1962 Re-sign Stage

Scotty Williams leaves the Athletics for good
The 10-time All-Star and only defensive MVP, LB Scotty Williams, was officially going to be moving on from the Athletics this season. Williams was rumoured to be shopped around the deadline this season but stayed around. However, with Williams’ contract being up and the Athletics moving at this point, it seemed like the right time for the veteran LB to move on from the Athletics. While going right to free agency was certainly an option, Williams, who is certainly involved in the overall success of the league, wanted to maintain balance within the league. Williams gave Stand-in GM Larry Larson a list of the NAAF teams ranked by the team he wants to go to most. He agreed that he would sign with whichever team makes a trade for him.  

6 teams were in talks for the LB (BOS, LDN, LI, LOU, MTL, PRO). However, the deal would come down to the Thunder and the Tigers. Both teams with strong teams in contention for a McCallister Cup, which Scotty has been unable to win. Ultimately the Thunder would be the ones to land Williams. The veteran will slot well into Louisville’s defence that is likely going to be one of the best this season. He is reunited with HC Emil Riddle, DC Hugo Martinez, LB Silas O’Brien, and DB Alexander Bradley all from his time in Worcester, most importantly during the 1956 run to the Cup for the Athletics.

The Thunder would send quite the package back the other way. They would trade RB Stavros Black, LB Joe Larkin, OL Nicholas-Charles Richard, a 1963 1st Round Pick, a 1962 2nd Round Pick, and a 1962 3rd Round Pick to acquire the LB. The big-name was Stavros Black, who has been a strong RB for the Thunder. With RB Rodney Clark performing better last season, Black was the man that would have to go. The good news for Stavros Black is that he will be the man with the Athletics for the 1962 season. 

Slay Mitchell Decides to Go Home
Following the major trade with Scotty Williams, it seemed to inspire another. DB Slay Mitchell, a Providence native, had decided following former teammate LB Rusty McVee heading to the Gold Stars last offseason, that he wanted to try and win with his hometown squad. After Williams announced he would sign with the team that traded for him, Mitchell made the same agreement, just that it had to be the Gold Stars. GM Wayne Tillman would oblige in order to get some value from Mitchell. He would send the DB over to Providence for DB Jared Francis, who had only signed with the Gold Stars last offseason, and a 4th rounder for the 1962 draft. Mitchell would then sign a 2-year deal with the Gold Stars at $24,000 a year and would be a great piece between DB Neville Falkner and DB Cameron Taylor. Jared Francis on the other hand would be able to slot into a still solid secondary in Long Island. 

Louisville Locks in Many Important Pieces
With the acquisition of LB Scotty Williams, the Thunder would first half to sign the veteran, then they had to worry about the other important pieces to truly put their name in the hat for the ‘62 title. Williams would lock in for 2-years at $27,500 with a No-Trade Clause. Then they would lock in younger pieces in DB Oliver Langstrom (4Y, $23,000-$25,000) and WR Piers Key (5Y, $22,500). However, the most important piece was QB Leonidas Dumont. The young QB was given a short contract to see how he would do before they would commit long-term. He certainly showed that he had what it takes last season finishing second in passing touchdowns. The team would agree to a 4Y, $30,000 contract with an NTC to keep their young star here. The other interesting piece was DL Tyrone Affalo, which the Thunder had traded for last offseason. They would ultimately bring him back despite an injury-riddled season on a 2Y, $16,500 contract. The Thunder’s moves already have made them one of the favourites going into this season. 

Ottawa and Montreal maintain Veterans
The last of the news comes from Montreal and Ottawa who would end up retaining several veterans each. Ottawa would bring back QB Jean Matieau for 2 more seasons at a reduced $28,500. Matieau hopes a pay cut can help the team build a winner despite his own skills falling off. RB Alexei Volkov would sign on for another year at $26,000 and then DL Olaf Viktorsson would stay put for 2 years at $31,500. 

As for Montreal, they would keep captain OL Eugésippe Chalifoux on a 1-year deal at $18,000. They would also maintain DL Zakary Turbide for a year at $17,500 and then WR Robert Lang would return for one more year at $14,000. All of the players signed by both teams agreed to a No-Trade Clause in their deals. 

