Owned by real estate magnate Myles Tanenbaum the Philadelphia Stars quickly established themselves as one of the premiere teams in the USFL. Coached by Jim Mora and playing their games at Veterans Stadium, the Stars were one of the best teams in the USFL on both sides of the ball.

After winning their first game on the road against the Denver Gold 13-7, the Stars made a statement in their home debut, blanking the New Jersey Generals 25-0. The Stars would race out to an 11-1 start as they finished the USFL's inaugural campaign with a record of 15-3 that was by far the best in the league.

The Stars Doghouse Defense led by Sam Mills and Scott Woerner allowed a league low 204 points. The Stars had a nice offensive balance as Kelvin Bryant was among the league's leading rushers with 1,442 yards with 15 touchdowns to earn the USFL MVP, while Chuck Fusina passed for 2,718 yards with 15 touchdowns.

1983 USFL Playoffs: Hosting the Chicago Blitz, the Philadelphia Stars got off to a rough start in the USFL Semifinals, as Chuck Fusina committed four first half turnovers to allow the Blitz to build a 21-7 halftime lead. Fusina himself caught a touchdown pass from Allen Harvin, but the Stars still trailed 38-17 in the fourth quarter.

Over a nine-minute stretch Chuck Fusina began to pick apart the Blitz defense connecting with Scott Fitzkee, Jeff Rodenberger and Tom Donovan the Stars rallied to tie the game 38-38 and force overtime. In overtime Kelvin Bryant who rushed for 142 yards scored the game winner to send Philadelphia on to the USFL Championship Game with a 44-38 win.

1983 USFL Championship Game: The Philadelphia Stars would face the Michigan Panthers with the USFL Championship on the line in Denver's Mile High Stadium. Once again, the Stars offense sputtered at the start as the Panthers held a 10-3 lead at the half.

In the third quarter, the Panthers extended the lead to 17-3 as Bobby Hebert had a second touchdown pass to Derek Holloway. The Stars would crawl to within three points in the fourth quarter, but the Panthers answered with Anthony Carter finding pay dirt with 3:01 left.

As the overwhelmingly pro Panther crowd began pouring on the field the Stars scored again, but it was too little too late as the Panthers won 24-22 to claim the USFL's first championship.