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  • About
  • Home
  • History
    • Development of the Organized Sport >
      • Armwrestling Eras >
        • The Beginnings
        • The Golden Age
      • The Beginnings
    • Event Histories >
      • World's Wristwrestling Championship - Part 1: 1954-1961
      • World's Wristwrestling Championship - Part 2: 1962-1969
      • International Federation of Arm Wrestlers
      • World Armwrestling Federation (WAF)
      • Carling O'Keefe World Championships
      • World Professional Armwrestling Association
      • Arm Wrestling International
      • World Police and Fire Games
      • World Super Heavyweight Arm Wrestling Championship
      • Over the Top World Championship
      • Yukon Jack Arm Wrestling Championships
      • North American Armwrestling Championships (Amos)
      • Power Armwrestling
      • Monster Arm Wrestling
      • World National Wristwrestling Association
      • Can-Am Armwrestling Championships
      • Armwrestling Capital of the Midwest
      • World Arm Wrestling Council
    • Early Origins of Armwrestling
    • Armwrestling Matches in the Cradle of Strongmen
    • The Ancient Hawaiian Sport of Uma
    • Armwrestling Firsts
    • Inaugural State Championships
    • Biggest Prize Money Tournaments By Year
    • How Organized Armwrestling Was Introduced to Eastern Europe
    • Top 10 Las Vegas Tournaments of All Time
    • Canada's Toughest Tournaments
    • The Stories behind the Matches >
      • Armwrestling’s First Supermatch
      • John Brzenk vs. "John Doe"
      • Dean vs. Mason
      • The Biggest Supermatch of All Time
      • The John Brzenk Challenge
      • The Champion Armwrestler vs. the Champion Powerlifter
    • This Day in Armwrestling History >
      • This Day in Armwrestling History - April Dates
      • This Day in Armwrestling History - May Dates
      • This Day in Armwrestling History - June Dates
      • This Day in Armwrestling History - July Dates
  • Top Pullers
    • History's Most Successful Armwrestler
    • Champion Armwrestlers of Yore
    • All-Time Top Male Puller from Each State
    • All-Time Top Female Puller from Each State
    • All-Time Top Male Puller from Each Province
    • All-Time Top Female Puller from Each Province
    • Best Pullers by Year
    • Best Pullers by Year of Birth
    • Historical Rankings >
      • Chronology of the Best Armwrestlers on the Planet (Men - Right Hand)
      • Chronology of the Best Armwrestlers on the Planet (Men - Left Hand)
      • Chronology of the Best Armwrestlers on the Planet (Women - Right Hand)
      • Chronology of the Best Armwrestlers on the Planet (Women - Left Hand)
    • Top 10 Pullers of the 1960s
    • Top 25 Pullers of the 1970s (Men)
    • Top 25 Pullers of the 1980s (Men)
    • Top 30 Pullers of the 1990s (Men)
    • Top 30 Pullers of the 2000s (Men)
    • Top 30 Pullers of the 2010s (Men)
    • Top 5 Pullers of the 1970s (Women)
    • Top 15 Pullers of the 1980s (Women)
    • Top 15 Pullers of the 1990s (Women)
    • Top 15 Pullers of the 2000s (Women)
    • Top 15 Pullers of the 2010s (Women)
    • Armwrestling's Best Generation?
    • Pullers Who Perfectly Peaked
    • Record Win Streaks
  • Event Results
    • Results from the Early Days >
      • IFAW Results (1966-1969)
      • USA Results (1969)
      • WWC Results (1955-1969)
    • Golden Age Results >
      • AAA Sit-Down Nationals Results (1978-1979)
      • AAA Stand-Up Nationals Results (1978-1979)
      • AWI Results (1978-1979)
      • Carling O'Keefe Worlds Results (1971-1979)
      • IFAW Results (1970)
      • NAWA Results (1977-1979)
      • WAWF World Results (1971-1979)
      • WPAA Results (1974-1979)
      • WWC Nationals Results (1974-1979)
      • WWC World Results (1970-1979)
      • Various US Nationals (1970-1979)
    • Silver Age Results >
      • AAA Sit-Down Nationals Results (1980-1989)
      • AAA Stand-Up Nationals Results (1980-1989)
      • AWI Results (1980-1989)
      • Carling O'Keefe Worlds Results (1980-1982)
      • Carling O'Keefe IAC Results (1989)
      • IWC Results (1980-1982)
      • NAWA Results (1980-1989)
      • Over the Top Results (1986)
      • Sands International Armwrestling Results (1980-1989)
      • WAWF World Results (1980-1989)
