9th August 1975, Saturday
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Re: 9th August 1975, Saturday
Back in the day it was called the Liberty Bowl Stadium in Memphis Tn, though tickets stated it was "Memphis Memorial Stadium"
These days it's called Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium.
What took place there on August 9th 1975 was not so much the football game but the last known public interview with Elvis who was there to watch the game and lasting a mere 30 seconds and disappointingly it was a rather rude and disrespectful interview.
Maybe not then, maybe given the off the cuff-ness surprise it led to what was really no more than banter but the interviewer, Harold Johnson, pushed it bit too far with the free Cadillac thing.
Final score:- Memphis Southmen 23 - Charlotte Hornets 11
19,729 attendance (+ Elvis and his Mafia)
In 2003 Essential Elvis Magazine did an interview with Harrold Johnson about this event.
(HJ is Harold Johnson, who originally interviewed Elvis, ME4EP is the interviewer of Harold Johnson.)
HJ. Hi, Harold Johnson
ME4EP. Hello Mr Johnson I hope you don't mind but I'm calling from England regarding a story I heard from a friend of mine in Charlotte regarding an interview you did with Elvis Presley.
HJ. Yeah, hi, I just got your e-mail
ME4EP. Oh great, I hope you don't mind me calling you about this?
HJ. Not at all, I don't get many calls from England.
ME4EP. I've just got to ask you about interviewing Elvis live on air, what happened and how did this come about?
HJ. Well, I arrived to broadcast from The Memphis Liberty Bowl Stadium on a game between The Memphis Southmen and the Charlotte Hornets, this was about...... 1975
ME4EP. I guessed it was maybe mid 70's as this would be a WFL game and the league was only running between 74 -76 ?
HJ. That's right the world football league, I had to go up to the press box in the elevator and on leaving the elevator there was an unusually large police presence around the place so I asked what was going on, I was told that Elvis was at the game in the Mayors box and that it was for security purposes.
At this time Elvis was already in the Mayors box adjacent to the press box and after a while he popped his head in and introduced himself to the media crew and shook a few hands, he had his girlfriend with him, Linda Thompson I think she was called.
ME4EP. Yeah, that would be correct.
HJ. He later went back to the Mayors box because that's where he stayed when he was watching the games.
ME4EP. That's great, how did the interview come about.
HJ. Well before he left to return to the box I told him we just gotta get you on the radio and he said you ain't getting me on the radio and we all just laughed about it.
While I was broadcasting a while later I turned around, and I don't know what told me to do it, but there he was taking a drink from the water fountain behind me.
I said to the listeners that Elvis was just taking a drink and that we gotta try and get him on the air and as I was leaning over towards him I heard him say "I ain't going on the air", I told him he practically was already.
He came back into the room again later during the game and we talked a little live on air about the game.
ME4EP. This story is amazing, I can't believe I've never heard about it before.
HJ. Well all this was around the time he was in the news after buying a car as a gift for a lady at the showroom, you know how he bought cars for his friends and the like.
I asked him, "if I said I liked your car would you buy me one", he just sort laughed and shrugged he shoulders saying that it wasn't him it was some other guy.
One of the funniest things was we received calls from some listeners during the game saying they didn't appreciate my making fun of Elvis on air in Memphis with an impersonator.
ME4EP. Really?
HJ. Yes, they just couldn't believe he was at the game but he was.
Just like you to this day I am still a big Elvis fan, and I hear he has a new single out now too.
ME4EP. It was just released here in the UK and it's called Rubberneckin, it's a remix of the song from his movie CHANGE OF HABIT. It's been mixed by a DJ called Paul Okenfold and he's done a pretty good job on it in my opinion.
I doubt it will be a number one like the last one but it should be a least top ten.
HJ. That's great isn't it?
ME4EP. Yeah it is.
HJ. I was asked only the other week of any outstanding memories I have as a sporstcaster and my Elvis story just has to be THE ONE, although I do have regrets.
