Sacked!

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In the jury room, Sanchez, along with Juror Bernez Stephans, took the U.S.F.L. side so passionately that they generated some shouting matches in the 31 hours of debate. En route home after one session, Foreman Patricia McCabe became exhausted to such a degree that, she says, "I couldn't breathe; my face was numb." She was taken to the hospital, where the diagnosis was stress. Sanchez and Stephans regarded the case as a David-vs.-Goliath struggle, but Lilienfeld refused to accept the U.S.F.L. owners as the "little guys." Said she: "Anyone who can buy a football team is not a little fellow." Lilienfeld and two other jurors argued that the U.S.F.L. had been done in not by the N.F.L.'s monopoly but by its own blunders, such as forking over huge salaries and risking TV contracts by switching from a spring to a fall schedule. "The U.S.F.L. owners seemed to be spending themselves into oblivion," said Lilienfeld. Finally the jurors agreed to compromise with a $1 verdict. Lilienfeld argued that there was no confusion in the end. "Six people took a vote," she said, "and it was unanimous."

After the jury had delivered its verdict, U.S.F.L. Commissioner Usher muttered, "I just find the whole thing completely ununderstandable, if that is a word." Lawyer Harvey Myerson, flabbergasted and furious, found some words. "It defies logic and common sense," he fumed. "What we have on our hands is $1. That is absolutely bizarre."

Rozelle and the N.F.L. owners exulted. "The U.S.F.L. shot itself in the foot," said the commissioner. "Now we can go back to playing football." Few legal experts were surprised by the verdict. "The U.S.F.L.'s filing of the suit," said Stephen Ross of the University of Illinois College of Law, "showed that they were interested in merging, not competing as a league." He added, "They will probably die."

Other outside experts agreed. "It's clear to me that this is the death knell of the league," said West Coast Player Agent Leigh Steinberg. Still, U.S.F.L. Attorney Myerson bravely vowed to press a motion for a new trial on the question of higher damages. But the judge is unlikely to disturb the jury's verdict. This week U.S.F.L. owners are huddling in New York with Myerson to see if the league will indeed be in business when the scheduled season opens Sept. 13. Memphis Showboats Coach Pepper Rodgers, among others, is trying to believe it will. "Until they tell me to shut it down, I'm going to keep working," he says. "I've got 70-plus players and my staff to worry about."

! Not everyone around the league was worried. The Dallas Cowboys of the N.F.L., who have first dibs on Herschel Walker, reportedly have sent him a Cowboys playing jersey with his favorite number, 34. Walker loyally declared, "I am going to stay with the U.S.F.L. until the last second has ticked off." He added that he would, of course, "be honored to play for Dallas," but then suggested, "I may choose to give up football." Walker can afford to. "Mr. Trump," he explained, "has offered me a very good position in real estate."