The 1975 World Football League season was the second and last season of the

World Football League The World Football League (WFL) was an American football league that played one full season in 1974 and most of its second in 1975. Although the league's proclaimed ambition was to bring American football onto a worldwide stage, the farthest t ...

. The 1975 season was to be an 18-game season over a twenty-week schedule. The WFL returned with a massive overhaul under new commissioner,

Christopher Hemmeter Christopher Hemmeter (October 8, 1939 – November 27, 2003) was an American real estate developer who pioneered the concept of destination resorts in Hawaii and was involved in gambling development of casinos, primarily in New Orleans and Col ...

. Four of the inaugural twelve teams returned from the 1974 season:

The Hawaiians Hawaiians are the indigenous people of the Hawaiian Islands. Hawaiians or The Hawaiians may also refer to: * The Hawaiians (WFL), a football team in the World Football League from 1974 to 1975 * The Hawaiians (film), ''The Hawaiians'' (film), a 1 ...

Southern California Sun The Southern California Sun were an American football team based in Anaheim, California that played in the World Football League in 1974 and 1975. Their records were 13-7 in 1974 and 7-5 in 1975. Their home stadium was Anaheim Stadium. They wer ...

Philadelphia Bell The Philadelphia Bell was a franchise in the World Football League, which operated in 1974 and a portion of a season in 1975. The Bell played their home games in 1974 at JFK Stadium in South Philadelphia. The team logo was a representation of th ...

and

Memphis Southmen The Memphis Southmen, also known as the Memphis Grizzlies, were an American football team based in Memphis, Tennessee. They played in the World Football League (WFL), which operated in 1974 and 1975. They played their home games at Liberty Bowl M ...

, as did the

Shreveport Steamer The Shreveport Steamer were a professional American football team in the World Football League. The franchise began the 1974 season in Houston, Texas, as the Houston Texans (no connection to the current NFL team of the same name), playing their ...

and Charlotte Hornets, who moved from

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

and

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, respectively, midway through the 1974 season. New WFL teams replaced folded teams in Birmingham (where the

Vulcans Vulcans, sometimes referred to as Vulcanians, are a fictional extraterrestrial humanoid species in the '' Star Trek'' universe and media franchise. In the various ''Star Trek'' television series and films, they are noted for their attempt t ...

replaced the league champion

Americans Americans are the Citizenship of the United States, citizens and United States nationality law, nationals of the United States, United States of America.; ; Although direct citizens and nationals make up the majority of Americans, many Multi ...

), Portland (where the

Thunder Thunder is the sound caused by lightning. Depending upon the distance from and nature of the lightning, it can range from a long, low rumble to a sudden, loud crack. The sudden increase in temperature and hence pressure caused by the lightning pr ...

took the place of the

Storm A storm is any disturbed state of the natural environment or the atmosphere An atmosphere () is a layer of gas or layers of gases that envelop a planet, and is held in place by the gravity of the planetary body. A planet retains an atmos ...

), Jacksonville (the Express took over for the

Sharks Sharks are a group of elasmobranch fish characterized by a cartilaginous skeleton, five to seven gill slits on the sides of the head, and pectoral fins that are not fused to the head. Modern sharks are classified within the clade Selachimorp ...

), and Chicago (the

Winds Wind is the natural movement of air or other gases relative to a planet's surface. Winds occur on a range of scales, from thunderstorm flows lasting tens of minutes, to local breezes generated by heating of land surfaces and lasting a few ...

stepped into the place of the

Fire Fire is the rapid oxidation of a material (the fuel) in the exothermic chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction Product (chemistry), products. At a certain point in the combustion reaction, called the ignition ...

). One new market was added when the

Florida Blazers The Florida Blazers were an American football team who played in the World Football League in 1974. The team moved to San Antonio in 1975 and became the San Antonio Wings. History The Blazers began in 1974 when oceanographic engineer E. Joseph W ...

moved to become the

San Antonio Wings The San Antonio Wings were an American football team who played in the World Football League in 1975. The team started as the Florida Blazers in 1974, then moved to San Antonio in 1975 and became the San Antonio Wings. History The Florida Blazers ...

