New Orleans Breakers Flashback: Jearld Baylis

The New Orleans Breakers were a United States Football League franchise that played in the Louisiana Superdome for one season, in 1984. The Breakers began their USFL tenure in Boston, in 1983, but a stadium issue forced a move, allowing New Orleans real estate developer Joe Canizaro to buy the team, and move it to New Orleans for the 1984 season.

In 1984, the Breakers began the season 5-0, but went 3-10 the rest of the way, and missed the USFL playoffs.

New Orleans supported the team well, with the Breakers averaging 30,557 per game, but the USFL opted to move their schedule from the spring to the fall in 1986, and with the Saints in town, the franchise elected to move to Portland for the 1985 season.

All summer long, we’re looking back at former players for the New Orleans Breakers.

Today, defensive lineman Jearld Baylis:

Born in Jackson, Mississippi, Baylis played his college football for the Southern Miss Golden Eagles, before joining the New Orleans Breakers in 1984.

Baylis made an immediate impact with the Breakers in 1984, collecting 74 tackles, which ranked ninth on the team.

The 6-foot, 260-pound Baylis also recorded four sacks and one pass deflection.

In 1985, the Breakers moved from New Orleans to Portland, and Baylis went with them, recording 6.5 sacks.

When the USFL folded in 1986, Baylis made the move to the Canadian Football League, signing with the Toronto Argonauts, who he played with for three years, which marked the beginning of a great run in the league.

Along with the Argonauts, Baylis played for the British Columbia Lions, Saskatchewan Roughriders, Baltimore Stallions, and the Milwaukee Mustangs in an 8-year CFL career that saw him named a CFL All-Star four times, and honored as the Most Outstanding Defensive Player in 1993.

Below, watch Baylis, and the Portland Breakers, take on the Houston Gamblers, from week 11 of the 1985 USFL season, back on Monday, May 6, 1985: