Chicago Winds Football

The Chicago Winds of the ??World Football League??were the 1975 successor to the Chicago Fire who disbanded following the 1974 season, despite drawing some of the league's biggest crowds. In May of 1975, the new team tried to sign the legendary Joe Namath, even going so far as to make the team's colors green and white, similar to Namath's longtime employer, the New York Jets.?? The TVS network, who carried the 1974 season, refused to carry WFL games in 1975 unless Namath was in. Broadway Joe wanted 15% of that TV contract. The Winds and the WFL declined. With no TV contract, the league had little exposure in its second season. The Winds played only 5 games (and just 1 of those at home). They were thrown out of the WFL when two of the team's investors withdrew a $175,000 check that had been deposited with the league at the beginning of the season. The rest of the league closed up shop a few weeks later.