Memphis Southmen
Facts and information about the Memphis Southmen
- The Southmen made the biggest news as far as player signings when they signed Larry Csonka, Jim Kiick, and Paul Warfield away from the NFL’s Miami Dolphins.
- Memphis was one of two teams to play in both the 1974 and 1975 season with the same ownership, the other was Philadelphia.
- Memphis, along with Birmingham, attempted to join the NFL after the WFL folded, but were denied.
- The Memphis Southmen organization would later file an antitrust lawsuit against the NFL which wasn’t officially dismissed until 1984.
- Memphis was one of three teams to finish above .500 in both WFL seasons (the others were Birmingham and Southern California).
- The Memphis Southmen were also known as the Memphis Grizzlies, a name later associated with the NBA when the Vancouver Grizzlies basketball team was relocated to Memphis, Tennessee.
- The Memphis franchise of the World Football League was originally planned for Toronto as the Northmen, but Canadian lawmakers barred any professional football league that would compete with the Canadian Football League.
- The Memphis Southmen were owned by John Bassett who would go on to be the owner of the Tampa Bay Bandits of the USFL in the 1980s.
- The King of Rock and Roll himself, Elvis Presley, was a fan of the Southmen and was at the team’s home opener in their first season in the league.
- The Memphis Southmen lost their last game the team played in a shutout 21-0 to the Birmingham Vulcans.
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