By George Eichorn
Are you ready for some football? The Michigan Panthers open up their 2023 home season at Ford Field on Sunday, April 30, before a hoped-for large crowd of fans.
This is season two of the United States Football League’s return to the American sports landscape but the first year of four host cities. Detroit hosts the Panthers and Philadelphia Stars for home games. Other host sites are Birmingham (Alabama), Canton (Ohio) and Memphis. Last year, the entire 10-game schedule for each club was played in Birmingham with playoff games in Canton.
The Panthers play in the USFL North Division along with New Jersey, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. The South Division features Birmingham, Houston, New Orleans and Memphis. Ford Field hosts home games for the Panthers and Stars with games downtown in week 3 (April 30), week 4 (May 6), week 5 (May 13), week 6 (May 20) and week 10 (June 18). Tickets are very reasonably priced in the $10-$25 range. “Detroit football fans were not ready for this (Lions) season to be over,” said Mayor Mike Duggan at an introductory Ford Field press conference. “The way the Lions were going at the end with that turnaround, we wanted more, and now we are going to have more football this April. We are very excited to have the team here in the city of Detroit.” It was 40 years ago this summer that Duggan and more than 70,000 jammed the Pontiac Silverdome to see the original Panthers defeat the Philadelphia Stars for the first USFL championship. That team electrified Metro Detroit, under head coach Jim Stanley, and star players wide receiver Anthony Carter, quarterback Bobby Hebert, linebacker John Corker and kicker Novo Bojovic. Alfred Taubman was the club’s owner. Now, get used to hearing about Panthers head coach Mike Nolan, who succeeded Jim Fisher from 2022, and quarterback Josh Love, running backs Stevie Scott III and Reggie Corbin, wide receivers Devin Ross and Joe Walker, kicker Cole Murphy plus local guys – safety Delano Hill (U-M), cornerback Josh Butler (MSU) and linebacker Terry Myrick (EMU). The Panthers train in Ypsilanti at the EMU Eagles’ Rynearson Stadium.
There are several USFL and NFL rules differences. This year, USFL kickoffs are from the 20-yard line, meaning that touchbacks will become virtually nonexistent. Last year USFL kickoffs were from the 25-yard line and 81 percent of kickoffs were returned, but with kickoffs at the 20 the number of kickoff returns will only go up. The USFL has implemented the emergency quarterback rule. Teams will have three quarterbacks active for each game but if the designated third quarterback enters the game before the fourth quarter, the first two quarterbacks can’t return to the game. The USFL does allow onside kicks, but it also allows the kicking team to line up on offense from its own 33-yard line, facing fourth-and-12. If the offense converts, it keeps the ball. This is similar to onside kick alternatives that have been discussed in the NFL but have so far not been adopted.
USFL overtime consists of a two-point conversion shootout, with each team’s offense getting three attempts at a two-point conversion against the opposing team’s defense, and the team that scores more two-point conversions in those three attempts wins. If it is still tied after three attempts each, the teams will alternate two-point conversion attempts until one team makes it and the other team doesn’t.
Reach George Eichorn at geichorn@yahoo.com or @Sandgsports99 on Twitter.