ME4EP. Why is that?
HJ. After the game Elvis came back and was chatting again, I asked him what it was like to be so famous and he replied I just enjoy my music.
You know this was 75 and they go on about how big he was but he looked great to me.
He said "hey, after you are all finished up you and the guys call around at Graceland" and I said "gee Elvis we're chartered to fly back to Charlotte", he said "I'll fly ya'll back in the morning" and I said I think we better not, you know how it is.
ME4EP. Well you were working after all but........
HJ. That's my one regret, and he would have flown us back later, have you been to Graceland ?
ME4EP. Yes I have and I'm returning again in February with my wife.
HJ. I have visited Graceland myself since but it is still my one regret knowing I missed that opportunity and to think I could have stayed and hung out with Elvis and his guys.
ME4EP. You still have a great memory that I'm thrilled to hear about so don't be too hard on yourself Mr Johnson.
Another question is I'm pretty sure your interview has never been released because I'm sure I would have a copy, what happened to it, my friend remembers it being on TV sometime in the 90's.
HJ. That's right, we did a feature for his birthday celebrations one year and we played a clip edited to about 20 seconds, you know the most interesting sections of it.
I still have it on reel tape somewhere but it's that old type of tape that stretches and breaks real easy you know?
I'm sure I still have it in a drawer at home some place.
ME4EP. I'm so thrilled to hear this story, it's like discovering hidden treasure, I hope you don't mind me contacting you like this via telephone?
HJ. Not at all, like I said I'm a fan too, I understand.
ME4EP. Mr Johnson I would...............
HJ. Harold, it's Harold
ME4EP. OK, Harold I would like to say a big thank you for your time and I'm sure everyone will enjoy hearing about your story.
I'll get an extra copy from Andrew I'm sure and I'll mail it out to you.
HJ. Thank you.
ME4EP. Thanks again Harold I really appreciate your time and I'll be in touch, bye.
HJ. Bye bye.
Here's the interview to listen to :-
Background
The Memphis Southmen (AKA Grizzlies) began life 1,000 miles to the north in late 1973 as a planned pro football franchise known as the Toronto Northmen. The lead investor of the Northmen was Toronto media scion John Bassett, Jr., whose burgeoning sports empire at the time also included the Toronto Toros of the World Hockey Association and the Buffalo-Toronto Royals of World Team Tennis. Bassett’s father, John Sr., was a Toronto newspaper and television station baron who owned part of the NHL’s Toronto Maple Leafs before losing it to Harold Ballard in an early 1970’s power struggle.
The Northmen were to be members of the upstart World Football League, which planned to begin play in July 1974 and combat the NFL head-to-head for top collegiate & pro talent. The formation of the WFL brought (briefly) a form of limited free agency to pro football. Free agent movement was virtually unheard of in the NFL at the time thanks to the chilling effects of the “Rozelle Rule” reserve clause. But with the arrival of the WFL in 1974, NFL players were no longer indentured solely to their current teams. They could jump to the rival league for a bigger paycheck – or at least use that threat to gain some rare negotiating leverage.
Raiding The NFL
The new league pursued NFL talent aggressively, signing stars such as L.C. Greenwood, Calvin Hill, Craig Morton and Ken Stabler to futures contracts to jump leagues once their current NFL deals expired. Ultimately, no team would make a bigger splash in the NFL-WFL player battle than Bassett’s franchise.
On March 31, 1974, the Toronto Northmen held a press conference to announce the signings of Miami Dolphins’ stars Larry Csonka, Jim Kiick and Paul Warfield. All three were heroes of Miami’s legendary 1972 undefeated Super Bowl championship squad. Bassett and his General Manager, Leo Cahill, flew the trio to Toronto and floored them with an offer that Dolphins owner Joe Robbie couldn’t or wouldn’t match. $1.5 million over 3 years for Csonka, the MVP of Super Bowl XIII just two months earlier. $1.0 million over three years for Warfield. And $900,000 over three seasons for Csonka’s backfield compatriot Jim Kiick.
