I’ve quietly followed this since it started, and started pulling for Worcester when they debuted, then when they moved to Halifax, I followed. Such a disappointment to the end of our season this year, but hoping for better next season, although we haven’t made many moves which worries me.

At any rate, this has been an amazing series and I can wait for ‘68.

1968 Free Agency Part 2
Following the NAAF draft, the offseason quieted down. The remaining top 25 free agents would sign with long-time Rouge WR, Derek Cross, signing with the Raiders, joining Robert Lang and John Rivera as WRs who have played for both teams. QB Ulysses Lawyer would land in Providence in hopes of being in the running for the starting job when Connor O’Rourke calls it a career. The last top 25 player was S Peter Sellers who would land with the Mariners to shore up their depth in the secondary.

There would be only a couple of trades. After sending RB Reggie Whitehead to Boston, Indy was in need of a running back to help out Raymond Green. They would head over to Pittsburgh and would acquire RB Ed Finley in exchange for their 1969 3rd Round Pick and prospect DL Raymond Pushor. 

A second RB trade would also occur between the Thunder and Raiders with the Thunder sending RB Lando Blake to the Raiders in exchange for a 5th Round Pick in 1969. 

Many other moves were made, but the biggest development was the introduction of the next step of the NAAF’s partnership with the semi-professional leagues in the North East. Those of course are the New England Semi-Pro Football Championship and the Eastern Canadian Semi-Pro Football League. Over the past couple of seasons, players on NAAF reserve lists have been allowed to sign contracts with the semi-pro teams to continue to play while not being dressed in the NAAF. The system has helped a lot of younger players continue to have game experience and improve their chances of getting a full-time spot in the NAAF. However, it has also helped players in the semi-pro leagues take on better talent and improve themselves. So, the next stage of their partnership will allow teams to offer tryouts to players in the semi-pro leagues to join training camp and have a shot for the roster. It will be interesting to see how the players fair at training camp and if any can crack a roster this season.

*** As an aside, I have been trying to figure out how to go about the next few posts. I was wondering if there was any interest in seeing the rosters in full for teams, just like a list to see who is on each team. Let me know if that is of interest. 

1968 NAAF Season Preview

1968 Schedule
The 1968 schedule has a new look to it with Week 7 being split into two weeks. Half of the teams will get a bye week in Week 7, the other half in Week 8. The season will kick off in Buffalo between the defending champs and the Indiana Victors. This will be the first time the Victors will play in the season opener. Friday Night will kick off with a classic, London-Long Island duel. Saturday will see the Royals head to Providence before Halifax and Louisville will battle on Saturday Night. The double header on Sunday will start with Pittsburgh hosting Boston and then finish off with Montreal heading to Toronto.

As for other notable games, Canada Day will feature the Royals and Tigers in Week 2. The 4th of July game will be played in Week 3 between Boston and Long Island. The first official Thursday Night Football game will be played in Week 5 between Halifax and Toronto. Rivalry Week will still happen in Week 6, with Buffalo and London continuing their back-to-back tradition with their rematch in Week 7. Labour Day will feature 2 games starting with Toronto and Ottawa, before the classic Indiana-Louisville matchup. Finally, Week 13 makes a return and will be played the weekend the Division Semi-Finals are usually played. The season finale will be between the Thunder and the Blue Wings on the 15th of September.

1968 Preseason Power Rankings

1 - Buffalo Blue Wings
1967 Record: 10-2 (1st West)
1967 Result: Won McCallister Cup
The 1968 season looks like it could be a very competitive season as ranking the teams 2-12 was difficult. The only easy pick was the Blue Wings as the top team in the Preseason Power Rankings. Despite losing a few key pieces in the offseason in DL Tournel Guay and WR Zachariah Pembroke, it doesn’t look like the Blue Wings are going to be slowing down. They feel confident that the much younger WR core led by Jimmy Jack, Sebastian Dassler, and Tracy Driscoll should make up for Pembroke’s loss while some younger pieces in DL Albert Sullivan and DL Ned Hedman should help fill the hole left by Guay on the D-line. On top of having young reinforcements, they still boast some of the best players in the league with QB Charles Lemieux, RB Jimmy Golden, and DL William Sanderson, who should continue to make the team easily the best in the league.

