", "We messed up the entire WFL," said quarterback Bob Davis, who injured his ribs in the second quarter and gave way to rookie quarterback Buddy Palazzo on the final series of the period. If it wasn't George Mira throwing touchdown passes, it was Matthew Reed. The Blazers were 12-4. Loudd, and principle investor David Williams were concerned with the low turnouts at the gate for the Blazer home games and, it was rumored, were beginning to entertain the thought of moving the team to another city. As the ball traveled perfectly through the rain and the glow of the Legion Field lights the 54,000 American fans erupted. "They can boo, its they�re right. The league's most severe impact was on the Miami Dolphins, who had just won consecutive Super Bowls before the WFL's snagging of three of their star players. The embarrassing rejection by Namath crippled the Winds, who were shut down five weeks into the season. The Florida Blazers were forgotten, but their legacy and the dedication of Jack Pardee and the players is a lesson for all to admire. The new Florida Blazers would play their games in the 18,000 seat Tangerine Bowl. Sports Illustrated, the national sports magazine, sent reporter Joe Marshall to Birmingham to report on the Americans. Chicago Fire offensive lineman Steve Wright quipped that he had been offered a million dollar contract: "A dollar a year for a million years! Really I wish this moving thing had never come up. Portland is playing well with good coaching and some fine athletes.". In a rematch with the Wheels the following week, Matthew Reed hit Alfred Jenkins with a two fourth-quarter touchdown passes to lead the Americans to a 28-22 win over Detroit. The Memphis secondary seemed helpless against the will of Davis and the Blazer offense. The Blazers lost 26-18, made five costly turnovers, missed a 21-yard field goal and watched as American receiver Alfred Jenkins flew down the sidelines with a 80-yard touchdown pass. The Blazers were actually born in Washington, D.C., the creative outburst of E. Joseph Wheeler, a oceanographic engineer. In the second half, the Fire offense went up in the flames. Down 18-10, Coach Jack Pardee decided to go with a punt that placed Memphis at their four yard line. He called for a long pass into Chicago territory. David Jaynes, quarterback from Kansas, was the first player selected in the draft by the original Memphis franchise that became the Houston Texans by the time the season started. Not even the World Bowl could go off without a hitch. The Americans would travel on to Hawaii. Quarterback George Mira came up limping from a pile up and left the game with a severe ankle sprain. Birmingham Americans Boston Bulls Charlotte Hornets Charlotte Stars Chicago Fire Detroit Wheels Florida Blazers Honolulu Hawaiians Houston Texans Jacksonville Sharks Memphis Southmen New … 1974 World Football League League Leaders, Birmingham Americans (15-5) - Roster | Statistics | Game ResultsCharlotte Hornets (2-5) - Roster | Statistics | Game ResultsChicago Fire (7-13) - Roster | Statistics | Game ResultsDetroit Wheels (1-13) - Roster | Statistics | Game ResultsFlorida Blazers (14-6) - Roster | Statistics | Game ResultsHouston Texans (3-8-1) - Roster | Statistics | Game ResultsJacksonville Sharks (4-10) - Roster | Statistics | Game ResultsMemphis Southmen (17-3) - Roster | Statistics | Game ResultsNew York Stars (8-5) - Roster | Statistics | Game ResultsPhiladelphia Bell (9-11) - Roster | Statistics | Game ResultsPortland Storm (7-12-1) - Roster | Statistics | Game ResultsShreveport Steamer (4-4) - Roster | Statistics | Game ResultsSouthern California Sun (13-7) - Roster | Statistics | Game ResultsThe Hawaiians (9-11) - Roster | Statistics | Game Results. The Americans became the first WFL team to surpass the 200,000 mark in attendance. The officials are even worse than not getting paid. The World Football League was a disastrous attempt to set up a fall-season rival to the National Football League in the mid-1970’s. It was not enough to stem the tide; by late October rumors abounded that four of the remaining teams were on the verge of folding. Davidson was forced to resign in October 1974, and Hawaiians owner Christopher Hemmeter was named the new commissioner a month later. The WFL had several important rules differences from the National Football League of that era, and many were eventually adopted by the older league: For the later minor league of the same name, see, Learn how and when to remove this template message, National Football League Players Association, Canadian Football League Players Association, "So you want to start a pro football league? This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. He also disclosed the demise of the negotiations with the Atlanta business group. Putnam, and the other WFL owners, were gathering assets (player contracts) with the belief that they could be sold at a profit in the future. Thomas took off, but lost the ball and Florida rookie Luther Palmer recovered the fumble at the Memphis 22 yard line. The 1974 season was