Gabriel Calls Signals in USFL Bid

The USFL has handed the ball off to Charlotte and is waiting to see whether the city fumbles or scores in its bid to land a United States Football League franchise.

Former NFL quarterback Roman Gabriel, who’s spearheading the drive to get a USFL team in North Carolina, said the city is “fertile ground” for a franchise.

Just how fertile isn’t known yet, but Gabriel said the USFL should have a better idea after two exhibition games scheduled in February for Memorial Stadium in Charlotte.

The New Jersey Generals will face the Memphis Showboats on Saturday while the Baltimore Stars battle the Tampa Bay Bandits on Feb. 16 at the 25,000-seat stadium.

Gabriel is hoping the state’s football fans will turn out to see Heisman Trophy winner Doug Flutie, who is expected to be on the sidelines when the Generals play the Showboats.

“We’ve been told he probably won’t play, but there’s 90% chance he will be here with the team,” Gabriel said Wednesday at a news conference at Raleigh-Durham Airport to promote the two exhibition games.

While Flutie has not signed, Gabriel said New Jersey team officials told him “technicalities” were all that stand in the way of the Boston College quarterback joining the Generals.

Flutie is expected to sign for a reported $7 million over five years, said Gabriel, who has joined Charlotte businessman George Shinn in trying to land a USFL franchise in Charlotte.

Gabriel, a Wilmington native who played football at North Carolina State, said the two preseason games will be used to determine whether there is enough interest to justify putting a USFL franchise in Charlotte.

“The league is testing the city to see if we can fill the stadium,” said Gabriel, who played for the Rams and the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League. “Realistically, we should be able to. It’s time for the fans to come to the front. It’s time for the people who really want the team to come out to the games.”

He said some 12,000 tickets have been sold in about a month for the New Jersey-Memphis game.

“In a month’s time we’ve sold more tickets than both the teams I’ve been involved in. . . . three to four months,” said Gabriel, quarterback coach for the Arizona Wranglers last season after a one-year stint as an assistant coach with the Boston Breakers. “I’d like to see every seat filled.”

Gabriel said he and Shinn hope to get a USFL franchise in Charlotte by the 1986 season.

“What we’ve done the last two months is put together a package in an effort to obtain a USFL franchise, originally for ’85 (but) at the same time realizing in a short amount of time it might not be possible,” he said.

“We do know there is a possibility in ’86 for us to get a team that still exists. Now, whether the league will expand we don’t know,” he said. “If the league expands we were told we’d be the first site to be considered for a new team.”

Gabriel said his position on a USFL team in Charlotte would depend on whether the league put a new team in the city or moved an existing franchise there.

“If a team develops here, I’d like to be head coach,” he said. “But if the league took an existing team it might already have a coaching staff with a guaranteed contract.

“I would still have the opportunity, if I wanted to coach, to work with the offense and the opportunity to be head coach a year later.”