Detroit Wheels - 1974 Season

1974 Season

Things weren't encouraging on the field, either. The Wheels had a decent quarterback in Bubba Wyche (brother of former NFL quarterback and head coach Sam Wyche), but little in the way of protection (Wyche was sacked eleven times in one game) or receivers. Only 10,631 people attended their first home game, and their final home contest drew an announced crowd of 6,351 fans (though actual attendance was closer to 2,000). One home game, against the Portland Storm, was moved to London, Ontario; Storm owner Robert Harris was from London, and actually considered moving his club to the Ontario city and renaming them the London Lords. Harris received $30,000 from local promoters and the Storm got their first win of the year, 18-7, in front an announced crowd of 5,105 (newspaper reports indicated there were only 2,000 people there). It was the only "World" Football League game played outside the United States.

As the losses piled up, the team's ramshackle financial structure became more problematic. Boisture and Grandelius badly wanted to put together a serious football organization, but the owners refused all requests for more money. For one home game there were no programs available because the printer hadn't been paid. Several practices were canceled because the cleaning bill went unpaid, leaving the team without uniforms. They couldn't pay their phone bill, and they were unable to reserve hotel rooms or fly to away games without advance payment. Players were forced to share food and rent due to missed paydays; several players ended up sharing a house. The situation prompted Wyche to write to league president Gary Davidson and beg the league office to intervene.

The low point came during the Wheels' eighth game, against the Philadelphia Bell. When the players arrived at John F. Kennedy Stadium, they discovered that they didn't have any medical supplies or tape. The Wheels refused to take the field until a Johnson & Johnson salesman donated tape so that the game could go on. (Philadelphia won, 27-23.)

After losing their first ten games, the Wheels got their only win, 15-14 over the Florida Blazers at Orlando. Soon afterward, the league took control of the team and began searching for a new home. Their first choice was Shreveport, but the Houston Texans moved there and became the Steamer. They then tried to move to Louisville, but talks collapsed. John DeLorean tried to buy the team in hopes of keeping it in Detroit, but he backed out at the last minute. The next choice was Charlotte, where former New England Patriots general manager Upton Bell was hoping to put together financing for a WFL team. Although impressed with Wyche, he was unable to come to an agreement, and instead opted to buy the New York Stars and move them to Charlotte as the Hornets.

On September 24, the Wheels faced the Stars in Downing Stadium, losing 37-7 in what proved to be the Stars' last game in New York.

After a 14-11 loss to Shreveport, the league folded the Wheels (and the equally struggling Jacksonville Sharks). While the franchise officially folded on October 7, players and coaches had been taking their uniforms and personal items home with them for some time to keep them from being seized. The Wheels franchise was the only one not reissued when the World Football League returned in 1975.

The Wheels finished their lone season with the WFL's worst record at 1-13, and the worst luck as well: eight of Detroit's losses came by less than a touchdown, and they held fourth-quarter leads in seven games. Playing in the tough Central Division with the league's two best teams, Memphis (17-3) and Birmingham (15-5), made things even more difficult for the hapless Wheels.

Stan Hansen, the professional wrestler, had a brief stint as a player with the Wheels. Nevertheless, he was promoted as a "former star" of the team when wrestling in a promotion in his hometown of Amarillo, Texas.