linebackers John Bungartz, Greg Gerken and Kelvin Newton into effective everyday starters. By the end of the season Bungartz and Gerken were relegated mostly to special teams and Newton was released before the season finale.
The unit did, however, have a relatively strong pass rush with DE Dave Stalls (12.5 sacks), DE Calvin Turner (10 sacks) and Thornton (6 sacks) having solid seasons.
The Gold secondary was the most stable part of the defensive unit with CB David Martin being named to the All-USFL team as a punt returner and a cornerback on The Sporting News All-USFL team in 1984. Martin led the USFL in punt returns with a 13.6 per return average on 22 run-backs, scoring 1 TD.
The secondary had four players record more the 100 tackles on the season in Martin, SS David Dumars, FS Steve Trimble and FS Tom Sullivan – an indication of the softness at the linebacker position.
In mid-season, the Gold special teams took a hit when punter Steve Gortz was injured in a game on April 14 in Pittsburgh. Instead of signing a replacement for Gortz, place kicker Brian Speelman took over the punting duties and served in a dual role for the remainder of the season.
Morton was widely seen as a players coach and it was reported that Spedding expected the Gold to make the playoffs in order for Morton to keep his job. However, unable to overcome the 2–7 slide, the team finished 9–9, one game out of the playoffs.
1984 schedule and results
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
!style=""| Week
!style=""| Date
!style=""| Opponent
!style=""| Result
!style=""| Record
!style=""| Venue
!style=""| Attendance
|-
| style="background:#1E1E1E; color:#D7A900;text-align:center;" colspan=12|Preseason
|-
! 1
| colspan=11|Bye
|-
! 2
|
| vs. Oakland Invaders
| W 12–6
| 1–0
| Francisco Grande, Arizona
|
|-
! 3
|
| vs. Arizona Wranglers
| W 31–14
| 2–0
| Casa Grande, Arizona
|
|-
! 4
|
| vs. Chicago Blitz
| W 25–24
| 3–0
| Casa Grande, Arizona
|
|-
| style="background:#1E1E1E; color:#D7A900;text-align:center;" colspan=12|Regular Season
|-
! 1
| February 26
| at Los Angeles Express
| W 27–10
| 1–0
| Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
| 32,082
|-
! 2
|
| at Oklahoma Outlaws
| W 17–14
| 2–0
| Skelly Stadium
| 24,917
|-
! 3
| March 11
| Michigan Panthers
| L 0–28
| 2–1
| Mile High Stadium
| 41,623
|-
! 4
| March 18
| Tampa Bay Bandits
| W 36–30
| 3–1
| Mile High Stadium
| 19,173
|-
! 5
| March 25
| at Memphis Showboats
| W 28–24
| 4–1
| Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium
| 21,213
|-
! 6
| April 1
| Arizona Wranglers
| 17–7
| 5–1
| Mile High Stadium
| 31,666
|-
! 7
|
| Los Angeles Express
| W 35–27
| 6–1
| Mile High Stadium
| 19,115
|-
! 8
|
| at Pittsburgh Maulers
| W 31–21
| 7–1
| Three Rivers Stadium
| 16,773
|-
! 9
| April 22
| at New Orleans Breakers
| L 18–20
| 7–2
| Louisiana Superdome
| 22,139
|-
! 10
| April 29
| Birmingham Stallions
| L 14–31
| 7–3
| Mile High Stadium
| 35,262
|-
! 11
|
| at Oakland Invaders
| L 17–20
| 7–4
| Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum
| 19,331
|-
! 12
|
| Chicago Blitz
| L 17–29
| 7–5
| Mile High Stadium
| 45,299
|-
! 13
|
| at Arizona Wranglers
| L 6–41
| 7–6
| Sun Devil Stadium
| 21,741
|-
! 14
|
| at San Antonio Gunslingers
| W 27–20
| 8–6
| Alamo Stadium
| 20,077
|-
! 15
| June 3
| Houston Gamblers
| L 20–36
| 8–7
| Mile High Stadium
| 50,057
|-
! 16
| June 8
| Philadelphia Stars
| L 19–21
| 8–8
| Mile High Stadium
| 30,755
|-
! 17
| June 16
| at New Jersey Generals
| L 7–27
| 8–9
| Giants Stadium
| 28,915
|-
