Florida Blazers | |
Founded | January 1974 |
Folded | December 1974 |
Based in | Orlando, Florida |
Home field | Citrus Bowl (28,000) |
League | World Football League |
Division | Eastern |
Colors | Navy & Red |
Head coach | Jack Pardee |
General manager | Rommie Loudd |
Owner(s) | Rommie Loudd |
World Bowl wins | Runner-up World Bowl I |
San Antonio Wings | |
Founded | January 1975 |
Folded | October 1975 |
Based in | San Antonio, Texas |
Home field | Alamo Stadium (22,000) |
League | World Football League |
Division | Western |
Colors | Blue & Silver |
Head coach | Perry Moss |
General manager | Duncan McCauley |
Owner(s) | Norman Bevan |
The San Antonio Wings played in the World Football League during the 1975 season. San Antonio was the only WFL city that did not have a team in 1974. The financially-troubled Eastern Division Florida Blazers were relocated west to San Antonio, Texas, including 16 former Blazers players.
Among the ex-Florida Blazers who participated in the league's only World Bowl championship game were running back Jim Strong, tight end Luther Palmer and linebacker Larry Grantham. Grantham retired as a player but joined the Wings coaching staff. The head coach was Perry Moss, a former head coach at Marshall and a former National Football League assistant coach. Veteran NFL quarterback Johnnie Walton led the WFL in passing in 1975. The Wings held their home games at Alamo Stadium, which seated 25,000. San Antonio won the WFL Summer Title and finished with a 7-6 record (winning all seven home games and losing all six road games) before the World Football League folded on October 22, 1975.
Before the 1974 season, the franchise originally planned to play in the Washington, D. C. area. E. Joseph Wheeler bought the rights to Washington. First he called the team the Washington Capitols, then briefly the Americans before finally naming the team the Washington Ambassadors. From the start Wheeler had a tough time trying to obtain a lease at R.F.K. Stadium, home of the NFL's Washington Redskins. He investigated other nearby cities, including Annapolis and Baltimore, Maryland, and Norfolk, Virginia. In mid-April 1974, Wheeler moved the club to Norfolk. He renamed the team the Virginia Ambassadors, before finally selling the franchise to Rommie Loudd, who moved them to Orlando to play in the Citrus Bowl as the Florida Blazers. They were World Bowl 1 runner-ups, the only championship game the WFL ever played.