The signings were a shocking coup for the World Football League and a gut punch to one of the NFL’s elite franchises. The Dolphins stars still had a year to run on their NFL contracts. The plan was for Csonka, Kiick and Warfield to join Toronto for the WFL’s second season starting in the summer of 1975.
Northmen to Southmen
Meanwhile, Bassett found an antagonist back in Toronto who proved to be a more formidable adversary than Joe Robbie. Canadian federal minister of health and welfare Marc Lalonde set out to force Bassett out of Toronto. Lalonde believed the arrival of the WFL posed an existential threat to the Canadian Football League and its Toronto Argonauts franchise. The minister’s Canadian Football Act sought to protect the CFL and native-born football players by keeping U.S.-based pro leagues out of Canada. The legislation never passed. But the debate created enough uncertainty and antagonism that Bassett moved his franchise to Memphis, Tennessee on May 8, 1974. The shift came just two months before opening night of the first WFL season.
In Tennessee, the franchise would officially be known as the “Memphis Southmen”. But locals didn’t cotton to the name too well. Colloquially the team was known as the “Grizzlies”. (You can see the duality of the team’s identity on the first season media guide cover above left).
1974 Season
Although Csonka, Kiick and Warfield weren’t due to arrive in town for another year yet, the Southmen/Grizzlies still had arguably the best team in the WFL during the league’s debut season in 1974. Head Coach John McVay ran a ball control offense for the most part, with 1964 Heisman Trophy winning quarterback John Huarte at the helm. A trio of running backs – rookie draft pick J.J. Jennings out of Rutgers, along with John Harvey and Willie Spencer – combined for 3,197 yards and 32 rushing touchdowns. Rookie quarterback/punter Danny White – who would later succeed Roger Staubach as starting quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys – saw considerable late-game action behind center in a platoon role with Huarte.
The Southmen finished 17-3 and went undeated (10-0) at Memphis Memorial Stadium. But on November 29, 1974, they were upset at home by the Florida Blazers 18-15 in the playoff semi-final. The Blazers were an insolvent franchise at the time. Their players hadn’t been paid in months and within months team owner Rommie Loudd would be charged with both tax fraud and cocaine distribution charges. The chaos surrounding the Blazers was only slightly more extreme than the turmoil enveloping the entire league. Founder Gary Davidson was expelled from the league by disgruntled owners late in the season. Several clubs relocated in midseason or simply folded without completing their schedules. Amidst it all, the Southmen were a beacon of stability. The team paid its bills and Bassett reportedly had to bail out other owners on several occasions.
At the end of the season, halfback J.J. Jennings (1,524 rushing yards, 13 touchdowns) was named Rookie-of-the-Year and one of the WFL’s ‘Tri-MVPs” for the 1974 season.
Csonka, Kiick & Warfield Arrive in Memphis
The World Football League was all but dead by December 1974. Many of the teams that survived the 1974 season now faced tax liens, property seizures and myriad lawsuits. The Southmen’s arch rivals, the Birmingham Americans, defeated the Blazers to win World Bowl I, only to see sheriff’s deputies interrupt their post-game celebration to confiscate the team’s equipment. But Hawaiians owner Christopher Hemmeter took the lead to re-organize the league under a new corporation and recruit new investors. Bassett was one of only a handful of original investors who returned for the second season.
The WFL returned for a second season in July 1975 and that meant that Larry Csonka, Jim Kiick and Paul Warfield were headed to Memphis, Tennessee. To make room the Csonka and Kiick in the already crowded backfield, the team’s 1974 sensation J.J. Jennings was shipped out to play for the WFL’s Philadelphia Bell franchise. The trio of ex-Dolphins earned a cover shoot on the July 28, 1975 edition of Sports Illustrated in their Grizzlies uniforms. It was the first and only time that the WFL would be so honored by the nation’s premiere sports periodical.
