1983 Washington Federals season

The team lured Ray Jauch to be its head coach; he had previously guided the Edmonton Eskimos and Winnipeg Blue Bombers to success in the Canadian Football League. At the time he was the fourth-winningest coach in CFL history. The Federals initially made a splash by signing running back Craig James, one half of the famous "Pony Express" backfield at SMU. More than any other team in the league, the Federals seemed dogged by inconsistency, bad timing, and terrible luck. A week before the season even began, their player personnel expert bolted to the NFL's New York Jets. The team changed quarterbacks almost weekly, with in-game quarterback changes in a number of games. Jauch's biggest mistake was probably giving the opening day starter, NFL veteran Kim McQuilken, the quick hook for rookie quarterback Mike Hohensee. From there the team never seemed to settle in with a quarterback for more than a few games in a row, and when McQuilken did play, he often pressed, forcing his throws into coverage. The team alternated between McQuilken and Hohensee, with occasional appearances by former Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback "Jefferson Street" Joe Gilliam, who was far past his prime; he had last played a meaningful professional down in 1975, and he only threw for 673 yards. The only other quarterback on the team was rookie Mike Forslund, who never played.

1983 Washington Federals season
OwnerBerl Bernhard
General managerRay Jauch
Head coachRay Jauch
Home fieldRFK Stadium
Results
Record4-14
Division place4th Atlantic Division
Playoff finishDid not qualify
Uniform

Injuries also dogged the team. James was sidelined for five games with a fractured vertebra. Hohensee only played in nine games all season. At one point, all of the Federals′ receivers had leg injuries. The Federals had good linebackers in Joe Harris, Dan Lloyd, and Jeff McIntyre, who was Washington's best outside linebacker and could cover receivers downfield and stop the run. McIntyre lead the team in tackles and sacks until an ankle injury sidelined him for the final six games.

The first game in franchise history was a portent of things to come; the Federals were drilled at RFK Stadium 28–7 by the Chicago Blitz, the preseason title favorites coached by former Washington Redskins coach George Allen. The game was played on March 6, 1983. The Blitz, led by former Detroit Lions and Baltimore Colts quarterback Greg Landry, raced out to a 28–0 lead. The Blitz held Washington to only one first down and a mere 24 yards total offense in the first half; Chicago led 21–0 before the Federals even recorded a second first down. By that time, Landry had hit 15 of his first 17 pass attempts, including a 23-yard touchdown pass to Trumaine Johnson. McQuilken had a horrible debut as the Federals quarterback, and was replaced by back-up Hohensee; Hohensee accounted for the Federals only score, a 19-yard pass to Walker Lee. (The only positive was the attendance of 38,007; unfortunately, this was more than double what the Feds would draw in any of their 17 other games played in Washington.

Personnel

Staff

1983 Washington Federals staff
Front office
  • Owner – Berl Bernhard
  • General manager – Ray Jauch

Head coaches

Offensive coaches

Defensive coaches

Special teams coaches

  • Special teams coordinator – Ted Vactor/Bruce Beatty


Roster

1983 Washington Federals final roster
Quarterbacks

Running backs

Wide receivers

Tight ends

Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

  • 79 Coy Bacon DE
  • 90 Bob Barber DE
  • 74 Robert Cobb DE/DT
  • 78 Ronnie Estay DE
  • 63 Eddie Jackson DT/DE
  • 93 Richard Murray DE
  • 92 Bennie Smith DT/DE
  • 70 Drew Taylor DE/DT
Linebackers
  • 50 Ed Baxley
  • 57 Farley Bell
  • 58 Mike Corvino
  • 56 Scott Facyson
  • 55 Joe Harris
  • 51 Dan Lloyd
  • 59 Jeff McIntyre
  • 54 Kevin McLain
  • 51 Mike Muller
  • 54 Bob Shupryt
  • 51 John Zupancic

Defensive backs

Special teams

[1] [2]

