Lost Treasures of the NFL S03E04 - The World Football League

First aired on 2001-11-21.
For a year and a half, the World Football League represented opportunity to a few hundred men who loved the game. For the first time, NFL Films devotes a show to the WFL, interviewing its principal architects, players, and fans. Includes rare film and TV footage of WFL games and teams that are largely forgotten.
Missing the first few minutes - sorry!

[@WatchVenusSpa]

Steve Sabol was a National treasure.

[@randyware9645]

Steve was such a great guy, he could break down film to make it fun to watch, all the relationships he had, made it a small world for all of us who followed him in his career with nfl films, god bless you steve, we miss you

[@MGAF688]

Lost Treasures was a fantastic series because it rightly captured behind-the-scenes components to pro football history. I knew almost nothing about the WFL until I watched this show back in 2001. I wish NFL Films Presents would revert to a similar series so that we can engage better with the history of pro football including the AFL, AAFC, USFL, WFL, WFL 90s, Europa, XFL, etc.

[@randyware9645]

I was from birmingham, i was 14 in 74 , the american,s was the best thing to hit birmingham, we always pulled for the falcons of the nfl, since they were in atlanta only 130 miles from ,b,ham, but to have our own pro football team, was the greatest thing next to being a alabama football fan, with bear bryant, not much better team to be a fan of, it was a sad day when we lost our champs of the world football league, but at least we won the only championship

[@tomaartman2509]

This "lost era" has me so intrigued. After watching this episode I have since collected all 12 mini helmets of the '74 teams that started, as well as an assortment of ticket stubs, game programs, and lots of memorabilia. I wish I was old enough to see it, but at least I saw the USFL!!

[@jimsmith7445]

Nostalgic... sure! I think the World League and the USFL made football a better sport and reinvented what was dead or dying. I loved both leagues.

[@wdfghjkl]

can't believe I watched the entire video. from the documentary to just watching the commercials.

[@lampini]

gotta love the commercial about flip phones. "get this flip phone with gaming capabilities" :O

[@joeg5414]

lol yup so nostalgic. Someone was complaining about commercials left in another video and I told them it'll only add to the video as time goes by.

[@gvizuete79]

Wow love the old commercials...

[@THECLARENCES]

"Lost Treasures" was an amazing series!Long live the WFL!xoxoThe Clarences

[@quentin3330]

They should do one on the CFL expansion into the U.S. in mid 90's for 2 failed seasons....tons of funny stories plus Baltimore really liked their team and is the only U.S. team to win a Grey Cup. The Browns ended up relocating to Baltimore and the CFL went back to being just Canadian teams...but there was some hilarious stories...players were living/sleeping on some friend of the owners horse barn down i believe Shreveport...money was tight.lol.

[@quentin3330]

lol..yup, that sounds like Lonie Glieberman..smh...not surprised. WHA World Hockey Association has some interesting stories too.

[@rockvilleraven]

"The Great Tucker Caper". Rev. Jimmy Swagart was a season ticket holder for the Shreveport Pirates.

[@WatchVenusSpa]

The US Experiment, as Canadians call it, failed because they had no plan, just to collect expansion fees until half the Canadian teams were out of receivership. A team in Montreal was always Larry Smith's end game and exit strategy. (He played for the Alouettes for 10 years in the 70s and 80s and everyone and their dog knew he was gone once his contract was up due to gross incompetence.) Baltimore was the one success story and I always wished they'd have found a way to co-exist with the NFL. They had a great fanbase for the CFL and still have a contingent that comes to the Grey Cup every year to this day.

[@rockvilleraven]

Venus Spa Had the NFL not returned to Baltimore, that city would have hosted the 1997 Grey Cup, being the first US city to do so. Jim Speros before getting a CFL team, was awarded a Washington expansion team in the WLAF, that would have started play in 1993, however the league folded before becoming NFL Europe in 1995.

[@rockvilleraven]

There is an 18 minute documentary produced by TSN, about the Baltimore Stallions which focuses on their team reunion but has all kinds of good stuff called "One Horse Town". kzbin.info/www/bejne/bXOYfpiqibOmndU

[@altfactor]

I recall that the start of the TVS Thursday-night WFL game on August 8th, 1974 was delayed by about twenty minutes (from 9:05 to 9:25 P.M. EDT) so that stations that carried the WFL would be able to carry President Nixon's resignation speech. In fact, I think TVS may have also picked-up the feed of Mr. Nixon's speech and feed it to independent (non-network) stations carrying their WFL coverage that otherwise wouldn't have been able to carry the speech.

[@rockvilleraven]

I remember Fireman's Fund sponsored the Play of the Game.

[@PerpetualArt]

Unfortunately the current NFL films doesn't care about the past. Its all about football in the millennium, and their cram everything into an hour shows of the past. I think they should sell all the classic stuff on dvd. Its all because they would have to pay all the players who got ripped back in the day. Sad ! Thats why I love KZbin.

[@fredthompson4568]

Jacksonville Sharks 14, New York Stars 7..1974 I was there. Jacksonville had the best stadium ( the Gator Bowl) and the largest crowds.

[@altfactor]

My hometown of Boston came very close to having a World Football League team in 1974. Before the plug was puled on the proposed team, things went far enough that the club's owners had signed a local TV deal with WLVI Channel 56 to carry all of the team's away games and the old WEEI Radio (then a CBS-owned all-news station) to broadcast all the team's games on radio.

[@rockvilleraven]

The Boston Bulls I remember.

[@rockvilleraven]

The Washington Ambassadors were supposed to play at RFK Stadium but the Redskins and the Armory Board shot it down. They went to Navy Marne Corp stadium in Annapolis and couldn't get a lease there, went to Norfolk as the Virginia Ambassadors and finally moved to Orlando as the Florida, Blazers. In Washington, they almost signed Sonny Jurgenson.

[@micshork]

I wish they talked more about the WFL and the USFL. I am looking forward to the 2020 Re-Launch of the XFL.

[@rockvilleraven]

They won't say much about the AAF, that's for sure.

[@varietypackofvideos301]

Came from KTO

[@rockvilleraven]

There was no PAT, instead they an "Action Point" where you had to run for one point, 7 points was for a TD. And who could forget the "Dickerrod" which was used to measure for first downs instead of chains, the first year. The fancy pants sunk faster than the Titanic.

[@marcpower4167]

the WFL was also the first league to move the goal posts to the back of the end zone. Saying it was for safety since players in the NFL kept running into them and got injured.

[@randyware9645]

Yeah that was a funny looking yard stick, if you remeber what it looked like, at the bottom it had a extention frame that was the lenght of the football, they were try to be totaly different than the nfl

[@KKBundy12345]

28:28 Geez get the Commish a couple phone books would ya. 41:04 New York Stars radio voice John Sterling.

[@MrOldheadtom]

Ty for the upload

[@gdub454]

The World Football League?..really? huh..never even knew something like that existed...trip out

[@billfarrar246]

I remember Shreveport Steamer games

[@robmclean4352]

Aired November 26, 2002.

[@jcbog1238]

BlackAdam707 i was 1 week old. That's Crazy!

[@joeg5414]

lol wow I feel kinda old now. I had already been in the Air Force for 6 months.

[@drbonesshow1]

Ron Mix would end up in legal trouble.

[@jesselockhart1230]

15:00 2019 will see the premiere of the Alliance of American Football and 2020 will usher the return of the XFL.

[@gregorylagrange]

WFL may have been able to survive if they didn't get such a screwed up judgement in their anti-trust suit. They were starting to legitimately be able to draw key college players right before their demise.

[@veggieoilerfan2940]

Gregory LaGrange Did the whole WFL actually file an antitrust suit against the NFL? I know the Memphis Grizzlies filed their own antitrust suit against the NFL long after the league had already folded. However I never heard of the whole WFL ever filing an antitrust suit. The USFL filed an antitrust suit against the NFL in 1986. The USFL won, but was only awarded $1 (trebled to $3).

[@altfactor]

Ironically, the current Houston team in the NFL is called the Houston Texans!

[@philtll]

altfactor that's not irony

[@TNNSports94]

as well as the Chicago Fire in the MLS

[@marcpower4167]

And the Memphis Grizzlies in the NBA.

[@billywalik6411]

They paid all these pricks upfront money. Then we wondered why we weren’t paid. Our bad! Life lesson 101.

[@kickersuelle]

Thanks for the post, Bill. Good to hear from someone, who experienced the WFL first hand!

[@billywalik6411]

There are so many stories untold regarding the WFL. Proud men, All Pros, whose pre game meal became cheese and crackers at the motel Bar. All Pros bitterly challenging teammates (No, I didn't slash your tires! Stuff). And that was only 1 Team, The Florida Blazers. Once again , Life lesson 101

[@kickersuelle]

Bill, your statement „There are so many stories untold regarding the WFL„ got me thinking… Would you be willing to be interviewed by me to share some of your untold stories? The interview would be posted under wfl.charlottehornetswfl.com/pages_multimedia/interviews.php alongside many of your peers. Would be classic if we could get this done! I´m sure you have a million great stories to tell. Let me know! Thanks!

[@drbonesshow1]

Paul Brown was as big a skinflint as George Halas: 22:00

[@p47rr]

I hate the NFL now.