March 18th, 1999

Tony Dean Retires

It's the end of an era in Houston as future 1st ballot Hall of Fame quarterback Tony Dean officially announced his retirement.

In 1983, Tony Dean was selected with the 32nd pick of the 1st round by the Houston Gamblers after the team won its first World Championship. Little did everyone know that this was the beginning of an unprecedented period of success for Houston. He spent the next 16 seasons with the Gamblers including 15 straight seasons as the starting quarterback where he made the postseason every season including 6 World Championships.

THE STATS

238 games (8th Alltime)
231 starts (League Record)
72,313 yard passing (League Record)
624 TD passes (League Record)
8,889 attempts (2nd Alltime)
5,913 completions (League Record)
66.5% comp % (3rd Alltime)
8.14 yards/att (10th Alltime)
104.41 QBR (League Record)
104 sacks (2nd Alltime*)
222 interceptions (7th Alltime**)

*among QBs with at least 5,000 attempts
**among QBs with at least 6,000 attempts

POSTSEASON

34 games (League Record)
34 starts (League Record)
10,864 yards passing (League Record)
86 TD passes (League Record)
1,427 attempts (League Record)
933 completions (League Record)
65.4% comp % (8th Alltime*)
7.61 yards/att (15th Alltime*)
96.11 QBR (5th Alltime **)
15 sacks (5th Alltime***)
42 interceptions (1st Alltime)

* among QBs with at least 100 attempts
**among QBs with at least 300 attempts
**among QBs with at least 500 attempts

Records

REGULAR SEASON

194-45-1 (.808)
8 Division Titles
3X League MVP

POSTSEASON

27-9-0 (.750)
6 American Conference Championships
6 World Bowl Championships

Under the current rules, Dean's numbers will not be equaled. To put his 104 QBR in perspective, only 1 other QB on the first page of all time yards has a rating over 100, same when you look at the first page of TD passers. In fact only 3 QBs with over 1000 career attempts have a rating over 100. That's 3 QBs total over 25 seasons.

That's just his regular season stats. In the post season his passing yardage is more than double of every other QB except 3, and they're all retired. The closest active QB is Don Ferguson of New Jersey, and he has 5,048 yards. He would need to make the next 5 or 6 World Bowls in a row to challenge Dean's 10,864 and 86 TDs and I don't know if he'll even play that long.

He's had a great career and I'm sure you'll miss him.

September 15, 1999

Strange Journey from after thought to replacing the unreplacable

QB Bryan Franklin was drafted in the 4th round of the 1991 draft by the Charlotte Hornets. At that time, QB Tony Dean had been the starting QB for the Houston Gamblers for 7 seasons and had won 3 Titles and 3 MVPs.

Franklin never made it to the Hornets training camp but was signed by the Florida Blazers to a 2 year/0.6 million dollar prove it deal. Dean was already on his 3rd contract; 4 year/21.1 million dollar rookie contract , 6 year/51.2 million and 6 year/50.3 million.

In 1992, Franklin got some time under center in the preseason after playing 7 snaps during the 1991 season where he went 1 for 4 passing for 9 yards. Franklin played 3 preseason games and showed enough that Florida signed him to a 6 year/42.2 million dollar contract extension to become the future quarterback behind QB Sidney Maggard. Dean would sign a 6 year/54.7 million dollar contract extension in 1992, his 4th contract.

Franklin spent 1991-1995 backing up QB Maggard before Maggard left via free agency in 1996. During the 1996 draft, Florida used the 5th pick of the 1st round to select QB Willie Graham out of Penn State. The writing was on the wall for Franklin when Graham started and played the entire game during all 3 preseason games and was named the starter for the 1996 season. Dean would win his 3rd straight Title in 1996, giving him 6 rings but it would turn out to be his last Title.

In 1998, Franklin & Dean would become free agents where Franklin signed a 6 year/16.6 million dollar contract with Denver after rejecting a 6 year/11.9 million dollar contract with Houston. Dean would sign a 3 year/5.9 million dollar contract to return to Houston. Denver would release Franklin prior to week 12 of the 1998 season and Houston would pick him up off waivers.