Despite the arrival of the big stars, the Southmen seemed to take a step back during the first half of the 1975 season. Csonka battled nagging injuries and missed games. He would score only two touchdowns during his time in Memphis. Kiick had the biggest impact, scoring 10 touchdowns, but Memphis’ leading rusher was the unheralded 1974 holdover Willie Spencer. No one replaced the production of the departed J.J. Jennings.
1975 Collapse of the WFL
At quarterback, 2nd year pro Danny White took over the primary role from Huarte, who accepted back-up status. White showed flashes of the promise that would make him a starter in the NFL for much of the 1980’s but he was still very much a developing player. By late October, the Southmen had a record of 7-4 and sat in 2nd place in their division behind arch rival Birmingham. As with the first season, the rest of the league was in chaos. The new Chicago franchise folded up shop after just five games. Philadelphia was getting out-drawn by its local minor league hockey team. On October 22, 1975, WFL owners voted to shutdown the league immediately rather than complete the 1975 season.
Csonka, Kiick and Warfield returned to the NFL. John McVay was hired as an assistant coach by the New York Giants in 1976 and brought several ex-Southmen with him, including Csonka, defensive back Larry Mallory, wide receiver Ed Marshall, offensive lineman Ron Mikolajczyk and tight end Gary Shirk.
After the WFL folded, Bassett kept some of his key staff in place to petition for admission to the NFL as an expansion franchise. A winter 1975-76 season ticket drive resulted in 40,000 pledges. But the NFL turned down Bassett’s application. Bassett responded with an anti-trust suit against the league – Mid-South Grizzlies v. National Football League – dragged on until 1983. By that time, Bassett was back in pro football as owner of the Tampa Bay Bandits of the springtime United States Football League. Memphis would get a USFL expansion franchise the following year – the Showboats – to finally replace the Southmen/Grizzlies after nearly a decade’s absence.
These days it's called Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium.
What took place there on August 9th 1975 was not so much the football game but the last known public interview with Elvis who was there to watch the game and lasting a mere 30 seconds and disappointingly it was a rather rude and disrespectful interview.
Maybe not then, maybe given the off the cuff-ness surprise it led to what was really no more than banter but the interviewer, Harold Johnson, pushed it bit too far with the free Cadillac thing.
Final score:- Memphis Southmen 23 - Charlotte Hornets 11
19,729 attendance (+ Elvis and his Mafia)
- Wrong day of the week shown as "Sunday"
In 2003 Essential Elvis Magazine did an interview with Harrold Johnson about this event.
(HJ is Harold Johnson, who originally interviewed Elvis, ME4EP is the interviewer of Harold Johnson.)
HJ. Hi, Harold Johnson
ME4EP. Hello Mr Johnson I hope you don't mind but I'm calling from England regarding a story I heard from a friend of mine in Charlotte regarding an interview you did with Elvis Presley.
HJ. Yeah, hi, I just got your e-mail
ME4EP. Oh great, I hope you don't mind me calling you about this?
HJ. Not at all, I don't get many calls from England.
ME4EP. I've just got to ask you about interviewing Elvis live on air, what happened and how did this come about?
HJ. Well, I arrived to broadcast from The Memphis Liberty Bowl Stadium on a game between The Memphis Southmen and the Charlotte Hornets, this was about...... 1975
ME4EP. I guessed it was maybe mid 70's as this would be a WFL game and the league was only running between 74 -76 ?
HJ. That's right the world football league, I had to go up to the press box in the elevator and on leaving the elevator there was an unusually large police presence around the place so I asked what was going on, I was told that Elvis was at the game in the Mayors box and that it was for security purposes.
