December 19, 1990—New York Daily News
“AAFL Offseason Recap”
 
As a wine matures it becomes smoother, more mellow and yet stronger.  The same seems to be happening with the All-American Football League and its relationship with the NFL.  While the AAFL added two more teams this year, shuffling roster spots leaguewide, the lack of poaching between the league and the NFL was noticeable.  Sure, there were a few older players, and a few underused players who defected from the NFL to the AAFL, but very few players of note jumped ship in either direction.  It would appear that both leagues are content to fight over rookie signings, as the AAFL got their fair share of top prospects through their territorial and rookie drafts.   Let’s take a look at some of the bigger moves this offseason.
 
--EXPANSION DRAFT
The expansion Philadelphia Freedom and Houston Apollos were allowed to begin their rosters by taking unprotected players from each of the other 12 AAFL rosters.  Each team snagged some noteworthy players through this process. 
 
PHILA:  
QB Neil O’Donell (WSH), RB D.J. Dozier (NY), WR Michael Haynes (COL), TE Wesley Walls (COL), G Nate Newton (ORL), DT John Randle (DAL), LB Van Waiters (DET) and DB Bo Orlando (WSH)
 
HOU:    
QB David Archer (STL), RB Mike Pringle (GBY), WR Hart Lee Dykes (DET), WR Tony Martin (NY), TE Jay Novacek (SEA), T Bruce Wilkerson (SEA), LB Bill Romanowski (OAK), DB Carnell Lake (LA) and LB Gary Plummer (CHI)
 
--NFL TRANSFERS
Fewer names than in past years and mostly players who are either nearing the end of their NFL careers or who were unhappy with their opportunities in the senior league. Colorado was the most active, as they were hit with a spate of retirements.  They had to decide if they were ready to have young Major Harris as their starter when Todd Blackledge decided to hang the cleats up.   After an urgent pursuit of NFL star Boomer Esiason, the Rangers were unable to sign the leftie, and ended up opting for a stopgap in NFL veteran Mike Pagel of the Browns.  At RB, the team lost both veterans in Larry Kinnebrew and Kevin Harmon.  They signed Philadelphia bruiser Heath Sherman, and would also seek a young back in the draft.  Among other NFL signings were:
 
CHI: WR Tom Waddle (Bears) to replace the retired Stanley Morgan
STL: RB Heath Sherman (Eagles) to replace the retired Kelvin Bryant
WSH: WR Mervyn Fernandez (Raiders) to replace the retired Phil McConkey
LA: RB Kevin Mack (Browns) to replace the retired Sammy Winder
GBY: WR Brian Brennan (Browns) to replace the retired JoJo Townsell
 
TERRITORIAL DRAFT
With 2 more teams added to the league, the AAFL had to realign some of its territorial draft picks.  The big losers in this were NY, who lost both Penn State and Pitt to the new Philly team, replacing them with the U. of South Carolina and LSU.  Philly also got claim to Ohio State, a choice protested by variouis teams but eventually accepted.  Houston snagged Texas A&M away from Dallas, adding the U. of Houston, Rice and TCU, While Dallas replaced A&M with Texas Tech.  Some big names came off the board and signed with the AAFL out of this round of rookie draft picks:
 
ATL: Auburn RB James Joseph,  Georgia LB Mo Lewis and K John Kasay (Traded to STL)
CHI: Wisconsin DE Don Davey and Iowa S Merton Hanks
COL: Colorado RB Eric Bienemy and WR Mike Pritchard
DAL: Texas TE Keith Cash and LB Brian Jones
DET: Notre Dame WR Raghib “Rocket” Ismael and DT Chris Zorich, MSU LB Dixon Edwards.
GBY: Stanford WR Ed McCaffrey
HOU: A&M LB Will Thomas and TCU RB Cedric Jackson
LA: SDSU QB Dan McGwire and USC T Pat Harlow
NY: So. Carolina RB Mike Dingle and Syracuse WR Rob Carpenter
ORL: FSU WR Lawrence Dawsey and Florida LB Godfrey Miles
PHI: Pitt RB Curvin Richards and S Louis Riddick
STL: OK State WR Curtis Mayfield and OU LB James Goode
SEA: Oregon QB Bill Musgrave, OSU DT Esera Tuaolo, and UW Linemen Dean Kirkland & Jeff Pahukoa
WSH: Maryland QB Scott Zolak and T Clarence Jones, UVA S Tony Covington
 
ROOKIE DRAFT
The unprotected rookie draft also produced some significant signings, including several potential NFL first round picks. Among the notables, these stood out as potential boons to the AAFL rosters:
 