Captains
C - QB Charles Lemieux
A - DL Lonnie Vincent
A - DB Dean Hawkins*

2 - Louisville Thunder
1967 Record: 6-5-1 (3rd West)
1967 Result: Lost West Division Final
The Thunder have quickly gone from being a McCallister Cup finalist to the worst team in the league and then back to a team that should be able to compete for the McCallister Cup again. The emergence of QB Buck Murphy last season gives the Thunder a lot of hope heading into this season to improve on last year. On top of that, they made some key moves in re-signing both WR Lloyd Lane and WR Casey Coleman which should make the Thunder offence as electrifying as last season. They also should get some more help out of the backfield with RB Théodore Lemieux stepping in as a starter. While the Thunder offence should be quite strong, they do have some concerns with a much weaker LB core this season after losing LB Calvin Hardy. They will be relying on some younger talents in LB Le’Darius Wynn and LB Brian O'Flaherty to fill the hole. Louisville is an exciting young team that could very well be a contender with the Blue Wings this season.

Captains
C - DB Jayden Mills
A - S Johnny Berger
A - OL Taylor Forbes

3 - Long Island Raiders
1967 Record: 8-3-1 (1st East)
1967 Result: Lost McCallister Cup
The Raiders are not dramatically different from last season. Many of the key pieces are back in RB Dareion Fields, LB William Washington II, and DB Rutherford Winters. They did lose a veteran in DB Alexander Bradley but added a sturdy replacement in DB Nick Ulbach. The defence should be just fine, but all eyes will be on the QB position. The Raiders moved on from QB Stanley Troyer after 5 seasons and are going to be looking to two younger QBs to carry the load. 3rd year QB Ivan Sanchez has been deemed the starter for the season, a player that GM Wayne Tillman has liked right out of college making some smart moves in the 1966 draft in order to get him. He’s got a good arm which may allow the Raiders to open up the playbook this season and escape the run-first mentality. QB Landon Ross, a former starter for the Royals, will be there to help Sanchez if he struggles, being a very similar QB to Troyer which may work for the Raiders if need be. If Sanchez works out, the Raider could easily be back in the McCallister Cup again, but it will be his first season of professional experience, so there also could be some growing pains.

Captains
C - RB Dareion Fields
A - LB William Washington II
A - OL Elliot Winterbottom

4 - Boston Independents
1967 Record: 5-7 (5th East)
1967 Result: Missed Playoffs
The past couple of seasons have been very rocky for the Boston Football Club, with multiple staff changes and back-to-back playoff misses. This season, there should be more stability as Levi Bray enters his second season as the team’s head coach. In the offseason, they did add a new weapon for QB Nathaniel Braddock in WR Zachariah Pembroke, who should give Braddock more to work with. Along with Pembroke, the Independents have a revamped backfield with RB Rodney Clark and RB Reggie Whitehead stepping in. It’s likely that the younger Whitehead gets more snaps, but the pair should be a significant upgrade for the Boston run game. On defence, Boston is still strong in the secondary with one of the best crews in the league led by DB Oliver Langstrom, however, their weakness will still be on the D-line as they have one of the weakest in the league. With Boston’s strong secondary, it is very likely teams will run the ball a lot against the Independents this season which may be tough for them to manage. The revamped offence should make up for the deficit on defence as Boston does look prime for a return to the postseason.

Captains
C - QB Nathaniel Braddock
A - OL Graham Chambers
A - S Ernie Osborne

5 - Indiana Victors
1967 Record: 6-6 (4th West) 
1967 Result: Missed Playoffs
Indiana had a disappointing start to the season last year going 1-5, but they still were competitive having lost 4 of those 5 games by less than a score. They were able to recover to a 6-6 record by the end of the season as they finally started to finish games. The team as a whole doesn’t see a lot of changes this offseason, but the addition of WR Evan Clanton in the WR core should help them out. They showed last season that they could compete, but the pressure is starting to mount for QB Tom Applewhite as he enters his 3rd full season as the starter. The big question will be if the 26-year-old can be the guy to close out these tight games for the Victors. If Applewhite can take the next step, the Victors could easily see themselves as a contender for the Cup this season.

