ORLANDO, FL - Spring football fans in Central Florida can breathe a sigh of relief - the Florida Blazers of the World Football League will return for the 1975 season. The team, which finished the 1974 season as the runner-up to the Birmingham Americans (now Vulcans), faced uncertainty before the acquisition of the WFL and its teams by Supernova Corporation. "We wanted to give Orlando and the Blazers a chance to run it back and I'm glad we could make it work," said Alex Ryder, the new overseer of the WFL.



The Blazers will once again don their red and blue jerseys from the 1974 season. "We didn't want to cause too many changes between seasons," said Ryder. "We want to keep things consistent and established for our fans."
(Author's Note: You're seeing that right, the Blazers wore navy helmets, despite officially using royal blue as their color. It's just like the Giants - for whatever reason, royal blue helmets weren't available back then.)

The Blazers will play in the Tangerine Bowl, near downtown Orlando. Important players for Florida include WR Matt Maslowski, who caught for 850 yards and 7 touchdowns to help led the franchise to World Bowl 1 in 1974, and DB Billie Hayes, who grabbed 6 picks last season.

PHILADELPHIA, PA - WFL commissioner Gary Davidson and owner Alex Ryder held a press conference today at Franklin Field to announce the return of the Philadelphia Bell for the 1975 WFL season. "Philadelphia fans were great last season and we're glad to be able to reward that with another season of spring football," Commissioner Davidson told reporters. 



The Bell will don the same duds as last season, sporting classic Philly colors of athletic gold and blue. Of note is the blue facemask on the gold helmet, which makes Philadelphia, along with reigning champs Birmingham, the only WFL teams to paint their facemasks. The Bell were actually the first professional team to do so last season, beating the NFL's San Diego Chargers by two months. 

Philadelphia will play home games at Franklin Field, sharing the historic stadium with the Penn Quakers. The Bell are headed by QB Bob Davis, who played for the Oilers, Jets, and Saints of the NFL, and spent last year in Orlando leading the Florida Blazers to a runner-up appearance in the World Bowl. On the defense, CB Bill Craven will look to best his two picks from 1974.

MEMPHIS, TN - The second of the WFL's 12 franchises has been announced. The Memphis Southmen, popularly known as the "Grizzlies", will remain in the Liberty Bowl for the second season of the new league. Memphis had a tumultuous path to the league, as the franchise was originally intended to play in Toronto, Canada, under the name Northmen, before pressure from the Canadian government led to the shift to Tennessee. 



The Grizzlies will see no change to their duds from the 1974 season. "The orange and brown is a great look. I think it's something that fans really liked last year and we intend on keeping that consistency," remarked Alex Ryder, owner of the WFL and major decision-maker for these franchises.

As stated earlier, the Southmen will play in Memphis' Liberty Bowl, sharing the stadium with the University of Memphis Tigers. Players to watch on the Grizzlies this season are WR Ed Marshall, who caught 19 touchdowns in 1974, and CB Dave Thomas, who picked off 10 passes in his rookie campaign, good for best in the WFL.

I'm so happy to finally be able to show off the new Flyers look! And I love the colorful new set for the reigning champs. Super excited to see the whole thing come together!

After an extended wait, the Carolina Griffins have at last finalized their minor league teams. Without further ado, let's get started with our Triple-A team!

The BALTIMORE TERRAPINS are the Triple-A affiliate of the Carolina Griffins. Team owner Sky has family ties to the Baltimore area and the Terps are a historic brand with a passionate fanbase. The team maintains an intense rivalry with the Washington Eagles, the Philadelphia Keystones' Triple-A affiliate. The Terps' logo is a diamondback terrapin in the shape of Ft. McHenry, where brave Americans withstood the British attack in the Battle of Baltimore, which inspired Francis Scott Key to write the poem that would become our national anthem. The Griffins' shade of brown is combined with the gold from the Baltimore flag. The Terrapins play in Old Bay Park, a historic ballpark located near the Inner Harbor.



Baltimore's uniforms are simple. The home set features a script "Terrapins" with a contrasting front number, like their big league affiliate. A unique font is used for the numbers and the road "Baltimore" wordmark. The alternate is a brown top, and their fourth uniform is a retro set calling back to the history of Baltimore baseball, featuring a vintage white base and the Griffins' Sandlot Series classic logo on the sleeve.


The WINSTON-SALEM TWINS are Carolina's Double-A affiliate. They take their name from the city's historic halves, Winston and Salem, that came together to form the Camel City. The Twins use a color scheme of camel orange and navy blue, inspired by R. J. Reynolds' Camel cigarettes that put the city on the map. In fact, their stadium, Camel Field, was named for the old minor league team that took its name from the popular product. A WS monogram serves as the cap logo and is used with a font inspired b

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