Alternate History Sports » History of the National Football Association - 1974-75 Season

Rugrat · 9/11/2020 9:44 am

Hey this thread turns 1 year old today! Just realized that

MyTeamIsDr.Pepper · 9/11/2020 6:38 pm

Yep it does. I was hoping I'd be back to posting today, but unfortunately school is just really taking up most of my time right now. Don't worry though I have been working when I can in my spare time.
Congratulations to me I guess on the one year anniversary! Thank you to everyone who's helped along the way!

MyTeamIsDr.Pepper · 9/28/2020 9:09 pm

Well it was over a month but I think I might be back to posting a bit. Thank you everyone for being patient with me. Posts will be coming in slower, just because school is now in full swing and has taken up a lot of my schedule next to work, but I'm still making headway on the project. The break was well needed too, I haven't been this excited and inspired to get work done on this in a while, so hopefully y'all will enjoy what I post as much as I enjoyed making it. Finally, I do have a dissapointing-ish update. As I'm about to post the long awaited SFL offseason, I decided, in order to put less stress on myself and to lessen my workload, I've quickened up the SFL story. Originally what you'll read about in this offseason was planned to happen a bit slower, but I've had to trim out some stuff and kinda rush it, so I apologize if things seem a bit stretched and quickly throw together. That being said, here is the offseason!

1966 SFL Offseason

Jack Sims vs the SFL 2 - The Downfall of the League
Coming into the offseason there were alot of questions on the table regarding the Jack Sims conflict from earlier in the season. Before there would be any answer to those however, more questions would be raised. About a week into the offseason, in January, both Atlanta Copperheads owner, William Brawney, and Texas Roughriders owner Thomas Moore put their teams up for sale in a puzzling move. It didn’t take long for rumors to spread. Many knew something bad was on the horizon for the SFL if two of the best teams’ owners and richest men in the league were evacuating. After a couple weeks of silence, Moore announced in a erie interview, one in which press was limited and commissioner Kennedy sat by his side rarely speaking, that he had “changed his mind about selling the team” and was extremely sorry “for all the trouble and commotion.” He urged Brawney to follow suit and without a beat he did. Brawney announced just 3 days later in his own equally as off putting interview, that he had also changed his mind about the selling of the team.
With many desperate for more information on these weird occurrences, it was quite the relief when an anonymous source came out with claims about the source of all this drama. Firstly, it was accused that James Kennedy, the SFL commissioner, several league executives, and 3 of the team owners, Thomas Moore, William Brawney, and Charles O’Neal all had direct ties to radical, extremist, racist groups. (The rest of the owners were thought to also have connections but the proof was rock solid). But for those 3, it would later be roughly proved through some recorded conversations and explicit details that they were guilty of said accusations. It was also mentioned that originally Kennedy and associates, throughout the process of founding the SFL had attempted to ban black players from playing in the league, only to be pressured into allowing them after watching the current social circumstances. Although behind the scenes it was clear black players were being blackballed from getting paid equal contracts along with other discriminatory actions. That last detail was the particular detail that caused the rift between Sims and Kennedy earlier in the season, as Sims had paid OLB Jon Jameson, a black player, $70,000 a season, making him the highest paid black player in the league. Kennedy allegedly fined Sims behind the scenes for the action. Quickly the rift opened, as Sims told other owners about the action to mixed results. Some heated conversations later and the other owners had split amongst who they supported. Moore, Brawney, and O’Neal had taken Kennedy’s side and supported his executive decisions to try and force owners to pay black players less. The rest would oppose Kennedy and demand a change alongside Sims, deeming the ruling and decisions immoral and punishable. Sims would eventually give up and back out of the league as seen but the rest of the owners stayed visibly upset with Kennedy. Arrive in modern day and with the information spilling out about Kennedy and his cronies’ racism, fueled by the money of outside sources, and abuse of power to the public and most importantly the players, there would public outcry among the players especially, demanding the rule controlling the contracts of black players be lifted. With notable faces such as QB Pete Blair and RB Elijah Boone supporting the demands. This movement would be seen as controversial but alongside the current movement going on outside of the league, it would ultimately garner some support by the public too.
Come the end of May and an owners meeting was arranged that saw the two sides come together for the last time to decide the fate of the scandal. In a near unanimous vote, Kennedy was to be removed from his position as commissioner with the vote tally officially swinging to 5-1 among the owners, Thomas Moore being the only one who voted against the ruling. Those in collusion with Kennedy were to be fined and punished. Also, those with specific relations to such heinous groups were to be fired and permanently banned from the SFL. That included Moore, O’Neal, and Brawney, who would be pressured to once again put their teams up for sale. As for the replacement commissioner, with Kennedy out and the SFL’s reputation left with a huge stain because of it, a man with a clean background was needed. After weighing their options in the following weeks a man by the name of Tom Sweeney was nominated for the spot. After another vote among the owners, Sweeney was approved and appointed as the new commissioner of the SFL.
However the good news wouldn't last long. Though all the drama and scandals were worked out to an extent, some problems still remained. The Anvils had announced bankruptcy after 2 years of ineptitude on the field and Brawney was now threatening to outright fold the Copperheads since no one seemed interested in buying the team. In the weeks leading up to the preseason the question whether the league would be able to field enough teams to keep the league together was in question. Though, in June it would, some answers would finally come. Unfortunately it was announced that the Anvils would fold, they've been struggling to afford to pay Birmingham University to play at their stadium since day 1, and after the drama last year, the writing was on the wall. A couple days later a couple more announcements came out. Brawney and Moore had both successfully made deals to sell their teams. Pressured by other owners to get the deals done, both found suitable owners. The Riders would get to stay at home as businessman Herbert Baker would buy the team for a whopping 3 million dollars. The Copperheads wouldn't be as lucky and would be sold to Inherited millionaire; Lawrence Daniels, who would move the team to Denver, in his home state of Colorado. But the biggest and most impactful news would be Charles O’Neal deciding to fold his team, the New Orleans Revelers, instead of selling it. He had payed all the shareholders off and did it to spite the rest of the owners for the events that occurred over the past year. An emergency meeting would be arranged quickly addressing the new news that the league was down to just 4 teams. The main question being whether the SFL would have a 1966 season. The meeting would turn into 2 and then 3 as they debated over the course of a week to come up with a decision.
After all the talk and debating, they would agree on the solution. To the dismay of fans and players, the SFL had decided against going forward with the 1966 season. They would evaluate their decisions over the foreseeable future and even be in contact with the NFA about a potential merger in time, not for the 1966 season, but for the 1967 season.

