1974 Re-Sign Stage

Boston Independents
GM Richard Price locked up a chunk of core veterans for Boston. LBs Byron Turner and Mads Strahlman both inked 2-year extensions at $40,000 and $37,500, respectively. S Ernie Osborne also extended on a 1-year $38,000 contract. DL Wayne Baxton elected to stay with his hometown team for another run at a championship, this time reuniting with HC Ben McMillan, who helped Baxton capture his first McCallister Cup with Halifax. Finally, Price also handed out a pair of 3-year deals to younger players in WR Craig Nunnery and OL Bradley Seed. 

The notable names on the way out for Boston are DB Tim McGovern, DB Perry Ferris, and WR Tyreek Flores. McGovern’s injury woes leave him out of Boston as they look to get younger at the position. Ferris was offered the chance to compete for McGovern’s spot after being traded to Boston during last season, but he is hoping to at least test the market before agreeing to anything. WR Tyreek Flores was the odd man out in the WR corps after Nunnery was re-signed, so he hopes for a new opportunity elsewhere as a solid depth WR. 

Buffalo Blue Wings
After their worst season in a decade, GM Casey York began the Blue Wings’ reset with a focus on signing many younger players. LB Basti Gräbner signed the biggest deal at 2Y-$27,500, with safeties Levi Brickshaw ($24,500) and Donny McCreary ($20,000) following close behind. OL Josiah Fairy was also extended at 2Y-$19,500. However, they still handed out some extensions to a couple of veterans. QB Charles Lemieux would set a new overall high salary mark at $52,500 for the first year of a 3-year deal that increases to $54,000 in the next two seasons. Then, LB Randall Lambert signed a 1Y-$35,000 and DB Charles Grimm signed a 2Y-$25,000.

There are some long-time Blue Wings on the way out as the team looks to shake things up a little. DB Ezra Power and TE Paul Arturberry were both released by the team as they look to D

1974 GLFL League Meetings

Falling behind the NAAF and newly renamed GAFL is the Great Lakes Football League. In recent seasons, more and more players are considering or have left the league in search of better opportunities and higher salaries in other leagues. Unfortunately, the bulk of teams in the league are unable to keep up higher costs. Chicago, Detroit, and Cleveland have been the few that have managed to keep relatively competitive salaries. The power imbalance has seen the league tip in favour of the richer teams, with most championships being split between the top 3.

Despite the shift from its core players, the league has been able to remain stable at 8 teams for a while now; however, its Minneapolis team is continuing to struggle with the Minnesota Serpents’ success in the NAAF. While there is still a solid following from the local area around the team’s current home of the Baseball Park, it is not enough to keep the team afloat. Original owner, Harold Smith, who owns the Baseball club, gave up on the team a couple of years ago after the Serpents took off. Current owner, Jerry Beck, picked up the team from Smith and continued to pay him to use the stadium, but after a couple of years, it just isn’t viable.

The league is looking for a new option for the team. There is a potential plan to move the team across the river to St. Paul and market it towards Minneapolis’ twin. However, there is a potential play at Kansas City, with Jacob Cross stepping away from the NAAF’s project. Larry Winfield, owner of the Chicago All-Pros and Commissioner of the GLFL, believes that there is a possibility that the league, if they work together, can find the funds to try and complete the stadium project and get a team down to KC. Other options will also be explored. In the meantime, the Black Bears will temporarily move to St. Paul for the upcoming season to serve as an experiment for the initial St. Paul option. The team will share a stadi

QCS wrote:

Wow that's a big announcement! I know the ACFL is the "bad guy" compared to the NAAF but it's still exciting to see more expansion. The first four cities are intriguing but I'm more curious to see what 4 cities make the cut for teams 17-20.

I am glad you are excited! Yeah, the GAFL/ACFL is certainly an antagonist, but are they really all that bad...? (perschlaps, mayhaps, potentially, random foreshadowing?? who knows)

ZO82 wrote:

I am more concerned about the Travel Expenses the GAFL is going to incur 

Certainly a concern, however, if it means pulling in 4 massive markets, I don't think they will be hurting too much if everything goes well.

​

Slapshot Kirby wrote:

First and foremost, I am glad to see the NAAF back! I am also intrigued by the Soriano Plan in GAFL, although I wonder if this will affect the GLFL at all (Especially as there haven't been very many updates regarding the latter league), and isn't there a Texas Football Championship? Unless that league either folded or has no teams in Dallas or Houston for whatever reason?

Also, NAAF games are still on CBC in Canada and CBS in the United States, right? In the case of the latter, are ACFL/GAFL games on ABC on NBC?

Yes, there is the Texas Football Championship, however, as the NAAF and ACFL/GAFL grow in size, more and more players are choosing to play in those leagues rather than stay in the local Texas league. We saw it a bit last season with some top Texan (and Californian) prospects coming up to the NAAF for the draft. Ultimately, college ball is probably bigger in Texas than pro ball, which is certainly not helped by the pro league's lack of growth in many years. The GAFL will look to try and take the market with a more nationally recognized league, bringing those teams into the spotlight more.

As for the GLFL... stay tuned.

Now on television. I haven't really focused much on the TV side of things. I have had some thoughts of whether I would want to either create

Hi Everyone!
Yes, it has been a moment since I have posted here. I'll provide a brief update.

I'll start by saying, no, the NAAF is not dead. I am still working on the project just a lot slower than I have in the past. Ultimately, life has just been a bit crazy, 2025 in particular has kinda put me through the ringer physically and mentally, so I have not has as much time as I would like to work on the NAAF. 

This, combined with spending some time adjusting my plans for the future of the project (quite exciting stuff), has also slowed progress. However, I hope that some of the time and effort will make the story in the future more interesting. 

I am getting close to having some posts ready, hopefully in the next little bit. So keep your eyes out.

Thanks for continuing to show interest and want the story to advance, which motivates me to work on the NAAF. Thanks for your concern for me. I am doing better, and I hope to be back in action soon, even if it is in a less frequent form. I also hope everyone else is doing well!

Wallflower
 

1974 Staff Changes

BOSTON INDEPENDENTS
The Independents elected to part ways with HC Kenneth Chaney after 5 seasons with the team. Chaney has overall brought Boston back into being a consistent playoff contender with a 37-28-1 record. However, in those five years, they only made the playoffs twice and did not produce a win. While Boston’s performance has improved since their rocky stretch of seasons with several different coaches, the improvement hasn’t been enough for the team to be a true championship contender. Ben McMillan was the last coach to truly have success with the team. Notably, the defence has been the team’s weakness despite Chaney’s expertise in the defensive side of the ball, which was certainly frustrating QB Nathaniel Braddock, who was leading a top 4 offence last season. 

In true Boston fashion, what is old is new again as the team elected to bring back Ben McMillan as Head Coach. McMillan’s time with Boston was quite successful, making the playoffs in all 6 seasons and winning a championship. McMillan stepped into a front office role with the Mariners last season after serving as their Head Coach for 5 seasons. When Boston approached him about hoping back into the driver’s seat, McMillan was interested due to still having the itch to coach. QB Nathaniel Braddock also met with McMillan personally and helped pull his old coach back to Boston. With McMillan in as Head Coach, the next step was to re-evaluate the coordinators. Due to the offence’s performance last season and Braddock’s familiarity with OC Theodore Ortiz, McMillan would not make a change at Offensive Coordinator. At Defensive Coordinator, however, McMillan would replace DC George Mitchell with Rickey Pickett. Pickett previously was the head coach at Louisville State, but had parted ways with the university earlier in 1973. He should provide a new angle for the defence and hopefully bring their play up to a point