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34-672: The team that would eventually become the Arizona Wranglers was originally supposed to be the USFL's Los Angeles franchise. The team's planned original owner, Alex Spanos , pulled out of his USFL commitment and instead bought a minority stake in the NFL 's San Diego Chargers . The owners of the Oakland Invaders , Bay Area real estate executives Jim Joseph and Tad Taube , flipped a coin to decide who would take action to become

68-502: A lease to Jack Murphy Stadium, a situation that would force a second USFL team, the Outlaws , to leave San Diego before playing a down.) USFL officials felt that Daniels and Harmon's ties to the cable industry would be better suited for the country's second-largest market; David Dixon 's blueprint depended on heavy television exposure. The league forced Joseph to surrender rights to Los Angeles to Daniels and Harmon, whose franchise became

102-427: A preseason. When the rest of their opponents reached mid-season form, the undermanned Wrangler defense appeared to have trouble keeping the games within reach of the offense. The Wranglers gave up 442 points, easily the most in the league. The Wranglers only scored more than 23 points once all season—in their week 2 upset of George Allen 's Chicago Blitz . In hopes of avoiding Arizona's often-oppressive summer heat,

136-474: A seven-way heart bypass in 2000, and had surgery and chemotherapy for colon cancer. After his heart bypass at Sacramento Mercy General Hospital, Spanos donated $ 10 million to the hospital to sponsor the construction of a new state-of-the-art heart center. Spanos wrote a book called Sharing the Wealth: My Story which detailed his rise from a moneyless man of 27 years to become a billionaire. Spanos

170-647: A tail gunner during World War II. Spanos earned varsity letters in swimming and diving at the University of the Pacific in Stockton and later distinguished himself as an amateur golfer. In 1951, he borrowed $ 800 ($ 9,375 in 2024) from a local banker to buy a truck which he then used to sell sandwiches to migrant farm workers in the San Joaquin Valley . He invested his earnings in real estate and at

204-539: A tie for the worst record in the league. The 1983 Wranglers featured some talent on offense including the League's 6th ranked passer in rookie QB Alan Risher , 12th ranked rusher in 3rd year vet Leon Calvin Murray , and the league's #7, #10, #11 receivers (1983 rookies TE Mark Keel , WR Jackie Flowers , and WR Neil Balholm , respectively). Their defense was not as strong, although it looked fairly strong on paper before

238-588: A willing buyer in Oklahoma Outlaws owner William Tatham, who was looking for a larger market with an acceptable stadium. The two men reached a deal in which the two teams would be merged as the Arizona Outlaws . The Outlaws would be the nominal survivor; the Tathams would own a 75 percent controlling interest with Diethrich retaining 25 percent. However, ex-Wranglers were to make up a majority of

272-607: Is a cardiovascular medical center in Phoenix, Arizona , United States founded by Edward Diethrich in 1971. In 2009, the institute paid the US government US$ 675 000 in re-imbursement for ten carotid artery stenting procedures which were billed to, but not covered by, Medicare. These expenses and others led the institute to file for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2010, ultimately being entirely sold to Vanguard Health Systems 's subsidiary company Abrazo Health Care . Purchasing

306-662: The Arizona Heart Institute ) wanted a chance to move closer to his business interests in the Phoenix area. Despite fielding a team that had come up one game short of the USFL title game, the Blitz' attendance had been lackluster at best. Diethrich had lost millions of dollars, and did not believe those losses justified an investment that far from home. Diethrich thought he had a solution to both his and Joseph's problems—an unprecedented swap of franchises. Diethrich sold

340-569: The Los Angeles Express . Joseph finally settled on a move to Phoenix, bringing professional football to the city for the first time. Joseph appeared to hold fast to the USFL's original blueprint. He aggressively marketed the team in Arizona while keeping a tight rein on spending (including player salaries). The results were a mixed bag. The roster was a young team with some talent at the skill positions, but fewer quality starters in

374-602: The National Football League (NFL). Spanos was born in Stockton, California , to Greek immigrants Constantino and Evanthia Spanos. His father owned a bakery where the young Spanos started working at the age of eight. According to his autobiography, Spanos was "born into conflict", since his parents were constantly fighting. Spanos' mother even left the family home for two years and attempted to take two children with her, but his parents reunited when he

