Pro football team will actually use ‘New Jersey’ in its name

New Jersey is getting a pro football team that will actually use “New Jersey” in its name: the New Jersey Generals of the new iteration of the United States Football League.

Longtime football fans will remember the Generals of the old USFL which existed for three seasons in the '80s (and was owned by one Donald Trump). The team featured such stars as Herschel Walker and Doug Flutie.

The new USFL is a product of Fox Sports and is scheduled to kick off its Spring season in April with eight teams. The eight inaugural teams, as announced this week:

The North Division

• The New Jersey Generals
• Michigan Panthers
• Philadelphia Stars
• Pittsburgh Maulers

The South Division

• Birmingham Stallions
• Houston Gamblers
• New Orleans Breakers
• Tampa Bay Bandits

Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like the Generals will be returning to the Meadowlands. The new league will play all its games at a single location that hasn’t been announced yet.

"We're excited to take this next major step in the development of a new USFL," said Brian Woods, USFL President of Football Operations in a release. "These eight teams form the core of our initial league membership and will represent an exciting brand of professional football coming this spring. We look forward to the start of our inaugural season."

The teams will play a 10-game schedule, followed by semifinals between the top two teams in each division to crown the division winners. Then, the championship will be played between those two winners.

The post above reflects the thoughts and observations of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Bill Doyle. Any opinions expressed are Bill Doyle's own.