Rookies in italics

USFL Draft

Round Pick Player Position School
1 4 Craig James Running Back SMU
2 21 Tim Lewis Defensive Back Pittsburgh
3 28 Stephen Starring Quarterback McNeese State
4 45 Bob Winckler Offensive Tackle Wisconsin
5 50 Mike Hohensee Quarterback Minnesota
5 54 Doug Howard Offensive Tackle North Carolina State
5 57 Brett Miller Offensive Tackle Iowa
6 63 George Parker Running Back Norfolk State
7 76 Perry Williams Defensive Back North Carolina State
10 114 Jeff Nyce Center North Carolina State
10 117 Dennis Fowlkes Linebacker West Virginia
11 124 Kiki DeAyala Linebacker Texas
11 130 Steve Bird Wide Receiver Eastern Kentucky
12 141 Dee Dee Hoggard Defensive Back North Carolina State
13 148 William Wall Tight End Virginia Union
14 165 Jody Schulz Linebacker East Carolina

Schedule

Week Day Date TV Opponent Results Location Attendance
Score Record
1 Sunday March 6 ABC Chicago Blitz 7-28 0-1 RFK Stadium 38,007
2 Monday March 14 ESPN at Los Angeles Express 3-20 0-2 Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum 22,453
3 Sunday March 20 at Boston Breakers 16-19 0-3 Nickerson Field 18,430
4 Sunday March 27 Michigan Panthers 22-16 (OT) 1-3 RFK Stadium 11,404
5 Sunday April 3 ABC at Philadelphia Stars 3-34 1-4 Veterans Stadium 14,576
6 Monday April 11 ESPN Arizona Wranglers 21-22 1-5 RFK Stadium 13,936
7 Sunday April 17 ABC at New Jersey Generals 22-23 1-6 Giants Stadium 35,381
8 Sunday April 24 Tampa Bay Bandits 23-30 1-7 RFK Stadium 9,070
9 Sunday May 1 Birmingham Stallions 3-35 1-8 RFK Stadium 12,818
10 Sunday May 8 at Chicago Blitz 3-31 1-9 Soldier Field 11,300
11 Monday May 16 at Oakland Invaders 24-31 1-10 Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum 25,900
12 Sunday May 22 Boston Breakers 14-21 1-11 RFK Stadium 33,812
13 Sunday May 29 New Jersey Generals 29-32 1-12 RFK Stadium 11,264
14 Friday June 3 at Denver Gold 12-24 1-13 Mile High Stadium 40,671
15 Saturday June 11 at Arizona Wranglers 18-11 2-13 Sun Devil Stadium 16,656
16 Monday June 20 ABC at Michigan Panthers 25-27 2-14 Pontiac Silverdome 26,418
17 Sunday June 26 Los Angeles Express 28-21 3-14 RFK Stadium 9,792
18 Sunday July 3 Philadelphia Stars 21-14 4-14 RFK Stadium 11,039

[3][4][5]

Rewards

AwardWinnerPosition
All-USFL TeamEric RobinsonRB/KR

Final Statistics

Offense

Federals Passing
C/ATT Yds TD INT
Kim McQuilken 188/334 1912 7 14
Mike Hohensee 92/190 1017 9 7
Joe Gilliam 40/102 673 5 12
Federals Rushing
Car Yds TD LG
Craig James 202 823 4 24
Billy Taylor 171 757 5 34
Curtis Bledsoe 26 133 0 31
James Mayberry 42 120 2 11
Eric Robinson 49 97 0 8
Mike Hohensee 19 73 0 19
Kim McQuilken 13 9 1 7
Rickey Claitt 1 1 0 1
Buddy Hardeman 3 –3 0 4
Joe Gilliam 3 –6 0 0
Dana Moore 1 –8 0 –8
Federals Receiving
Rec Yds TD LG
Billy Taylor 64 523 2 55
Joey Walters 63 959 6 42
Craig James 40 342 3 52
Mike Holmes 35 654 7 80
Mike Harris 26 441 2 42
Eric Robinson 18 172 0 20
Buddy Hardeman 18 114 0 16
Stan Rome 12 157 1 26
Vince Kenney 7 120 0 30
Reggie Smith 6 87 0 22
James Mayberry 5 14 0 6
Vince Rogusky 4 47 0 20
Jeff Postell 4 32 0 9
Curtis Bledsoe 4 25 0 8
Charles Chisley 3 47 0 30
Bubba Diggs 3 19 0 8
Walker Lee 2 32 1 19
Rickey Claitt 2 27 0 14
William Wall 2 20 0 11
Tony Samuels 1 30 0 30
Marc Brown 1 18 0 18
Tony Loia 0 2 0 2

