Earlier this month, punter Sean Landeta made his retirement official. Though Landeta hadn’t played much the last few years, the day he picked to announce he retiring was significant — it was the 25th anniversary of the debut of the United States Football League. And Landeta was the last remaining USFL player still active in the NFL.

Let the memories of the USFL begin. In Chicago, the Blitz at first were a big deal. The Bears were coming off a couple miserable seasons, NFL fans were still a little bitter about the strike, and the arrival of baseball season wasn’t exactly a hopeful thing in Chicago. Plus, the Blitz were somewhat good that first season, going 12-6 in their inaugural season under coach George Allen. (Thanks to thisistheusfl.com for more useful — get it, useful, USFL! — information on the league, the site is really amazing) They would lose in overtime in the playoffs (prompting one newspaper columnist to proclaim the Blitz fit right in with Chicago sports teams), then literally trade franchises with the Arizona Wranglers for their second season.

Here’s what I remember about that second Blitz season — nothing. The USFL was dying, and combine that with sudden baseball fever in Chicago and the Bears beginning to turn things around in 1983, and the Blitz were all but done. The league folded by 1986, and no serious attempt to start or expand an alternate pro football league in this country has succeeded (the Arena League doesn’t count).

The USFL did produce a few quality future NFL players, including Reggie White, Jim Kelly, Herschel Walker and Sam Mills. And one punter who lasted until this month — Sean Landeta.