over. Alfred is as fast as there is and he can catch it. Gotta vowed that history would not repeat itself. Bob Deutsch, Rommie Loudd and controller Rocco Iatesa spent the days prior to the championship in a Nashville bank awaiting the cash from the sale of the Blazers to Prentices� group. The Birmingham News and the Birmingham Post Herald both covered the game and wrote extensively about the city and its new sports franchise. Birmingham's' winning streak was in jeopardy. Weeks of no pay, wondering if the team would move or stay in Orlando, wondering who owned the team, wondering if they would ever be paid, and simple exhaustion over the countless lies to by the league, the players vented their frustration to the media: "I was in, I know I was. A virtual museum of sports logos, uniforms and historical items. Williams claimed that the league stood to make $300,000 from the deal and he wanted full disclosure of the financial agreements between Loudd, the WFL and any potential buyers. McVay worked his way up the Giants organization and eventually became the team's head coach; he had even more success as general manager of the San Francisco 49ers during the 1980s dynasty years. The team eventually received about $48,000. Lacrosse Stats - MLL - NLL - Lacrosse Search "The only pressure on me was that Detroit wasn't winning and I knew they'd come after me", said Reed. The Birmingham Americans were not paid for the last two months of the season, the Florida Blazers went three months without pay (and reportedly survived on McDonald's meal vouchers), the Hornets were not paid regularly after the third week of October, and the Sharks were not paid for what turned out to be their last six games. Several years later, these became 10-yard penalties at all levels of football; the NFL made this rule change in 1977. In the fourth quarter, George Mira came off the bench to lead Birmingham on a drive that ended when Charlie Harraway plowed through the Storm defense for a 21-18 Birmingham lead that silenced the Portland fans. Last Game: October 19, 1975, Seasons: 1.5 "All these are positive actions which are encouraging, but any of these things could fall through. Memphis was beginning to come together to challenge in the Central Division. However, the Internal Revenue Service agreed to let the game go ahead in return for a portion of the gate. Bob Davis, got the play in calmly crouched down in the huddle. Undaunted, Jacksonville rallied behind the running of Tommy Durrance and the play of rookie quarterback Reggie Oliver. The team had gone without pay for almost two months. "Hubie thought I thought Fred (backfield coach Fred O�Connor) wanted a short slant in front of the safety and what he wanted was a slant in back of the safety. Bell linebacker Mike Mansfield recovered a Davis fumble at midfield and six plays later Corcoran had Philadelphia out in front with a 12-yard Claude Watts touchdown. Quarterback Bob Davis hit 11 of 20 passes for 146 yards, and completed a 20-yard pass to tight end Greg Latta for an uneasy 8-0 lead at halftime. The game was a difficult one for the Texans, who played without their head coach Jim Garrett or quarterback Mike Taliaferro. Later in the week, Putnam was hit by another $230,000 lien in back taxes. Maslowski was wrestled down in bounds and as the Wheel defenders slowly walked back to their positions just eight seconds remained when Davis was able to start a third-down play and stop the clock with a pass to the sidelines. The WFL football was orange colored, to make it more visible at night and to fit with 1970s aesthetics. Though the Canadian Football Act never passed, the mere threat of it prompted Bassett to move the team to Memphis, where it became the Memphis Southmen. On the next play "King" Corcoran threw incomplete. Hawaii's defense featured the "East Beasts", the defensive front of Karl Lorch, Levi Stanley, Lem Burnham and Greg Wojcik. On the eve of the WFL playoffs, the IRS filed a $237,000 lien against the Americans. Storm owner Bob Harris, financially strapped, couldn�t promise them a payday. A virtual museum of sports logos, uniforms and historical items. The Texans had been served with a restraining order barring Matuszak from playing another down for the Texans until his Oilers contract expired at the end of the 1977 NFL season. 40. The drive blocking of Southmen Ron Mikolajczyk, Charles Bray, Justin Canale and Walter Highsmith opened huge holes in the Blazer front four of Louis Ross, Ernie Calloway, Mike McBath and John Ricca leaving plenty of running room for JJ Jennings and John Harvey. In many cases, WFL teams were unable to meet the most basic team expenses. The WFL demanded that all potential investors establish a $650,000 line of credit with the league. During the Portland game, Rommie Loudd circulated a memo throughout the stands stating, "The Blazers are Here to Stay" and cited the loyalty of civic leaders and the Blazers booster club as a main reason for his determination to keep the Blazers in Orlando.

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