Defense

Federals Sacks
Sacks
Bennie Smith 7.0
Coy Bacon 7.0
Ronnie Estay 6.5
Bob Barber 5.0
Tony Suber 4.0
Mike Corvino 2.5
Joe Harris 2.5
Drew Taylor 2.5
Jeff McIntyre 1.5
Mike Muller 1.0
Robert Cobb 1.0
Mike Guess 1.0
Bob Shupryt 1.0
Doug Greene 1.0
Eddie Jackson 0.5
Don Harris 0.5
Federals Interceptions
Int Yds TD LG PD
Doug Greene 9 121 1 35
Jeff Brown 6 27 0 22
Mike Guess 5 49 0 18
Gregg Butler 2 25 0 14
Donnie Harris 1 12 0 12
Mike Corvino 1 2 0 2
Scott Facyson 1 0 0 0
Federals Fumbles
FF Fmb FR Yds TD
Kim McQuilken 11 6 –12 0
Billy Taylor 6 1 0 0
Craig James 6 0 0 0
Mike Hohensee 5 3 0 0
Eric Robinson 4 1 0 0
Mike Harris 3 1 0 0
Joe Gilliam 2 3 0 0
Mike Guess 2 2 0 0
Jeff Postell 1 1 0 0
Rickey Claitt 1 1 0 0
Gregg Butler 1 1 0 0
Curtis Bledsoe 1 1 0 0
Charles Chisley 1 0 0 0
James Mayberry 1 0 0 0
Steve Hoffman 1 0 0 0
Eric Sanford 1 0 0 0

Special Teams

Federals Kicking
FGM–FGA XPM–XPA
Sandro Vitiello 10-17 14-17
Federals Punting
Pnt Yds Lng Blck
Dana Moore 86 3480 60 0
Steve Hoffman 15 542 49 0
Federals Kick Returns
Ret Yds TD Lng
Eric Robinson 21 609 1 94
Mike Guess 22 486 0 55
Mike Harris 15 365 0 71
Curtis Bledsoe 7 109 0 32
Reggie Smith 5 81 0 31
Louie Giammona 3 66 0 24
Mike Muller 2 34 0 19
Mike Corvino 3 31 0 13
Joey Walters 1 20 0 20
Rickey Claitt 1 13 0 13
Kevin McLain 1 12 0 12
Mike Hurst 1 4 0 4
Bob Shupryt 1 3 0 3
Federals Punt Returns
Ret Yds TD Lng
Eric Robinson 24 171 0 29
Mike Guess 7 62 0 43
Gregg Butler 8 39 0 11
Buddy Hardeman 5 32 0 17
Reggie Smith 2 20 0 13
Mike Harris 1 0 0 0
Jeff Postell 1 0 0 0

[6]

Standings

Atlantic Division
TeamWLTPCTPFPAStadium1983 CapacityAvg. Att.Avg. % filledCoach
y-Philadelphia Stars 1530.833379204Veterans Stadium72,20418,65026%Jim Mora
Boston Breakers 1170.611399334Nickerson Field21,00012,81761%Dick Coury
New Jersey Generals 6120.333314437Giants Stadium76,89135,00446%Chuck Fairbanks
Washington Federals 4140.222297422RFK Stadium54,79413,85025%Ray Jauch

References

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