Portland
WFL
Storm
- 1974
The Storm staff was decent relative to the other WFL staffs but their woeful
offense did not allow them to rise above mediocrity. With a season record of
7-12, they were never in contention. The attack was built around former
Wisconsin All America running back Rufus “The Roadrunner” Ferguson, all 5’6”
and 193 pounds of him. He had gained over 1000 yards in both his junior and
senior seasons and then played a year in the Canadian Football League. Also an
Academic All America, he was working as an Administrative Assistant to Wisconsin
Governor Pat Lucey, a result that had as much to do with his 3.0 GPA as an
economics major as it did his popularity in Wisconsin following his great
collegiate career. The Roadrunner finished fifth in league rushing for the 1974
season. Coury went into the season with high hopes for his quarterbacks. Greg
Barton of Tulsa was his “main man.” A former ninth round draft pick of the
Detroit Lions, he managed but one game appearance and missed on his only thrown
NFL pass, yet was traded to the Eagles for two number-one picks and a second
round choice. He bolted to Toronto in the CFL instead and was seen as having a
few good seasons left in his arm. With the Storm Barton was completing less than
fifty percent of his passes when the team picked up NFL retread Pete Beathard
who had called it quits after the 1973 season and it was Beathard who led the
Storm in passing by the end of the season. They also brought in the notorious
Leon Burns who had starred at Long Beach State after a checkered past that had
him incarcerated prior to resuming his football career in college. He was 6’2”
and 230 pounds and could reportedly bench press five hundred pounds and run a
9.5 hundred. As one scout quipped, “he might bench press five hundred pounds and
he might run a 9.5 hundred but I don’t think he can do both in the same day.”
His penchant for violence, menacing manner, and “street rep” made Burns a surly
thirty-one year old rookie as San Diego’s first round pick of 1971. He lasted
only long enough to rush for 223 yards before being traded to the Cardinals in
1972. It went the same way there, with Burns, now playing with men his own size
and age, gaining a paltry 69 yards for the entire season. He was done in the
NFL. He tried to continue with the Storm, but still averaged less than four
yards per carry while he was there. Tragically, Burns was found murdered behind
a dumpster a number of years later, the victim of a drug deal gone bad. Jim
Thorpe had the name of greatness and a lot of ability. As a Long Island high
school star, Thorpe never realized the potential he displayed at Manhasset High
School, Jim Brown’s alma mater. Thorpe began his journey at the University Of
Iowa as a running back and wide receiver. When things did not work out there, he
enlisted in the U.S. Army and at one time stated that he had played football in
Alaska or the Yukon Territory and earned “U.S. Army All North Of The Range”
accolades. However, his official biographical notes with the Storm noted that he
had served in Viet Nam as a paramedic. One indisputable fact is that he wound up
on Long Island playing for what was then a “small college” program at Hofstra
University. As a running back, he played behind eventual Denver Bronco flanker
Wandy Williams but often started as a receiver. In the CFL he came into his own
being named All CFL, first with Toronto (1969-1970) and again with Winnepeg
(1971-1972), leading the CFL in receptions his last two seasons. As a late round
draft choice of the Rams he never played in the NFL. Coury tried to blend young
and older, more experienced talent into a cohesive squad. Some old timers like
Sam Silas (Cardinals, Giants, 49ers and All Pro in 1965), Glen Condren (Giants
and Falcons), and Remi Prudhomme (Bills, Chiefs, and Saints) could not balance
the youth and inexperience that filled the rest of the squad. Interestingly,
Silas was the first defensive linemen recognized in pro football to have earned
his PhD while still an active player! Part way through the season former Raider
defensive end Big Ben Davidson and seven-year (Broncos) NFL veteran Jerry Inman
were picked up to bolster the defensive line and Inman started the last twelve
games of the year. HELMET HUT has featured Inman’s 1975 Portland Thunder
game-worn helmet on the WFL section of the web site for some time.
Unfortunately, neither Inman nor Davidson made a significant difference.
Defensive end Bruce Bergey’s younger brother Bill had the bigger name as a
former Bengal and in ’74 was the Eagle middle linebacker, but Bruce had a UCLA
pedigree and had put in time in Viet Nam (where he won a Bronze Star For Heroism
as a corporal in the U.S. Army), with the Chiefs, and then with Toronto in the
CFL before signing with the Storm. Other than punter Ken Clark who led the WFL
in punting average, the Storm had no statistical leaders and few name players.
Despite this, community support was seen as having the potential to develop and
the team would return in 1975, this time as the Thunder, for one more run in the
WFL. The Storm uniforms were
immediately recognizable, with green jerseys, dark blue numbers outlined in
white, and blue and white sleeve stripes. The contrast with their blue pants was
interesting and effective and was supposed to depict and reflect the deep green
and blue colors of the Pacific Northwest. The Storm helmet, a white shell with a
wider dark, navy blue stripe flanked by thinner green stripes, was augmented by
the unique “swirling storm” logo on each side. The color combination and logo
were popular enough that when the Portland Thunder took the field in 1975, the
uniform was basically the same.
If interested in any of these or more WFL helmets please click on the photos below.
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