TLDR; SFL is exposed as a big bunch of racists, 2 teams fold, league cancels the 1966 season and looks toward a potential merger with the NFA.
If you have any questions I'd be happy to answer and with all that said, I'm glad to be back! C&C Appreciated as always.

Darknes · 9/28/2020 9:17 pm

Yep that sounds about right for the league..shame and all..

Wallflower · 9/28/2020 9:37 pm

Welcome back!
Even if it was more rushed than you originally planned, still did a great job telling the story of the league and it still works very well for the overall story!

I was very intrigued by it all.

Last edited by Wallflower (9/28/2020 9:38 pm)

Rugrat · 9/29/2020 9:21 am

Very interesting. Glad to see this back though. With Denver getting a team, that means Phoenix could get a team soon hopefully! For now I like Cleveland and with New Orleans folding I may have to root for Houston. Wonder what happened to the Explorers of Houston anyway this offseason as they were the only SFA team (other than Miami) not to make headlines this offseason

QCS · 9/29/2020 4:22 pm

Sad to see the Anvils fold instead of heading to Charlotte, but it's still a bit early for the city anyway. Hoping that the SFL gets its act together and can get a merger with the NFA.

Anyway, glad to see you back in action! Hopefully you'll be able to provide updates, but it's 100% understandable when someone needs to take a break.

MyTeamIsDr.Pepper · 9/30/2020 1:34 pm

Darknes wrote:
Yep that sounds about right for the league..shame and all..

Yeah, it wasn't really pretty for anyone involved.

Wallflower wrote:
Welcome back!
Even if it was more rushed than you originally planned, still did a great job telling the story of the league and it still works very well for the overall story!

I was very intrigued by it all.

Thanks for the kind words! It took me a couple tries to get this write up where I really liked it, so I'm glad y'all enjoyed it.

QCS wrote:
Sad to see the Anvils fold instead of heading to Charlotte, but it's still a bit early for the city anyway. Hoping that the SFL gets its act together and can get a merger with the NFA.

Anyway, glad to see you back in action! Hopefully you'll be able to provide updates, but it's 100% understandable when someone needs to take a break.

