I like what you did with Pittsburgh. The five stripes and unique number font helps separate a fairly dark color scheme. I wish I could see the rest of the number set. I'll definitely be a fan, this is probably my team.

Washington definitely is interesting. I like the tan pants, which remind me of 1700's era breeches. I think putting George on the logo is pretty wild but I like it for the era. Definitely elevates the classic red-blue scheme. I'll be rooting for them too.

Houston: Very traditional, nice looking logo. The unis thought look pretty plain.

San Fran: The logo does kinda look Baseball-ish but the uniforms look sweet. Reminds me of Wallflowers Buffalo Blue Wings in his league. Just a clean, good looking team.

This is going to be tough figuring out who to root for, but I’ll use a sig once I decide. Not to be rude or anything but You forgot to make a sig for Philly, DoctaC. Otherwise, great work!

Houston has a classic look. I like the logo and everything about it. If I didn’t hate Houston so much in real life I’d probably root for them. Nice work!

Ah, the lovechild between the Indy Colts and Philly Eagles is looking good! Jokes aside, I dig the look a lot. I think the primary look def fits for the era and using the wings on the helmet is a nice touch

Nice job overall. Looking forward to the new season!

Houston Stars: Simple and to the point, I like this one a lot!  The orange will help them immediately stand out in a league with a ton of blue teams, (not to mention a Stars vs. any blue team should make for a nice looking matchup).  Very nice!

San Francisco Condors: On of the one hand, this is basically a blue Philadelphia Eagles team.  On the other hand, that's pretty much all it usually takes for me to root for them, lol!  For the most part though, this team looks very classy that home uniform is excellent.  I do have to take points off the away jersey for the random gray pants that they wear, seeing as they don't wear gray literally anywhere else on either the jersey, not is it on the logo, (which btw, is an instant classic for me).   Other than the away jerseys, this is another fine jersey.

Well, after having to think for a few minutes, (a rarity as I usually have one team that immediately becomes my favorite), I think I will be rooting for the San Francisco Condors, but there really are a bunch of nice looking teams here!   Really nice work Docta C!

Question though, related to the league's structure.  The National Division has a bunch of east coast teams, while the American Division has teams all over.   Now I know it's because of the merger between 2 rival leagues, but when it comes to the league's layout as time goes on, are we going to see these divisions as a NFC/AFC type situation or are we looking more at a East/West breakdown, where the West division just happens to have a few teams that really belong more in the East?

Last edited by Stickman (12/28/2020 8:20 am)

1957 PFA SEASON PREVIEW

Power Rankings

American Division
1. Los Angeles Palms
2. Washington Americans
3. Chicago Cougars
4. Houston Stars
5. Pittsburgh Miners
6. Cincinnati Monarchs
7. San Francisco Condors

National Division
1. Hartford Oaks
2. Philadelphia Blue Coats
3. Fort Wayne Chiefs
4. New York Knights
5. Boston Shamrocks
6. Cleveland Lakers
7. Baltimore Lords

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Individual Team Previews

American Division

Los Angeles Palms: LA is the favorite to win the American division heading into 1957. The Palms aren’t led by one specific player -  and that’s what has made them so successful. On both sides of the ball they’re a complete unit with few weaknesses. Their strength on defense is the secondary, headlined by veteran safety Benny Clarke. On offense Jeffrey Howard is their leader. He doesn’t put up huge stats, but he doesn’t make mistakes either. He led the FLA in TD-INT ratio in 1956 with 10 touchdowns with just 1 interception.

Washington Americans: The Palms’ main competition is the Washington Americans. The Americans have the best offense in the PFA, led by star QB Drew Cain. Cain, a late-round pick out of Dayton in the 1953 draft, is the best passer in the league - he led the FLA in both passing (2,291) and touchdowns (21) last season. His main target is 27-year old receiver Peter Lee, who holds what is believed to be the world-record for touchdown catches in one game with 5. He achieved the feat in Week 3 of the 1955 season against the Cincinnati Monarchs. If it weren’t for their sub-par defense, they’d be favored to win the PFA Championship this year.

Chicago Cougars: The Cougars are polar opposites of the Americans - elite defense with little offense. They’re led by who many believe to be the best defensive player in the PFA, cornerback Ralph Turner. He set the record for interceptions in a season in the FLA with 13 in 1954, and then broke it again with 15 in 1955. On offense they’re quarterbacked by Donnie Hanson. He’s nothing special in the passing game, but does give them another element as he’s a legitimate rushing threat.

Houston Stars: Houston is likely to be middle-of-the-pack this season. They’re led on O by quarterback Vincent Clark. He’s known for his elite accuracy, recording multiple games with zero incompletions during his career in the FLA. He does have limited arm strength, however, keeping him out of the elite category of QBs. Their defense is solid, but nothing special. They’re really good against the run, but struggle against the pass.

Pittsburgh Miners: Pittsburgh is another American division team that struggles on offense, but has a good defense. They're led by their secondary and star cornerback Courtney Rodgers. Rodgers has a unique story - he attended Virginia Military Institute and planned on joining the army after his college career before a breakout senior season caught the attention of pro scouts. He entered his name in the FLA draft and was selected 17th overall in the second round by the Miners.

