Philadelphia Bell

The Philadelphia Bell was a franchise in the World Football League, which operated in 1974 and a portion of a season in 1975. The Bell played their home games at JFK Stadium in Philadelphia. The team logo was a representation of the Liberty Bell.

The Bell was one of just two WFL teams that maintained the same ownership in both 1974 and 1975. The group was headed by John B. Kelly, Jr., a respected business and sportsman in Philadelphia and part of the well-known Kelly family, which included his sister Grace Kelly, movie star turned Princess of Monaco. The major money contributor behind the ownership group was John Bosacco, who came forward during the first season and took over the operations of the franchise. Bosacco believed that the WFL could survive as a league and he was instrumental in the removal of Gary Davidson as commissioner following the 1974 season. Ron Waller was hired as head coach in 1974. Waller was fired during training camp at Glassboro State University (now called Rowan University) in 1975. He was replaced by NFL Hall of Famer Willie Wood for the entirety of the 1975 season.^[1]

At first the team seemed to be one of the WFL's most popular teams. They announced a crowd of 55,534 for the home opener, and 64,719 for the second home game. However, when the Bell paid city taxes on the attendance figures two weeks later, it emerged that they had inflated the gate on a scale almost unprecedented in professional sports. Thousands of tickets for the first two games had been sold well below the advertised prices. It turned out that the actual paid attendance for the home opener was only 13,855, while the paid attendance for the second game was only 6,200. The Bell had sold block tickets to various Delaware Valley businesses at a discount, and the tax revenue was not reported. The "Papergate" scandal, as it was dubbed by the press, made the Bell and the WFL look foolish, and proved to be a humiliation from which neither recovered.

During the 1974 season, the Bell finished with a losing season, finishing 9–11. However, they still made the WFL playoffs due to the Charlotte Hornets' financial problems. Although Charlotte finished a game ahead of Philadelphia at 10–10, the Hornets (who had moved from New York City midway through the season) could not afford to travel to Orlando for the game due to poor advance ticket sales, so the Bell advanced in their place. The Blazers defeated the Bell, 18-3.

Despite the Papergate fiasco, the Bell were reckoned as one of the WFL's stronger franchises. They were one of only three teams that met payroll for the entire season, and Bosacco was thought to be one of the only owners capable of fielding a team in 1975.^[2]

The Bell had a record of 4–7 in 1975 at the time of the league's dissolution.

Vince Papale, the inspiration for the 2006 film Invincible, played wide receiver for the Bell for two seasons prior to his two years with the Philadelphia Eagles.^[3][4] The Bell's starting quarterback was King Corcoran, who spent most of his career in the minor leagues due to his refusal to accept a backup quarterback position. Both Papale and Corcoran had recently played in the Seaboard Football League, the minor league that was active at the time in the area.

References

External links

• The Philadelphia Bell WFL Football Page