; the Blazers and

Detroit Wheels The Detroit Wheels were an American football team, a charter member of the defunct World Football League. Founding Soon after Gary Davidson announced the WFL's formation in October 1973, he was approached by a man named Bud Hucul about putting ...

were not replaced in their home markets. The Winds were expelled from the league five games into the season. They had essentially bet their existence on an attempt to woo New York Jets quarterback Joe Namath as its starting quarterback. The Winds all but promised that Namath was coming, and their failure to deliver him was a severe blow to the league's credibility. It also prompted

TVS Television Network The TVS Television Network, or TVS for short, was a syndicator of American sports programming. It was one of the several "occasional" national television networks that sprang up in the early-to-mid-1960s to take advantage of the establishment ...

, the league's TV partner, to cancel its WFL coverage prior to the regular season, leaving the league untelevised with the exception of some local television. Memphis and San Antonio won the first half of the split-season format and had secured playoff spots for the end of the season. The playoffs were to have six teams and World Bowl 2 was scheduled for Sunday, January 4, 1976. Without significant television and low attendance, WFL ceased operations twelve weeks into the regular season on Wednesday, October 22. The

Birmingham Vulcans The Birmingham Vulcans were a professional American football team located in Birmingham, Alabama. They were members of the five-team Eastern Division of the World Football League (WFL). The Vulcans, founded in March 1975, played in the upstart lea ...

had the league's best record (9–3) at the time of the shutdown.

Draft

Because of the uncertainties facing the WFL, the 1974 WFL Draft was the only collegiate draft held by the league. In 1975, only a Pro Draft of entire NFL and

CFL The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

teams was done at its league meetings in

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Birmingham is the seat of Jefferson County, Alabama's most populous county. As of the 2021 census estimates, Birmingham had a population of 197,575, down 1% fr ...

. The professional football teams chosen were the following: *

: Atlanta Falcons, Kansas City Chiefs, and Winnipeg Blue Bombers. * Charlotte Hornets: Baltimore Colts, Detroit Lions, and Buffalo Bills. *

Chicago Winds The Chicago Winds was the World Football League's ill-fated 1975 successor to the Chicago Fire. The team was so named because Chicago was nicknamed "The Windy City." The Winds played at Soldier Field and the team was assigned to the WFL's Weste ...

: Pittsburgh Steelers, New York Jets, and Edmonton Eskimos. *

: San Francisco 49ers, Denver Broncos, and Philadelphia Eagles. *

Jacksonville Express The Jacksonville Express were a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida which competed in the World Football League (WFL) in 1975. They were preceded in 1974 by the WFL's Jacksonville Sharks, though the two teams had s ...

: Miami Dolphins, Cleveland Browns, and Green Bay Packers. *

: Toronto Argonauts, St. Louis Cardinals, and New England Patriots. *

: Montreal Alouettes, New York Giants, and Washington Redskins. *

Portland Thunder The Portland Steel were a professional arena football team based in Portland, Oregon and members of the Arena Football League (AFL). The team started as the Portland Thunder, joining the AFL in 2014 as an expansion team along with the Los Ange ...

: Oakland Raiders, Minnesota Vikings, Ottawa Rough Riders, and Saskatchewan Roughriders. *

: Dallas Cowboys, Houston Oilers, Calgary Stampeders, and Hamilton Tiger-Cats. *

: New Orleans Saints, Chicago Bears, and Cincinnati Bengals. *

: Los Angeles Rams, BC Lions, and San Diego Chargers.

Final standings

''W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, PCT= Winning Percentage, PF = Points For, PA = Points Against'' :

References

{{WFL

World Football League

Draft

Final standings

See also

References