1974: Blazers Take Control in Second Half to Beat Chicago

The August 7, 1974 World Football League game between the Florida Blazers and Chicago Fire featured two clubs that had started the season off well. The host Fire was 4-0 and coming off of a 53-29 dismantling of The Hawaiians the previous week in Honolulu. Coached by Jim Spavital, known for building good offenses in the CFL, the team featured NFL veteran Virgil Carter at quarterback, two solid wide receivers in James Scott and Jack Dolbin, and rookie RB Mark Kellar out of Northern Illinois.

The Blazers were 3-1 and, befitting a club coached by a former star linebacker, Jack Pardee, featured a tough, veteran defense. The backfield in particular had lots of experience, consisting of cornerbacks Miller Farr and Billie Hayes and safeties Rickie Harris, W.K. Hicks, and Chuck Beatty, all of whom had seen action in the NFL. The offense was guided by QB Bob Davis (pictured above), most prominently of the New York Jets in his previous pro stints, and had veteran running backs in A.D. Whitfield and Jim Strong, along with rookie star Tommy Reamon. Florida had yet to put more than 18 points on the board in any game thus far, but except for a one-point loss to the Houston Texans in the last contest, it had been enough.

The attendance was 31,193 at Soldier Field – all paid, according to Chicago owner Tom Origer, which was not an insignificant point since it had recently been revealed that several highly-attended WFL games in the early going had been padded by the distribution of free tickets.

The Blazers took the lead in the first quarter when safety Rod Foster returned a punt 86 yards, followed by a successful pass for the action point. Chicago responded as Kellar scored a three-yard touchdown that was set up by his 20-yard burst up the middle on the previous play, but the action point was missed when a pass attempt was deflected by Farr. Florida went up 16-7 when Reamon plunged for a one-yard TD, which was also capped by a Bob Davis pass for the action point.

However, Virgil Carter came back with two TD passes for the Fire, including a 54-yard completion to Dolbin and a one-yard pass to Scott. The second was helped along by a 20-yard pass to Scott and capped a possession that benefited from good field position following a short punt from their own end zone by the Blazers. All three of their action point attempts failed, but Chicago was ahead 21-16 at halftime.

It seemed as though the Fire had the momentum going into the second half, but, aided by a couple of big plays by the special teams and defense, Florida’s offense came alive.

CB Leonard Bryant put the Blazers back in front when, with Chicago punting from its own 42, he blocked Chuck Ramsey’s kick and picked it up downfield to run six yards for a touchdown. The action point attempt was unsuccessful, but Florida was back in front.

Less than two minutes later, LB Billy Hobbs intercepted a Carter pass that was thrown under heavy pressure from DT Mike McBath and DE Ernie Calloway and returned it 30 yards for a TD. Bob Davis added a pass to WR Matt Maslowski for the action point.

The contest was pretty well decided at that point as the Florida defense completely shut down the Fire the rest of the way. RB Dickie James capped the scoring for the Blazers with touchdown runs of 6 and 64 yards, and they added an action point after one of them. The final score was a very convincing 46-21 verdict for Florida.

The Fire led in first downs (20 to 18) and had 330 total yards to Florida’s 372 (which included 227 on the ground). Most significantly, the opportunistic Blazers intercepted three passes and recovered four fumbles.

Bob Davis completed 10 of 17 passes for 152 yards with no TDs or interceptions. Thanks to the long touchdown run, Dickie James had 100 yards on just 7 carries with two TDs. Jim Strong gained 49 yards on 15 attempts and eventual league rushing leader Tommy Reamon ended up with 46 yards on 15 carries that included a TD. Matt Maslowski gained 74 yards on three catches, one of which was good for 56 yards.


Virgil Carter (pictured at left), who had been leading the WFL in passing, threw for 224 yards, but completed just 11 of 30 passes with two TDs while also tossing two interceptions as he was harried by Florida’s pass rush. Mark Kellar rushed for 87 yards and a touchdown on 19 carries. James Scott caught 4 passes for 104 yards and a TD while Jack Dolbin contributed three receptions for 84 yards and a score.

