Shreveport Steamers
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The City of Shreveport, Louisiana received an unexpected surprise September 18, 1974 by inheriting the Houston Texans of the World Football League. Rumours had swirled several days earlier that the financially troubled Detroit Wheels might be moved to Shreveport. Instead the metropolis of 188,000 inherited the equally debt-ridden Texans. In the mid-1970s, the WFL attempted to establish a second major professional league of American football in the United States in competition with the National Football League. The 1974 Houston Texans have no connection whatsoever with the current NFL team of the same name.
Underfinanced from the very beginning, the WFL Texans survived in Houston for 11 games. (In week 12, the Houston Texans were scheduled to play in Birmingham against the Americans. The 3-7-1 club, according to the Birmingham game programs, were called "Houston Texans" as they were printed well in advance. One Buffalo, New York newspaper identified the Texans as just "Louisiana" while others either printed the team as Shreveport or Houston in the WFL standings.) In that game at Legion Field, the "Louisiana" nee Homeless Texans not only lost the game, 42-14, the team lost its head coach, Jim Garrett-suspended and eventually fired from the league, and its quarterback, former AFL-NFL veteran Mike Taliaferro. Taliaferro (pronounced Tolliver) retired rather than move with the team to Shreveport.
Before planting the transplanted franchise into Shreveport ground, the league ran into a snag. L.A. Frey & Sons, a company specializing in-of all things, "wieners" filed a restraining order, preventing the team from leaving Houston until they played one more game at the Astrodome. The promotion, four Frey Labels would get you one ticket for $1. The company worried that their reputation and sales would be ruined if the promotion wouldn't go through as scheduled. One Texans official testified in court, claiming that the Shreveport opener would attract some 30,000 fans. If the game were to be played in Houston, against Memphis who had demolished the Texans 45-0 no less, said the official, they would draw no more than 2,500 at the Astrodome. After hearing both sides, a Houston court judge granted the Texans its freedom from Houston to move to Shreveport.
On September 23, 1974, the old Houston Texans were rechristened the Shreveport Steamer. The franchise, according to the WFL, was operated on a "play now, pay later" basis. It showcased a number of veterans and a few rookies. Among the green and gold were ambidextrous quarterback and former University of Houston star D. C. Nobles, along with several former AFL stars: fullback Jim Nance, wide receivers Don Maynard and Rick Eber, tight end Willie Frazier, and defensive players Garland Boyette, Al Dotson, and rookie John Villapiano, brother of Oakland Raiders defender Phil Villapiano. The team was coached by Marshall Taylor, a former star player at Tennessee Tech.
The Steamer made their debut two nights later, on September 25 in their new home: the 30,000-seater called State Fair Stadium, located at the Fairgrounds (now the site of the Independence Bowl post-season college football game and where the CFL's Shreveport Pirates played). Against the Memphis Southmen, the new Steamer played in front of just over 22,000 fans. Although they went on to lose, 17-3, Shreveport's performance on the field improved, albeit slightly. They did upset Birmingham, who had humiliated them during their move, in a 31-0 thrashing at State Fair Stadium, and came back to down the Charlotte Hornets, 19-14. (The Hornets incidentially had their uniforms seized by sheriffs for an unpaid laundry bill while they were the New York Stars.)
The Steamer finished in Louisiana with a 4-4 record, after going a dismal 3-8-1 while known as the Houston Texans. Nonetheless, their overall 7-12-1 record was dismal. Losing to Portland and Birmingham in the final two weeks of the season earned them the distinction as being the lone team shut out of the WFL eight-team playoff circuit. Incidentally, the WFL finished its disastrous first season with just nine teams left. (The Detroit and Jacksonville franchises were folded by the league after 14 games, and the Chicago Fire were put out after 19 games because its owner refused to participate in the WFL free-for-all playoffs.) The playoff system went through several changes before settling on 6 teams earning playoff berths. (If there was such as thing as earning a playoff spot with a below .500 record, it was in the WFL.)
The Shreveport Steamer reappeared, as did the WFL, for the 1975 season. Right from the start both the boats and the resurrected league itself struggled. The second Chicago franchise died September 2, after five games. After going a mediocre 5-7 record with the franchise just about out of money, the Steamer and the WFL sank permanently on October 22, 1975. The second WFL ceased operations a little more than halfway through its campaign. On December 3, 1975, right near the end of the 1975 season, the Steamer held an auction of its remains. Selling enough helmets, jerseys, and other items to pay off its debts.
