1985 Pro Football Salaries

[CyberB0b]

Higher than I thought they would be.

 

[Wolfpack]

I used to play Techmo Bowl with these guys.

 

[JoeyBoy718]

Steve Young was paid that high when he played in Tampa? I thought he didn't start to come into his own until a few years on the bench in SF. Why was he paid 3 times as much as Montana in his prime?

 

[CyberB0b]

Steve Young was paid that high when he played in Tampa? I thought he didn't start to come into his own until a few years on the bench in SF. Why was he paid 3 times as much as Montana in his prime?

USFL

 

[JoeyBoy718]

USFL

So he did so well in USFL that they paid him 3 times as much as the league's best QB? I wasn't born until 86 so I don't know too much about what went on back then. I thought Young was an unheralded guy who surprised the league after sitting on the bench a few years in SF. I guess he was a big shot. Not sure why he didn't stay in Tampa then.

 

[RonSpringsdaman20]

So he did so well in USFL that they paid him 3 times as much as the league's best QB? I wasn't born until 86 so I don't know too much about what went on back then. I thought Young was an unheralded guy who surprised the league after sitting on the bench a few years in SF. I guess he was a big shot. Not sure why he didn't stay in Tampa then.

Steve Young's talent was recognized, he was very good @ BYU... he kinda tore it up in the usfl (LA I think)... that got him that big salary.....
at the time the nfl was afraid that the usfl was poaching their talent by overpaying..... which they were.....
usfl helped push salaries fwd.... the contracts kelly and walker got were wild at the time if I remember correctly. (mike rozier also?)

 

[landroverking]

Steve Young's talent was recognized, he was very good @ BYU... he kinda tore it up in the usfl (LA I think)... that got him that big salary.....
at the time the nfl was afraid that the usfl was poaching their talent by overpaying..... which they were.....
usfl helped push salaries fwd.... the contracts kelly and walker got were wild at the time if I remember correctly. (mike rozier also?)[/quote

He wasn't that good in the USFL & TB

I read were he is still getting paid from his USFL days because it was a personal service contract.

 

[RonSpringsdaman20]

TB, he wasn't good, I remember that.... I remember him being pretty good in LA, but I could be wrong... I was a kid, and a chuck fusina fan...... he came from a QB friendly school (Bosco, McMahon, & Young)

 

[65fastback2plus2]

Steve Young's talent was recognized, he was very good @ BYU... he kinda tore it up in the usfl (LA I think)... that got him that big salary.....
at the time the nfl was afraid that the usfl was poaching their talent by overpaying..... which they were.....
usfl helped push salaries fwd.... the contracts kelly and walker got were wild at the time if I remember correctly. (mike rozier also?)

and he STILL collects a paycheck from the USFL to this day lol

 

[ufcrules1]

I used to play Techmo Bowl with these guys.

There is no "H" in Tecmo bowl.

 

[JoeyBoy718]

Steve Young's talent was recognized, he was very good @ BYU... he kinda tore it up in the usfl (LA I think)... that got him that big salary.....
at the time the nfl was afraid that the usfl was poaching their talent by overpaying..... which they were.....
usfl helped push salaries fwd.... the contracts kelly and walker got were wild at the time if I remember correctly. (mike rozier also?)

I've heard about the USFL but I didn't know too much about it (since I was born in 86). I just always figured it was a punk league like the CFL, but they seem to have been a pretty legitimate threat to the NFL for a few years. For examples, the had the NFL giving away outrageous contracts to pry away players (see above: a semi-bust Steve Young being paid 3 times that of Joe Montana in his prime), they even had guys like Dan Marino and Jerry Rice commit to the draft (only to decline the offer and join the NFL), they created things that the NFL later "took" like the 2-point conversion and coach's challenge, and they were very successful in cities that the NFL coincidentally happened to later put teams in (Nashville, Tampa, Jacksonville, Phoenix).

 

[CyberB0b]

I've heard about the USFL but I didn't know too much about it (since I was born in 86). I just always figured it was a punk league like the CFL, but they seem to have been a pretty legitimate threat to the NFL for a few years. For examples, the had the NFL giving away outrageous contracts to pry away players (see above: a semi-bust Steve Young being paid 3 times that of Joe Montana in his prime), they even had guys like Dan Marino and Jerry Rice commit to the draft (only to decline the offer and join the NFL), they created things that the NFL later "took" like the 2-point conversion and coach's challenge, and they were very successful in cities that the NFL coincidentally happened to later put teams in (Nashville, Tampa, Jacksonville, Phoenix).

There was a cool 30 for 30 on the USFL.

Edit: Found it

 

[Future]

You could pretty much multiply those numbers by 20 today. Wild.

 

[CyberB0b]

You could pretty much multiply those numbers by 20 today. Wild.

Keep in mind, this was like a decade before free agency existed in the NFL.

 

[JoeyBoy718]

There was a cool 30 for 30 on the USFL.

Edit: Found it

Good stuff. Didn't know they had a 30 for 30. Will watch tonight. Thanks.

 

[Boyz981]

Lynn Dickey... got paid pretty well!

 

[perrykemp]

Lynn Dickey... got paid pretty well!

He only a slightly above average QB,however, he scored a big contract on the back of his 1983 4458 yard / 32 TD performance spending the season throwing bombs to James Lofton and John Jefferson.

Back in the early 80s those were pretty rarified numbers.

He also happened to throw 29 interceptions that season!

 

[RonSpringsdaman20]

He only a slightly above average QB,however, he scored a big contract on the back of his 1983 4458 yard / 32 TD performance spending the season throwing bombs to James Lofton and John Jefferson.

Back in the early 80s those were pretty rarified numbers.

He also happened to throw 29 interceptions that season!

heck yeh! you are bringing back childhood memories!

of course you knew this, you're a packer fan