Originally the Anvils were supposed to play at least a season in Charlotte. They were going to relocate over this summer actually. But obviously things didn't quite go that way. Although the team was on the brink of folding for most of it's existence, so I can't imagine it survives long in NC to begin with, especially looking at how bad that roster was. I even had a Charlotte Pilots idea in the works.

Thanks for all the kind words everyone. The NFA season will be up next. Be prepared for some surprises!

Rugrat · 9/30/2020 1:43 pm

Can’t wait for the season. Hopefully Cleveland can do something

MyTeamIsDr.Pepper · 10/02/2020 1:20 pm

Rugrat wrote:
Can’t wait for the season. Hopefully Cleveland can do something

Well that's a good guess, I've had these results simulated since before the hiatus too, so you must be some sort of psychic, haha.

1966-67 NFA Regular Season

NFA East
1. Philadelphia Hornets: Coming back out on top of the East are the young Hornets. They started out the season rough, going 3-2 but picked up the pace and heated up going 7-0 to finish the season. Washington came back and lived up to the impressions from last season and just got beat out for MVP. On the other side of the ball, offseason acquisition OLB; Eli Webber, helped anchor an impressive defense studded with younger pieces such as DE Dave Looney, S Clark Danielson and DT Tom Larkin. Despite not being the 1 seed going into the postseason, they’re the favorites to win the Champions Bowl.

2.Cleveland Rangers: Appearing out of nowhere and surprising everyone this season were the Rangers. After 5 straight losing seasons something clicks and the team comes out and wins 9, the most they’ve won since 1958. This season was surprising in more ways than one for them too. They had no real leader, on offense they had a three headed attack of QB Kurtis Mueller, RB Joshua Barlow, and WR Richard Christian but none was really spectacular in any way, and on defense some solid pieces like rookie DE Leo Smitts and talented LB George Pope kept them in competition. The real big contributor this year seemed to be chemistry and a great coaching job by Sean MacDonald, who’s really helped shift the team in his 3 years in Cleveland. Smitts would win MOR honors and MacDonald would come close to getting the MOC award.

3.Boston Gaels: The reigning 2 time champs just barely squeeze into the postseason this year after a scary injury nearly derailed their season. Coming into week 11 the Gaels were on par with the Hornets and Rangers, fighting for a top seed in a highly competitive East. However their week 11 matchup in the Whales would prove to be a tougher challenge then expected after star RB Stevie Parks went down with a scary ankle injury. The team would feel the effects as they would get shut out in the last 3 quarters and lose in embarrassing fashion; 24-3. The next week wouldn’t be a whole lot better as they would lose by a touchdown to New York. This meant the two teams were tied at the end of the season, splitting the season series and finishing with the same record. It would be close but after a long look into the two teams’ seasons, Boston’s greater point differential would clinch them the appearance and make Cannons fans everywhere mad as could be as their rival got in over them.

4.New York Cannons: The Cannons have a bit of a comeback year but just miss out on the postseason as posted before. Their season was good and had some pretty good highs, but a couple rough losses ended up being the nail in the coffin for them. QB Micheal Bauer had his best season since his rookie year and backup rookie QB Gary Jones was just as talented. RB Thomas O’Grady had another decent season and the wide receiver crew looked good. The defense was as talented as ever and finished on top of defensive ratings. Finally, because of that, DT Tyree Matthews became the second Cannon in the past 3 years to win a MOD award.

5.Baltimore Bulldogs: It was a rough season for Baltimore, things unexpectedly fell apart and tensions rose off the field. QB Grayson Little also suffered some reocurring knee problems that kept him at less than 100% for a lot of the season. Reigning MOD LB Bob Hayes was also injured for the first couple games and came back looking not like himself. Overall it was a really disappointing season that left many fans wondering what happened.

6.Milwaukee Barbarians: Coming in right behind the Bulldogs is Milwaukee. Much like last couple seasons, the Barbarians didn’t do much. QB William Brown hasn’t quite lived up to expectations and has disappointed. They had the worst defense in the league to add onto it, with no one really being of notice. Coach John Manfield was fired not long after the season ended to top it off.

7.Washington Pirates: The second team to fall off without expectation were the Pirates. Coming into the season they were a potential postseason contender, but much like many others this season, injuries crippled most of their starting line. QB Doug Emmonds wasn’t immune to this, which gave young QB Ron Murray some time to show off. Despite only winning 2 of his 6 starts, Murray showed some real potential in his game. Especially his accuracy and deep ball, which could both be the foundations for a star QB down the line. RB Chester Lindsey did well in his third season, fully taking the reins for the first time in his career. On defense the team was up and down. DE Monty Jones managed to pay 11 games and was as talented as ever, but those around him failed to play at the same level.

