MitchSwanson94 wrote:

joho42x wrote:

MyTeamIsDr.Pepper wrote:

They'll be staying in the Northeast. The NFA hasn't ever mixed up divisions for a relocation (Both of the Tigers relocations and the Ironmen's relocation to Milwaukee.)
The name of the Stadium will likely be whichever y'all prefer, I've had MLK Memorial Stadium saved for this for a while. His assasination was just the year prior too.

It would make more sense to move Atlanta to the South. This would mean that Cincinnati would move to the North, and Pittsburgh to the Northeast, which, BTW, should just be called the East.

 
I agree with joho here, the fact that Atlanta stays in the Northeast is just obscure. There should be some realignment here. Even if the NFA's never done it before, they should do it this time. For realighment it should be Atlanta moves to the South, Cincy to the North and Pittsburgh to the Northeast. 

I think I will defend the point that Atlanta being in the Northeast is maybe a little obscure, but it's interesting and fun. I mean the NFL has bizarre alignments with Dallas in the NFC East, Miami in the AFC East, and Indy in the AFC South. Plus the Winnipeg Jets played a couple of seasons in the Southeast Division with WSH, CAR, TBL, and FLA before the NHL move them to the Central. I've always been a fan of interesting alignments and the other point is division rivalries are also an important part of the alignment, and moving things around a lot and defuse that.

Also, I like the move to Atlanta, I really didn't have an opinion on whether they relocated or not. I like MLK stadium as the name, keep up the good work DP.

Going to have to agree with Wallflower and Sportsfans here. Part of it is that I definitely just want some interesting division. There's also a lot that goes into division alignments than what's on the surface. It doesn't make much sense for the league to change up the divisions for it. Besides, Atlanta will still be rivals with Washington and Philadelphia for the time being, just like Milwaukee was with Philly at first.

Also sorry for the lack of posts, finals week is a bit brutal as many of you can probably understand. I'll get the rest of the offseason up when I can.

MyTeamIsDr.Pepper wrote:

Going to have to agree with Wallflower and Sportsfans here. Part of it is that I definitely just want some interesting division. There's also a lot that goes into division alignments than what's on the surface. It doesn't make much sense for the league to change up the divisions for it. Besides, Atlanta will still be rivals with Washington and Philadelphia for the time being, just like Milwaukee was with Philly at first.

Also sorry for the lack of posts, finals week is a bit brutal as many of you can probably understand. I'll get the rest of the offseason up when I can.

Best of luck for your exams, got some of my own too.

Thehealthiestscratch wrote:

MyTeamIsDr.Pepper wrote:

MitchSwanson94 wrote:

Will the Bulldogs change their name?

As long as Jim Crain is the owner, no. Crain was hard enough to appease with the relocation to Atlanta, there's no way he'll agree to changing the name.

Seems like potential conflict of interest that might be settled legally.

I meant to quote this last night but I forgot. As much as many would be interested in seeing so legal drama, no one is seriously pushing Crain and Ford to change the name. The only real group are some Bulldogs fans hoping to keep the name for a future Baltimore expansion team. But Baltimore most likely won't have a serious bid for expansion in the future and the Bulldogs name wasn't memorable enough too keep, shown by the lack of fans they had and lack of success on the field.

A little bit of an update about Baltimore as well. The Skipjacks (the ULB team) ended up extending their lease at Bay Stadium, kicking the can down the road instead of relocating. The stadium is much better suited for baseball anyway, and their owner is much more willing to work with the city to come up with the best option possible.


Also, here's the rest of the offseason!

NFA Offseason 1969 

17th Annual NFA Draft
1st- QB Frank Taylor - Southern University - Minneapolis Blue Ox (From Bal)
2nd- DT Cameron Harris-Towns - Payne State University -Texas Roughriders
3rd- OL Nicholas Peterson - Florida University - Atlanta Bulldogs (From Min)
4th- OL Peter Lowe - Northern University - Pittsburgh Ironmen (From Det)
5th- LB Hugh Barnes - Houston State University - Cincinnati Sabres 

Other Notable Picks:
6th- WR Hank Ducksworth - Southern University - Seattle Lumberjacks
9th- WR Joe Taylor Jr. - Los Angeles International College - Detroit Bombers (From Pit)
15th- LB Trey Ruby - Pullman University - Washington Pirates (From NY) 

