The Memphis Southmen were a franchise in the World Football League

World Football League

The World Football League was a short-lived gridiron football league that played in 1974 and part of 1975. Although the league's proclaimed ambition was to bring American football onto a worldwide stage, the farthest the WFL reached was placing a team – the Hawaiians – in Honolulu, Hawaii. The...

 which operated in 1974

1974 in sports

1974 in sports describes the year's events in world sport.-Alpine skiing:* Alpine Skiing World Cup** Men's overall season champion: Piero Gros, Italy** Women's overall season champion: Annemarie Pröll, Austria-American football:...

 and 1975

1975 in sports

1975 in sports describes the year's events in world sport.-Alpine skiing:* Alpine Skiing World Cup** Men's overall season champion: Gustav Thöni, Italy** Women's overall season champion: Annemarie Pröll, Austria-American football:...

. They played their home games at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium

Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium

Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium is a football stadium, located at the Mid-South Fairgrounds, in Midtown Memphis, Tennessee, United States. The stadium is the site of the annual AutoZone Liberty Bowl, and is the home field of the University of Memphis Tigers football team...

 in Memphis

Memphis, Tennessee

Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....

, Tennessee

Tennessee

Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

.

From North to South

The team was originally slated to be based in Toronto

Toronto

Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...

, Ontario

Ontario

Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....

, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 with the nickname of the Northmen. However, when Canadian Prime Minister

Prime Minister of Canada

The Prime Minister of Canada is the primary minister of the Crown, chairman of the Cabinet, and thus head of government for Canada, charged with advising the Canadian monarch or viceroy on the exercise of the executive powers vested in them by the constitution...

 Pierre Trudeau

Pierre Trudeau

Joseph Philippe Pierre Yves Elliott Trudeau, , usually known as Pierre Trudeau or Pierre Elliott Trudeau, was the 15th Prime Minister of Canada from April 20, 1968 to June 4, 1979, and again from March 3, 1980 to June 30, 1984.Trudeau began his political career campaigning for socialist ideals,...

 announced that no U.S.-based professional football league would be allowed in Canada in competition with the Canadian Football League

Canadian Football League

The Canadian Football League or CFL is a professional sports league located in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football, a form of gridiron football closely related to American football....

 under the Canadian Football Act

Canadian Football Act

The Canadian Football Act was a proposed Act by the Parliament of Canada in April 1974 designed to give a government-protected monopoly over professional gridiron football in Canada to the Canadian Football League...

, a change in venue and nickname was announced. From the beginning, Memphians disliked "Southmen" and the team was informally known as the Memphis Grizzlies. The name appeared to come from the logo

Logo

A logo is a graphic mark or emblem commonly used by commercial enterprises, organizations and even individuals to aid and promote instant public recognition...

, a representation of a bear backed by the sun.

The "Grizzlies" were owned by John F. Bassett

John Bassett (USFL)

John F. Bassett was a Canadian professional American football club owner and notable tennis player.-Sports teams ownership:Bassett owned the WFL's Toronto Northmen/Memphis Southmen and the USFL's Tampa Bay Bandits team....

. A multi-millionaire, Bassett gave the league instant credibility by signing three stars from the National Football League

National Football League

The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...

's Miami Dolphins

Miami Dolphins

The Miami Dolphins are a Professional football team based in the Miami metropolitan area in Florida. The team is part of the Eastern Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...

 for the 1975 season: running backs Larry Csonka

Larry Csonka

Larry Richard Csonka is a former collegiate and professional American football fullback.-Childhood:One of six children, Csonka was born in Stow, Ohio where he was raised on a farm by his Hungarian family...

 and Jim Kiick

Jim Kiick

James Forrest Kiick is a former professional American football running back, who is best known for playing halfback for the Miami Dolphins in the American Football League from 1968 to 1969 and in the National Football League from 1970 through 1974...

, and wide receiver Paul Warfield

Paul Warfield

Paul Dryden Warfield is a former professional American football wide receiver in the 1960s and 1970s known for his speed, fluid moves, grace, jumping ability and hands.- Football career :...

. John McVay

John McVay

John McVay is a former American football coach who rose through the coaching ranks from high school, through the college level, and to the NFL...

 was introduced as the head coach before the 1974 season.

The Southmen's home opener against Detroit

Detroit Wheels

The Detroit Wheels were an American football team, a charter member of the ill-fated World Football League.The Wheels were founded December 13, 1973 by ten investors, whose number eventually grew to 33, including singer Marvin Gaye, Motown Records vice-president Esther Edwards, and Little Caesars...

 drew 30,122 fans, including Elvis Presley

Elvis Presley

Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....

, a professed football nut. Country superstar Charlie Rich

Charlie Rich

Charles Rich was an American country music singer and musician. A Grammy Award winner, his eclectic-style of music was often hard to classify in a single genre, playing in the rockabilly, jazz, blues, country, and gospel genres.In the latter part of his life, Rich acquired the nickname The Silver...

 sang the national anthem. After Rich took his seat next to Elvis afterward, Presley commented, "That's a tough song to sing, ain't it?" Rich replied, "It ain't no Behind Closed Doors

Behind Closed Doors (Charlie Rich song)

"Behind Closed Doors" is a country song written by Kenny O'Dell and first recorded by Charlie Rich for his 1973 album Behind Closed Doors. The single became Rich's first number-one hit on the country charts, spent 20 weeks on this chart, and also became a crossover hit on the pop charts...

."

Even before the Miami Trio arrived, the 1974 Southmen found two durable running backs in J.J. Jennings and John Harvey, and they finished with the league's best record at 17-3. They lost in the semi-finals to the Orlando-based Florida Blazers, 18-15.

In 1975, Csonka, Kiick, and Warfield finally came to Memphis (now officially dubbed the Grizzlies), but even they couldn't save the league, which folded during the middle of its second season. The 1975 Grizzlies finished 7-4; in their last WFL game, they were shut out by the Birmingham Vulcans

Birmingham Vulcans

The Birmingham Vulcans were a professional American football team located in Birmingham, Alabama. They were members of the five-team Eastern Division of the World Football League . The Vulcans, founded in March 1975, played in the upstart league's second and final season in 1975...

, 21-0.

Memphis and the NFL

After the WFL folded, Bassett applied for membership in the NFL as an expansion team. Over 40,000 deposits for season tickets were collected in this effort, which included a telethon on a Memphis television

Television

Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...

 station, during December 1975. To their dismay, the NFL refused to accept the team. Still, there were fans who wouldn't quit. A lawsuit, Mid-South Grizzlies v. NFL

Mid-South Grizzlies v. NFL

Mid-South Grizzlies v. NFL 550 F.Supp. 558 , 720 F. 2d 772 , was a lawsuit filed by John F. Bassett, the owner of the World Football League's Memphis Grizzlies against the National Football League claiming that the NFL violated the antitrust laws by refusing to admit his club to their league.The...

, tried to force the league to accept the Grizzlies. It was not settled until 1984, by which time Bassett owned the Tampa Bay Bandits

Tampa Bay Bandits

The Tampa Bay Bandits were a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. They were members of the United States Football League . They were a charter member of the USFL and folded along with the league after the 1985 season....

 of the United States Football League

United States Football League

The United States Football League was an American football league which was in active operation from 1983 to 1987. It played a spring/summer schedule in its first three seasons and a traditional autumn/winter schedule was set to commence before league operations ceased.The USFL was conceived in...

.