'82 Chronology-Kilmer Claims

Event Date: June 18th, 1982

Event Description: Kilmer Calls Out New League

Source: UPI-WAPO

Billy Kilmer's claim that the fledgling United States Football League would sound the death knell for the American Football Association reflected a personal “ax to grind” by the AFA's ex-commissioner, says the new owner of the West Virginia Rockets.

Kilmer, the former Washington Redskins' quarterback, was quoted by The Washington Post Tuesday as saying the new league would doom the San Antonio-based AFA, a minor league which expanded this year from a dozen to 18 teams.

Dave Ferrell, owner of the Rockets, who have reigned the past two seasons as the AFA champions, contended Tuesday that Kilmer issued his doomsday prediction because of "an ax to grind with the AFA," presumably over money the league failed to pay him before he resigned last year as commissioner.

Ferrell disputed the Kilmer remark, saying that the AFA would go on operating at a different level than either of the big leagues.

“We don't try to be the USFL or the NFL,' Ferrell said. “We try to be Triple-A. We want to be a farm team. That's the whole idea of this league, which is to get these kids advancement into better positions.” Well-publicized financial problems have plagued the Rockets, who are under new ownership.

Story property UPI/Washington Post