Gibron was a Chicago staple having spent twelve years with the Bears as a player, assistant coach, and head coach. A huge man in girth, he had played at approximately 250 pounds at a height of 5’11” during a time when most offensive and defensive linemen were little more than 210. As his playing and then coaching career progressed so did his bodyweight and sportswriters often amused themselves by regularly trying to guess his weight that easily topped the three hundred mark, most carried in his ample middle. Abe was no circus fat man however, but a shrewd, experienced, and highly respected football man, an original from the All American Football Conference and a long tenure under the legendary Paul Brown where for seven years he was a key cog in the Browns’ championship machine. He was named to four Pro Bowls and the 1952 All Pro team and was best known for his quick and agile charge off the ball. After a season and a half with the Eagles, Abe spent 1958 and 1959 playing for the Monsters Of The Midway and endeared himself to Chicago fans. He also endeared himself to the media with his wit and ability to put inhibition aside when discussing the state of the Chicago Bears or anything else. A typical Gibron quote concerned Bears scatter armed quarterback Bobby Douglas, a wonderful physical specimen whose productivity never quite matched the expectations for him. In Abe’s words, “He could throw a football through a brick wall, if only he could hit a brick wall.”  Abe was always considered something of a Chicago hometown boy as he grew up in Michigan City, Indiana, over the state line but like Gary, Indiana, considered by many as a Chicago annex. Abe attended Valparaiso and then Purdue at a time when Purdue was considered to be the pre-ordained destination of the best of the Chicago area players. He was a Redskins assistant coach from 1960 through 1964 under their head coach Bill McPeak and returned to the Bears in the same capacity in 1965, working first under George Halas and then Jim Dooley until 1971. Gibron was then named the Chicago Bears Head Coach from 1972 through ’74. The Winds were so sure that Abe would be an attraction by himself, such was his popularity in and around the Chicago area that they dedicated their inaugural home game against the Portland Thunder on August 16^th as “Welcome Back Abe Night.” The fans also had to welcome a new coaching staff. Gibron brought his former Washington Redskins boss Bill McPeak in with him. McPeak had a reputation as an innovator although his stint with the Redskins from 1961-1965 was not successful. Joe Popp stayed on board as the holdover from Parilli’s staff but the team went into their opener with a three man staff of Gibron, McPeak, and Popp as Stew Barber, Dave Brazil, and Burley Crowe left with Parilli. Equipment man Ferraro opted to finish the season with the Winds, not realizing how short that stay would be.

The Winds seemed to have some decent offensive weapons that were fortified on June 18, 1975 when Pullano personally signed Mark Kellar, Pete Beathard, and John Gilliam. Kellar was an area star and very popular. He attended high school in Chicago and then led the NCAA in rushing at Northern Illinois University. He had true NFL credentials but had thrown in with the WFL in 1974, leading the league in rushing until breaking his foot in the September 11, 1974 game against the Sun. Fire quarterback Virgil Carter was no longer in Chicago but instead residing in San Diego with the Chargers for 1975. As he wouldn’t return to Chicago again until 1976, completing his pro career with the Bears, quarterback was left to Pete Beathard, the former USC star who had kicked around the NFL since 1964. He was a part time starter behind an oft-injured Len Dawson with the Chiefs and then led the Oilers from 1967-1969. With the Cardinals for the 1971 and ‘72 seasons, he had teamed with John Gilliam but was with the Rams in 1973 before finishing his NFL career with the Chiefs, appearing in nine games to close out 1974. He was cut in time to join the Portland Storm for the remainder of their WFL season. Gilliam had come out of South Carolina State in 1967 as the Saints second round draft choice and he was an electrifying kickoff returner and quality receiver. Two years with the Saints, three with the Cardinals, and another three with the Vikings where he believed he was worth more money than he was being paid, led him to the Winds. As a bonus, they wound up signing Gary Danielson late and he contributed nine completions in fifteen attempts as Beathard’s backup. Margene Adkins was expected to complement Gilliam at the other flank. Adkins had gone from Trinity Valley CC in Texas to Ottawa in the CFL and after three outstanding seasons there he was the Cowboys second round choice in 1970. He backed up Bob Hayes and was an effective kick return man before being traded to the Saints and then led the NFL in kickoff returns in 1972. He played with the Jets in 1973 but missed 1974 due to injury. Eagle and Chicago Fire retread Cyril Pinder was to team with Kellar in the backfield but the offensive line was not going to be a strong point. One of the offensive line regulars however was Mike Wilson. He had first gained attention when playing for Dayton, starting at both defensive tackle and fullback, a rather unusual combination, even in the two-way-player days. Wilson however, at 6’3” and 250 pounds was a man playing with boys and John McVay, Dayton’s Head Coach during Wilson’s college career used him where needed. He started his college career as an offensive tackle and when the Bengals drafted him almost as an afterthought in the fourteenth round in 1969 they didn’t realize that he would develop into an offensive lineman who would appear in every game by the time the 1970 season had ended. Injured in 1971 he was shipped to the Bills and languished until finding a starting role with the Detroit Wheels in ’74. After the Winds folded, he was chosen in the so-called “improvement draft” by the Philadelphia Bell but opted to head back to the NFL and finished the 1975 season with the Chiefs. Wilson was the prototype of the WFL player, a guy who was multi-talented and could play a number of positions well enough to earn a living doing it but often not quite at the NFL level. 
 

Defensively, the WFL fans in Chicago knew only disaster from the year before. With former Fire defensemen Chuck Bailey and Ken Sanduk at tackles, Mick Heinrich at end, Chuck Kogut at linebacker, Hal Phillips at the corner, and Ralph “Sticks” Anderson and Harry Howard at the safety positions, the Winds managed to put a defense on the field that was little improved from the worst unit of 1974. Ralph “Sticks” Anderson at least was an excellent athlete who had the pedigree of having played for the Steelers and who had been a teammate of Duane Thomas, “Mercury” Morris, and Rocky Thompson on some of Joe Kerbel’s best teams at West Texas State. Even coming out of camp, this unit was not going to strike fear into the hearts of their opponents. The defensive performance exceeded expectations in the opener, a tough 10-0 loss to the Birmingham Vulcans. Against Shreveport, what would become standard operating procedure kicked in. That 38-18 loss was followed by their only win of the season, an overtime barnburner with Portland that the Winds pulled out 25-18. Two more losses followed with a per game yield of thirty points and Pullano’s other investors wanted out. They managed to withdraw escrow money that had been placed in what was supposed to be a secure account and the Winds, five games and 1-4 into the season, were gone. Their only home game drew less than 3500 fans and after the $175,000.00 deposit was withdrawn from the league office, the WFL, on September 2^nd, revoked the franchise and allowed the players to be dispersed. Gilliam, also chosen by the Bell to help “improve” their team, realized that money wasn’t there to pay his salary and immediately re-signed with the Vikings, no doubt grateful for the early July start to the WFL season as this allowed him to appear in all of Minnesota’s games for the 1975 season. Danielson had to wait until 1976 to hook on with the Lions and begin what turned out to be an eleven-year NFL career.