! 18
|
| Oakland Invaders
| W 20–7
| 9–9
| Mile High Stadium
| 32,623
|}
:
1984 front office and coaching staff
1984 opening day roster
{| class="toccolours" style="text-align:left;"
|-
! colspan="11" style="background:black; color:white; border:2px solid #95774D; text-align:center;"|1984 Denver Gold opening day roster
|-
| colspan="11" align="right" |
|-
| valign="top"|
| style="font-size:95%; vertical-align:top;"| Quarterbacks
Running backs
Wide receivers
Tight ends
| style="width: 25px;" |
| style="font-size:95%; vertical-align:top;"| Offensive linemen
Defensive linemen
| style="width: 25px;" |
| style="font-size:95%; vertical-align:top;"| Linebackers
Defensive backs
Special teams
| style="width: 25px;" |
| style="font-size:95%; vertical-align:top;"| Developmental squad
| style="width: 25px;" |
| style="font-size:95%; vertical-align:top;"| Injured reserve
- Vacant
<br/>
<small>rookies in italics<br />
Asterisk (*) denotes starter<br />
Roster as of February 26, 1984<br />
40 Active, 10 Developmental</small>
|}
1984 end-of-season roster
{| class="toccolours" style="text-align:left;"
|-
! colspan="11" style="background:black; color:white; border:2px solid #95774D; text-align:center;"|1984 Denver Gold end of season roster
|-
| colspan="11" align="right" |
|-
| valign="top"|
| style="font-size:95%; vertical-align:top;"| Quarterbacks
Running backs
Wide receivers
Tight ends
| style="width: 25px;" |
| style="font-size:95%; vertical-align:top;"| Offensive linemen
Defensive linemen
| style="width: 25px;" |
| style="font-size:95%; vertical-align:top;"| Linebackers
Defensive backs
Special teams
| style="width: 25px;" |
| style="font-size:95%; vertical-align:top;"| Developmental squad
| style="width: 25px;" |
| style="font-size:95%; vertical-align:top;"| Injured reserve
<br />
<small>rookies in italics<br />
Asterisk (*) denotes starter<br />
Roster as of June 22, 1984<br />
43 Active, 7 Developmental</small>
|}
1984 game summaries
Week 1: at Los Angeles Express
The Gold began their second season on the road against their Pacific Division foe, the Los Angeles Express at the fabled Los Angeles Coliseum which was undergoing a facelift in parts of the stadium in advance of the 1984 Summer Olympic Games scheduled for July 1984.
With under six minutes left in a 10–10 game, Gold QB Craig Penrose found WR Elmer Bailey in the end zone for a 6-yard scoring play to give Denver a late 17–10 lead. On the next series, Denver safety Darryl Hemphill picked off Express QB Tom Ramsey and returned it 42-yards for the major to quickly seal a 27–10 victory for the Gold.
The Express got on the board first when rookie K Tony Zendejas hit a 36-yard field goal 9:08 into the contest to give the host club a 3–0 lead after the first quarter.
Early in the second, Gold FB Bo Matthews plunged in from 1-yard out to give the Gold a 7–3 just 2:15 into the period. The Express, however, responded when starting QB Tom Ramsey threw a 12-yard scoring pass to WR Jo Jo Townsell in the back of the end zone to give Los Angeles a 10–7 lead with 4:04 left in the quarter.
However, the Gold quickly drove into Express territory on the last drive of the first half and setup K Brian Speelman for a 43-yard field goal with just 0:03 remaining in the half.
After a scoreless third quarter, the Gold blew the game wide open with under six minutes to go in the contest.
The Gold (1–0) travel to Tulsa to take on the Oklahoma Outlaws (1–0) next Saturday (Mar.3rd) while the Express (0–1) host the Birmingham Stallions (0–1) next Sunday (Mar. 4).
