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 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 ...

History

The Blazers began in 1974 when oceanographic engineer E. Joseph Wheeler bought the WFL rights to the

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area. The team was originally called the Washington Capitals, but the NHL expansion team of the same name objected, forcing him to change the name to the Washington Ambassadors. Wheeler wanted to share RFK Stadium with the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) N ...

, but negotiations hit a snag over financing. He then flirted with playing in

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

or Annapolis, prompting him to change the team's name to the Washington-Baltimore Ambassadors. When it became apparent that Wheeler could not find a suitable stadium in the Baltimore-Washington area, he moved the club to Norfolk, Virginia as the Virginia Ambassadors. By this time, it was obvious that Wheeler's supposed $2–3 million of financing existed only on paper. League president Gary Davidson got Wheeler in touch with former New England Patriots player and executive

Rommie Loudd Rommie Lee Loudd (June 8, 1933 – May 9, 1998) was an American former collegiate and professional American football player, coach, and executive. He was the first black assistant coach in the American Football League and the first black majority ...

, who was fronting for a group of

Orlando Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures re ...

businessmen who had recently failed in their bid to get the NFL expansion team that became the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. The cl ...

. Wheeler agreed to sell the team to Loudd's group, who moved the team to Orlando. The team was originally named the Orlando Suns, but due to objections from the Southern California Sun the name was changed once again, to the Florida Blazers. They were the first professional sports team based in

Central Florida Central Florida is a region of the U.S. state of Florida. Different sources give different definitions for the region, but as its name implies it is usually said to comprise the central part of the state, including the Tampa Bay area and the Gr ...

. Loudd became managing general partner and president, making him the first African-American senior executive of a professional team in North America. David L. Williams, owner of the

Holiday Inn Holiday Inn is an American chain of hotels based in Atlanta, Georgia. and a brand of IHG Hotels & Resorts. The chain was founded in 1952 by Kemmons Wilson, who opened the first location in Memphis, Tennessee that year. The chain was a division ...

franchise in the Orlando area, was majority owner. The team set up shop in the Tangerine Bowl. Under coach

Jack Pardee John Perry Pardee (April 19, 1936 – April 1, 2013) was an American football linebacker and the only head coach to helm a team in college football, the National Football League (NFL), the United States Football League (USFL), the World Footbal ...

, quarterback Bob Davis ( Joe Namath's former backup), running back

Tommy Reamon Tommy Reamon (born March 12, 1952) is a retired African-American professional football player, who has worked as an actor, and is currently an educator in the Hampton Roads region of Virginia. As a high school football coach, Reamon has had som ...

and a dominating secondary, the Blazers ran away with the Eastern Division, finishing with a 14–6 record. They then upset the

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 ...

, owners of the league's best record, to advance to the

World Bowl The World Bowl was the annual American football championship game of the World League of American Football/NFL Europe. The World Bowl was played each year from 1991 to 2007 (except 1993 and 1994). The game was conceived as the final of the NFL-r ...

against the

Birmingham Americans The Birmingham Americans were a professional American football team located in Birmingham, Alabama. They were members of the four-team Central Division of the World Football League (WFL). The Americans, founded in late December 1973, played in th ...

. Early in that game, Reamon scored what appeared to be the game's first touchdown, only to have it ruled a touchback because the officials believed that he fumbled the ball out of the end zone. Replays clearly showed that Reamon lost the ball after it broke the plane of the goal line. The missed call proved to be the difference, as the Blazers lost 22–21. Off the field, the franchise was unraveling. The Blazers never drew well, leading Loudd to openly discuss moving the team to

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

in the middle of the season. The players and coaches were not paid for three months. In December 1974, shortly after the Blazers' defeat in the

, Loudd was arrested on tax evasion and cocaine trafficking charges. He was convicted on the latter charge and served three years in prison.

1974 regular season

Playoffs

Relocation

After speculation that the Blazers might move to

Akron, Ohio Akron () is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Summit County. It is located on the western edge of the Glaciated Allegheny Plateau, about south of downtown Cleveland. As of the 2020 Census, the city prop ...

Tulsa Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region with ...

San Antonio ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , subdivision_t ...

banker Norman Bevan bought the club in early March 1975, whereupon they became the

. The new Wings retained 16 former Blazers, including running back Jim Strong and tight end Luther Palmer. Larry Grantham, a linebacker on the 1974 Blazers, retired but joined the Wings' coaching staff. However, several former Blazers, including Pardee, wanted nothing more to do with the WFL. This forced the league to restock the team with an expansion draft. The new head coach was

Perry Moss Perry Lee Moss (August 4, 1926 – August 7, 2014) was an American football player, coach, and executive. Moss played tailback at the University of Tulsa and quarterback at Illinois during the 1940s. As a Tulsa tailback, he was on the Orange Bo ...

, a former head coach at

Marshall Marshall may refer to: Places Australia * Marshall, Victoria, a suburb of Geelong, Victoria Canada * Marshall, Saskatchewan * The Marshall, a mountain in British Columbia Liberia * Marshall, Liberia Marshall Islands * Marshall Islands, an i ...

and a former NFL assistant coach.

References

External links