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408-416: The (original) Blitz after being unable to get a lease for Sun Devil Stadium Diethrich wanted to take the Blitz name with him to Arizona, but Hoffman rebuffed him. As a result, Diethrich rebranded his team as the "New" Arizona Wranglers. While the USFL was active, the league considered the 1983 and 1984 Wranglers to be the same franchise, even though almost all the players were different. The deal transformed

442-449: The 1983 numbers, as fans were slow to warm to the new players. It did not help matters that Hoffman had walked away from the Blitz during the preseason and had stopped payment on the installment plan he had brokered with Diethrich. After losing millions for the second year in a row and realizing that he would never see the remainder of the $ 7.2 million that Hoffman had promised to pay him for the Blitz, Diethrich decided to get out. He found

476-605: The Alex G. Spanos Sports and Recreation Complex in Sacramento , the Alex G. Spanos Training Center at UCSD are named after him. From 2006 to 2022, the Mustang Memorial Field at Cal Poly also bore his name, after he donated $ 8 million to renovate the stadium. Spanos was one of the largest contributors to George W. Bush 's re-election campaign in 2004. By contributing $ 5 million to 527 groups that supported

510-472: The Blitz to fellow surgeon James Hoffman, then bought the Wranglers from Joseph. Allen, who had been chairman and head coach of the Blitz, took the same posts in Arizona. and his entire coaching staff moved to Phoenix as well. Hoffman and Diethrich then engineered a swap of assets in which most of the Blitz players moved to Phoenix while most of the Wranglers roster moved to Chicago. (The most notable exception

544-734: The Bush campaign in 2004, Spanos ranked among the top five GOP donors. President Bush appointed Spanos to the Kennedy Center board in 2004. Spanos was inducted into the California Building Industry Hall of Fame in 2005. Spanos also received the AHEPA Award, an award that recognizes members of the community for their contributions and achievements in their chosen field of endeavor. In 1948, Spanos married Faye Papafaklis. They had four children: Dean Spanos ,

578-619: The Chargers' team president; Michael Spanos, the Chargers' executive vice president; Alexis Spanos Ruhl, a vice president of A. G. Spanos Companies; and Dea Spanos Berberian, a vice president of A. G. Spanos Companies. In his autobiography, Spanos credited his wife with much of his success and stated that the couple did not recall "one real argument." Faye Spanos died on August 7, 2018, aged 92. Spanos resided in Stockton, California . He also owned property in Las Vegas , Nevada . Spanos had

612-453: The Wranglers from a cellar-dweller to a league powerhouse almost overnight. However, trading a team that had been, at worst, the third-best team in the league for a lesser version of one of the worst teams in the league raised questions about the USFL's credibility—especially in Chicago. The Blitz would never recover, and would be effectively euthanized at the end of the season ( Eddie Einhorn

646-412: The championship game, Diethrich was bleeding in red ink. He expected his all-star team's attendance to be much greater than the 25,776 fans per game the no-name Wranglers averaged in 1983. However, as had been the case a year earlier, Phoenix-area fans viewed the Wranglers mostly with indifference. Despite fielding a winning team, the Wranglers' 1984 attendance figures (25,568 fans per game) were lower than

680-725: The daily operations of the franchise. According to Forbes , as of August 2022, the Los Angeles Chargers are worth $ 3.875 billion. Spanos donated $ 500,000 to renovate the Fox Theatre in downtown Stockton, and with the approval of the City of Stockton, renamed the facility the Fox California Bob Hope Theatre. The Alex G. Spanos Center at University of the Pacific in Stockton, the Alex G. Spanos Stadium for Lincoln High School in Stockton,

714-500: The league scheduled 6 Wranglers home games in the first half of the season. The team only played 3 of their last 9 games at home. Sources Joseph lost millions of dollars in the 1983 season. Like most of the other owners, he had bought into the league knowing to expect years of losses. However, he was disappointed in the team's attendance and unwilling to stick it out in Arizona. In a stroke of luck for Joseph, Chicago Blitz owner Dr. Ted Diethrich (a Phoenix resident and founder of

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748-504: The new owner of the USFL's Los Angeles franchise. Joseph won the flip and got the USFL rights to Los Angeles, selling his stake in the Invaders to Taube. A few months later, fate shuffled the deck. The owners of the USFL's San Diego franchise, cable television pioneers Bill Daniels and Alan Harmon , could not secure access to Jack Murphy Stadium . (Due to pressure from the Chargers, the USFL would never be able to successfully negotiate