“The game was a complete turnabout from last week,” said Jack Pardee, referring to the 7-6 loss to Houston. “Bob Davis had plenty of time to pass. We had the blocking advantage because of Chicago's three-man defensive line.”

“I blame myself,” said Jim Spavital. “We made every possible mistake out there tonight. Special teams really let us down with the punt return and the blocked field goal.”

The Blazers continued to be a strong team on the field, if not financially, and ended up winning the Eastern Division with a 14-6 record. With creditors snapping at their heels, they made it to the WFL Championship game (the World Bowl) before succumbing to the Birmingham Americans. Chicago dropped off significantly after the promising start, largely due to the loss of key players to injuries, including Carter, Kellar, and Scott. The Fire ended up in third place in the Central Division at 7-13.

Past Venue: Anaheim Stadium

Anaheim, CA
aka Edison International Field of Anaheim, Angel Stadium



Year opened: 1966
Capacity: 69,008, up from 43,204 at opening and 45,050 currently

Names:
Anaheim Stadium, 1966-97
Edison International Field of Anaheim, 1998-2003
Angel Stadium of Anaheim, 2003 to date

Pro football tenants:
Orange County Ramblers (ContFL), 1967-68
Southern California Sun (WFL), 1974-75
Los Angeles Rams (NFL), 1980-94

Postseason games hosted:
ContFL Championship, Orlando 38 Ramblers 14, Dec. 10, 1967
WFL First Round playoff, Hawaiians 32 Sun 14, Nov. 21, 1974
NFC Wild Card playoff, Giants 16 Rams 13, Dec. 23, 1984
NFC Divisional playoff, Rams 20 Cowboys 0, Jan. 4, 1986

Other tenants of note:
California/Anaheim/Los Angeles Angels (MLB – AL), 1966 to date
California Surf (NASL), 1978-81

Notes: Owned by City of Anaheim and operated by the MLB Angels. Continental Football League's Orange County Ramblers also played home games at Santa Ana Bowl and La Palma Stadium. To accomodate Rams, stadium was fully enclosed, thus adding approx. 23,000 seats for football. Signature feature for many years was a 230-foot scoreboard support shaped like the letter A which was moved to the parking lot when the venue was enclosed and was the source of the stadium’s nickname, “The Big A”. Beginning in 1996, under ownership of the Disney Corporation and no longer used for football, part of the structure was torn down and replaced with the California Spectacular display that includes a simulated mountainside with streams and geysers.

Fate: Still in use for baseball.



[Updated 2/3/14]
[Updated 10/11/15]

MVP Profile: Clem Daniels, 1963

Halfback, Oakland Raiders



Age: 26
4th season in pro football, 3rd with Raiders
College: Prairie View
Height: 6’1” Weight: 220

Prelude:
Daniels, who had been injury-prone in college, signed as a free agent with the AFL’s Dallas Texans in 1960 and was a reserve defensive back that first year. Released prior to the ’61 season, he was signed to Oakland’s taxi squad and activated for eight games, playing well (5.0 avg. gain on 31 carries for 154 yards and 13 catches for another 150) for the lackluster team. Daniels moved into the starting lineup in 1962 and rushed for 766 yards and gained 318 more yards on 24 pass receptions while the Raiders went 1-13.

1963 Season Summary
Appeared in all 14 games
[Bracketed numbers indicate league rank in Top 20]

Rushing
Attempts – 215 [2]
Most attempts, game - 31 (for 122 yds.) at Kansas City 11/8
Yards – 1099 [1]
Most yards, game – 200 yards (on 27 carries) vs. NY Jets 10/20
Average gain – 5.1 [3]
TDs – 3 [13, tied with five others]
200-yard rushing games – 1
100-yard rushing games – 4

