Jacksonville Express

Jacksonville Express
Established January 1975
Folded October 1975
Based in Jacksonville, Florida
Home field Gator Bowl Stadium
Head coach Charlie Tate
Owner(s) Earl Knabb, Bill DeCarlis
League World Football League
Division Eastern
Colours Black, red and gold               

The Jacksonville Express were a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida which competed in the World Football League (WFL) in 1975. There were preceded in 1974 by the WFL's Jacksonville Sharks, though the two teams had separate ownership and identities. The Express folded when the league ceased operations during the 1975 season.

History

The Jacksonville Sharks were a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida which competed in the 1974 WFL season. The Sharks folded during that season due to financial difficulties. The WFL returned to Jacksonville the following season with the Jacksonville Express. While head coach Charlie Tate and a few players returned from the Sharks, the Express had new owners (local businessman Earl Knabb along with several minor partners) and a mostly new front office staff. The team's biggest player acquisitions were quarterback George Mira, who had been co-MVP of the 1974 WFL championship game with Birmingham and had been a college All-American with the in-state Miami Hurricanes, and Tommy Reamon, who had led the WFL in rushing in 1974 with the Florida Blazers.[1][2]

The new ownership group sought to be much more frugal than the free-spending Sharks had been. One notable example of this was that while the Sharks' headquarters had been located in a large suite atop a skyscraper in downtown Jacksonville, the offices of the Express were located in a mall in the basement of a hotel.[3] Accordingly, the franchise was able to meet its financial obligations throughout its short existence. However, the WFL had lost their television contract right before the 1975 season, putting the entire league in serious financial difficulty. The Express had compiled a 6-5 record when the WFL folded in October 1975, 11 games into a planned 20-game schedule.

Schedule and results

Key: Win Loss Bye

1975 regular season [4]

Week Day Date Opponent Result Attendance
1 Sunday August 2, 1975 at Memphis Southmen L 26–27 25,166
2 Sunday August 16, 1975 Birmingham Vulcans W 22–11 16,049
3 Sunday August 23, 1975 San Antonio Wings W 26–19 16,133
4 Sunday August 30, 1975 Charlotte Hornets L 14–33 16,428
5 Saturday September 6, 1975 at Shreveport Steamer W 22–15 13,638
6 Sunday September 14, 1975 at Hawaiians L 15–33 18,479
7 Saturday September 20, 1975 Philadelphia Bell W 16–10 10,296
8 Saturday September 27, 1975 Birmingham Vulcans W 26–18 10,881
9 Saturday October 4, 1975 Portland Thunder W 32–29 8,119
10 Sunday October 12, 1975 at Charlotte Hornets L 15–22 7,750
11 Sunday October 19, 1975 at Portland Thunder L 13–30 8,713

See also

References

  1. ↑ https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=kQk0AAAAIBAJ&sjid=sOsFAAAAIBAJ&dq=jacksonville-sharks%20jacksonville-express&pg=2586%2C1937865
  2. ↑ https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=iK8fAAAAIBAJ&sjid=kdYEAAAAIBAJ&pg=995%2C4270907
  3. ↑ https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Y0BSAAAAIBAJ&sjid=p3kDAAAAIBAJ&pg=2409%2C157141
  4. ↑ "1975 World Football League Results". Retrieved 2015-11-11.
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