Van Fossen putting two teams in already successful NAAF markets seems like a plan doomed to fail. Should be interesting to see how those teams fair against the Independents and Blue Wings.

Boston in the ACFL? That'll fail. Rochester could work, but Buffalo already is nearby, so Mr. Van Fossen may be shooting himself in the foot. 

Merger? I'm expecting the NAAF to do so much to crush the ACFL that the ACFL starts playing baseball.

1962 Retirements 

GM George Hanson - Boston, MA
Teams: GM - Boston Independents (1949-1961)
McCallister Cups: 3 (1949, 1950, 1961)
After finally getting Boston back to the top of the league in the 1961 season, GM George Hanson was stepping down from the role to finally retire. He was debating doing it last season but was convinced to go for one more year with the team which ended up paying off with the team winning their first title since 1950. Hanson has been the only GM for the Independents since the team joined the NAAF.  

DB Uzzia Hayes - Ottawa, ON
Teams: Ottawa Royals (1950-1961)
McCallister Cups: 4 (1954, 1955, 1956, 1959)
Captaincy: OTT - A (1958-1961)
All-Stars: 3 (1958, 1960, 1961)
One of the first major players in the Royals’ dynasty has called it a career. The DB decided that he wanted to spend more time with family and to try and pursue some other dreams he has going forward. He was highly respected by his teammates, which is a major reason he wore the “A” on his jersey over his last 4 seasons. He also had 3 all-star appearances over that time, which was just the icing on the cake for 4 McCallister Cup championships. 

“Thank you, Ottawa for supporting me throughout my whole journey. I hope that I can continue to be a part of this city and community going forward. All love. Thank you.” 

DB Victor Bean - Providence, RI
Teams: Providence Gold Stars (1949-1959), Long Island Raiders (1960), Louisville Thunder (1961)
McCallister Cups: 0
All-Stars: 2 (1952, 1953)
Bean certainly did not have the same success in his career as Uzzia Hayes, but he certainly made his mark being a long-time secondary partner to the legendary DB Lee Wolfe. Earning 2 All-Star nods in the early 50s when the two were a lethal force on the back end. He spent 11 years with the Gold Stars but was unable to bring home a title, so he ended up taking his last season to play with contenders but was unable to do it in Long Island and Louisville. Bean calls it a career to return to Providence and move onto the next chapter in his life.  

LB Ben McCray - Manchester, MH
Teams: Hartford Hawks (1950-1951), Buffalo Blue Wings (1952-1956), Louisville Thunder (1957), Buffalo Blue Wings (1957-1958), Ottawa Royals (1959), Louisville Thunder (1960), Buffalo Blue Wings (1961)
McCallister Cups: 3 (1952, 1957, 1959)
All-Stars: 1 (1957)
LB Ben McCray had quite an interesting career. He changed teams 6 times while only playing for 4 teams overall. He will be remembered mainly for his 8 and a half seasons and 2 McCallister with the Blue Wings. He loved playing for the Blue Wings and would call Buffalo a second home to Manchester, NH. He also enjoyed playing for the Thunder a lot in the half-season he had before returning to Buffalo via trade, enough to sign with them again later following winning his 3rd Cup with the Royals in 1959. McCray was starting to get less time and he was satisfied with the 12-year career, so he called a career.  

WR Ray Lopez - Halifax, NS
Teams: Montreal Rouge (1951-1961)
McCallister Cups: 2 (1951,1953)
Ray Lopez was one of the most underrated WRs in his career. He was very skillful but was often lost on the typically run-heavy Montreal offence. Lopez was the team’s #1 WR for many seasons and was a mentor to the younger WR Derek Cross. He was a part of Montreal’s 2 McCallister Cups in the early 50s as well. In the past couple of seasons, his role had been decreased and he decided it was time to call it a career.  

LB Benjamin Pittman - Kingston, ON
Teams: Toronto/Ontario/London Tigers (1951-1960), Louisville Thunder (1961)
McCallister Cups: 1 (1960)
Pittman was almost a career Tiger. He played for the team through all their iterations only heading to Louisville in his final season. The long-time #2 to Tigers captain LB Aengus Lynch, was able to help the Tigers win their first title in 1961. Pittman was a fan favourite being involved in any of the communities that he was in during his career. He will likely return to Kingston, ON to move onto the next part of his life.  

