Seems like Louisville is going to have one of the best defenses in the league in 1961.

1960 Award Winners 

Most Valuable Player - WR Max Sutton LDN
A fantastic season from the rising star in Max Sutton makes him the second WR to take home the league MVP. He certainly reminded a lot of people of WR Allen Atkins who was the previous WR to take home the MVP, as he was in the lead of both receiving yards and receiving touchdowns for pretty much the whole season. The 26-year-old is only getting started and looks to be one of the league’s next big threats in the pass-game.   

Playoff MVP - DL Olaf Viktorsson OTT
The role that Viktorsson played for the Royals in their playoff run was huge. In both games, Viktorsson had 2 forced fumbles, 16 tackles, 4 Sacks, and a touchdown. The important part was the touchdown, which clinched the Royals' win over the Independents in the East Division Final. He also had a huge deflection in the McCallister Cup which led to a pick that kept the Royals in the game. While Max Sutton could have easily won it, Viktorsson played a huge part in each of the 3 games to earn him the award.  

Offensive Player of the Year - RB Johnnie Stafford BUF/LI
Taking WR Max Sutton out of the running for OPOY made it a close battle between the other three candidates, but the one that may have deserved it the most came out narrowly on top. 30-year-old RB Johnnie Stafford had not broken 10 touchdowns in a season in his career until just last season, and then he did it again this year with 18 rushing touchdowns and the second-most rushing yards. Stafford also becomes the first player to ever win an award while playing a season with two different teams.  

Defensive Player of the Year - LB Scotty Williams WOR
Scotty Williams became the 4th player to win 2 DPOY Awards. It’s not really a surprise for a player that always seems to be on the radar for one of the best defenders every season. His leadership and play on the field this season was a huge reason the Athletics found themselves in the playoffs once again.  

Special Teams Player of the Year - K Nimrod Handsworth LDN
In his first season in the kicking role for the Tigers, Handsworth had an excellent season. The young kicker had some mistakes early on in the season but made up for it with some game-clinching kicks. His first season showed a lot of promise and should be a great career for the kicker. 

Rookie of the Year - RB Jimmy Golden BUF
Jimmy Golden showed the league his potential with the second half of the 1960 season. After OPOY Johnnie Stafford was dealt to Long Island, Golden managed to take over and put up 7 rushing touchdowns. His speed and agility made many defenders look like fools and made his case to be in the conversation for the next generation of great RBs.

Coach of the Year - Dean Reed MTL
Having to be the replacement for one of the greatest coaches all-time in HC Peter McDuffin is a tough thing to do, and Reed did a fine job falling into a rebuild and getting the Independents back into a competitive picture. However, it wasn’t until he managed to turn the Montreal Rouge into a top tier team to show his top-notch coaching ability. A strong 4-0 start and a return to the playoffs for a team that had not been above .500 since '54, were the main factors in Reed earning his first COTY award.

Breakout Player of the Year - RB Johnnie Stafford BUF/LI
As mentioned before Stafford really hadn’t truly broken into the top of the league until the 1959 season. And while a player finding his groove, later on, is not uncommon, seeing it happen in the player’s 8th and 9th seasons is certainly something different. The former 14th overall pick finally reached his full potential in time to grab a pair of awards in a career year. 

1960 All-Stars 

WEST ALL-STARS
QB Riley Kiernan LDN (4)
RB Johnnie Stafford BUF/LI (1)
OL Jean Mathieu-Baptiste BUF (4)
OL Ulysses Fairgrove LDN (3)
OL Magnus Gunnersson LDN (2)
OL Elliot Winterbottom LI (2)
OL Bernhard Altermann LOU (1)
WR Max Sutton LDN (2)
WR Ben Roland LOU (2)
WR Darryl Duke LI (2)
TE Johann Traeger BUF (2)

DL Olympus Heights LDN (3)
DL Vernon Spears LI (4)
DL William Sanderson IND (4)
DL Lonnie Vincent BUF (1)
LB Aengus Lynch LDN (7)
LB Rusty McVee LI (5)
LB Elijah Goldwater LI (2)
DB Jackson Miles LDN (2)
DB Alexander Bradley LOU (6)
DB Oliver Langstrom LOU (1)
S Johnny Berger LOU (1)

K Nimrod Handsworth LDN (1)

EAST ALL-STARS
QB Jean Matieau OTT (6)
RB Scott Mallard-White MTL (3)
OL Graham Chambers BOS (2)
OL Sal Valcano BOS (2)
OL Maxence Castex MTL (3)
OL Charlie Bennett OTT (4)
OL Cliff Strautzenberger WOR (6)
WR Derek Cross MTL (1)
WR Mackenzie Jones OTT (3)
WR Ellis Lindholm BOS (4)
TE Jervonte Howell OTT (6)

DL Calias McDonough PRO (5)
DL Zakary Turbide MTL (6)
DL Olaf Viktorsson OTT (7)
DL Vinny Brown WOR (3)
LB Scotty Williams WOR (9)
LB Brent Harper BOS (5)
LB Konrad Aust BOS (4)
DB Quentin Xavier MTL (5)
DB Mingan Oliver OTT (3)
DB Uzzia Hayes OTT (2)
S Drew Porter BOS (2)

K Johnnie Berg BOS (2)

=16.25px43rd McCallister Cup Host - Royals Stadium at Brewer Park - Ottawa, ON - Capacity: 45,210
The city of Ottawa will host their second McCallister Cup for the 1961 season. They didn’t win their bid for their 50th anniversary, but they got the hosting duties on the second go around. The question will now be will the Royals be able to get to their 8th straight game and their second time at home. 

