Chicago Winds The Chicago Winds was the World Football League ' s ill - fated 1975 successor to the Chicago Fire . The team was named the Winds ( plural , not singular ) because Chicago was nicknamed " The Windy City . " The Winds played at Soldier Field and was assigned to the WFL ' s Western Division for 1975 ( the WFL having shrunk from 12 teams to 11 , and from three divisions to two ) . Pursuit of Joe Namath . Prior to the 1975 season opener , Winds owner Eugene Pullano attempted to sign New York Jets star quarterback Joe Namath to a contract . Namath , who had helped establish the Jets and the old American Football League , was wavering about re - signing with New York after the 1974 season . Reports had him retiring , being traded to another NFL team — or jumping to the WFL , perhaps as a player / coach / co - owner . Namath ' s agent Jimmy Walsh asked the Winds for a $ 500 , 000 signing bonus , a three - year contract worth $ 500 , 000 a year , a $ 2 million annuity ( $ 100 , 000 per year for twenty years ) and even terms for Namath ' s eventual ownership of a WFL franchise in New York . ( The Winds even changed their colours to green and white , the same as the Jets . ) According to Mark Kreigel ' s biography , " Namath " , Chicago apparently accepted these terms — until Walsh also demanded 15 percent of the WFL ' s total TV package . The deal was off , and Namath stayed with the Jets . The team did , however , hire former Charlotte Hornets pilot Babe Parilli as its head coach and general manager . A number of old Fire players returned as well , including running backs Mark Kellar and Cyril Pinder , center Guy Murdock ( the Fire ' s MVP ) , and receivers Steve Wright and Chuck Kogut . With Namath out of the picture , the Winds acquired veteran quarterback Pete Beathard from the Portland Storm , while wide receiver John Gilliam , originally signed with The Hawaiians , also came to Chicago . 1975 season . The Winds did not have much success of the field or at the box office . They lost both pre - season games , to Jacksonville and Charlotte ( Parilli ' s old team ) . Unlike the defunct Chicago Fire , which sold 15 , 000 season tickets in 1974 , the Winds managed only 1 , 600 . In late July , the league took swift action by firing Parilli and replacing him with Abe Gibron , who had been fired from the Chicago Bears after the 1974 season . ( An amusing typo in a " New York Times " story indicated Gibron had become coach of the Chicago Winos . ) A very reluctant Leo Cahill left a ( relatively ) comfortable position as Memphis Southmen GM to the precarious situation with the wobbling Winds . Gibron only had 48 hours or so to learn about his new team . The Winds lost their first two regular - season contests , 10 - 0 in Birmingham and 38 - 18 in Shreveport , before beating the Portland Thunder , 25 - 18 in overtime , in front of just 3 , 501 fans at Soldier Field . After two more road losses ( at Hawaii and Memphis ) , the team was 1 - 4 and swimming in red ink . Two major investors withdrew their $ 175 , 000 deposit in order to keep the team solvent . ( In a " Sports Illustrated " story on the death of the WFL , a Winds official referred to the investors as " Bob and Rich from California . I don ' t know their last names , but one ' s an Arab and the other ' s a Greek . " ) The September 6th game at Soldier Field against the Southern California Sun was cancelled , and the Winds had died down . The end . The WFL voted 10 - 1 to remove Chicago from the schedule , with only the Winds themselves voting to continue . A team folding in mid - season was not unusual for the WFL ( the Jacksonville Sharks and Detroit Wheels had died 14 games into a 20 - game regular season in 1974 ) , so the league was prepared . Since there were 11 teams , one team had a bye each week ; with Chicago out , the bye team simply took the Winds ' place in the schedule . Meanwhile , John Gilliam was selected by the Philadelphia Bell in a dispersal draft , but returned to the NFL Minnesota Vikings instead , much to the WFL ' s chagrin . Even this arrangement didn ' t last too long , as the entire WFL collapsed at the end of October 1975 .