Tombstone
Born: May 1974 – The Virginia Ambassadors relocate to Orlando
Folded: December 1974
First Game: July 10, 1974 (W 8-7 vs. The Hawaiians)
Last Game: December 5, 1974 (L 22-21 @ Birmingham Americans)
WFL Championships: None
Stadium
The Tangerine Bowl
Opened: 1936
Marketing
Team Colors:
Ownership
Owner: David Williams, Rommie Loudd, Will Gieger, Howard Palmer, et al.
Attendance
Note: although the Florida Blazers attendance chart below uses average announced game attendance (14,898) as its metric, we calculated Florida’s rank among the WFL’s twelve franchises based on total announced attendance (134,081). This is because so many of the WFL’s teams folded or moved in the middle of the chaotic 1974 season, causing some cities to host as few as 4 or 5 games while others hosted 10 or 11.
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Source: Kenn.com Attendance Project
Trophy Case
World Football League Most Valuable Player
- 1974: Tommy Reamon*
*Reamon shared this award with fellow running back J.J. Jennings of the Memphis Southmen and quarterback Tony Adams of the Southern California Sun.
Our Favorite Stuff
Florida Blazers
1974 Logo T-Shirt
It was one-and-done for Orlando’s Florida Blazers during the summer and fall of 1974. Off the field, the Blazers were a penniless, scandal-ridden soap opera. But the team – unpaid for much of the season – played heroically, losing the World Bowl championship game by a single point and producing WFL co-MVP Tommy Reamon at running back.
This design is available in sizes Small through 3XL and can also be ordered as a Hooded or Crewneck Sweatshirt today at Old School Shirts!
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Background
The 1974 Florida Blazers enjoy a something of a cult following among pro football history buffs. Fearsome on the field, the franchise was a train wreck in the front office. The Blazers were put together by Rommie Loudd, a 41-year old former AFL linebacker and New England Patriots executive. Loudd is occasionally cited as the first African-American owner of a “major league” American sports franchise for his time with the Blazers. But the main money man was a central Florida Holiday Inn franchisee named David Williams. By December 1974, the Blazers were in the World Bowl championship game of the World Football League, the team’s best player had played the entire season without a paycheck, and Rommie Loudd was under indictment.
But let’s back up a bit. The franchise originated in late 1973 as the Washington Ambassadors, part of the startup WFL that would challenge the NFL starting in the summer of 1974. Original owner Joseph Wheeler couldn’t secure a lease or put together financing in Washington, so the team became the Virginia Ambassadors in the spring of 1974. But Wheeler couldn’t get things off the ground in Norfolk, VA either, so in May 1974 he sold the team to Loudd’s Orlando-based syndicate. Less than 60 days remained before the WFL’s scheduled opening day on July 10th, 1974. Head Coach Jack Pardee had already opened training camp in Virginia, but the team loaded onto a train and decamped for Orlando.
Building the Blazers
Pardee had a solid veteran squad on both sides of the ball. Bob Davis, a former back-up to Joe Namath on the New York Jets, earned the starting quarterback job. Linebackers Larry Grantham, the defensive captain of the New York Jets Super Bowl III championship team, and Billy Hobbs anchored a stout defense.
The Blazers’ breakout find was diminutive rookie running back Tommy Reamon, a 23rd round draft pick from the University of Missouri. Reamon scored 14 touchdowns and led the WFL with 1,576 yards rushing in 1974. At the end of the season, he was named one of the league’s “Tri-MVPs”, along with Southern California Sun quarterback Tony Adams and Memphis Southmen tailback J.J. Jennings. Reamon split a $10,000 prize with his co-MVPs. Decades later, Reamon revealed that his $3,333 MVP share was the only payment he received for the entire 1974 season.
Trouble in Orlando
The rest of Reamon’s teammates faired somewhat better, receiving paychecks during the WFL’s first couple of months. But things went poorly for the Blazers immediately in Orlando. Crowds failed to materialize at the Tangerine Bowl, which barely met pro standards back in the mid 1970’s. The oval’s 14,000 permanent seats had to be supplemented by temporary bleachers.
