THE NEWCOMERS : The NFL Sure Didn’t Ignore USFL Players

The National Football League tried its best to ignore the United States Football League, until some of the new league’s players became available.

According to estimates from USFL officials, as many as 70 of their former players will be on NFL rosters when the regular season begins Sunday.

Included are some of the few marquee names that the USFL had.

The Houston Oilers have running back Mike Rozier, a former Heisman Trophy winner who played for the Pittsburgh Maulers and Jacksonville Bulls. Minnesota has wide receiver Anthony Carter, who played for the Michigan Panthers and Oakland Invaders, and defensive end Keith Millard, who played for the Jacksonville Bulls. New Orleans has the Invaders’ quarterback, Bobby Hebert. Tampa Bay has Invaders’ safety, David Greenwood.

San Diego has wide receiver Trumaine Johnson from the Arizona Outlaws, running back Tim Spencer from the Memphis Showboats and defensive end Lee Williams from the Express.

Other former Express players expected to play significant roles in the NFL include wide receiver JoJo Townsell with the New York Jets, running back Kevin Mack with Cleveland, linebacker David Howard with Minnesota and kicker Tony Zendejas with Houston. Quarterback Steve Young will follow as soon as he reaches an agreement with the USFL that allows him to sign with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Even the first player to sign a USFL contract, tight end Tim Wrightman, has changed leagues. The former UCLA All-American originally was drafted by the Chicago Bears but accepted a better offer from the Chicago Blitz. Now that Chicago is a Bear market only, he’s in the NFL.

“We take that as a compliment that the NFL, which has referred to us as a minor league, finds so many of our players to be of interest,” USFL Commissioner Harry Usher said at a league meeting last week in Atlantic City.

“I also find it interesting that many of the players they seem to want were home grown in our league right out of college.”

One of those is guard Broderick Thompson, who was cut by Dallas in training camp two years ago. He went to the USFL, tried out with the Cowboys again this year and made the team.

Another is Wayne Radloff, a former Oakland Invader center who may win the starting job in Atlanta from 17-year veteran Jeff Van Note.

Former Baltimore Stars’ punter Sean Lendetta took 12-year veteran Dave Jennings’ job with the New York Giants.

The NFL also welcomed back several prodigal sons. Defensive end Ross Browner and tight end Dan Ross returned from the USFL to Cincinnati. Tackle Luis Sharpe returned from Memphis to St. Louis. Linebacker James Harrell returned from the Tampa Bay Bandits to Detroit. Defensive lineman Ben Rudolph went back to the Jets from the Express.

None of this necessarily means that the NFL has changed its attitude toward the other league.

When asked where one of its new defensive ends, Robert Smith, had played in the USFL, a Minnesota Viking spokesman said, “I can’t remember. What are the teams?”

As usual, most of the rookies who are expected to have an impact on the NFL this season were acquired through the draft.

Of the first 13 players selected, 11 are starting.

That includes the first three choices, Buffalo defensive end Bruce Smith from Virginia Tech, Atlanta’s Bill Fralic, who was moved from tackle to guard, and Houston’s Ray Childress from Texas A&M.; The eighth player selected, defensive end Ron Holmes from Washington, has the unenviable task of replacing one of the game’s best defensive players, Lee Roy Selmon, at Tampa Bay. Selmon is out for the season with an injury.

Two first-round draft choices from USC, linebacker Duane Bickett and tackle Ken Ruettgers, are starting. Bickett, the fifth player selected, is at Indianapolis. Ruettgers, the seventh player selected, is at Green Bay.

San Diego’s first-round draft choice, center Jim Lachey from Ohio State, is starting, as is the Raiders’ wide receiver Jessie Hester from Florida State. The Rams’ first-round choice, cornerback Jerry Gray, didn’t sign until late and is a reserve. The only first-round choice who remains unsigned is the Jets’ Al Toon, a wide receiver from Wisconsin who was the 10th player selected.

The Rams have the oldest rookie, 34-year-old quarterback Dieter Brock from the Canadian Football League.

Cleveland has the youngest, 21-year-old quarterback Bernie Kosar. He graduated from the University of Miami, Fla., with two years of eligibility remaining, but, judging from the exhibition season, he still has plenty to learn. Completing only 20 of 54 passes, with 3 interceptions and no touchdowns, he failed to win the starting job from Gary Danielson. Another highly touted quarterback who didn’t fare so well during the exhibition season was Hebert, who is the Saints’ third-team quarterback behind David Wilson and Richard Todd.

The largest rookie is Chicago nose tackle William (The Refrigerator) Perry, who weighs 321 pounds. The scales were tipped in his favor after Philadelphia’s ninth-round draft choice, nose tackle Joe (The Freezer) Drake, reported to training camp at 300 pounds, down from 352 when he was drafted.

The latest draft choice to earn a roster berth was Herb Welch, a UCLA cornerback who went in the 12th round to the New York Giants. Only 10 players were chosen after Welch, the 326th player selected.

The Eagles’ Herman Hunter, the 289th player selected, had kickoff returns for touchdowns during the exhibition season of 99 and 97 yards.

The Kansas City Chiefs’ Jeff Smith, the 267th players selected, had kickoff returns of 98 and 52 yards.

The Chargers’ Curtis Adams, the 207th player selected, led the team in rushing, receiving and kickoff returns during the exhibition season. His play made the AFC’s leading rusher in 1984, Earnest Jackson, expendable.

Welch was one of three draft choices from UCLA to make a team. Steve Bono is the third-team quarterback at Minnesota, while Michael Young is a third-team wide receiver with the Rams. Besides Bickett and Ruettgers, two other draft choices from USC are on rosters. Jack Del Rio is a second-team linebacker with New Orleans, while Mark Boyer is a third-team tight end with Indianapolis.

Daren Gilbert from Cal State Fullerton may start at tackle for the Saints. John Hendy from Cal State Long Beach is a second-team cornerback for the Chargers. Two former San Diego State players, guard Rich Moran and defensive back Tory Nixon, earned jobs. Moran may start for Green Bay, whereas Nixon is a reserve with the San Francisco 49ers. Gerald Prokop from Cal Poly Pomona is punting for Green Bay.

The unlikeliest rookies, pairs division, are the McKenzie brothers, Reggie and Raleigh from Tennessee. Linebacker Reggie, a 10th-round selection, will start at linebacker for the Raiders. Guard Raleigh, an 11th-round selection, is a reserve for the Redskins.

Another unlikely rookie is Gale Gilbert, a quarterback from Cal who wasn’t selected at all in the draft. He went to the Seattle Seahawks’ training camp as a free agent and beat out veteran Jim Zorn as the second-team quarterback.

Also losing his job to a rookie was Chicago kicker Bob Thomas, a 10-year veteran and the team’s all-time leading scorer. The Bears’ new kicker is Kevin Butler from Georgia. Of 184 kickoffs in college, only 50 were returned.

Another kicker who lost out to a rookie was Tampa Bay’s Obed Ariri. His replacement is another Nigerian, Donald Igwebuiki.