      • WPAA Results (1980-1989)
      • WPWA Results (1980-1981)
      • WWC Results (1980-1989)
      • Yukon Jack Results (1988-1989)
    • Bronze Age Results >
      • AAA Sit-Down Nationals Results (1990-1993)
      • AAA Stand-Up Nationals Results (1990-1999)
      • Arnold Classic Results (1998-1999)
      • AWI Results (1990-1999)
      • EAF European Championships Results (1991-1999)
      • Forsa Tropical Results (1998)
      • Golden Bear Results (1990-1999)
      • Main Event Results (1997-1998)
      • Reno Reunion Results (1999)
      • Super Bras-de-fer Results (1991)
      • USAA National Pro-Am Results (1995-1999)
      • USAF Unified Nationals Results (1998-1999)
      • WAF World Results (1990-1999)
      • WPAA Results (1990-1997)
      • WWC Results (1990-1999)
      • Yukon Jack Results (1990-1997)
    • Copper Age Results >
      • AAA Nationals Results (2000-2009)
      • All-Niagara Armwrestling Championships Results (2002)
      • Arm Wars Super Series Results (2008-2009)
      • Arnold Classic Results (2000-2009)
      • AWI Results (2000-2001)
      • Big Arm Classic Results (2004)
      • California State/West Coast Pro-Am Armwrestling Championship (2003-2006)
      • EAF European Championships Results (2000-2009)
      • GNC Results (2001-2004)
      • Harley Pull Results (2000-2009)
      • IAF Can-Am Championships Results (2000-2009)
      • Mike Gould Classic Results (2000-2009)
      • NAL Results (2006-2007)
      • Northeastern Armwrestling Challenge Results (2005-2009)
      • NYC Big Apple Grapple Results (2000-2009)
      • PAC World Championship Results (2005-2007)
      • PAL Results (2004-2009)
      • Reno Reunion Results (2000-2007)
      • Ruler of the Nation Results (2007-2009)
      • Sturgis Rally Professional Armwrestling Championship
      • Superstar Showdown Results (2004-2005)
      • Tournament of Champions Results (2001)
      • Ultimate Armwrestling (Las Vegas) Results (2004-2006)
      • Ultimate Armwrestling Championship (UAC) Results (2009)
      • USAA National Pro-Am Results (2000-2009)
      • USAF Unified Nationals Results (2000-2009)
      • US Open Results (2003)
      • World Armsport Federation Results (2000-2005)
      • World Armwrestling Federation Results (2000-2009)
      • WWC Results (2000-2005)
      • World Challenge (2009)
      • Zloty Tur/Nemiroff Cup Results (2000-2009)
    • Renaissance Results >
      • A1 Russian Open Results (2012-2015)
      • AAA Nationals Results (2010-2018)
      • Arm Wars Super Series Results (2010-2016)
      • Arnold Classic Results (2010-2019)
      • EAF European Championships Results (2010-2019)
      • IFA Results (2019)
      • Mike Gould Classic Results (2010-2015)
      • Moldova Open Results (2018)
      • NYC Big Apple Grapple Results (2010-2019)
      • PAL Results (2010-2019)
      • UAL Results (2010-2016)
      • USAA National Pro-Am Results (2010-2019)
      • USAF Unified Nationals Results (2010-2019)
      • WAL Results (2014-2019)
      • WAF Results (2010-2019)
      • World Challenge (2010-2012)
      • Zloty Tur/Nemiroff Cup Results (2010-2019)
    • Contemporary Results >
      • Arnold Classic Results (2022-Present)
      • EAF European Championships Results (2020-Present)
      • East vs. West Results (2021-Present)
      • IFA US Nationals Results (2021-Present)
      • IFA Worlds Results (2020-Present)
      • King of the Table Results (2021-Present)
      • Mr. Olympia Power Armwrestling Results (2021)
      • Over the Top Down Under Results (2022)
      • PAL Results (2021-Present)
      • Total Armwrestling League Results (2020-Present)
      • USAA International Pro-Am Results (2020-Present)
      • USAF Nationals Results (2022-Present)
      • WAF International Challenge Results (2021)
      • WAF World Championships Results (2020-Present)
  • YouTube
  • Miscellaneous
    • Armwrestling Amusement Devices
    • Armwrestling Matches in Professional Wrestling
    • 1975 NFLPA Arm Wrestling Championship
    • 1975 Esquire Gala Celebrity Tournament
    • A Legendary Tale
    • The Origin of the Wheelbarrow Contest
    • Legendary Powerlifters Who Could Also Pull
    • 1981: A Good Year!
    • The Bill Soberanes Wristwrestling Statue
  • About
THE ARMWRESTLING ARCHIVES

