Who am I? My name is Shawn Lucas. I’m 48 years old and I teach math at the local high school. My wife (of 22 years) and I have three teenage sons. I got the idea for this replay almost 20 years ago during the dark ages of the internet. It never got off the ground because young kids take up a lot of time. However, more recently, I discovered that I have time to commit to the project.

Note: While cleaning up the page and getting ready for the 1985 season (starting the first week in July), I noticed some weirdness and inconsistency. I take full responsibility for these errors and weave them into the fabric of the league in this interview.

Why the USFL? I can’t explain my connection to the league. While I was alive when it existed and I remember bits and pieces of it, I wouldn’t consider myself a fan of the league. But, I listened to an audio book about the league and I watched the ESPN 30 for 30 documentary about it. As a fan of “what if”, the story and possibilities intrigued me.

What are those “What Ifs”?

• Well, the most obvious is, “What if the league never folded?” Beyond that, what if they were able to stick more or less to the principles of the league and it expanded each year?
• Furthermore, what if they cornered the global football market, too. USFL Europe sounds weird, and maybe dumb, but why the heck not?
• Boston? New Orleans? Portland? What if Boston fans, who I know to be passionate and a little bit crazy, bought the team to keep it in the area? Then, what if they used their power to snag a CFL quarterback in 1986?
• What if what Tom Brady said in his 30 for 30 is true? He gets benched, the USFL Munich team offers him a part ownership stake in the team, and he takes his talents to the Munich team?
• Eric Dickerson almost signed with the league. What if during the NFL labor strife and his own contract discussions, he decided to come back to the Los Angeles Express? Dickerson and Steve Young on the same team? Imagine the possibilities.
• Note: I will add more as they come to me. Also, I fully intend to be biased towards my pet project. However, I promise to keep things somewhat in the realm of possibility

I use Dave Koch’s great football simulator, Action PC Sports Pro Football to simulate the games and collect the statistics.

I started with official rosters for the teams, but past 1986, I needed to start figuring out storylines and roster moves myself. All of these are meant for fun and in the context of a “What If” scenario. I still use the actual player stats whenever possible with some adjustment for the differences in the various leagues. This comes from either official sources, or the community.

I work with ChatGPT to create the various reporters. All recaps and articles are written by the AI with some suggestions from me. I will continue to work and improve the process. I also recently found DeepSeek and think I might prefer that over ChatGPT right now. I still generate content from both, but used DeepSeek’s results more lately.

I also use Generative AI for the new logos for the expansion teams starting with the Las Vegas Ace and New Orleans Brass. I flat out stole the logo for the “original 12” patch after Night Cafe let me down.