ATL: QB Shawn Moore (UVa), S Henry Jones (Ill)
CHI: WR Alvin Harper (Tenn), TE Adrian Cooper (OU)
COL: TE Ben Coates (Livingstone), LB Roman Phifer (UCLA)
DAL: QB Pat O’Hara (USC), RB Ricky Ervins (USC), DT Mark Gunn (Pitt)
DET: WR Yancey Thigpen (W-S St.), DE Michael Sinclair (ENMU)
GBY: TE Andrew Glover (Grambling), CB Todd Lyght (NDame)
HOU: QB Browning Nagle (Louisville), DE Tony Hill (Tenn-Chat)
LA: DE Phil Hansen (NDSU), CB Aeneas Williams (Southern)
NY: T Joe Valerio (Penn), DE Kevin Harris (Texas So.), S Stanley Richard (Texas)
ORL: RB Nick Bell (Iowa), CB Reggie Jones (Memphis St.)
PHI: QB Brett Favre (So. Miss), T Bob Dahl (NDame), LB Keith Traylor (Central St.)
STL: DT Ted Washington (Louisville)
SEA: QB Todd Marinovich (USC)
WSH: DT Leon Lett (Emporia), LB Bryan Cox (W Illinois)
 
Sadly, after initially agreeing to a 3 year deal with the Seattle Sasquatch, Marinovich reneged on the contract, refusing to sign and instead opting to hold out until the NFL draft in April, hoping that with other QB’s like Nagle, Musgrave and McGwire signed by the AAFL, his draft stock could rise significantly.
Others courted by the AAFL but opting to wait for the senior league are Miami DT Russell Maryland, Nebraska LB Mike Croel, UVa wideout Herman Moore and Notre Dame RB Ricky Williams.
 
And so the AAFL has its teams in place and next month camps will begin for the 14-team league, a league that is aging like a fine wine.

Holy cow, I love that Rangers look. Sorry Tropics, this guy's got a new favorite team.

Golden Bay Sharks doo doo doo doo doo doo

It sounds like a cool idea! You have some nice designs in this project, looking forward to what comes next.

July 5, 1991—Sports Illustrated
 
“Majik Time”
 
What a game!  That is all there is to say.  In the first overtime game in the 5 year history of the All-American Bowl, the Washington Warriors edged the Colorado Rangers to take their first AAFL title.  It was a magnificent cap to an outstanding season in the AAFL.  Let’s review how it all came to be.
 
Washington, led by the 1-2-3 punch of Majkowski, Warren, and Carter, won the Eastern division by 2 games over New York.  After their bye week, they thoroughly trounced their division rivals 27-19 in a game that was not as close as the score would indicate.   Meanwhile, Colorado, who had secured the #1 seed behind an 11-3 regular season also easily dispatched a division rival, trouncing Seattle 33-17.
 
In the 1991 All-American Bowl it would be strength against strength, as the potent Warrior offense would match up with the stifling Ranger defense.  Of course, Colorado also boasted an impressive triplet attack, with Eric Bieniemy finishing the year with over 2000 all purpose yards, receiver Louis Lipps breaking the 1,000 yard receiving mark, and NFL import Mike Pagel.
 
The game started off slow, with both defenses producing quick stops on each team’s first possession.  On their second go around, however, Washington found their groove, with Majkowski hitting both Cris Carter and TE Mark Bavaro on key 3rd down drives on the way to a Warren 3 yard TD run.  Colorado answered with a drive of their own as Bienemy racked up 37 yards on 5 carries, and caught a swing pass on the Warrior 9 yard line, evaded the tackle of CB Eric Thomas and dove into the endzone for the tying score.
 
This was much the pattern of the first half, as both teams traded scores on their way to a 21-14 halftime score.  Both quarterbacks were on target in the first half, and both defenses seemed ineffective.  But, with some significant halftime adjustments, the second half was another story.  Moving to a 3-3-5 alignment, Washington shadowed Bienemy with safety Tony Covington, a move which helped minimize his damage on the run as well as the screen and swing pass game.  Meanwhile, Colorado utilized a 4-6 formation to bottle up RB Chris Warren and force Majkowski to look for Carter and Fernandez on the edge. 
 
The only scoring in the 3rd quarter came on a botched punt, which gave Washington the ball on the Rangers’ 17 yard line.  It took 7 plays to score from there, but eventually, Majkowski faked to Bavaro and hit Cleveland Gary on a circle route for the score.  Warriors 21 Rangers 21. 
 
In the 4th quarter it would again be a fluke play that would lead to a score.  The Warriors had reached midfield, when Colorado LB Broderick Thomas caught Majkowski’s arm as he set up to pass.  The ball popped loose, was scooped up by rookie Roman Phifer, who rumbled down the sideline for the go ahead score.  Colorado 28  Washington 21. 
 