Pass Receiving
Receptions – 30
Most receptions, game – 7 (for 90 yds.) vs. San Diego 12/8
Yards – 685 [13]
Most yards, game – 172 (on 3 catches) vs. Buffalo 9/15
Average gain – 22.8 [1]
TDs – 5 [11, tied with four others]
100-yard receiving games – 2

Passing
Pass attempts – 1
Pass completions – 1
Passing yards – 10
TD passes – 0
Interceptions – 0

All-Purpose Yards – 1784 [2]

Scoring
TDs – 8 [10, tied with Jack Kemp & Keith Lincoln]
Points – 48 [17, tied with Jack Kemp & Keith Lincoln]

Awards & Honors:
AFL Player of the Year: Sporting News
1st team All-AFL: League, AP, NEA, NY Daily News, UPI
AFL All-Star Game

Raiders went 10-4, a dramatic improvement under new Head Coach Al Davis, and finished second in the AFL Western Division. In the league as a whole, they were second in total offense (4513 yards), points scored (363), and TDs (48).

Aftermath:
Daniels had over 800 yards rushing in each of the next three seasons (with a high of 884 in 1965) and continued to catch the ball well out of the backfield. He was an AFL All-Star after each of those years and received consensus first-team All-AFL recognition in 1966. A broken leg ended his 1967 season nine games (and 575 rushing yards) into it (thus costing him an opportunity to play in the Super Bowl), and the Raiders, deep in younger running backs, waived him prior to the ’68 season. He went unclaimed by the remaining AFL teams and signed with the NFL 49ers, where he sat on the bench for his final year. With 5101 yards in the AFL, Daniels ended up being that league’s all-time leading rusher.

--

MVP Profiles feature players who were named MVP or Player of the Year in the NFL, AAFC (1946-49), AFL (1960-69), WFL (1974), or USFL (1983-85) by a recognized organization (Associated Press, Pro Football Writers Association, Newspaper Enterprise Association, United Press International, The Sporting News, Maxwell Club – Bert Bell Award, or the league itself).

[Updated 2/15/14]

1975: Bell Spoils Calvin Hill’s Debut with Hawaiians

The World Football League’s Honolulu-based team, The Hawaiians, had started poorly in 1974 but improved throughout the course of the eventual 9-11 season. The team had used rookie Norris Weese at quarterback until veteran Randy Johnson, cut by the NFL’s Giants, came aboard at midseason. While WR Tim Delaney led the WFL in pass receptions with 89, the running game ranked last among the clubs that made it through the full season.

Several NFL veterans had been signed to contracts prior to the ’74 season, but other than Johnson, who only became available because the Giants released him, the club had to wait until 1975 to avail themselves of their services. Two of the players they had signed, San Francisco TE Ted Kwalick and Vikings WR John Gilliam, were allocated to other teams by the league (Philadelphia and Chicago, respectively). But RB Calvin Hill (pictured above), who had gained 5009 rushing yards in six years with the Dallas Cowboys, joined the Hawaiians for the ’75 season and it was anticipated that he would substantially upgrade the running attack. However, the team had lost Johnson as the quarterback, who jumped back to the NFL with the Washington Redskins.

On August 2, 1975 The Hawaiians traveled to Philadelphia where they opened the regular season against the Bell before a sparse crowd of 2732 fans at Franklin Field on a 94-degree Saturday night.

The Bell had undergone a change in head coach after Ron Waller, who guided the club in 1974, abruptly resigned during the preseason. After assistant Joe Gardi took over for an exhibition win over Portland, former Packers great Willie Wood was named to the position the Tuesday prior to the season-opening contest. Wood thus became the first African-American head coach of a major league pro football team in the modern era (some 14 years before Art Shell was hired in the NFL; Fritz Pollard had coached in the early 1920s).

Philadelphia scored first on a 37-yard field goal by Bob Cooper. The Hawaiians responded with a 72-yard drive that was capped when Hill caught a pass from QB Rick Cassata for a 13-yard touchdown. With a successful pass for the action point, they led 8-3 at the end of the first quarter.