By late August, just six weeks into the season, Rommie Loudd was talking publicly of a midseason move to Atlanta. The move never occurred, but paychecks stopped arriving not long afterwards. Promises and rumors of new investors or payroll support from the league office never came through. Somehow, Pardee kept the team together through three months without pay. The club staggered into the playoffs. In the playoff semi-final, the Blazers overcame a 15-0 deficit on the road to upset the Memphis Southmen, the league’s best regular season team. The Blazers headed to Birmingham’s Legion Field for the World Bowl championship game.
World Bowl I
Trailing 22-0 in the second half to the Birmingham Americans, the Blazers mounted a furious late rally, only to fall short 22-21. In the WFL, touchdowns counted for seven points and teams earned an eighth point (or “action point”) by scoring a conversion from the two-and-a-half yard line. The Blazers failed to convert all three Action Points in the title game, and that was the difference in the outcome. That and a controversial call on the Blazers’ opening possession. Television replays on the TVS Network appeared to show Tommy Reamon break the plane of the Americans’ end zone in the first quarter. But officials on the field ruled that Florida’s star rookie fumbled the ball through the end zone for a touchback. Reamon, who had a strong game overall with 83 yards on the ground and a touchdown, also failed to convert the decisive action point in the 4th quarter that would have tied the game at 22-22.
The End
The league revoked the Blazers franchise a few days after the World Bowl loss due to financial insolvency. Within three weeks, Loudd was in jail on charges of embezzling sales taxes collected on Blazers’ ticket sales. A few months later, the feds added narcotics trafficking charges to Loudd’s legal woes. He was convicted in late 1975 and sentenced to two fourteen-year sentences. A parole board freed Loudd after three years in prison. Loudd later became a minister and passed away in 1998.
Many of the Blazers players ended up playing for a new WFL expansion team in 1975 known as the San Antonio Wings. The Wings were better organized, certainly, than the Blazers. But the league itself went belly up in October 1975, failing to finish out its second season of operation.
Trivia
Lilliputian linebacker Larry Grantham was an 8-time American Football League All-Star and one of only 20 players to play in all 10 seasons of the AFL. Though listed heavier on rosters during his career, Grantham told Dave Anderson of The New York Times in 2008 that he never played heavier than 192 pounds during his career.
Star running back Tommy Reamon played briefly in the NFL in 1976. He later became an actor and played the wide receiver Delma Huddle in the 1979 Nick Nolte football drama North Dallas Forty.
Florida Blazers Shop
Editor's Pick
...And a Dollar Short
The Empty Promises, Broken Dreams and Somewhat-Less-Than-Comic Misadventures of the 1974 Florida Blazers
By Mark Speck
It’s a story of triumph, loyalty, sacrifice and just plain old stubborness. It’s a story of men overcoming almost overwhelming odds and a laundry-list of hardships, problems, and distractions that never turned them from their ultimate goal, the league championship. The Blazers went through two owners, four cities, and seven nicknames before the team even played its first game. Their owners squabbled between themselves and ultimately sued each other. A city that didn’t seem to want them and fans that didn’t seem to care. They were a collection of men who trusted each other led by a head coach who trusted them all.
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WFL Mini-helmets
Florida Blazers Mini-Helmet
This World Football League Mini Helmet is available through Royal Retros.
15 oz. mini helmet
Style worn by the Blazers in 1974
Available in the classic helmet style by Schutt
Typically ships in 3-5 business days
Fulfilled by 417 Helmets
When you make a purchase through an affiliate link like this one, Fun While It Lasted earns a commission at no additional cost to you. Thanks for your support!
Florida Blazers Video
Rare TVS network footage (21 min.) of the December 5th, 1974 World Bowl game between the Blazers at the Birmingham Americans at Birmingham’s Legion Field.
In Memoriam
Blazers tight end Greg Latta passed away of a heart attack at age 41 on September 28, 1994.
Blazers GM Rommie Loudd died of complications from diabetes on May 9, 1998 at age 64. New York Times obit.
Linebacker Billy Hobbs died when his moped was struck by a car on August 21, 2004. Hobbs was 57.
Linebacker Larry Grantham passed away June 17, 2017 at age 78 from complications of lung disease. New York Times obituary.
Former Blazers head coach Jack Pardee died of cancer on April 1, 2013 at age 76.
Links
Florida Blazers Fans, Friends & Former Players Facebook Page
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