Tom Wills, who is retiring Friday after 49 years in Jacksonville, saw the city go from football dreamer to a pro football town during his time here.
WJXT anchor Tom Wills and former sports director Sam Kouvaris deliver the news to area fans on Nov. 30, 1993 that the city had just been awarded an NFL franchise.delivered those four words to local viewers on Nov. 30, 1993, right before the Jacksonville Jaguars were made official in a Chicago Hyatt hotel that afternoon.
The station owned the story, Wills said, and Irsay arrived in Jacksonville, on Aug. 15, 1979 — with a little help from Channel 4. Part of the crowd of more than 40,000 people who turned out in Jacksonville, Fla., Aug. 16, 1979 whoop it up to encourage Baltimore Colts' owner Rober Irsay to move his NFL team to Jacksonville. Of course, the Colts didn’t come to Jacksonville. The buzz waned. And then years later, in the late hours of the night on March 28-29, 1984,Despite the disappointment, Colt Fever had certainly done something in Jacksonville.
Jerry Richardson shows off his new team's helmet as the Carolina Panthers became the newest NFL franchise after commissioner Paul Tagliabue made the announcement during the league's expansion meeting in Rosemont, Ill., Oct. 26, 1993. Mark Richardson, Jerry's son, is at left. Jacksonville as a city was jolted. Wills said that he, like most in the city at the time, was not confident that Jacksonville would be the second franchise selected from the five finalists.
Just over a month later, Wills and Kouvaris went back to the owners meeting in Chicago, at the same Hyatt hotel they were at in October. The buzz was undeniable. Kouvaris was in the room with the Jaguars expansion committee when Ron Weaver barreled in and delivered what he’d just heard — that Jacksonville was being awarded the 30th franchise.
The apparel and garb for Baltimore, Memphis and St. Louis remained in the room. All of the Jaguars memorabilia had been removed to be handed out after the announcement. Kouvaris stayed in Chicago to handle the reaction from up there. Wills headed back to Jacksonville to cover the unbelievable welcome home celebration here.
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