Captains
C - DB Kelly Kirkland
A - OL Viktor Stahl
A - LB Terrence Patton

6 - Providence Gold Stars
1967 Record: 7-5 (2nd East) 
1967 Result: Lost East Division Final
The Gold Stars are hoping to improve on last season’s East Division Final appearance. They bring back probably the league’s 3rd best defence, behind Long Island and Buffalo, with many young stars in LB Kurt Warlock, DL Bartolo Cruz, and S Paul Christopher. Of course, they still have the vets like DL Craig White and DB Neville Falkner to round out the defence. Offensively, however, is where the Gold Stars could have some concerns. QB Connor O’Rourke is 37 years old and his arm is not what it used to be. On top of that, star WR Cedric Peterson is also starting to slow down hitting the age of 32. The team will likely have to rely a little more on RB Rashed Smith to carry some of the load. Smith did have a stronger season last year but will need to maintain that this season to keep the Gold Star offence rolling. Although if things are not going great under O’Rourke, there will be some pointing to the 25-year-old QB Ulysses Lawyer to potentially step in as he is looked at to be the future for the Gold Stars.

Captains
C - QB Connor O’Rourke
A - DB Neville Falkner
A - LB Victor Falkensteig*

7 - Montreal Rouge
1967 Record: 7-5 (3rd East)
1967 Result: Lost East Division Semi-Final
For many, last season was a bit of an overachievement for the Rouge. However, great coaching from Jimmy Sargent helped a barebones defence be considerably strong last season. In the offseason, GM Martin Gagneaux looked to make improvements and did a fine job bringing in DL Tournel Guay from Buffalo and several other key veterans in LB Calvin Hardy, DB William Quincy, and LB George Yokoi. The new defensive pieces should certainly give Sargent a lot more to work with this season, however, all of those players mentioned are getting older and could start to see some decline in the next season or two. Offensively, the team is still solid with the arm of QB Gene Bishop leading the way and the legs of RB Hugo Hughes taking it out of the backfield. They do get a nice upgrade in the WR core with WR Russell Wilcox replacing the aging WR Derek Cross. Montreal is certainly a bit of a wild card this season both having the potential to be a strong contender, but also the potential to completely miss the postseason.

Captains
C - OL Mathieu Roy
A - WR Taylor Karis
A - S Garet deVale

8 - Halifax Mariners
1967 Record: 5-7 (4th East)
1967 Result: Missed Playoffs
The Mariners have been disappointing over the last couple of seasons. So, this offseason they made a change at the coaching position. Ben McMillan is in and as a head coach, McMillan has never missed the postseason. McMillan will be given a very similar team to what the Mariners fielded last season, but the team hopes that he can bring some more consistency to the defence which has some strong pieces in DL Wayne Baxton, DL Pat Butler, DB Joe Robinson, and DB Aquilio Ruiz. The Mariners’ defence has been very inconsistent in the last couple of seasons having some games where they look like a top 3 defence and then others where they are almost not even there. Offensively, nothing much changes other than OL Kane Warwick stepping in to replace OL Harrison Ward. It could be a breakout season for WR Edward Webb as he is expected to start at the WR3 position, after being drafted in the 2nd round in 1966. If McMillan can step in and point the Mariners in the right direction, then they should easily be fighting for 1st in the East, but after the last two seasons, it’s not unreasonable to be skeptical of the team.

Captains
C - OL Ward Briscoe
A - DB Joe Robinson
A - DL Pat Butler

9 - Ottawa Royals
1967 Record: 5-7 (6th East)
1967 Result: Missed Playoffs
The Royals could easily be a dark horse contender this season. Their young defence headlined by DL Bernhard Hartmann, DB Sergio Alvarez, and LB Sam Wheeler has the potential to be a top-tier defence this season after showing flashes of it last season. Their defence was a huge reason the team jumped out to a 4-0 start last season. Of course, the bigger focus will be on offence for the Royals, which was the reason they failed to make the playoffs after the 4-0 start. The Royals have great weapons in WR Marshall Leonard and RB Corbyn Knight, as well as a strong, young O-line led by OL Amos Sewell and OL Matt Helmut. However, their big issue last season was at the quarterback position. QB Michael Benedict was serviceable but ended up leading the league in interceptions, so the Royals were open to looking at other options, in fact, they had 5 QBs all fighting for a starting job. QB Michael Benedict, rookie QB Drake Young, 1967 1st rounder QB Martin Keller, 1966 2nd rounder QB Michael Miranda, and the undrafted QB Tyrion Gainsborough. It was a very close battle according to Head Coach Jean Matieau, but the team would land on the undrafted Tyrion Gainsborough to be the starter in Week 1. It’s a shocking decision considering the younger talent and the amount they are paying Benedict, but if it pans out it will be a great decision. Gainsborough will be the first undrafted QB to start a game since the draft-era began, as well as the first non-North American to start a game, as he was born in London, England. Gainsborough is also the grandson of "The Gains Report" creator Lawrence Gainsborough. 