At this time Elvis was already in the Mayors box adjacent to the press box and after a while he popped his head in and introduced himself to the media crew and shook a few hands, he had his girlfriend with him, Linda Thompson I think she was called.
ME4EP. Yeah, that would be correct.
HJ. He later went back to the Mayors box because that's where he stayed when he was watching the games.
ME4EP. That's great, how did the interview come about.
HJ. Well before he left to return to the box I told him we just gotta get you on the radio and he said you ain't getting me on the radio and we all just laughed about it.
While I was broadcasting a while later I turned around, and I don't know what told me to do it, but there he was taking a drink from the water fountain behind me.
I said to the listeners that Elvis was just taking a drink and that we gotta try and get him on the air and as I was leaning over towards him I heard him say "I ain't going on the air", I told him he practically was already.
He came back into the room again later during the game and we talked a little live on air about the game.
ME4EP. This story is amazing, I can't believe I've never heard about it before.
HJ. Well all this was around the time he was in the news after buying a car as a gift for a lady at the showroom, you know how he bought cars for his friends and the like.
I asked him, "if I said I liked your car would you buy me one", he just sort laughed and shrugged he shoulders saying that it wasn't him it was some other guy.
One of the funniest things was we received calls from some listeners during the game saying they didn't appreciate my making fun of Elvis on air in Memphis with an impersonator.
ME4EP. Really?
HJ. Yes, they just couldn't believe he was at the game but he was.
Just like you to this day I am still a big Elvis fan, and I hear he has a new single out now too.
ME4EP. It was just released here in the UK and it's called Rubberneckin, it's a remix of the song from his movie CHANGE OF HABIT. It's been mixed by a DJ called Paul Okenfold and he's done a pretty good job on it in my opinion.
I doubt it will be a number one like the last one but it should be a least top ten.
HJ. That's great isn't it?
ME4EP. Yeah it is.
HJ. I was asked only the other week of any outstanding memories I have as a sporstcaster and my Elvis story just has to be THE ONE, although I do have regrets.
ME4EP. Why is that?
HJ. After the game Elvis came back and was chatting again, I asked him what it was like to be so famous and he replied I just enjoy my music.
You know this was 75 and they go on about how big he was but he looked great to me.
He said "hey, after you are all finished up you and the guys call around at Graceland" and I said "gee Elvis we're chartered to fly back to Charlotte", he said "I'll fly ya'll back in the morning" and I said I think we better not, you know how it is.
ME4EP. Well you were working after all but........
HJ. That's my one regret, and he would have flown us back later, have you been to Graceland ?
ME4EP. Yes I have and I'm returning again in February with my wife.
HJ. I have visited Graceland myself since but it is still my one regret knowing I missed that opportunity and to think I could have stayed and hung out with Elvis and his guys.
ME4EP. You still have a great memory that I'm thrilled to hear about so don't be too hard on yourself Mr Johnson.
Another question is I'm pretty sure your interview has never been released because I'm sure I would have a copy, what happened to it, my friend remembers it being on TV sometime in the 90's.
HJ. That's right, we did a feature for his birthday celebrations one year and we played a clip edited to about 20 seconds, you know the most interesting sections of it.
I still have it on reel tape somewhere but it's that old type of tape that stretches and breaks real easy you know?
I'm sure I still have it in a drawer at home some place.
ME4EP. I'm so thrilled to hear this story, it's like discovering hidden treasure, I hope you don't mind me contacting you like this via telephone?
HJ. Not at all, like I said I'm a fan too, I understand.
ME4EP. Mr Johnson I would...............
HJ. Harold, it's Harold
ME4EP. OK, Harold I would like to say a big thank you for your time and I'm sure everyone will enjoy hearing about your story.
I'll get an extra copy from Andrew I'm sure and I'll mail it out to you.
HJ. Thank you.
ME4EP. Thanks again Harold I really appreciate your time and I'll be in touch, bye.
HJ. Bye bye.
