'85 Chronology-Trouble with Truvillion

Event Date: June 4th, 1985

Event Description:  Trouble in Tampa

Source: UPI

Eric Truvillion, the leading receiver in Tampa Bay Bandits' history, was demoted from the USFL club's active roster Thursday following a dispute with Coach Steve Spurrier.

Truvillion was deactivated from the 43-man roster available for Saturday night's game against Birmingham. He was placed in the pool of seven players still on the team but not activated for this week's game.

Asked if Truvillion would be activated for the upcoming playoffs, team spokesman Dave Jovanovic said, “He could be, but he won't be.”

Truvillion and Spurrier have been feuding since the mid-season, when Spurrier and other coaches felt the club's top receiver wasn’t focused during practice and team meetings.

“Coach Spurrier called me over to his office yesterday where he told me, “I’m going to release you so you can play in the NFL or CFL,'' Truvillion said.

The Bandits, who sit atop the Southern division at (10-5), have finally been hit by the economic turmoil reverberating through the league, in part because they have had to help ailing franchises such as San Antonio, Birmingham and Los Angeles. Tampa Bay management has called in letters of credit signed by its limited financial partners.

“We have a slow cash flow now,” said Ralph Campbell, the club's director of business operations who is running the Bandits while principal owner John Bassett undergoes treatment in Toronto for two brain tumors. 

When the Tampa franchise was organized in 1982, limited partners put up $100,000 in cash and a $200,000 letter of credit. Actor Burt Reynolds owns a small piece of the team.

(*Story-UPI Modified)