Roster Changes
-The biggest deal of the offseason, and one of the bigger trades to happen in a few years occurred this summer. Early into the offseason, star RB Charley Rodgers made it clear he wanted out of Detroit. The former MVP stated that he thought the Bombers front office wasn't doing good enough to build a championship contender and felt offended when they fired longtime coach Chester Osborne the previous offseason. His contract only has 1 year left on it, so many teams didn't originally make any offers to Detroit. But news broke about a month before the season that the Bombers had found Rodgers a home. The Pirates, after a tough loss in last year's semifinals, had made some minor changes to the offense but this was the big ticket they thought they needed to win another championship. In return for Rodgers, Washington gives up RB Chester Lindsey, LB Matthew Fletcher and 3 picks, a hefty package, for the star player. Washington moved from 3rd on the power rankings to a unanimous 1st as they enter the season with the ability to make the argument that they have the best QB and RB duo in the league.
-After a rough 2 win campaign last season, the Riders hoped they'd be able to resign the core of their team that was once a powerhouse a few years ago, and try to get back to a winning record. However, the first big blow to these hopes was when their starting RB William Green left for Cincinnati on a 3 year deal that gave Cincy a big boost to their offense and took some of the weight off of QB Roy Frazier. But the second, bigger blow was when New York corralled QB Pete Blair and signed him to his own 3 year deal. New York would open up space by trading away QB Micheal Bauer to the Bulldogs for QB Doug Edmonds who was released upon arriving on the roster. Blair, despite struggling in the past couple years, is the best QB New York has had in years and will help the Cannons become a much more dynamic team. The Riders will surely miss Blair as they would struggle to find his replacement as his departure was apparently very surprising to the front office. The Riders would then lose a couple pieces on the o-line before deciding to completely blow the team up and trade the last big piece of their offense. WR Harry McCain who was reaching the twilight of his career would be traded to Houston for pretty much nothing in return. McCain wouldn't play a game for the Explorers however as he'd retire a couple weeks later. 
-New York resigns two of their defensive captains back to good deals. DT Tyree Matthews and DE Greg Waterson each sign for 4 years, ensuring the Cannons will probably have a powerful defense for at least a couple more years. -Philadelphia re-signs reigning Champions Bowl MVP QB Oscar Washington on a big 5 year deal that saw him get paid more than any other QB in the league. 
-Finally, WR Nicholas Van Daalen, a former Blue Ox standout signed with Cleveland on a 2 year deal. Van Daalen was one of the league's better receivers a few years ago and he had a fantastic rookie year, but had a rough season the past 2 years. Hopefully a change of scene will help him out because he could provide a great option for QB Curtis Mueller and the Rangers offense.  

Coaching Changes
-The Roughriders continue to blow everything up and fire Thomas Dawson. In his place they hire Brad McAfee who makes his first coaching appearance in the NFA. 
-Lumberjacks fire Willard Jameson after going 9-31 in the last 3 seasons. In his place they promote Kendrick Patterson, who's worked under the Jack's defensive coordinator for the past few seasons.  

League News
-After the Bulldogs fiasco was sorted, the only other news for this summer was a particularly star studded retiring class. This class includes: QB Donald McCloud, DB Stan Hunter, and WR Dale English. Both McCloud and Hunter were lifelong Gaels who helped lead the team to back to back Champions Bowl wins in 1965 and 1966. That Gaels team was only the second team to win back to back Champions Bowls and the second Gaels team to make 3 straight appearances. McCloud won the 1962 MVP and the 1958 MOR award. Hunter would win back to back MOD awards in 1959 and 1960. WR Dale English played for Washington from 1952 till 1964. He would be one of the best receivers in Pirates history and would play in 3 Champions Bowls for them. English would be traded in 1964 to the brand new Milwaukee Barbarians and would play for them up until last season. English in his short time in Milwaukee would set team records and quickly became the best receiver in team short history, seemingly immune to age. However age would finally get to him as he would spend a lot of last season injured, seeing most of his snaps in the postseason. English retires as one of the best receivers to ever play the game, and one of the few receivers to currently be in the conversation for entrance into the Hall of Fame. In fact all 3 players have been mentioned being nominated for the HOF once they become eligible. 
-Speaking of the HOF, this year's class was introduced. 5 players were inducted this year. Those players were: QB Wayne Pearson, RB Oliver Black, LB Paul Williams, QB Houston Henderson and OL John Sanderson. 

Top Stars
Offense:
1.QB Oscar Washington - Philadelphia
2.QB Ron Murray - Washington
3.RB Elijah Boone -Miami
4.RB Sid Snell - San Francisco
5.WR Paul Hudson - Washington
6.WR Willie King - Philadelphia
7.RB Charley Rodgers - Washington
8.QB Kieth Lincoln - Los Angeles
9.WR Joseph Armstrong - Miami
10.QB William Brown - Milwaukee

Defense:
1.CB Andy Stafford - New York
2.DE Leo Smitts - Cleveland
3.DE Monty Jones - Washington
4.DT Tyree Matthews - New York
5.LB Jack Church - Milwaukee
6.CB Jerry Slaughter - Cincinnati
7. DT Dale Hinton - San Francisco
8.DE Ted Brewer - Miami
9.DE Greg Waterson - New York
10.LB Bob Hayes - Baltimore 

Power Rankings:
1.Washington Pirates
2.Philadelphia Hornets
3.New York Cannons
4.Milwaukee Barbarians
5.San Francisco Whales
6.Los Angeles Tigers
7.Miami Stingrays
8.Houston Explorers
9.Cleveland Rangers
10.Boston Gaels
11.St. Louis Kings
12.Detroit Bombers
13.Cincinnati Sabres
14.Pittsburgh Ironmen
15.Chicago Zephyrs
16.Colorado Cougars
17.Texas Roughriders
18.Minneapolis Blue Ox
19.Seattle Lumberjacks
20.Atlanta Bulldogs 

C&C Appreciated! How did your team do this offseason?

No identity changes? I'm surprised.