Sevsdast wrote:

What teams are in the other competitive football leagues? Merger possibly? It is the 60's after all.

There are 8 Atlantic Coast Football League Teams
(Names were picked prior to the AltBA some there are some repeats)
Baltimore Lancers
Brooklyn Guardians
New Jersey Chargers
New York Bulls Football Club
Philadelphia Rebels
Pittsburgh Hammers
Richmond Lions
Washington Americans

and 7 in the Great Lakes Football League
Chicago All-Pros
Cincinnati Centurions
Cleveland Captains
Columbus Pioneers
Detroit Warriors
Milwaukee Bulldogs
St. Louis Archers

There are also the Southern Football League, the Texas Football League, and the Pacific Football League in the Us and the Ontario Football Union and Western Football Union in Canada. 

Ontario still only has:
Hamilton Steelers
Toronto Lakers
Toronto Brawlers
Kitchener Blue Tigers

As for mergers and how the league may come to shape over the next few decades, I want to leave that to behind the scenes for now. I have mentioned that the 1960s (and really the 70s) will be a huge decade for the league and the football world, but I don't want to reveal anything yet, so more of that will come as I continue to tell the story. I just want to maintain that this series is being followed along much like you would be experiencing it from game-to-game and season-to-season; adds suspense and realism to the overall story.
 

Captain Mort 3D wrote:

Who is the current leader in NAAF all-star appearances?

I believe that would be Boston OL Andrew Furrson with 10, this season being the only year he has missed since 1949.
He's easily been the best OL of all time.

EDIT - I forgot that DL Sean Bowen also has 10 All-Stars as well

Last edited by Wallflower (2/09/2021 8:15 pm)

1961 League Meetings 

The league meetings brought several major changes to the NAAF this season. The first was the implementation of a salary cap for the 1961 season. The cap will be set at $525,000 for the first season (the average payroll last season was $496,000), and will only contain a team’s 40-man active roster. The cap will also be a hard cap with major penalties for teams that violate the salary cap. This would include a potential draft pick penalties, or being eliminated from playoff contention. 

The main reasons for implementing the cap would be an attempt to avoid seasons like the 1959 season which saw the top 4 teams being miles ahead of the rest of the league. London, Long Island, and Ottawa had finished 10-2 and Boston 8-4 with the next best team being Providence at 5-7. While the 1960 season showed that there was more competition with 7 teams finishing with 7 or 8 wins, there were still concerns over the other 3 teams that didn’t break 2 wins. The other reason for implementation is a large jump in the average payroll going from $460,000 in 1959 to $496,000 in 1960. Being in such a competitive market with other leagues, the NAAF wants to make sure they can maintain revenue numbers in order to remain in their smaller markets and give them a fighting chance in the NAAF.  

On the players' side, there were some other changes made to contracts with having a stronger salary guarantee. Contracts for the most part have been guaranteed and paid out by the league and their teams. This stems from the league looking to help those out if they get cut, especially for many who were soldiers coming back from WWII and would have issues finding work. 

The other issue that was talked about was around trades and transactions, especially during the season. Players on several occasions didn’t love being traded to a new city for only a game or even two with late week trades. In the end, the NAAF agreed on a Week 8 trade deadline, and that teams would be more involved with the players moving to the new location and help them find a place to stay temporarily. Some of the teams have already been doing this, but the NAAF wanted to encourage the rest of the teams to do so. Along with the trade deadlines, the players and teams will be able to add a no-trade clause to a contract after a player turns 27. Which would include having it kick in when the player turns 27 if the contract is signed prior to 27. 

For the owners and the teams, the league decided to spread out the offseason events more to allow teams to have a bit more time to negotiate with players and build their teams. The draft will be shifted ahead a couple of weeks to be later in the offseason as well.  

Individual Team Developments
Worcester Athletics
It was announced that the proper team owner, Marie Paul, wife of the team’s old owner Richard Paul, had fallen ill and passed away. Their son, Chester Paul, who has been mainly in control of the team’s actual operations would now take full control of the team. While Chester was excited, there was some worry coming from the league, which has received lots of issues coming from players within the team. It has been evident with the amount of talent that has left the team over specific issues dealing with contracts. Commissioner Ryan Jameson and the league looked into the issues over the last season. The NAAF came to the conclusion that the Athletics were looking to save money, however, the team's financial state is still strong enough to significantly increase their spending. Jameson would give Chester the benefit of the doubt and would allow him to continue, but he is on thin ice, and if there are any more issues, the league will take action.   

Buffalo Blue Wings
On a different note, the Buffalo Blue Wings have begun talks to replace their 42-year-old stadium in the next couple of seasons. They are looking at a new location downtown to build a 50,000+ seat stadium. 

Outside the NAAF
ACFL
The Atlantic Coast Football League had some rumblings about the league aiming to expand and try and extend their reach. They have been in contact with Norfolk to add a team to the Virginia Beach area, and they also have been looking into the New England area, potentially Hartford, but there seems to be some development with a potential Worcester franchise that might be able to step into Worcester Stadium. 

OFU
The Ontario Football Union continued to talk with the City of Halifax to potentially move a team into the Maritimes. The city is still working on a stadium plan, but they are not sure how big they will be able to make the stadium or if they will have the funding, or even where the stadium will go. 

Last edited by Wallflower (2/12/2021 9:22 pm)