'83 Chronology-Seal of Approval

Event Date: February 25th, 1983

Event Description: Dixon Approves

Source: UPI

The founder of the United States Football League said the signing of running back Herschel Walker by the New Jersey Generals puts the fledgling USFL 'on a credibility level with the NFL at this moment.

“I think he's made our league,” Dave Dixon said Wednesday. “I think we're on a credibility level with the NFL at this moment. I thought it would take two or three years to achieve.”

Dixon, who has an option to form proposed Houston and New Orleans franchises in the USFL and now is a consultant to the league, said “it's a great day for the USFL, but mostly it's a great day for Herschel Walker.”

“Had he stayed at the University of Georgia this year and torn up a knee, he wouldn't have gotten 16 dollars, let alone 16 million dollars,” he said. “Herschel Walker is well set for life.”

The University of Georgia announced Wednesday that Walker, who led the Bulldogs to a national championship his freshman year and won the Heisman Trophy as a junior this past season, had signed a professional contract with the Generals that estimated indicate could be worth as much as $16.5 million for six years. 

Walker is the first collegian ever to be signed before his senior year, and Dixon said he had some concerns about that precedent.“But I think people understand that the Herschel Walker situation is an exception,” he added.

“I don't think there's ever been anyone else like Herschel.”

In other USFL news;

Quarterback Bobby Scott, who saw limited service in the NFL, was signed to a contract by the New Jersey Generals of the United States Football League.

Scott, was a New Orleans' 14th round pick in the 1971 NFL draft, but did not see any action with the Saints until 1973. He had his best season at New Orleans in 1976 when he competed 54.2 per cent of his passes for 1,065 yards and four touchdowns.

The 33-year-old Scott played in only 18 games over the next six years. He was on the injured reserve most of 1982 before becoming a free agent.  

Story-(UPI)