San Antonio Wings
American football team (1975)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The San Antonio Wings were an American football team who played a single season in the World Football League in 1975. The team started as the Florida Blazers in 1974, then moved to San Antonio, Texas in 1975, becoming the San Antonio Wings.
| San Antonio Wings | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| |||
| General information | |||
| Founded | January 1975 | ||
| Folded | October 1975 | ||
| Stadium | Alamo Stadium (25,000) | ||
| Headquartered | San Antonio, Texas | ||
| Colours | Sky Blue & Cloud Silver | ||
| Personnel | |||
| Owner | Norman Bevan | ||
| General manager | Duncan McCauley | ||
| Head coach | Perry Moss | ||
| League / conference affiliations | |||
| World Football League Western Division | |||
History
The Florida Blazers never drew well, leading team owner Rommie Loudd to openly discuss moving the team to Atlanta in the middle of the 1974 season. The players and coaches were not paid for three months. Shortly after the Blazers' defeat in the World Bowl, Loudd was arrested on tax evasion[1] and cocaine trafficking charges.[2] He was convicted on the latter charge and served three years in prison.[3] He was also sentenced to two years in prison for possession and distribution of cocaine.[4]
The Blazers were one of two teams, the other being the Detroit Wheels, to outright fold after 1974 with no direct replacement in their markets in 1975 (not counting teams that moved midseason). Only one expansion team would be added, with Norman Bevan buying the franchise rights and establishing a team in San Antonio.[5] The Wings ended up displacing the San Antonio Toros, which had spent the previous eight years as one of the most successful minor professional football teams in the United States.[6]
The new Wings were restocked with an expansion draft but retained 16 former Blazers, including running back Jim Strong and tight end Luther Palmer.[7] Larry Grantham, a linebacker on the 1974 Blazers, retired but joined the Wings' coaching staff. The team's head coach was Perry Moss, a former head coach at Marshall and a former NFL assistant coach; Blazers coach Jack Pardee, who wanted nothing more to do with the WFL, returned to the NFL during the offseason.
Quarterback Johnnie Walton, a relic from the old Continental Football League who had spent most of the early 1970s bouncing around NFL practice squads, led the WFL in passing in 1975.[8] The Wings held their home games at Alamo Stadium, which seated 25,000. San Antonio finished with a 7–6 record (winning all seven home games and losing all six road games) before the league folded on October 22, 1975.
1975 regular season
| Week[9] | Date | Opponent | Result | Venue | Attendance | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | July 26 | Charlotte Hornets | W 27–10 | Alamo Stadium | 12,325 | [10] |
| 2 | August 2 | Shreveport Steamer | W 19–3 | Alamo Stadium | 10,411 | [11] |
| 3 | August 9 | Southern California Sun | W 54–22 | Alamo Stadium | 21,000 | [12] |
| 4 | August 16 | at Charlotte Hornets | L 20–27 | American Legion Memorial Stadium | 8,447 | [13] |
| 5 | August 23 | at Jacksonville Express | L 19–26 (OT) | Gator Bowl Stadium | 16,133 | [14] |
| 6 | August 30 | Portland Thunder | W 22–0 | Alamo Stadium | 12,197 | [15] |
| 7 | September 6 | Southern California Sun | W 30–8 | Alamo Stadium | 10,470 | [16] |
| 8 | September 13 | at Birmingham Vulcans | L 24–33 | Legion Field | 12,500 | [17] |
| 9 | September 21 | Hawaiians | W 30–11 | Alamo Stadium | 10,871 | [18] |
| 10 | September 28 | Memphis Grizzlies | W 25–17 | Alamo Stadium | 16,283 | [19] |
| 11 | October 4 | at Philadelphia Bell | L 38–42 | Franklin Field | 2,357 | [20] |
| 12 | October 12 | at Portland Thunder | L 25–28 (OT) | Civic Stadium | 3,818 | [21] |
| 13 | October 19 | at Shreveport Steamer | L 31–41 | State Fair Stadium | 8,500 | [22] |