After the 1998 season, Dean would retire and Franklin finally found himself in the position to become QB1. In 1999, the writing was once again on the wall for Franklin as he started and played the entire game during all 3 preseason games and he was officially crowned the starter for the 1st time in his 9 year career.

Franklin has made the first two starts of his career this season and it seems its been worth the wait. He is 2-0 so far, 2nd in passing yards and 1st in passing TDs. His 92.99 QBR is 5th in the league and his style looks familiar to Houston fans. Franklin attributes his early success to Tony Dean citing Dean's patience and willingness to teach him despite all of his successes and his career coming to a close. Dean kept preaching to Franklin that he had to be ready to take the wheel and keep this francise moving forward.

Bryan Franklin has always had the talent to play in this league but circumstances have denied him his opportunity. Now that things have aligned to give him a chance, he is making the most of it. Only time will tell what the future brings but as of now, so far! So good!

February 17th, 2000

Unexpected Destination/Hard Eighth

The Houston Gamblers won their 8th World Bowl 16-15 versus the Orlando Renegades in exciting come from behind fashion! Down 15-10 with less than 2 minutes remaining, QB Bryan Franklin orchestra a 5 play, 75 yard touchdown drive capped off when he hit RB Gus "Highest" Gas on a wheel route for 47 yards. It made the score 16-15 after a failed 2-point conversion with 1:03 left in the game. The Houston defense played a bent but don't break style all game, keeping Orlando out of the endzone all game while allowing 5 fieldgoals including 3 redzone visits. Orlando would go 2 for 7 passing on the final drive, with the drive stalling on a 4th and 10 from Orlando's 49 yard line when SLB Harold Harrison knocked down a pass from QB Trey Lyons which turned the ball over on downs and sealed the victory.

Exactly three years ago, in 1997, Houston had just won their 3rd straight Title and while Tony Dean would play 2 more seasons and make the playoffs both years, it seemed like the end of an era in Houston as Tony Dean would announce 1998 was his last season. The Gamblers would make some moves prior to the 1998 season and accumulated 19 draft picks. They would draft QB Frederick Van Slyke in the 1st round as the heir apparent to Tony Dean along with 11 offensive rookies and 7 defensive rookies.

Entering 1999, the team had just 3 draft picks and the heir apparent QB Van Slyke had serious off the field issues resulting in Houston cutting bait with him prior to the season meaning QB Bryan Franklin, a week 13 waiver claim in 1998 became QB1 on the depth chart. Franklin was drafted in the 4th round of the 1991 draft by Florida and had exactly 9 pass attempts in his 8 seasons in the league and not one start.

This left Houston with 6 offensive players, a Kicker and 7 defensive players left on the roster from their last Championship team. They would be led by a veteran QB with no starts in the USFL plus 13 players in their 1st or 2nd season in the league. A journeyman QB, 13 kids and 14 core Championship players didn't seem like a recipe for success, much less another Title but that is exactly what happened thanks to a Championship culture led by an experienced coaching staff and head coach Dorian Peters.

While Houston celebrates another Championship, we can only ponder what the future will look like in Houston. Is Bryan Franklin the answer or was he a one year wonder? Will this young core of players be the next Houston dynasty? The one answer we do have is they are the defending Champions and next season will be another exciting season of Houston Gamblers football.

December 22th, 2000

The Houston Gamblers have made the playoffs for a league record 19th straight season, winning at least 10 games for 19 straight seasons.

It's also 17 straight playoff appearances since owner C.J. Frederickson bought the francise in 1984.

The 19 year run includes:

19 postseason appearances
11 Division Titles
8 American Conference Championships
8 World Bowl Championships

250-53-1 (.822) Regular season record
35-10 (.778) Postseason record

USFL Reporter Miranda Veracruz de la Jolla Cardinal tried to get an interview with Houston Gamblers Owner/GM Cjfred68 about the draft, but he only had 2 words for her...




It seems the only people Miss Cardinal can catch on camera are the Bundys and the No Ma'am guys.