782-454: The next 10 years, he bought out the shares of several small co-owners, bringing his control of the team to 97%. The remaining 3% was held by San Diego restaurateur George Pernicano , an investor in the team since a few years after its inception, until Pernicano's death in October 2016; and Bill Fox, a local community leader, until his death in 2020. Since 1993, Spanos' son Dean has handled

816-479: The offseason roster. When Diethrich suggested that the merged team might have to file for bankruptcy, the merger fell apart, and Diethrich decided to get out of the league altogether. As a result, the deal was restructured so that the Wranglers folded and the Outlaws took their place in Phoenix. However, since Tatham acquired all the Wranglers' player contracts–including almost all of the 1984 Wranglers defense–the deal

850-720: The season. Allen retired as coach in September 1984, but remain involved with the team. Allen named assistant coach Paul Lanham as head coach. [1] The Wranglers intended to change to red jerseys for the 1984 season, but the league office had put in a rule that stated any team changing jersey colors (in this case, blue to red) had to wait one season before doing so. Sources Running backs (RB) Wide receivers (WR) Tight ends (TE) Defensive linemen (DL) Defensive backs (DB) Special teams Front office Head coaches Offensive coaches Strength and conditioning Despite making it to

884-470: The season. The Wranglers signed San Francisco 49er ILB Jeff McIntyre and ILB Glen Perkins from the University of Arizona. But during the pre-season McIntyre, who had a personal services contract with Joseph, asked to be traded because of contract issues. Perkins suffered a knee injury that slowed his play and development. The Wranglers probably benefited early on from the league's decision not to have

918-400: The starting lineup and less depth of talent than their opponents. Due to a weaker product, the ticket sales were only in line with most other teams in the league. The Wranglers were quite competitive at first, posting a 4–4 record and moving into a four-way tie for first in their division. However, they lost their last 10 games—tied for the longest losing streak in league history—finishing in

952-533: The suggestion of his tax accountants, started to build apartments. In 1960, he founded A. G. Spanos Companies , which by 1977 had become the largest apartment builder in the United States. The corporation is based in Stockton and has 10 subsidiaries. In 1984, Spanos bought 60% of the San Diego Chargers (now Los Angeles Chargers ) from majority owner Eugene Klein for $ 48.3 million. Over

986-562: Was a teenager and remained married until his death. Spanos, who played a large part in mediating the conflict between his parents, stated that his turbulent home life was the reason he strove to provide a stable environment for his own children. In 1942, he dropped out of college at the California Polytechnic School and joined the Army Air Force training as a pilot but left the program and instead served as

1020-546: Was awarded a replacement Chicago franchise, but it never played a down). The 1984 Wranglers finished in a tie for first in the Western Division. In the playoffs, they upset the powerful Houston Gamblers , then defeated the Los Angeles Express for the conference title. Although the Express had a better record, the game was played at Sun Devil Stadium because the Express' home field, Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum ,

1054-560: Was being readied for the 1984 Summer Olympics . To accommodate the oppressive summer heat in the state, as well as the ABC Sports television schedule, the game kicked off at 8:30 p.m. local time (11:30 p.m. Eastern time). The Wranglers' run ended in the championship game with a 23–3 defeat by the Philadelphia Stars in what would be Allen's last game as a professional coach. Quarterback Greg Landry retired after

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1088-463: Was still widely reported as a merger. Note: The Finish, Wins, Losses, and Ties columns list regular season results and exclude any postseason play. Alex Spanos Alexander Gus Spanos (September 28, 1923 – October 9, 2018) was an American billionaire real estate developer, founder of the A. G. Spanos Companies , and the majority owner of the San Diego / Los Angeles Chargers of

1122-453: Was that Wrangler quarterback Alan Risher stayed in Arizona to back up former Blitz quarterback Greg Landry ). The deal allowed Allen to keep virtually all of the NFL veteran-loaded roster that he had painstakingly assembled for the Blitz in 1983. It also allowed Diethrich to get a team in his hometown; he had originally sought a USFL franchise for Phoenix in 1983, only to buy controlling interest in

1156-628: Was the first person to be on the winning teams in both the Bob Hope Desert Classic in Palm Desert (1977) and the Bob Hope British Pro-Am (1980). Spanos died October 9, 2018, age 95, of complications from dementia that had been diagnosed ten years prior. According to friends, he had been brokenhearted by the death of his wife two months earlier. Arizona Heart Institute Arizona Heart Institute

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