Scoring Summary:
Q1 – LAX – 5:52 – Tony Zendejas 42-yard FG (3–0 LAX)<br />
Q2 – DEN – 14:45 – Bo Matthews 1-yard run (Speelman kick) (7–3 DEN)<br />
Q2 – LAX – 4:04 – Jo Jo Townsell 12-yard TD pass from Tom Ramsey (Zendejas kick) (10–7 LAX)<br />
Q2 – DEN – 0:53 – Brian Speelman 43-yard FG (10–10)<br />
Q4 – DEN – 5:50 – Elmer Bailey 6-yard TD pass from Craig Penrose (Speelman kick) (17–10 DEN)<br />
Q4 – DEN – 4:39 – Darryl Hemphill 42-yard interception return (Speelman kick) (24–10 DEN)<br />
Q4 – DEN – 2:01 – Brian Speelman 46-yard FG (27–10 DEN)
Individual Statistics:
Rushing
DEN – Sydney 14–62, Matthews, Bo 10–13–1, Williams, K. 1–9, White 1–2<br />
LAX – Nelson 10–49, Harrington 7–28, Ramsey 1–9, Allen 2–0, Ellis 1–0
Passing
DEN – Penrose 16–22–166–1–1, Sydney 0–1–0–0–0<br />
LAX – Ramsey 24–33–147–1–3, Partridge 1–1–(−3)–0–0
Receiving
DEN – Bailey 3–41–1, Harris 3–34, Sydney 3–27, Niziolek 2–15, Hicks 2–10, Williams 1–23, Murray 1–10, Matthews, Bo 1–6<br />
LAX – Hersey 5–37, Ellis 5–22, Moore 3–28, Sherrod 3–12, Nelson 3–11, Townsell 2–20, Harrington 2–12, Allen 1–5, Boddie 1–(−3)
Week 2: at Oklahoma Outlaws
The Gold continued their two-game road trip to start the season in Tulsa, OK against the expansion Oklahoma Outlaws. Led by former Tampa Bay Buccaneers star QB Doug Williams, the Outlaws won their opener the previous week, 7–3 over the Pittsburgh Maulers.
After a scoreless first quarter, Oklahoma jumped out to a 7–0 lead when former Pittsburgh Steeler FB Sidney Thornton scored on a 7-yard scoring pass from QB Doug Williams with 0:28 left in the first half.
The Gold, however, struck quick again late in the third quarter when RB Vincent White scored on a one-yard plunge with 4:47 left in the third quarter. Just 2:25 later, RB Harry Sydney scored on a 13-yard scoring romp after the Gold recovered a botched snap by Outlaws' P Bob Boris.
In the fourth, the Outlaws tied the contest when Williams scored on a 1-yard keeper 1:24 into the quarter to tie the score at 14–14.
After the Outlaws turned over the ball on the opening kickoff in Overtime, Gold K Brian Speelman hit a-21-yard field goal just 0:31 into the extra period to lift the Gold to a 17–14 victory. The win lifted the Gold to a 2–0 record to start the 1984 USFL season and early possession of first place in the Pacific Division.
Scoring Summary:
Q2 – OKL – 0:28 – Sidney Thornton 7-yard TD pass from Doug Williams (Crum kick) (7–0 OKL)<br />
Q3 – DEN – 4:47 – Vincent White 1-yard run (Speelman kick) (7–7)<br />
Q3 – DEN – 2:22 – Harry Sydney 13-yard run (Speelman kick) (14–7 DEN)<br />
Q4 – OKL – 13:36 – Doug Williams 1-yard run (Crum kick) (14–14)<br />
OT – DEN – 0:31 – Brian Speelman 21-yard FG (17–10 DEN)
Individual Statistics:
Rushing
DEN – Sydney 14–57–1, White 9–19–1, Matthews, Bo 5–13, Murray 1–8<br />
OKL – Thornton 14–49, D. Williams 4–22–1, James 8–14, Ragsdale 2–(1), Boris 2–(−29)
Passing
DEN – Penrose 14–23–164–0–1<br />
OKL – Williams 24–45–259–1–0
Receiving
DEN – Hicks 3–74, Harris 3–28, White 3–21, Sydney 3–10, K Williams 1–19, Bailey 1–12<br />
OKL – Thornton 6–34–1, Crane 5–48, Turner 4–55, James 4–20, Wheeler 2–57, Blair 1–29, Hughes 1–10, Ragsdale 1–6
1985 season
1985 season recap
In hopes of getting into the playoffs, Spedding hired Houston Gamblers offensive coordinator Mouse Davis for the 1985 season. Rumors had actually abounded that Davis was coming to Denver for much of the latter part of the 1984 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 schemes by Davis and talent at the other spots shot the Gold up to 4th in the league in offense.