Owner Cjfred68 is out of the country



Reports are he is scouting talent in Jamaica in leau of the draft

October 20th, 2004

The Houston Gamblers have made the playoffs for a league record 22 straight season but are 6 years removed from their last Championship.

The team went 13-3 last season, winning another Division Title but enough though the offense was 2nd in the league, the defense ranked 14th and they lost to Portand in the Conference Championship game 27-19.

In the off-season, things looked bleak as QB Bryan Franklin retired and the team knew they needed to address the defense, especially the defensive front four. That's when GM Frederick went to work!

First, they signed QB Dale Barber to a mega 6 year/352 million dollar free agent contract. Barber had underperformed for 4 season in Florida but the team saw his potential and wasted no expense to get him signed and locked up within hours of free agency opening. Clearly, it has worked out the way they hoped through 7 games as Barber is just 1 TD pass away from his career high. He is 3rd on the league in passing yards & passing TDs and leads the leagues #3 offense.

With the QB filled the front office used 6 of 8 draft picks to address the defense. They used a 2nd, 4th & 7th round picks to completely rebuilt the defensive line. J. J. Kilroy & Bubba Thornton were drafted in the 2nd & 4th round and were immediately penciled in at RDE & DT. The team then went to work and found a punter Fast Freddie Foster from Notre Dame and worked with him into transitioning to a LDE/EDGE RUSHER. Everyone outside the building thought this was just another camp body and the best case scenario would be he would make the team as a special teamer. Fast Freddie Foster wasn't listening to all the experts and made the team out of preseason and found himself starting in week 1.

Now the Gamblers have a 5th year QB locked up for the next 6 seasons at minimum plus a defensive front 4 with 3 rookies & a 6 year veteran who have amassed 39 tackles, 19 sacks & 17 hurries through 7 games.

Defensively, they have improved to become a top 10 unit, currently ranked 7th overall and the future looks so bright that the Gamblers are all wearing shades.

December 20th, 2004

The Houston Gamblers make it 23 straight playoffs & 23 straight double digit wins seasons. They fell short of winning the division but did finish 2nd in the Southwest to secure the #5 seed as 3 teams make the tournament from the best division in the USFL!

October 20th, 2005

The Houston Gamblers have started the season 6-1 after playing 5 of 7 games versus teams with winning records including 3 division matchups where they went 2-1. The Southwest once again is proving to be the toughest division in the USFL as all 4 teams have winning records through 7 weeks.

WR Randy Savage was taken in the 1st round and while he hasn't taken hold of the RB job so far, his addition to the team has had a positive effect. He has taken the load off Gus "Highest" Gas which has paid dividends in both the passing game & especially the return game. Gas entered his 7th season with just 1 KO return TD and through 7 games this season, he already has 4 KO return TDs to lead the league. In fact, Gas is just 2 KO return TDs away from the USFL single season record. It's a direct result from Gus Gas being fresher throughout the game since Randy Savage is taking the bulk of the rushing attempts. Gas is on pace for his fewest rush attempts in his career after setting a career high last season with 227 rushes. It's also opened up Gas in the passing game where he is averaging 17.8 yards per catch, nearly 8 yards better then his career average entering the season. Gas is already 1 TD reception shy of his career high.

Fast Freddie Foster was drafted with pick 7.29 in the 2004 draft out of Notre Dame where he was the Fighting Irish punter. The Gambler scouts saw something special in what Foster did after his punts. Foster would fly down the field and zero into the returner and had no issues throwing his body into the fray. After drafting him, the coaching staff asked him if he would be interesting in playing defense full-time and Freddie Foster was all in! He finished his rookie season with 21 tackles, 12 sacks & 8 hurries but was often injured (3 times) and missed some games. Foster entered his 2nd season fully prepared for his new roll and through 7 games has 13 tackles & 10 sacks. Once again Foster is injured but the Gamblers have depth at pass rusher with J.J. Kilroy, Xavier "X" Factor, Gary Parise, Jeffrey Herbert, Rudolph Maxwell, Donald Brown & Greg "The Hammer" Valentine all with sacks this season as Houston is 2nd in the league with 5.6 sacks per game behind just Pittsburgh's 5.9 per game.