Portland Storm

World Football League (1974)

OUR FAVORITE STUFF

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Portland Storm
WFL Replica Jersey

When it comes to Replica Jerseys, we turn to our friends at Royal Retros, who put extraordinary detail into their fully customizable WFL, USFL, CFL and WLAF jerseys.

• Free Customization Included

• Any name and number

• Heavyweight sewn tackle twill

• 100% polyester

 

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Background

Big league professional football came to the Rose City in 1974 with the formation of the World Football League (1974-1975).  The WFL planned an audacious challenge to the National Football League, much like the American Football League had in the 1960’s.  (Only the WFL was without the benefit of Lamar Hunt’s hundreds of millions of dollars in oil money.)

Portland’s original entry in the league was the Portland Storm.  The Storm franchise passed like a hot potato through multiple hands and proposed homes during the league’s start up phase before landing at Portland’s Civic Stadium under the direction of Canadian businessman Bob Harris.  The Storm was the 12th and final franchise to be solidified for the WFL’s debut season, which launched in July 1974.

Choppy Start

WFL rosters featured a lot of veteran NFL talent.  The Storm were one of the less experienced clubs and were expected to be one of the weakest under Head Coach Dick Coury. In fact, the biggest name was in the Storm’s front office, where recently retired All-Pro tackle Ron Mix handled General Manager duties.  (Mix would be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1979).  Another notable was linebacker/assistant coach Marty Schottenheimer, an AFL veteran who returned to the sport after a three-year layoff from pro football.  Portland was Schottenheimer’s first pro coaching experience and, of course, he went on to a long head coaching career in the NFL with the Chiefs and the Chargers.

The Storm started even worse than expected, going 0-7-1 through the first eight weeks.  The franchise got its first win in bizarre fashion on Labor Day 1974.  Scheduled to play the the winless and neatly bankrupt Detroit Wheels (0-8) in Ypsilanti, Michigan, Storm owner Bob Harris offered the Wheels a $30,000 payday to move the game across the border to his hometown of London, Ontario.  There the Storm got their first victory – a 18-7 win before a couple of thousand Canadian curiosity seekers in the aptly named Little Stadium (capacity: 11,000).

Harris spoke at the time of building a 44,000-seat stadium and putting a WFL expansion franchise in London by 1976. But within a month of the London game, Harris either soured on the league and just flat ran out of money. In October 1974, Harris stopped making payroll. The problem was hardly unique to Portland.  The Detroit and Jacksonville franchises shut down in mid-season.  The press eviscerated the Philadelphia Bell franchise after it copped to fabricated attendance figures.  Players in several cities went unpaid for weeks or months.

Meanwhile, the Storm finally started to turn things around on the field. Mix bolstered the lineup with his former Raiders teammate defensive end Ben Davidson and NFL veteran quarterback Pete Beathard.  The Storm would win six of their final ten games.

The End

Portland’s players initially took a wait-and-see attitude about the club’s finances. They put their faith in Coury and Mix and hoped that paychecks would resume after a temporary interruption. By the time Storm players and staff finally lost faith in Harris – he never did pay up – there was only a week or so left in the season. The team elected to finish things out as a matter of pride.

Defensive leader Ben Davidson was hurt late in the the season and placed on injured reserve.  Ironically, as Davidson told WFL historian Kevin Smith, this meant he was one of the few Storm players to draw an income.  The state of Oregon paid him the princely sum of $176/week in workers comp.

The Portland Storm finished their first and only season in December 1974, with the players and staff unpaid nearly two  months and a $168,000 IRS tax lien on the team.  After the 0-7-1 start, the Storm’s final record was 7-12-1.

Head coach Dick Coury returned to Portland and Civic Stadium in 1985 as head coach of the Portland Breakers of the USFL.

Portland Storm Shop

Our Favorite Stuff

Order at Old School Shirts

FWIL FAVORITE

Portland Storm T-Shirt

The Storm played one tempestuous World Football League season at Civic Stadium back in the autumn of 1974. While the team fared poorly on the field, it was one of several WFL clubs that helped introduce brighter, modern color palates to pro football with its striking lime green & royal scheme. 

Also available now as a 3/4 sleeve Raglan or as a Crewbeck or Hooded Sweatshirt from the guys at Old School Shirts!

 

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WFL MINI-HELMETS

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at Royal Retros!

Portland Storm
Mini-Helmet

This World Football League Mini Helmet is available through Royal Retros.

• 15 oz. mini helmet

• Style worn by the Storm in 1974

• Available in the classic helmet style by Schutt 

• Typically ships in 3-5 business days

• Fulfilled by 417 Helmets

 

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Links

World Football League Media Guides

World Football League Programs

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