Here's the interview to listen to :-
Background
The Memphis Southmen (AKA Grizzlies) began life 1,000 miles to the north in late 1973 as a planned pro football franchise known as the Toronto Northmen. The lead investor of the Northmen was Toronto media scion John Bassett, Jr., whose burgeoning sports empire at the time also included the Toronto Toros of the World Hockey Association and the Buffalo-Toronto Royals of World Team Tennis. Bassett’s father, John Sr., was a Toronto newspaper and television station baron who owned part of the NHL’s Toronto Maple Leafs before losing it to Harold Ballard in an early 1970’s power struggle.
The Northmen were to be members of the upstart World Football League, which planned to begin play in July 1974 and combat the NFL head-to-head for top collegiate & pro talent. The formation of the WFL brought (briefly) a form of limited free agency to pro football. Free agent movement was virtually unheard of in the NFL at the time thanks to the chilling effects of the “Rozelle Rule” reserve clause. But with the arrival of the WFL in 1974, NFL players were no longer indentured solely to their current teams. They could jump to the rival league for a bigger paycheck – or at least use that threat to gain some rare negotiating leverage.
Raiding The NFL
The new league pursued NFL talent aggressively, signing stars such as L.C. Greenwood, Calvin Hill, Craig Morton and Ken Stabler to futures contracts to jump leagues once their current NFL deals expired. Ultimately, no team would make a bigger splash in the NFL-WFL player battle than Bassett’s franchise.
On March 31, 1974, the Toronto Northmen held a press conference to announce the signings of Miami Dolphins’ stars Larry Csonka, Jim Kiick and Paul Warfield. All three were heroes of Miami’s legendary 1972 undefeated Super Bowl championship squad. Bassett and his General Manager, Leo Cahill, flew the trio to Toronto and floored them with an offer that Dolphins owner Joe Robbie couldn’t or wouldn’t match. $1.5 million over 3 years for Csonka, the MVP of Super Bowl XIII just two months earlier. $1.0 million over three years for Warfield. And $900,000 over three seasons for Csonka’s backfield compatriot Jim Kiick.
The signings were a shocking coup for the World Football League and a gut punch to one of the NFL’s elite franchises. The Dolphins stars still had a year to run on their NFL contracts. The plan was for Csonka, Kiick and Warfield to join Toronto for the WFL’s second season starting in the summer of 1975.
Northmen to Southmen
Meanwhile, Bassett found an antagonist back in Toronto who proved to be a more formidable adversary than Joe Robbie. Canadian federal minister of health and welfare Marc Lalonde set out to force Bassett out of Toronto. Lalonde believed the arrival of the WFL posed an existential threat to the Canadian Football League and its Toronto Argonauts franchise. The minister’s Canadian Football Act sought to protect the CFL and native-born football players by keeping U.S.-based pro leagues out of Canada. The legislation never passed. But the debate created enough uncertainty and antagonism that Bassett moved his franchise to Memphis, Tennessee on May 8, 1974. The shift came just two months before opening night of the first WFL season.
In Tennessee, the franchise would officially be known as the “Memphis Southmen”. But locals didn’t cotton to the name too well. Colloquially the team was known as the “Grizzlies”. (You can see the duality of the team’s identity on the first season media guide cover above left).
1974 Season
Although Csonka, Kiick and Warfield weren’t due to arrive in town for another year yet, the Southmen/Grizzlies still had arguably the best team in the WFL during the league’s debut season in 1974. Head Coach John McVay ran a ball control offense for the most part, with 1964 Heisman Trophy winning quarterback John Huarte at the helm. A trio of running backs – rookie draft pick J.J. Jennings out of Rutgers, along with John Harvey and Willie Spencer – combined for 3,197 yards and 32 rushing touchdowns. Rookie quarterback/punter Danny White – who would later succeed Roger Staubach as starting quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys – saw considerable late-game action behind center in a platoon role with Huarte.
