Washington Federals

The Renegades started out in 1983 as the Washington Federals and played in Washington, D.C.'s Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium under the ownership of prominent Washington attorney Berl Bernhard. The team lured Ray Jauch to be its head coach; he had previously guided the Winnipeg Blue Bombers to success in the Canadian Football League. At the time he was the fourth-winningest coach in CFL history.

The Federals finished 4-14, tied for the worst record in the league. However, they were far more competitive than their record indicated. Eight of their losses were by a touchdown or less. They had a fair amount of offensive talent skill players with comparatively good depth.

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 first game in franchise history was a portent of things to come; the Federals were drilled at RFK 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, just five weeks after the Redskins defeated the Miami Dolphins in Super Bowl XVII.

In week 3, the Federals led the Boston Breakers 16-9 with less than five minutes to go in regulation. However, two bad snaps on special teams led to a 19-16 loss. In week 6, the Federals led the Arizona Wranglers 21-16, only to have a potential game-sealing drive stall on the 2-yard-line. The Wranglers' first play from scrimmage after that was a 98-yard touchdown pass—the longest in league history.

The only USFL all-star on the team was reserve running back Eric Robinson, whose kickoff return for touchdown vs. Tampa Bay at RFK was the only kickoff return for touchdown in the USFL in 1983.

The team changed QBs almost weekly, with different QBs finishing a number of games. In part, it was because the Federals were bitten repeatedly by the injury bug. Jauch's biggest mistake was probably giving the opening day starter, NFL veteran Kim McQuilken, the quick hook for rookie QB Mike Hohensee. From there the team never seemed to settle with a QB 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. He was way past his prime and only threw for 673 yards. The only other quarterback on the team was rookie Mike Forslund, who never got into a game.

SMU star rookie running back Craig James was sidelined five games with a fractured vertebra. Hohensee only played in nine games all season. At one point, all of their receivers had leg injuries.

The defense was not bad. They just stayed on the field too long. The Federals had good linebackers. Joe Harris, Dan Lloyd and Jeff McIntyre. Washington's best Outside Linebacker Jeff McIntyre, could cover receivers down field and stop the run. McIntyre lead the team in tackles and sacks until and ankle injury sidelined him for the remaining 6 games. Washington's Defensive Ends could hold their ground and their Defensive Backs where not bad. The defense was just out there too long.

Despite losing money over hideous attendance figures (they once drew only 4,432 people to a home game), Bernhard was committed to sticking it out. There were a lot of reasons for optimism. In spite of the tremendous number of on field mistakes in 1983, the team had played with heart under Jauch, taking better teams down to the wire even at the end of the season. With just a few lucky breaks the Federals might have been almost a .500 team—and at best, a 12-6 team—in 1983. They had started the season 1-13, but had finished strongly going 3-1 in the last 4 games of the season. It appeared that the Federals had finally learned how to turn a close game into a win. With the league-wide talent pool expected to be stretched out due to expansion, the schedule seemed likely to be littered with a number of very winnable games. With McQuilken's post-season retirement, the team had an undisputed and seemingly capable starter at QB in Hohensee. The Birmingham Stallions' acquisition of Cliff Stoudt made their quarterback Reggie Collier available and the Federals added him for depth alongside Hohensee and rookie Lou Pagley. Star HB Craig James was healthy. It seemed like the pitfalls that Jauch had fallen into in the first season might be missed this time around. Player familiarity with the system and their teammates and having a proven winner like Jauch as a coach suggested the Federals were bound to deliver better results in 1984.

Despite these many reasons, the 1984 season came unraveled in a hurry. The league scheduled the Federals to open against the expansion Jacksonville Bulls in a probable effort to help the get the Federals off to a good start. Unfortunately, that plan backfired when the Bulls crushed the Federals 53-14. Hours before the game, the Federals cut all three of their starting linebackers, a move which hobbled the defense. The embarrassing loss forced Bernard to act to save face for his franchise. Jauch was fired after the game and replaced by former Maryland Terrapins and Dallas Cowboys running back Dick Bielski. In week 2, James suffered a season-ending injury. At that point, the season became a total fiasco --- even though Hohensee played fairly well for a second year starter finishing the season with a very respectable QB rating (for the USFL) of 72.2.

Support was almost nonexistent; they only averaged 7,700 fans per game in 1984, the worst per-game attendance in league history. With little fan turnout and James' frequent injuries, both the Federals and James were motivated to end their relationship. A little over a month into the season, James was given his release to allow him to sign with the NFL's Patriots. It took the Federals nine games to finally win. Among their season lowlights were two losses to the expansion Pittsburgh Maulers. The Federals finished 3-15, tied with the Maulers for the worst record in the league.

Although the defense was awful throughout the season, the offense was respectable in the last 12 games or so. HB Curtis Bledsoe replaced James as the feature back, rushing for a respectable 1080 yards and 7 TDs in 1984. "Go to" WR Joey Walters caught 98 passes for 1410 yards with 7 TDs and made the 1984 TSN USFL All-Star Team, becoming the Federals' main star.

With six games left in the season, Bernhard (who once called the Federals "trained gerbils") gave up and sold the Federals to Florida real estate developer Woody Weiser, who announced plans to move the Federals to Miami. Weiser quickly signed up Howard Schnellenberger as the new coach after the season ended.

However, on August 22, 1984, the league owners voted to move to a fall schedule in 1986. Weiser knew he couldn't go head-to-head against the Miami Dolphins, so he canceled the deal. Fortunately for Bernhard, a few days later, Tampa Bay Bandits part-owner Donald Dizney stepped up and ended Bernhard's suffering. Dizney bought the Federals, moving them to Orlando and renaming them the Renegades.