The the first offseason went by quickly. There was really only 1 big roster changes. Baltimore Bulldogs QB Matthew Swanigan left to rejoin the Atlantic Players League. Some smaller players also switched teams, and joined other leagues. The biggest thing was the aftermath of the formation of the NFA on other leagues, the NFA brought in on average more attendance per game than every league. The Buffalo Tigers of the NEFL was the only team that brought in as much attendance and revenue as the NFA teams, they even brought in more attendance than Baltimore for most of their games.

1947 NFA Standings: 
Boston Gaels: 7-1
Philadelphia Hornets: 6-1-1
Washington Pirates: 6-1-1
Pittsburgh Ironmen: 2-5-1
New York Cannons: 2-6
Baltimore Bulldogs: 1-6-1 

In the second season of the NFA we saw the Gaels continue to dominate. They posted a 7-1 record, one win better than last season. Their only loss came from the Hornets. Philadelphia was the second best team in the league, with a 6-1-1 record. They tied the Pirates in record, but a win against them in week 4 clinched them the Champion Bowl appearance. After Washington came the Ironmen and Cannons. Both posted sad 2 win seasons. In last place were the Bulldogs who followed up a 1 win season with another 1 win season.

C&C appreciated! How'd your team do?

The 2nd Champion Bowl saw a return of the Gaels, looking for redemption against the Philadelphia Hornets, who are appearing in their first ever Champions Bowl. The game started off with a quick 14 points out of the Hornets, who, just like in the regular season, were controlling the Gaels offense with some outstanding defense. By the end of the first quarter the score rang 14-0. 
Boston started off the 2nd quarter on a long drive which ended in their first score. Putting 3 up on the board. They followed it up with an interception 5 minutes later in Philadelphia’s red zone. Starting at their 10, they march the ball down the field, the Hornets defense tried their hardest, forcing 3 3rd downs and never allowing a conversion on a 1st down. The Gaels took the rest of the half before finally punching the ball into the end zone on an 8 yard run by RB John Wiseman. 
Philadelphia started the half with the ball but failed to convert on a 3rd and 7 which led to a long 45 yard field goal attempt. It would end up short giving Boston the ball at the 35. Boston would take advantage of the field advantage and quickly get the lead with a 20 yard touchdown reception. The Hornets now down 17-14, needed a spark. QB Kenny Durham knew this. Using a mix of a potent running game and smart passes he led a perfect drive down to the 3 yard line, where a great o-line let RB Oliver Black practically walk into the end zone. Boston would give a shot at taking the lead back but fumbled it at the end of the 3rd quarter.
Philadelphia would start with the ball again. Every game this season when Philadelphia entered the 4th with the lead, they won. They wouldn’t end up scoring but their defense seemed to be on top of things, forcing two more turnovers by the Gaels offense before the dust settled. Boston would lose their second straight Champion Bowl, 21-17.



C&C appreciated, how did your team do?

Section30 wrote:

Hornets Hornets!

They pulled it out in a great game! 

And while I'm here, I've got the 48 offseason and season! The second offseason was a little more exciting than last year. The biggest news was that probably one of the biggest NEFL teams, the Buffalo Tigers, one of the teams that moved leagues when the original NFA went down, requested to join the new NFA. They were accepted as the 7th team in the league. 


 New York also changed their logo.



Outside of the expansion, the offseason wasn’t filled with many moves, as many players were pretty loyal. However, one of the better RB’s in the league, Henry Harold, of the New York Cannons, left for the Pittsburgh Ironmen.

 1948 NFA Standings: 

Boston Gaels: 6-0-2
Washington Pirates: 6-1-1  
Philadelphia Hornets: 5-3
Buffalo Tigers: 3-4-1
Pittsburgh Ironmen: 3-5
New York Cannons: 3-5
Baltimore Bulldogs: 2-6 

For the 3rd straight season Boston clinched the 1 seed. Posting their first undefeated season. They did finish with 2 ties. One being unsurprising in the Washington Pirates and the other team was an upset of sorts in which the expansion team Buffalo kept them scoreless in Boston. Washington would again come 2nd place with a 6-1-1 record, followed by the defending champs; the Hornets, finishing with a 5-3 record. Buffalo would come 4th, then Pittsburgh, then New York, and finally Baltimore, again in last place. The Bulldogs owner at the end of the season, that this might be the last in the NFA and that the team might return to the CPL to return to some more fair competition.

C&C appreciated, how’d your team do? And if it isn’t obvious, I’ve been really excited about this league, I’ve been doing a lot of write ups, expect the Champions Bowl to be up tomorrow.

Section30 wrote:

Both of the new logos look great, I especially love the Tigers. It fits the time period perfectly.

I had a lot of fun making it, glad you like em!

The 3rd Champion Bowl was a rematch of the 1st. The Washington Pirates vs the Boston Gaels. The game started pretty lame however. Boston and Washington both missed field goals and had to punt on following drive. The first quarter ended 0-0.
The second quarter was much of the same. It took ten minutes before Washington kicked 3 through to take the lead. Boston fumbled on an attempted 4th down that resulted in a scoop and score that sparked the Washington offense. After a quick 3 and out. Washington performed a quick 2 minute drill that ended with them punching through another score and out of nowhere they had a 17-0 lead going into halftime.
Boston must’ve had a fantastic halftime speech because they came out and scored instantaneously, returning the kickoff to the red zone and scoring in 2 plays.They kept Washington to a field goal on their first drive of the half. And a game that seemed dead had now sprung to life. Boston down 20-7 seemed determined to get back into the game. They marched down the field and scored again. QB Elijah Kingston racking up his second passing TD of the game. The third quarter came to a close as Washington returned the kickoff to midfield.
 The fourth quarter started with a 50 yard reception on 3rd down that gave Washington their 3rd trip to the endzone today. Boston followed it up with a score of their own. Down 27-14 Boston tried and fantastically converted an onside kick, giving them a chance to come within a score. Moving quick, RB Wiseman broke through, running 35 yards to the house, putting Boston within 6. After trying another onside but failing, Boston gave the Pirates the ball in a dangerous position. The would flub the chance though, QB Gaines coughing up the ball on a 3rd down which was picked up and scored for a clutch touchdown with barely any time on the clock. Boston held onto the 28-27 lead for the last minute or so of the game, clinching them their first Champion Bowl championship!



C&C appreciated! Congrats to Boston for finally winning the Champions Bowl!

ItDoesntMatter wrote:

Finally! That was way too close for comfort but I'm glad we finally made it over the hump. Would've really sucked to lose the first three all in a row. What a game.

(as an aside, I think you mentioned Boston scoring five TDs but they only ended up with 28 points. it shouldn't affect the result either way, but I figured I should point it out.)

It was a close game! And celebrate the comeback! It was maybe one of the greatest NFA games to date! And now they got some taste of the championship, they seem to want more! They started off the offseason with a big trade with the Cannons. They traded two players; MLB Joshua Henderson and backup QB David Oglethorpe to the Cannons for star CB William Smith. Trading both Henderson and Oglethorpe helped boost their defense which has lacked compared to their incredible offense. The Cannons needed a new QB as their current QB; Fredrick Booker has been underperforming. Booker would also be traded later in the offseason for pennies on the dime, to a struggling Baltimore team.

Outside of player moves, Baltimore also changed their look up. Changing to red on the road as opposed to the black they’ve been wearing.


C&C appreciated! How do you like the Bulldogs update?