The Southmen finished 17-3 and went undeated (10-0) at Memphis Memorial Stadium. But on November 29, 1974, they were upset at home by the Florida Blazers 18-15 in the playoff semi-final. The Blazers were an insolvent franchise at the time. Their players hadn’t been paid in months and within months team owner Rommie Loudd would be charged with both tax fraud and cocaine distribution charges. The chaos surrounding the Blazers was only slightly more extreme than the turmoil enveloping the entire league. Founder Gary Davidson was expelled from the league by disgruntled owners late in the season. Several clubs relocated in midseason or simply folded without completing their schedules. Amidst it all, the Southmen were a beacon of stability. The team paid its bills and Bassett reportedly had to bail out other owners on several occasions.
At the end of the season, halfback J.J. Jennings (1,524 rushing yards, 13 touchdowns) was named Rookie-of-the-Year and one of the WFL’s ‘Tri-MVPs” for the 1974 season.
Csonka, Kiick & Warfield Arrive in Memphis
The World Football League was all but dead by December 1974. Many of the teams that survived the 1974 season now faced tax liens, property seizures and myriad lawsuits. The Southmen’s arch rivals, the Birmingham Americans, defeated the Blazers to win World Bowl I, only to see sheriff’s deputies interrupt their post-game celebration to confiscate the team’s equipment. But Hawaiians owner Christopher Hemmeter took the lead to re-organize the league under a new corporation and recruit new investors. Bassett was one of only a handful of original investors who returned for the second season.
The WFL returned for a second season in July 1975 and that meant that Larry Csonka, Jim Kiick and Paul Warfield were headed to Memphis, Tennessee. To make room the Csonka and Kiick in the already crowded backfield, the team’s 1974 sensation J.J. Jennings was shipped out to play for the WFL’s Philadelphia Bell franchise. The trio of ex-Dolphins earned a cover shoot on the July 28, 1975 edition of Sports Illustrated in their Grizzlies uniforms. It was the first and only time that the WFL would be so honored by the nation’s premiere sports periodical.
Despite the arrival of the big stars, the Southmen seemed to take a step back during the first half of the 1975 season. Csonka battled nagging injuries and missed games. He would score only two touchdowns during his time in Memphis. Kiick had the biggest impact, scoring 10 touchdowns, but Memphis’ leading rusher was the unheralded 1974 holdover Willie Spencer. No one replaced the production of the departed J.J. Jennings.
1975 Collapse of the WFL
At quarterback, 2nd year pro Danny White took over the primary role from Huarte, who accepted back-up status. White showed flashes of the promise that would make him a starter in the NFL for much of the 1980’s but he was still very much a developing player. By late October, the Southmen had a record of 7-4 and sat in 2nd place in their division behind arch rival Birmingham. As with the first season, the rest of the league was in chaos. The new Chicago franchise folded up shop after just five games. Philadelphia was getting out-drawn by its local minor league hockey team. On October 22, 1975, WFL owners voted to shutdown the league immediately rather than complete the 1975 season.
Csonka, Kiick and Warfield returned to the NFL. John McVay was hired as an assistant coach by the New York Giants in 1976 and brought several ex-Southmen with him, including Csonka, defensive back Larry Mallory, wide receiver Ed Marshall, offensive lineman Ron Mikolajczyk and tight end Gary Shirk.
After the WFL folded, Bassett kept some of his key staff in place to petition for admission to the NFL as an expansion franchise. A winter 1975-76 season ticket drive resulted in 40,000 pledges. But the NFL turned down Bassett’s application. Bassett responded with an anti-trust suit against the league – Mid-South Grizzlies v. National Football League – dragged on until 1983. By that time, Bassett was back in pro football as owner of the Tampa Bay Bandits of the springtime United States Football League. Memphis would get a USFL expansion franchise the following year – the Showboats – to finally replace the Southmen/Grizzlies after nearly a decade’s absence.
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