In the second quarter, colorful Bell QB Jim “King” Corcoran threw a nine-yard touchdown pass to Kwalick that was followed by RB J.J. Jennings running successfully for the action point. The Bell took an 11-8 lead into halftime.

In the third quarter, Corcoran threw a pass to WR Ron Holliday that went 15 yards in the air but was turned into a 55-yard touchdown when Holliday evaded three tacklers and ran down the right sideline for the score, although the action point attempt failed. Cooper followed with a 35-yard field goal to give Philadelphia a comfortable 21-8 lead after three quarters.

The Hawaiians narrowed the margin in the fourth quarter on a two-yard carry by RB Clayton Heath. The action point attempt failed but the Bell now led by just six points with plenty of time remaining.

The Hawaiians again moved into Philadelphia territory, but in a key defensive play by the Bell, Hill was stopped short at the Philadelphia 30 in a fourth-and-two situation. With time running out, The Hawaiians inserted backup QB Sonny Sixkiller into the game and advanced to the Bell 16 yard line with the help of a pass interference call and three offside penalties. With no timeouts remaining, Sixkiller threw to WR Tim Delaney in the end zone for an apparent game-winning score, but a holding penalty nullified the play and give Philadelphia the 21-15 win.

The Hawaiians had more first downs (23 to 16) while outrushing the Bell, 245 yards to 119; Philadelphia gained more net passing yards (154 to 84).

Calvin Hill ran for 155 yards on 32 carries and Clayton Heath added 68 yards on 17 attempts that included a TD. Rick Cassata completed just 7 of 19 passes for 61 yards with a TD and three interceptions while Sonny Sixkiller connected on both of his passes for 23 yards. Hill and Heath also each caught three passes, with Hill leading the club with 30 yards. Tim Delaney had 26 yards on his two catches.

For the Bell, King Corcoran was successful on 13 of 25 passes for 155 yards with two touchdowns and an interception. J.J. Jennings, who had been a league co-MVP with Memphis in ’74, ran for 57 yards on 11 carries to pace the rushing attack. Ron Holliday had five catches for 100 yards that included the long TD.


“Wow, if people wanted excitement, they certainly got their money's worth tonight,” said Willie Wood (pictured at right), a winner in his first game as a pro head coach. “Our guys really held them down at most crucial points although those offside penalties almost gave me heart failure.”

Neither team did particularly well in the WFL’s abbreviated second season that ended in October with the abrupt folding of the league. Both ended up with 4-7 records, which meant a last-place finish in the Eastern Division for the Bell at the point that the plug was pulled; the Hawaiians tied for fourth with the Portland Thunder.

The opening game performance was the best for Calvin Hill as he went down with a knee injury shortly thereafter and ended up with just 218 yards on 49 carries. He returned to the NFL with Washington in 1976, where he played for two seasons before moving on to the Cleveland Browns for four years. While still an effective role player, he never ran the ball more than 80 times in a season or exceeded his post-WFL high of 301 yards with the Redskins in ’76. As a receiver out of the backfield, he did catch as many as 38 passes with the Browns in 1979.

As for Willie Wood, he got another pro head coaching opportunity with the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League, becoming that league’s first black head coach.

Past Venue: Husky Stadium

Seattle, WA



Year opened: 1920
Capacity: 72,500, up from 30,000 at opening

Names:
Husky Stadium, 1920 to date

Pro football tenants:
Seattle Seahawks (NFL), 1994, 2000-01

Postseason games hosted:
None

Other tenants of note:
Univ. of Washington, 1920 to date

Notes: Used by Seahawks for two preseason and three regular season games in 1994 after several ceiling tiles fell at the Kingdome, closing that venue for repairs. Served as temporary home of Seahawks for two full seasons between demolition of Kingdome and construction of Qwest Field. Grass surface was replaced by AstroTurf in 1968 and FieldTurf in 2000. Used for track & field as well as football. First football game was Univ. of Washington vs. Dartmouth on Nov. 27, 1920. Major venue for Goodwill Games, 1990. Stadium is also accessible by boat. During 1987 renovation, a portion of the stands under construction collapsed, fortunately with no fatalities and the stadium was ready for use by football season.

