Mills was an undersized linebacker out of Montclair (N.J.) State who tried -- and failed several times -- to catch on with NFL and Canadian Football League teams. He gave professional football one last shot when the USFL debuted in 1983, and parlayed a tryout with the Philadelphia Stars into a roster spot.

\"The USFL came at a perfect time for me,\" Mills, a three-time All-USFL selection who helped the Stars win league titles in 1983 and '84, said in an interview in March. \"It was the most fun I ever had playing football.\"

Every day, Stars coach Jim Mora asked his assistants who the best player on the field was. Every day, they told him \"Sam Mills.\"

\"I don't need a 5-9 linebacker,\"' Mora kept saying.

Mills ended up as one of Mora's favorite players and when Mora went to the Saints after the USFL's demise, he brought Mills with him in 1986.