Cincinnati Monarchs: Cincinnati was a breakout club in 1956, but they’re expected to drop off this season due to a few changes to their roster. Longtime QB Jean Fox retired this summer, creating an opportunity for unproven sophomore Nathan Dixon to take the starting reins. They also lost star linebacker Cedric Singleton after a contract holdout which was a very odd situation. Singleton refused to sign a new deal and his rights eventually had to be given up. He then signed a 6-year contract with Fort Wayne.

San Francisco Condors: The little brothers out in California are projected to finish at the bottom of the American this year. There’s not really much to say about the Condors, they don’t have any notable players and are weak on both sides of the ball. It would honestly be surprising if they were able to win multiple games in their division this season.

National Division

Hartford Oaks: The Oaks are head-manned by former Harvard coach Jack Tate. Tate led the Crimson to 3 national championships in 7 years, and has brought that same success down south to Connecticut. He was the catalyst in Hartford’s rapid rebuild following WWII. This season they’ll be led on the field by running back Roy Lindsey, who is an MVP favorite. They also have a really good quarterback in Marshall Jackson, and a stout defense led by DE Wilson Massey and rookie CB Dexter Newman. With the most talented roster in the PFA led by the best coach, the Oaks are most people’s favorites to win the championship.

Philadelphia Blue Coats: Philly is one of three teams that have a shot at competing for 2nd place in the National this season. They’re led by two big names - one on each side of the ball. On defense there’s DT Russell Peters, who’s known for his ability to single-handedly shut down the run game. He’s a 31-year old veteran that is the leader of a defense that doesn’t have anyone else over the age of 28. On offense they’ve got RB Alfred Jones, one of the shiftiest backs in the league with an unmatched ability to make defenders miss. Their passing game is what holds them back, though, as teams are often able to shut them down if they can eliminate Jones.

Fort Wayne Chiefs: The second small market club in the National Division is the second team competing for that second playoff spot. They’re one of the more well-rounded teams in the league, and they don’t do anything special. At running back with Nathan Sanders is where they get a majority of their offense, but don’t sleep on their passing game. QB Conrad Bowers isn’t in the top tier of PFA passers but he's still solid. The defensive side of the ball is where they make a name for themselves with three really solid units quarterbacked by linebacker Cedric Singleton, who comes from Cincinnati this year.

New York Knights: The Knights are considered to be another team with the potential to make the National division championship this year, but they’re a step down from Philly and Fort Wayne. They run an old fashioned style of offense that most teams have figured out by now, often passing less than 5 times per game. They use up to 4 different running/wing backs per contest, but their best is clearly veteran W.M. Lawson. Standing at 6-2, 208lbs, Lawson is the biggest back in the PFA. New York is competitive because they have probably the best defense in the league, anchored by defensive end Ryan Bates and linebacker Jimmy Campbell.

Boston Shamrocks: The competition in the National takes a significant step down when we get to our projected 5th-place finisher, the Boston Shamrocks. They’re one of those teams that doesn’t do anything really well, but also doesn’t do anything really bad. They don’t have many big names, as their biggest is probably offensive tackle Dana Wolfe, known as the leader of the best offensive line in the PFA. They fail to take advantage of this, however, due to a lack of explosiveness at their skill positions.

Cleveland Lakers: Cleveland was very average during the early-1950s and embraced a rebuild during the 1955 offseason when they traded away most of their well-known players in exchange for draft picks and young prospects. Because of this they’re currently the youngest team in the PFA with an average age of just 26.1 years. Their brightest young star is definitely Calvin Guzman, the 3rd-year defensive tackle out of Wichita State.

Baltimore Lords: Wrapping up the National Division we have the Lords of Baltimore. Like Boston they don’t have many big names. However, unlike Boston, they do many things very poorly. They ranked last in scoring offense (8.7) and yards allowed per game (396.4) in the NFA last season. Don’t expect them to have much success this year.

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Top Players

Offense
Drew Cain | QB | WAS
Alfred Jones | RB | PHI
Roy Lindsey | RB | HAR
Nathan Sanders | RB | FW
Jeffrey Howard | QB | LA
Vincent Clark | QB | HOU
Lee Edwards | WR | WAS
Mitchell Tucker | WR | PHI
W.M. Lawson | RB | NY
Marshall Jackson | QB | HAR

Defense
Ralph Turner | CB | CHI
Russell Peters | DT | PHI
Dexter Newman | CB | HAR
Benny Clarke | S | LA
Paul Bryan | LB | CIN
Courtney Rodgers | CB | PIT
Wilson Massey | DE | HAR
Pete Fisher | DE | WAS
Cedric Singleton | LB | FW
Calvin Guzman | DT | CLE

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Also, here’s something I forgot to mention - after the merger was agreed upon the owners voted unanimously to appoint former New York Knight wingback, coach, and current Ohio State University athletic director Elias Morrison as the first commissioner of the PFA. Morrison was one of the first great NFA players and is currently 56 years old.

Last edited by DoctaC (12/28/2020 11:34 pm)