Fate: Still in use, although scheduled to undergo significant renovation.

1959: Colts Trade George Shaw to Giants

On July 30, 1959 the Baltimore Colts complied with backup QB George Shaw’s request for a trade, sending him to the New York Giants for that team’s second-round 1960 draft choice (originally reported to be a first-round pick and used to take G Bo Terrell from Mississippi, who opted for the AFL).

It was the end of an association with the Colts that had begun with great promise. Shaw was chosen by Baltimore as the first overall pick (or, at that time, bonus selection) in the 1955 NFL draft out of Oregon, passing up on a baseball contract offer from the New York Yankees.

A versatile player in college (in addition to playing quarterback, he sometimes played as a halfback or receiver on offense, safety on defense, and also handled placekicking and punting), Shaw led the nation in total offense as a senior with 1536 yards. The 6’0”, 185-pound passer showed promise as a rookie, moving right into the starting lineup and completing 50.2 percent of his 237 passes for 1586 yards with 10 touchdowns and 19 interceptions. He also displayed impressive mobility, rushing for 301 yards on 68 carries.

While there were questions about Shaw’s leadership ability, he went into the ’56 season as the starting quarterback. A broken kneecap suffered in the fifth game prematurely ended his year and, ultimately, his starting career in Baltimore. Unknown backup Johnny Unitas took over and soon established himself as a rising talent. Shaw remained as a second-stringer and saw action in 1958 when Unitas was sidelined by a rib injury, but he was clearly not in the same class with the rapidly-developing all-time great who led the Colts to the NFL Championship.

In the ensuing offseason, Shaw requested a trade when it became apparent that he wouldn’t be getting any further playing time as long as Unitas was healthy and, while the Colts hoped to hold onto him as a backup, they eventually acquiesced. Both the Eagles and Cardinals reportedly showed interest, but in the end it was the Giants who made the preseason deal for the 26-year-old quarterback.

Coming to the Giants, Shaw faced a crowded quarterback situation that included the 38-year-old starter, Charlie Conerly, plus veteran backup Don Heinrich, and the team’s first draft choice, rookie Lee Grosscup. In addition, star HB Frank Gifford was being given a trial at quarterback, although he ended up staying put at running back.

Shaw made the team, but was hindered by an injured thumb on his throwing hand. He started one game in place of Conerly, who had an outstanding season as the Giants won the Eastern Conference for the third time in four years, and was a more effective passer than Heinrich when he did play - he completed 66.7 percent of his throws for 433 yards while Heinrich was successful on just 37.9 percent for 329 yards while tossing 22 more passes than Shaw (58 to 36); he also threw six interceptions to Shaw’s one, and each threw a TD pass. Grosscup was shunted off to the taxi squad.

In 1960, Heinrich was gone to the expansion Dallas Cowboys and Conerly suffered through an injury-plagued season that gave Shaw more of an opportunity to play. While he led the team in pass attempts (155), completions (76), and yards (1263) and had some good performances, he also threw 13 interceptions (a few which came at particularly inopportune times), as opposed to 11 TDs, for the 6-4-2 Giants. Moreover, questions regarding his lack of confidence and inability to command the veteran-filled offense led the team to write him off.

Moving on to the expansion Minnesota Vikings for 1961, it was anticipated that Shaw would have an opportunity to show what he could do as a starting quarterback, particularly under the guidance of Head Coach Norm Van Brocklin. But while he started the opening game, he was quickly replaced by rookie Fran Tarkenton, who was the first-string quarterback for the rest of the year (and beyond). Shaw went next to the AFL, where he played one season as a backup to QB Frank Tripucka in Denver (and completed a team-record 97-yard touchdown pass to WR Jerry Tarr), before retiring.