1975 NFLPA Arm Wrestling Championship



Halftime breaks in major team sports have always created an opportunity for television viewers to switch channels. Ideally, networks would like to maintain their viewing audience throughout these breaks, and they have tried different things to reach this objective. For the 1975 American football season, CBS Sports decided to conduct a National Football League Players Association (NFLPA) Armwrestling Championship and show these matches during Sunday game halftimes.

The idea for the competition came from Lori Saunders, a television actress most famous for her role on the TV     series Petticoat Junction. While watching an NFL game on television, she found the halftime activity to be boring. She felt it would be more interesting to watch the football players up close with their helmets off doing something like armwrestling. Through her connections at CBS (Petticoat Junction originally aired on the network), she was able to bring the idea to network executives, and they loved it.

CBS Sports already had some experience in the sport of armwrestling, having filmed the World Professional Armwrestling Association (WPAA) World Championships in December 1974. Their main contact in the sport was Steve Simons, President of the WPAA, and so they decided to give him a call. When asked if he would be interested in running armwrestling matches between NFL players for short segments during game halftimes, Steve jumped at the opportunity. He said he didn’t even want to be paid. This led to the NFLPA Armwrestling Championship being sanctioned by the WPAA and the association provided the table and referees.

The concept was simple. Each of the 26 NFL teams would select who they wanted to compete in the tournament – often the biggest, strongest guy on the team. There would be four elimination rounds with opponents selected by blind draw. All matches would be done between players in the same conference – either the American Football Conference (AFC) or the National Football Conference (NFC) – with the winners from each conference facing each other in the final. The result would be 28 matches airing during the halftimes of 22 football games.

As an incentive for the football players to take part in the competition, a total prize purse of $44,000 was up for grabs, with the winner taking $10,000.

AFC Line-Up

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Julius Adams of the New England Patriots
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Bobby Bell of the Kansas City Chiefs
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Curley Culp of the Houston Oilers
Picture
Joe DeLamielleure of the Buffalo Bills
Picture
Manny Fernandez of the Miami Dolphins
Picture
Ernie Holmes of the Pittsburgh Steelers
Picture
Gerald Irons of the Oakland Raiders
Picture
Walter Johnson of the Cleveland Browns
Picture
George Kunz of the Indianapolis Colts
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Mark Lomas of the New York Jets
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Pat Matson of the Cincinnati Bengals
Picture
Claudie Minor of the Denver Broncos
Picture
Doug Wilkerson of the San Diego Chargers

NFC Line-Up

Picture
Tom Banks of the St. Louis Cardinals
Picture
Bill Brundige of the Washington Redskins
Picture
Cullen Bryant of the Los Angeles Rams
Picture
Bill Dunstan of the Philadelphia Eagles
Picture
Bill Gregory of the Dallas Cowboys
Picture
Cedrick Hardman of the San Francisco 49ers
Picture
Bob Kowalkowski of the Detroit Lions
Picture
Derland Moore of the New Orleans Saints
Picture
Jim Osborne of the Chicago Bears
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Dave Pureifory of the Green Bay Packers
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Mike Tilleman of the Atlanta Falcons
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Doug Van Horn of the New York Giants
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Ed White of the Minnesota Vikings
All of the matches were hosted by former Los Angeles Ram player-turned-actor Roosevelt “Rosey” Grier. The first segment aired on September 14th, 1975.

The competitors fought hard throughout the tournament until only one remained in each conference: Julius Adams of the New England Patriots in the AFC and Ed White of the Minnesota Vikings in the NFC (who edged out Derland Moore in the conference final – Derland would go on to win the NFL players armwrestling title in Las Vegas in both 1983 and 1984 at the AWI NFL Super Classic).


The final segment featuring the championship match aired on January 4th, 1976, during the halftime of the NFC Conference Championship. In the end, Ed White was crowned champion of the tournament and was awarded the $10,000.

At one point, there was even a plan to have the NFL champion face off against reigning WPAA heavyweight champion John Woolsey during halftime at the Super Bowl, with the winner receiving a sum of money. John had actually had a chance to grip up with Ed White on a practice table, and both knew that John would almost certainly win in an actual match. Though the exact reason why this match never materialized is unknown, it could be because Ed wasn't interested in heading into a match in front of millions that he knew he was going to lose...


Following his participation in the tournament, Ed became very interested in armwrestling. He even put on a few events: first in Minnesota when he played with the Vikings, and then in the San Diego area when he played for the Chargers. He also officiated a number of AWI events in the early ‘80s.

The NFLPA Armwrestling Championship received lukewarm ratings, and CBS decided to pass on running another tournament. Though not deemed a great success, armwrestling did manage to receive weekly national television coverage over a four month span. Combined with ABC’s annual airing of the Petaluma World Wristwrestling Championships, the NFLPA Armwrestling Championship helped get armwrestling into the public eye. This was certainly a step forward in growing the sport.



Researched and Written by Eric Roussin

Special thanks to Steve Simons and John Woolsey for providing background information on this tournament.
Copyright Eric Roussin and The Armwrestling Archives. Original content found on The Armwrestling Archives may not be reproduced without written consent.