After 2 ineffectual drives, one each by each team, Washington got the ball back with just over 2 minutes to go, down by 7.  They started on their own 31 as Warren gained only 3 on first down.  On the next play a controversial defensive holding call against Colorado’s Shawn Wilborn gave the Warriors a first down on the 42 yardline.  From there it was all Majik Man as Majkowski hit on three consecutive passes to take the ball down to the Colorado 33.  Now, with 57 seconds left in the game, a miracle catch by Cris Carter, tiptoes ruled in-bounds at the Colorado 3 yard line, put the Warrriors in range to score.  On first down, a Warren dive got the ball to the one, but on second down, Warren’s sweep left was blown up by Broderick Thomas, and the Warriors faced 3rd and goal from the 4.  It looked like another attempt by the Warriors to pound it in as Majkowski gave the ball to Warren on another sweep left, but then Warren flipped it back to Cris Carter on a reverse, and Carter, to everyone’s astonishment, lobbed the ball into the corner of the endzone, where a wide open Don Majkowski was waiting for it.  It was the trick play of the century.  When Chip Lohmiller hit the PAT with 5 seconds left on the clock, we were all eager to see what overtime in the All-American Bowl would bring.
 
The final drive of the 4th quarter clearly swung the momentum towards the Warriors as the Rangers seemed disoriented and de-energized by the comeback.  When they lost the coin toss, it seemed clear to all that Washington was going to win the game.  But, receiving the opening kickoff, Washington stalled around midfield and was forced to punt to the Rangers.  Mike Pagel took the Colorado offense out onto the field at their own 33.  After a first down run by veteran Harry Sydney garnered only 2 yards, Pagel dropped back on 2nd and 8 and hit Louis Lipps on an out & up that took the ball all the way to the Warrior 34 yard line.  While certainly within the range of lanky kicker Pete Stoyanovich, a 1st and 10 on the 34 led coach Mouse Davis to try for more.  Again Pagel faded back, looking to hit rookie TE Ben Coates on a seam pattern, but before he could get the ball away, Washington’s Bryan Cox hit Pagel from the blind side.  The ball rolled backwards, where it was picked up by Warrior rookie DT Leon Lett.  Lett proceeded to rumble down the sideline in what seemed a slow motion scene.  Pursuing from behind was speedy WR Louis Lipps, but when Lipps swiped at the ball on the 3 yard line, instead of going for Lett’s legs, the big guy held on, and flopped (let’s be honest, it was not a dive so much as a collapse) into the end zone for the game winner.   It was a classic finish to a classic game and a fitting ending to an impressive season for the Warriors and the AAFL.
 
Here, to wrap up our coverage of the 1991 AAFL season are the season’s final standings, league leaders and award winners:
 
FINAL STANDINGS
 
EAST
WSH      10-4 (5-1) – League Champions
NY          8-6 (4-2) – Wildcard, defeated by WSH in Divisional round.
ORL       7-7) (2-4)
ATL        5-9 (3-3)
PHI         2-11 (1-5)
 
CENTRAL
DET        9-5 (4-2) – Third seed, defeated by Seattle in Play-In Round
CHI         9-5 (4-2) – Wildcard, defeated by NY in Play-In Round
DAL        7-7 (2-4)
HOU      6-8 (2-4)
STL         4-10 (3-3)
 
WEST
COL        11-3 (6-0) -- #1 seed,  Defeated by Washington in AA Bowl.
SEA        8-6 (2-4) – Wildcard, Defeated by Colorado in Divisional Round.
GBY        6-8 (3-3)
LA           5-9 (1-5)
 
Award Winners (Finalists)
 
MVP: Chris Warren-WSH  (C. Okoye, S. Mitchell, P. Swilling)
Coach of the Year: Joe Bugel--CHI
Offensive Player of the Year:  Chris Warren-WSH (C. Okoye, M. Irvin, S. Mitchell)
Defensive Player of the Year: Pat Swilling-ATL  (B. Thomas, S. Mills, J. Randall)
Offensive Rookie of the Year: Eric Bieniemy—COL (A. Harper, R. Ismail, C. Richards)
Defensive Rookie of the Year: Aeneas Williams—LA (M. Hanks, M. Lewis, R. Phifer)
 
LEAGUE LEADERS
 
PASSING
S. Mitchell (DET)—3,458 yards, 31-13 TD-INT
C. Chandler (SEA)—3,178 yards, 27-8 TD-INT
D. Majkowski (WSH)—3,094 yards, 30-14 TD-INT
 
RUSHING
C. Warren (WSH)—1,414 yards, 14 TD
C. Okoye (GBY)—1,330 yards, 12 TD
E. Bieniemy (COL)—1,176 yards, 7 TD
 
RECEIVING
C. Carter (WSH)—98 rec, 1,023 yards, 15 TD
M. Irvin (ORL)—97 rec, 1,316 yards, 9 TD
H. Jeffires (STL)—86 rec, 1,045 yards, 7 TD
 
SACKS
B. Thomas (COL)               15
K. Greene (SEA)                13
T. Tolbert (GBY)                  11.5
 
INTERCEPTIONS
S. Wilcots (COL)                7
F. Minnifield (NY)               7
A. Williams (LA)                 5
 
TACKLES
P. Swilling (ATL)                139
S. Mills (CHI)                     127
K. Norton Jr (LA)               125
 
SCORING
J. Carney (CHI)               21-23 FG, 117 Pts
P. Stoyanovich (COL)      20-24 FG, 109 Pts
J. Jaeger (SEA)              19-25 FG, 101 Pts