Captains
C - S Randall Green
A - WR Marshall Leonard
A - LB Sam Wheeler

10 - London Tigers
1967 Record: 7-5 (2nd West)
1967 Result: Lost East Division Semi-Final
Last season was pretty strong for the Tigers, however, entering the 1968 season, they look like they could take a huge step backwards. QB Riley Kiernan is 38 years old and could be on his last legs in the league, the WR core has been declining over the last few seasons, while the defence is becoming more barebones than ever. The Tigers are likely on the verge of a full rebuild with a lot of their veterans on the verge of retirement. However, we have seen GM Joseph Johnson be able to pull a team out of nowhere so it’s not a complete lost cause. There are still some younger pieces in WR Cole Fletcher, DL Mo Kahn, and DB Bernard Wilkins who could all bring a little life to the team. If some of the younger players take a step forward, and the veterans can maintain form, the Tigers still have playoff potential.

Captains
C - QB Riley Kiernan
A - DB Jackson Miles
A - OL Emil Jennings

11 - Toronto Steelheads
1967 Record: 2-10 (6th West)
1967 Result: Missed Playoffs
Toronto was aggressive in the offseason following their worst season since joining the NAAF. They ended up with 3, 1st round picks, adding LB Judge Barrett, WR Sterling Underhill, and OL Alan Farquharson. The rookie will be a great injection of youth into the team next to RB Max Tracy, DB Dwayne James, and S Charles Clerk. While the young talent is good, Toronto did a good job of fixing easily their worst position, the O-line. They boasted easily one of the worst O-lines in league history last season, but this offseason they bring in the rookie in Farquharson, as well as OL Wolfgang Vander Waal and OL Fabrice Beaufort. Those players next to veteran OL Gregory Farrell should provide a lot more protection to QB Todd Baker and open up the run game for their star RB Max Tracy. Toronto certainly has potential, but they are still likely another season away from being a true playoff team, but they should be better than last year.

Captains
C - QB Todd Baker
A - OL Gregory Farrell
A - DB Orville Blake

12 - Pittsburgh Blacksmiths
1967 Record: 3-9 (5th East)
1967 Result: Missed Playoffs
It’s going to be a make-or-break season for Ted McMahon at the helm of the Blacksmiths. Pittsburgh had a strong season in 1966 but took a step back in 1967. Fans in the city are starting to get a little restless with the team, as they have not had success in far too long. So, Coach McMahon will be riding the hot seat this season. While the coach will have some pressure, there is a lot of pressure falling onto QB Louis Vaughn will be looked at the most to take a big step this season. The former 1st overall pick is in his 3rd season and needs to prove that he was worth that selection. Elsewhere other young players are going to have to step up with WR Taylor Austin needing to be a true #1 threat, as well as younger defensive pieces in DL Matthias Hartmann and LB Patrick Hamilton. In the end, Pittsburgh has potential, it is just a matter of if they can take the step forward to become a playoff contender.

Captains
C - QB Louis Vaughn*
A - OL Erik Nelson*
A - DL Sammy Pickett

Wally’s 1968 Predictions
WEST
Buffalo 10-2 -y
Indiana 7-5 -x
Louisville 7-5 -x
Pittsburgh 5-7
Toronto 2-10
London 2-10

EAST
Boston 8-4 -y
Halifax 7-5 -x
Long Island 7-5 -x
Providence 6-6
Ottawa 6-6
Montreal 5-7

Playoffs
DSF
LOU over IND
HFX over LI

DF
LOU over BUF
BOS over HFX

50th McCallister Cup - Boston
LOU over BOS

Buffalo holds the West hostage all season, but the Thunder upset them in the Division Finals
Boston narrowly wins a very competitive East, they get back to the McCallister Cup at home but fall short against a red-hot Thunder team.

I’m getting the feeling Kiernan makes his last deep playoff run. Something about this team makes me think we’ll execed expectations. (Probably wishful thinking, but I still see us winning more than 2 games even if we don’t end up making a run .)

Lets go Buffalo, I got a good feeling for this year!