Unfortunately, just after Davis took over, the USFL announced that it would switch to a fall schedule for the 1986 season. Spedding was one of two owners (the other being Tampa Bay Bandits owner John F. Bassett) to vote to stay on a spring schedule, knowing that the Gold could not even begin to go head-to-head with the Broncos. His guess proved right. While the Gold had been one of the USFL's attendance leaders, 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 from 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. The Gold were shelled 48–7.
1985 schedule and results
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
!style=""| Week
!style=""| Date
!style=""| Opponent
!style=""| Result
!style=""| Record
!style=""| Venue
!style=""| Attendance
|-
| style="background:#1E1E1E; color:#D7A900;text-align:center;" colspan=12|Preseason
|-
! 1
| February 2
| vs. Los Angeles Express
| T 17–17
| 0–0–1
| Long Beach, California
|
|-
! 2
|
| vs. Portland Breakers
| W 27–9
| 1–0–1
| Pomona, California
|
|-
! 3
|
| at San Antonio Gunslingers
| L 13–36
| 1–1–1
| Alamo Stadium
|
|-
| style="background:#1E1E1E; color:#D7A900;text-align:center;" colspan=12|Regular Season
|-
! 1
| February 24
| at Oakland Invaders
| L 10–31
| 0–1
| Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum
| 23,622
|-
! 2
| March 3
| at Birmingham Stallions
| W 40–23
| 1–1
| Legion Field
| 27,400
|-
! 3
| March 10
| Portland Breakers
| W 29–17
| 2–1
| Mile High Stadium
| 17,870
|-
! 4
|
| at Houston Gamblers
| L 17–36
| 2–2
| Houston Astrodome
| 33,747
|-
! 5
|
| San Antonio Gunslingers
| W 16–2
| 3–2
| Mile High Stadium
| 13,901
|-
! 6
| March 31
| Orlando Renegades
| W 21–17
| 4–2
| Mile High Stadium
| 10,217
|-
! 7
|
| Arizona Outlaws
| W 28–7
| 5–2
| Mile High Stadium
| 12,769
|-
! 8
|
| at Tampa Bay Bandits
| L 17–33
| 5–3
| Tampa Stadium
| 40,000
|-
! 9
| April 21
| Los Angeles Express
| W 51–0
| 6–3
| Mile High Stadium
| 13,165
|-
! 10
|
| Memphis Showboats
| L 17–33
| 6–4
| Mile High Stadium
| 8,207
|-
! 11
| May 5
| at San Antonio Gunslingers
| W 35–9
| 7–4
| Alamo Stadium
| 9,753
|-
! 12
| May 12
| at Arizona Outlaws
| W 42–28
| 8–4
| Sun Devil Stadium
| 5,731
|-
! 13
| May 19
| New Jersey Generals
| W 28–24
| 9–4
| Mile High Stadium
| 29,129
|-
! 14
|
| Oakland Invaders
| L 16–31
| 9–5
| Mile High Stadium
| 12,372
|-
! 15
|
| at Los Angeles Express
| W 27–20
| 10–5
| Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
| 3,059
|-
! 16
| June 9
| Houston Gamblers
| W 16–13
| 11–5
| Mile High Stadium
| 12,553
|-
! 17
|
| at Portland Breakers
| L 17–23
| 11–6
| Civic Stadium
| 18,953
|-
! 18
| June 23
| at Jacksonville Bulls
| L 6–42
| 11–7
| Gator Bowl
| 32,428
|-
| style="background:#1E1E1E; color:#D7A900;text-align:center;" colspan=12|Playoffs
|-
! Quarterfinals
| June 30
| at Memphis Showboats
| L 7–48
| 0–1
| Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium
| 34,528
|}
:
1985 opening day roster
{| class="toccolours" style="text-align: left;"
|-
! colspan="9" style="background:black; color:gold; text-align:center;"|Denver Gold 1985 Opening Day Roster (at 24-Feb-85) * Denotes Starter
|-
| style="font-size:95%; vertical-align:top;"| Quarterbacks
