The Chicago Bears have dominated the football landscape in this town for many decades by now. So long in fact that it’s easy to forget once upon a time that they actually shared the city with another team. That being the Chicago Cardinals. From 1920 to 1959, the two teams fought for the loyalty of fans in their city just like the Cubs and White Sox. However, the Bears dominated that era in terms of championship success. So the Cardinals eventually skipped town.
That was the last time a team challenged the Bears for supremacy in Chicago. Or was it? For the briefest period back in the 1980s, there was another organization that made some noise. That being the Chicago Blitz, a member of the upstart United States Football League. Led by former Bears assistant coach and Hall of Famer George Allen, the Blitz went 12-6 their inaugural season to make the playoffs. There they lost a thriller to the eventual champion Philadelphia Stars 44-38.
There was genuine hope that the team could carve out a niche in the Chicago market.
Then in one of the weirdest transactions in football history, the entire Blitz roster and coaching staff were swapped with Arizona as the Blitz changed ownership. The team immediately tanked to a 5-13 record. After averaging around 18,000 fans their first season, the team failed to crack even 10,000 in their second. That served as a reminder Chicago would not be so easily lured away from the Bears.
Why is this even a topic of discussion? Mainly because it is possible the Blitz may be coming back from the dead for another round. According to The Athletic, the USFL is fixing to make a triumphant (?) return. After going belly up in 1985, The Spring League CEO Brian Woods is co-founding the effort to bring it back. A surprising turn of events given what just happened with the XFL.
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“The United States Football League is making a comeback with a return planned for the spring of 2022. The goal is for the league to include eight teams, its co-founder said Thursday.
With Fox as its broadcasting partner, the 21st century edition of the USFL looks to capitalize on the nostalgia factor by retaining rights for key team names from the 1980s version of the league.”
Chicago Bears unlikely to sweat this latest challenge
This isn’t the first time the organization has been challenged by upstart leagues. Ever since the AFL back in the 1960s, they’ve weathered storm after storm. This new USFL isn’t likely to do much to their bottom line. The USFL of 36 years ago had more advantages than this reincarnation could ever hope to grasp. Namely the ability to lure top college talent to their banners. That league had the financial backing to secure names like Reggie White, Steve Young, Jim Kelly, and Herschel Walker.
With all due respect to Mr. Woods, it is a fair assumption he won’t have the same deep pockets to draw on. So the chances of his new league securing top talent are almost non-existent. It would likely be at least a decade before that even becomes a possibility. Thus far no new league has been able to make it beyond two seasons since the 1970s. So yeah. The Chicago Bears don’t have much to worry about.
That said, more football is never a bad thing.
It will be interesting if this new USFL actually does try to venture into Chicago. The last two leagues didn’t even get that far. Both the AAF and XFL 2.0 avoided that market, likely recognizing they had no shot of competing. With Justin Fields now in town? The Bears’ hold on it threatens to get even stronger. So it’s possible the new league may seek more viable opportunities for new fans.