Other Notable Retirements
OL Adorat Blain - Ottawa, ON - OTT (1950-1961)****
QB Ollie Rogers - Sherbrooke, QC - RMTL(1951-1952), MTL (1953-1954)*, RPRO (1955), ON (1956), LOU (1957-1960), LDN (1961)
WR Marqués Gardner - Buffalo, NY - TOR/ON (1951-1957), WOR (1958-1959), BOS (1960), PRO (1961)
DL Brayden Mills - Worcester, MA - WOR (1951-1961), MTL (1961)
RB Timothy Weeks - Cleveland, OH - TOR/ON (1951-1954), WOR (1955), LI (1956-1957), LDN (1958-1959), OTT (1960), LDN (1961) 

Last edited by Wallflower (3/21/2021 5:28 pm)

1962 Staff Changes 

Long Island Raiders
After back-to-back West Division Final exits and then a horrid 4-8 season, GM/Owner Wayne Tillman decided to fire both Head Coach Jimmy Sargent and Defensive Coordinator Arnold Baker. The move was probably the most obvious one coming following last season. There had been constant criticisms of how the team was just not able to get things working over the last couple of seasons, especially with Lyle Painter. Offensive Coordinator Levi Bray was hired last offseason and seemed to get a little more out of the former 1st overall pick, which is why he remains with the team.  

Replacing Sargent will be Louisville Thunder Offensive Coordinator Kerry Holder. Holder helped QB Leonidas Dumont to his best season last year with the Thunder and has been a long-time friend of Thunder HC Emil Riddle. Tillman hopes that Holder will help kick start the offence and turn the Raiders into a more balanced team next season. They would also bring on U of Central Pennsylvania DC Kenneth Chaney as the new Defensive Coordinator.  

Indiana Victors
It was finally time for the Victors to start fresh with HC Maurice Evanson, OC Paul McMahon, and DC Steve Pollard all being let go by 2nd year GM Everett Henderson. They wouldn’t take long to find a replacement, bringing in the former Raiders’ HC Jimmy Sargent. While Sargent has struggled recently, he still has won a McCallister Cup and is a great motivator, which might be perfect for the Victors trying to get out of the basement. They would bring in former Raider DC Arnold Baker as well as the new DC, and then they would grab Jack Dorsey, a QBs coach from the GLFL’s Cincinnati Centurions, as the OC. Dorsey, a former QB himself is super fascinated by the Hybrid game and is excited about the opportunity. 

Louisville Thunder
With the Raiders picking up OC Kerry Holder, the Thunder would hire former Victors OC Paul McMahon as the new OC. McMahon has been pretty good about developing young offensive players for the Victors and should only help the young offence in Louisville keep moving toward a title. 

Worcester Athletics
Stand-in GM Larry Larson has decided to keep most of the coaching staff around. Only OC Clyde Wall was let go, but that was on Wall’s terms, who is heading for an ACFL opportunity with the potential Boston team. Larson would hire Kent Winters, a former Gold Stars and Rouge OC, as the new Offensive Coordinator for this season.  

Boston Independents
With GM George Hanson retiring, the team would need their first new GM since joining the NAAF. Owner Benjamin Harris wants to maintain some consistency, so he promoted Assistant GM Earnest Bryan into the role. Bryan has been hoping for an opportunity for a couple of seasons and is ready to take control of the team this year.  

Buffalo Blue Wings
The one most shocking departure came out of Buffalo. GM Dwight Gilbert stepped down from his role in order to return to Rochester and manage the team he had before joining the Blue Wings a few years ago. The decision came out of nowhere from the team, but after the matter, it seemed to make a lot of sense. The team would go looking for a new GM and would find an interesting hire in GM Reginald McMahon out of Toronto. McMahon has slowly been following the NAAF while working his way up in the Toronto area and was putting his name out there. Buffalo bit and decided that the passionate manager might be what Buffalo needs in the next step of their rebuild.