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Summer 1974 in Alabama
In the summer of 1974, there was a sense of turmoil in the United States.
Watergate, by then a household word, had mushroomed into a scandal that
ultimately would topple a presidency. Vice President Spiro Agnew had already
resigned amidst scandal, and President Richard Nixon was not far behind in
tendering his resignation. In the state of Alabama gas prices were rising,
although the gas lines were not as prolific as those in Chicago, Los Angeles,
New York, et al.
The University of Alabama was fresh of winning the UPI version of the national
title despite losing a heart breaker to Notre Dame in the Sugar Bowl. Auburn
University had finished a 6 – 6 season with a loss to Missouri in the Sun Bowl.
The football winds in the state were blowing from a new direction. Professional
football, long coveted in the state by many, was finally coming. The NFL, the
big kid on the block, did not come calling. The new World Football League, which
had been formed in 1973, had announced its franchises and Birmingham was one of
them.
The WFL promised to bring a new and exciting brand of football to fans far and
wide. The league would start play in the summer and play through the fall. The
games would be played on Thursday nights and Saturday nights. There were rule
changes that would make the game exciting for the fans. Touchdowns would be
worth seven points as opposed to six, with the point after touchdown, known as
the “action point”, to be obtained by running or passing. There would be no
kicking the PAT. The goal posts would be placed at the back of the end zones, as
opposed to at the front, as the NFL had at the time. The WFL also used a
football that was different, in that is wasn’t the traditional brown; it was
bright yellow with blue stripes. Decidedly different it was. The WFL also
introduced teams that had nicknames that were not plural, as in Lions or Tigers.
Teams known as the Chicago Fire, Portland Storm, and Philadelphia Bell. The
Birmingham team was known as the Americans. Tom York of WBRC-TV announced the
news of the new team with the Americans red, white, and blue logo behind him on
the screen, a red and blue “A” with a white star in the center. William Putnam,
former president of the NHL Philadelphia Flyers, would own the team. The other
teams were called the Memphis Southmen, Florida Blazers, New York Stars, Detroit
Wheels, Houston Texans, Jacksonville Sharks, Southern California Sun, and The
Hawaiians.
The league proposed an ambitious 20 game regular season, no preseason games,
plus the post-season playoffs and championship game to be played in Honolulu.
Although none of the big three networks opted to televise the league’s games,
there was, however, a television contract. TVS, which was owned by Chicago White
Sox owner Eddie Einhorn, would be the WFL’s network television standard bearer.
The network was not a strong entity, but it was a conduit to get league’s games
across the nation’s airwaves.
Many people hailed the WFL’s birth while others scoffed or simply ignored it.
Though history will record the WFL as a blip on the radar screen of sports
history, it sure was a fun blip, and one that had few dull moments.
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