In the end, Shaw’s career that started with so much promise was ultimately disappointing. After losing the starting job in Baltimore, he was never more than a decent backup. Indeed, at the time of his trade to the Giants, he expressed a concern that he had developed “second-stringitis”. He went so far as to confess in an article in Sports Illustrated: “When you go in, you feel the responsibility so much. A couple of years ago, when Johnny (Unitas) was hurt, I played two games at quarterback. I wasn't relaxed and I wasn't confident because I was afraid of playing poorly. Not afraid of giving a bad performance myself, but afraid of failing the team. Maybe I shouldn't say it, but you know when you're out there that the guys up in the line aren't making as much money as the quarterback. When they are great players on a team which is about to win a championship, they demand a lot from a quarterback. They expect you to be as good as they are, or better. It's a big load.”

An offseason banker, Shaw’s personality lacked fire and, in particular with the Giants, that worked against him. Displaced by two Hall of Fame quarterbacks, Unitas and Tarkenton, he became an example of a quarterback drafted in the first round who failed to make the grade at the pro level.

MVP Profile: O.J. Simpson, 1973

Running Back, Buffalo Bills


Age: 26
5th season in pro football & with Bills
College: Southern California
Height: 6’1” Weight: 212

Prelude:
Following an outstanding college career capped by winning the 1968 Heisman Trophy, the highly-coveted Simpson was drafted by the Bills with the first overall pick in the combined AFL/NFL draft. His pro career started slowly, as he was used sparingly and missed time due to injury during his first three seasons, never carrying more than 182 times or gaining more than 742 yards. However, the return to Buffalo of Head Coach Lou Saban in 1972 marked a change as Simpson became the centerpiece of the offense and led the NFL in rushing with 1251 yards, earning 1st-team All-Pro and Pro Bowl honors.

1973 Season Summary
Appeared and started in all 14 games
[Bracketed numbers indicate league rank in Top 20]

Rushing
Attempts – 332 [1]
Most attempts, game - 39 (for 157 yds.) vs. Kansas City 10/29
Yards – 2003 [1]
Most yards, game – 250 yards (on 29 carries) at New England 9/16
Average gain – 6.0 [2]
TDs – 12 [1, tied with Floyd Little]
200-yard rushing games – 3
100-yard rushing games – 11

Pass Receiving
Receptions – 6
Most receptions, game – 3 (for 33 yds.) vs. Philadelphia 10/7
Yards – 70
Most yards, game - 33 (on 3 catches) vs. Philadelphia 10/7
Average gain – 11.7
TDs – 0

Passing
Attempts – 2
Completions – 1
Yards – -3
TD passes – 0
Interceptions – 0

All-purpose yards - 2073 [1]

Scoring
TDs – 12 [5]
Points – 72

Awards & Honors:
NFL MVP: AP, NEA, Bert Bell Award
NFL Offensive Player of the Year: AP
AFC Player of the Year: Sporting News
1st team All-NFL: AP, PFWA, NEA, Pro Football Weekly
1st team All-AFC: AP, UPI, Pro Football Weekly, Sporting News
Pro Bowl

Bills went 9-5 to finish second in the AFC East while leading the NFL in rushing yards (3088). It was their first winning record since 1966.

Aftermath:
Simpson was a consensus 1st team All-Pro and Pro Bowl selection after each of the next three seasons, setting a then-league record with 23 TDs in 1975 while also gaining 1817 yards on the ground. Injuries in 1977 limited him to seven games and he was dealt to the 49ers, where he spent his last two seasons (1978 and ’79). Upon retirement, he had gained 11,236 rushing yards, the second-highest total up to that time. Simpson was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Class of 1985.

--

MVP Profiles feature players who were named MVP or Player of the Year in the NFL, AAFC (1946-49), AFL (1960-69), WFL (1974), or USFL (1983-85) by a recognized organization (Associated Press, Pro Football Writers Association, Newspaper Enterprise Association, United Press International, The Sporting News, Maxwell Club – Bert Bell Award, or the league itself).

[Updated 2/15/14]