For Sam Mills, the USFL was both first and last chance

But Mills took a shot on the USFL. And as he did so many times, he made the most of it.

The Stars were the league’s signature team, appearing in all three championship games and winning two titles. They were led by their defense, built around that too-short linebacker. Their original coach, George Perles, was as skeptical as many coaches. But he left before the first season for the more-stable head coaching job at Michigan State and was replaced by Jim Mora, who also had to be convinced. Defensive coordinator Vince Tobin championed Mills throughout the process, once telling Mora that if he wanted to cut Mills, he might as well clear the decks at the linebacker position and start over, since Mills was the best one on the roster.

When the season began, Mills began to prove it, over and over.

“Once we played the first few games, you could tell there was obviously nobody like him,” Peterson said. “The production and the stats were there in every game. When we talk about Sam, we talk about what a great leader he was, and we thought then he’d be a hell of a coach.

“But after four or five games, we knew we had something special on the field.”

Bradway recalled an early game against the New Jersey Generals, who were led by running back Herschel Walker. In a key situation, it became almost a one-on-one drill.

“It was third-and-1, Herschel takes it off tackle, Sam steps into the hole and nails him,” Bradway said. “Fourth-and-1, same play, same result.

“At that point, you knew this guy could play in any league. He had it all. The explosion, the intensity, he was really smart, could diagnose anything. He had the respect of everyone. The way he played the game, how he handled himself, you knew it was special.”