NFA West

1.Detroit Bombers: The second surprise of the year were the Bombers. Detroit had an amazing year led by RB Charley Rodgers and rookie QB Stephen Hall. Rodgers won MVP and Hall came second in MOR voting. Rodgers put up record numbers for a RB, having one of the best seasons for a RB in NFA history. Everyone around him on offense also had some of their best numbers, in particular WR Wallace Rain who seemed like one of the best receivers in the league after a rough season last year. The defense topped it off with a good season as well, with veterans DE Curly Smith and LB Guy Salmons leading the way.

2.Los Angeles Tigers: In second were the everlasting Tigers. What was about the same story as has been the last 4 seasons, LA, led by QB Kieth Lincoln, WR Val Goodman and RB Sam Peck, put up another top 3 offense in the league and look to make another deep run in the postseason. 7 wins is pretty low for what many were expecting but like seasons past, the defense was lacking at times, resulting in some embarrassing losses to San Francisco, Cleveland and Baltimore.

3.Minneapolis Blue Ox: After clinching the top seed in the west for 3 years straight, the Ox fall off their pedestal and barely slip into the postseason. Addams’ age really showed as he had his worst season in his career. RB Kent Ross was bitten by the injury bug and missed time, resulting in a rookie backup to come in who didn’t do well. The defense disappointed and overall the season wasa crushing for Ox fans. Many are wondering whether it’s Addams’ last year and if his failure to win anything in Minneapolis has tainted his reputation.

4.San Francisco Whales: Just missing out on the postseason are the Whales. San Francisco made some big strides this year and put up 5 wins, which is tied for the most in franchise history. RB Sid Snell was the star of the team, having his best season in his career. The rest of the offense did mediocrely but was enough for the 5 wins. On defense a particular DT named Dale Hinton went off, and was in the race for MOD award for part of the season, in part thanks to a big performance in a win over the Tigers.

5.Chicago Zephyrs: After making the postseason last year many were afraid the Z-men would find a way to continue to be competitive, however that wasn’t the case. Hogg had a good year but outside of the legendary QB, the rest of the team did poorly. This resulted in the worst record in franchise history.

6.Seattle Lumberjacks: Back at the bottom of the standings, also having a franchise worst year are the Jacks. They were the last team to be invested by the injury bug and saw their prized DT Glen Sawyer go down for most of the year. Outside of that the team was just untalented and old. After bad management left them with competing QB’s and a deteriorating offensive platoon around them, Seattle had only themself to blame. Hopefully the first pick in the draft does them well.

1966-67 NFA Standings:
NFA East:
2. Philadelphia Hornets: 10-2-0
3. Cleveland Rangers: 9-2-1
4. Boston Gaels: 8-4-0
New York Cannons: 8-4-0
Baltimore Bulldogs: 4-7-1
Milwaukee Barbarians: 4-7-1
Washington Pirates: 4-8-0

NFA West:
1.Detroit Bombers: 11-1-0
5. Los Angeles Tigers: 7-4-1
6. Minneapolis Blue Ox: 6-6-0
San Francisco Whales: 5-7-0
Chicago Zephyrs: 3-9-0
Seattle Lumberjacks: 1-11-0

The Most Valuable Player Award went to RB Charley Rodgers of the Detroit Bombers.
The Most Outstanding Rookie Award went to DE Leo Smitts of the Cleveland Rangers.
The Most Outstanding Defender Award went to DT Tyree Matthews of the New York Cannons.
The Most Outstanding Coach Award went to Chester Osborne of the Detroit Bombers.

Here's how the bracket looks!

C&C Appreciated, how'd your team do?

Index
» Football
» History of the National Football Association - 1974-75 Season

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9/30/2020 1:34 pm #628

Re: History of the National Football Association - 1974-75 Season

Darknes wrote:

Wallflower wrote:

QCS wrote:

9/30/2020 1:43 pm #629

Re: History of the National Football Association - 1974-75 Season

10/02/2020 1:20 pm #630

Re: History of the National Football Association - 1974-75 Season

Rugrat wrote:

Index
» Football
» History of the National Football Association - 1974-75 Season

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