With the phenomenal NFL Championship weekend, and all the Tom Brady retirement chatter, you may have missed an insignificant item.

A few USFL teams announced coaching hiring last week, the most notable was ex-Tennessee Titan boss Jeff Fisher in Michigan.

Yes, the USFL is back with an eight-team league beginning play in April. And Philadelphia will have an initial entry and use the same “Stars” - just like the 1983 entry.

However, the Stars weren’t the first fledging spring/summer football franchise in Philadelphia.

This latest installment of my look back at YESTERDAY -- a trip back in time to the late 1960s, 70s and sometimes dipping into the early 80s -- is a recollection of some of other football leagues from the 1970 and 80s as well as 1974-75 involving events, pop-culture situations and items.

Anyone remember the Philadelphia Bell of the World Football League in the 1974 and 1975 seasons? League President Gary Davidson announced franchises in New York, Philadelphia, Washington, Boston, Florida, Chicago, Detroit, Southern California, Memphis, Birmingham, Toronto and Hawaii. He has future plans to create franchises in Europe.

They were one of 12 franchises in the inaugural 1974 season, and featured a group of journeymen and free-agent players. They played their games at the old JFK Stadium and their games were televised by WTAF Channel 29.

King Corcoran, a minor league football player from the Pottsville Firebirds, was their quarterback, and ex-Eagles’ wide receiver Vince Papale made his splash with them before the Birds. John Land was a sturdy running back, who also was their leading receiver.

Head coach Ron Waller, also from the Firebirds, was guilty as well as other teams’ coaches and management of the “Papergate” scandal in which teams inflated attendance numbers. Waller boasted of crowds of over 50,000 for their first two home games when in reality the paid attendance was in the low teens.

The Bell lost $2 million – a large sum back then - in its first 9-11 season, but they moved forward to 1975. They made history when they hired ex-Packers cornerback Willie Wood after Waller quit, making Wood the first African-American head pro football team coach.

However, the league was drowning in losses. The IRS took away the Birmingham Americans helmets and uniforms after they won the championship in 1974 due to their owner’s escalating debts.

The WFL in 1975 made one last stab to save the league by signing NFL stars such as the Dolphins’ trio of Larry Csoka, Jim Kiick and Paul Warfield, the Vikings’ John Gilliam, and the Raiders’ Daryl Lamonica and others, but it didn’t work.

The Bell’s final game was at Franklin Field in October 1975 and just over 1,800 fans were in the stands.

It was a great idea, but money always gets in the way. Does anyone have a Bell T-shirt?

Ironically less than 10 years later, the Stars made spring football in Philadelphia a reality. Led by ex-Penn State stars quarterback Chuck Fusina and wide receiver Scott Fitzkee, the Stars posted a 15-3 regular-season record and lost in the championship game to Michigan.

The Stars also struggled at the gate, and memories of the WFL “Papergate” scandal surfaced when they announced 120,000 attended the first two home games at the Vet, In reality, the paid attendance for each game was under 20,000.

Philadelphia had another stellar season the following year with a 16-2 regular mark, and they captured the USFL championship with a win over Arizona. They nearly doubled their attendance and became a hot commodity.

Unfortunately, their fortunes quickly changed. The league voted to switch to the fall season, and the Stars moved to Baltimore. They weren’t as successful a sell in Baltimore, but they managed to win their second consecutive title with a win over Oakland in the final.

The fall move proved disastrous to the league financially, and it disbanded after the 1985 season.

Snow Games: The recent snowfall brought back some memories playing “kill the man with the ball” as well as a regular football game at the park or in the playground. Some of you may have built snow forts, but my crowd was usually trying to tackle each other in some form.

What didn’t matter then, but would matter now was when you had to go back to the classroom and sit there with your wet shoes, socks, and pants, and frozen hands.

We also had an active street hockey team back then. That extended into our late teens when we could drive to different parks.

Imagine the wind chills in which we actually played games, and didn’t mind it.

Where’s Joe?: On Feb. 1, 1964, the world was introduced to G.I. Joe. It became an instant success and the most wanted boys’ item for several years.

My favorite costume was the scuba outfit along with the adventure kit that helped you submerge him in water. You also had to have the foot locker to store all of your accessories.

I wish I still had a Joe and the outfits today.

Beatles Connection: In 1964 on Feb. 1, the Beatles scored their first No. 1 hit, “I Wanna Hold Your Hand.” Ten year later in 1974, Ringo Starr topped the charts with “You’re Sixteen. A year later in 1975, Neil Sedaka was on top with “Laughter in the Rain.”

Say a Prayer: Over the past two weeks, Sister Jane Mead passed away. She broke through the Billboards chart In February 1974 with the unorthodox hit “The Lord’s Prayer,” which reached No. 4 in the USA and was an international smash. She rerecorded it in 1999.

It was the first hit record sung by a nun since Sister Jeanine Deckers released “Dominique” in 1963. You have to be an old-timer like me to remember that one.

On TV: “The Six Million Dollar Man” ruled the airwaves in 1974. Remember the slow-motion jumps and leaps complete with the background sound? He was followed up with the “Bionic Woman.”

You could have watched the shows with a bag of Nacho Cheese Doritos, which hit the market in 1974.