- Vince Evans QB*
- Bob Gagliano QB
Running backs
- Bill Johnson RB*
- Todd Gerhart RB
Wide receivers
- Marc Lewis WR*
- Lonnie Turner WR*
- John Arnold WR
Slot backs
- Harris, Leonard SB*
- White, Vincent SB*
- Stegall, Gill SB
- Calip, Brad SB
| style="width: 25px;" |
| style="font-size:95%; vertical-align:top;"| Offensive linemen
- Feasel, Greg LT*
- Miller, Matt RT*
- Yarno, George LG*
- Downing, Walt RG*
- Davis, Tom C*
- Wagner, Ray OT
- Hausauer, Ron OG
- Nease, Mike OG
Defensive linemen
- Mikolas, Doug NT*
- Thornton, Bruce LDE*
- Turner, Calvin RDE*
- Ogrin, Pat NT
- Taliferro, Mike NT
- Johnson, Steve DE
| style="width: 25px;" |
| style="font-size:95%; vertical-align:top;"| Linebackers
- Irvin, Terry LOLB*
- Nevens, John LILB*
- Bungartz, John RILB*
- McKibben, Mike ROLB*
- Blinka, Stan LB
- Walls, Craig LB
- Kilkenny, Tom LB
- Hope, Neil LB
Defensive backs
- David Martin LCB*
- Miller, Nate RCB*
- Trimble, Steve FS*
- Hemphill, Darryl SS*
- Loveall, Calvin CB
- Harris, Nate FS
- Sullivan, Tom FS
- Carswell, Ernie SS
| style="width: 25px;" |
| style="font-size:95%; vertical-align:top;"| Special teams
- Speelman, Brian K/P
Inactive Week #1
- Fisher, Mike QB
- Hill, Norman FB
- Johnson, Kelley WR
- Johnson, Troy WR
- Williams, Kevin WR
- Gerken, Greg LB
- Delaney, Jeff FS
| style="width: 25px;" |
| style="font-size:95%; vertical-align:top;"| Injured reserve
None
<br/>
<small>* Denotes Starter<br />
43 Active, 7 Developmental</small>
|}
Demise of the franchise and the league
The Gold would have been in an impossible position even without their attendance figures falling through the floor after the USFL announced it would move to the fall. Staying at Mile High Stadium would have been a logistical nightmare, and no other stadium in the area was large enough or suitable enough for temporary use.
Realizing it would be untenable to stay in Denver, Spedding announced in November that he planned to move the Gold to Portland, Oregon to take the place of the departed Portland Breakers. However, just three months later, Spedding sold the Gold's player contracts to the Jacksonville Bulls. Although the move was billed as a merger, Spedding retained the Gold's intellectual properties. He seriously considered joining Bassett's proposed spring football league before Bassett's failing health prevented that league from launching. Instead Spedding, Bassett, and the USFL as a whole were doomed by the ill-advised attempt to move the playing season to the fall in 1986 in direct competition with the more-established NFL.
The USFL's high-stakes anti-trust suit against the NFL ended in an award of only US$3.00 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 its high spending, the USFL cancelled its 1986 season and 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 results
|-
|1983 || 7 || 11 || 0 || 3rd Pacific || –
|-
|1984 || 9 || 9 || 0 || 3rd WC Pacific || –
|-
|1985 || 11 || 7 || 0 || 7th WC || Lost Quarterfinal (Memphis)
|-
!Totals || 27 || 28 || 0
|colspan="2"| (including playoffs)
References
External links
- Remember the USFL
- oursportscentral.com – USFL – 1984 Denver Gold – team photo & roster