Both teams hope to still be fighting at the top come next season. 

Other Top Extensions
S Drew Porter - BOS - 3Y, $18,500
DL Dennis Hughes - BOS - 3Y, $15,000
DL Lonnie Vincent - BUF - 6Y, $26,500-$27,000 - NTC in Y3
DB Lou Lake - BUF - 2Y, $20,000
WR Silas Peyton - IND - 3Y, $15,500-$16,000
S Cal Clemmons - IND - 2Y, $17,500
LB Dallas Dillard - LDN - 4Y, $18,500-$19,500 - NTC in Y3
WR Jack Duncan - LDN - 3Y, $15,500
DL Vernon Spears - LI - 3Y, $28,000 - NTC
S Johan Eckhart - LI - 2Y, $18,500
OL Forrest Green - LOU - 3Y, $13,500
LB George Yokoi - LOU - 2Y, $12,000
S Garet deVale - MTL - 6Y, $23,000-$25,000 - NTC in Y3
DL Hubert Tessier MTL - 4Y, $13,500
OL Levi Francoeur - OTT - 4Y, $14,000 - NTC in Y3
DL Troy Hunt - OTT - 2Y, $13,000
DL Kenny Evans - PRO - 3Y, $17,000
DB Cameron Taylor - PRO - 3Y, $18,000
QB Caldwell Higgins III - ATH - 2Y, $18,000
OL Ward Briscoe - ATH - 2Y, $20,000

Top 25 Free Agents
1 - OL Cliff Strautzenberger - MTL
2 - LB Harrison Bennett - ATH
3 - WR Zachariah Pembroke - ATH
4 - OL Kazimir Smirnov - LDN
5 - RB Johnnie Stafford - IND
6 - DL Vinny Brown - ATH
7 - RB Cody Barnes - BUF
8 - QB Christian Stewart - LOU
9 - WR Benedict Spencer - LDN
10 - DB Carson Scott - BOS
11 - QB Terry Bourbon - ATH
12 - TE Richard Stewart - BOS
13 - WR Clyde McIntosh - BOS
14 - DB Wesley Scott - ATH
15 - QB Oscar Rigano - OTT
16 - RB Lawrence Sharp - ATH
17 - RB Leo Ravelli - ATH
18 - WR LeRoy Krueger - BUF
19 - WR Ronald Vernon - BUF
20 - TE Johnny Mantle IV - LI
21 - QB Rigobert St-Hilaire - PRO
22 - DB Jontray Cox - MTL
23 - DB Mario Richard - BOS
24 - WR Tony Albano - LI
25 - WR Ronald Macquire - ATH

Look at my boy, Stavros Black. SUPERSTAR IN... wherever the Athletics are playing.

I'm really interested in where Cliff Strautzenberger is going to sign. He's been around for a long time at a high level. I'd love to see him in Providence, but I'm sure he'll be an anchor on the line anywhere.

BREAKING NEWS

“Worcester” Removed from Athletics Name; Full Rebrand in 1963.
Halifax owner, Elliot Hudson, announced that for the 1962 NAAF season the team would still be known as the Athletics, however, they will remove Worcester from the name and be known as just “The Athletics”. The announcement would come with a simplified logo that would feature the new name and the Richard Paul heart patch below. The uniforms will remain the same except for numbers replacing the “W/A” logo on the helmet. 

“The whole process has been quite crazy,” said Hudson about taking over the team, “there is a lot going on. I know that I want to give the team a refresh so Halifax can embrace the new team, but I want to get it right and that will take some time.” 

The team will go through a complete rebrand for next season with likely a new logo, name, and jerseys. 

Along with the adjustments being made, the NAAF announced that they will be scheduling games for the Athletics at Richardson Stadium in Boston, MA, Patrick Smythe Memorial Stadium in Springfield, MA, Bayside Park (a baseball park) in Portland, ME, and Stade Mathieu Tremblay in Quebec City, QC. There were plans to play in Rochester as well, but the plan fell through with the addition of the ACFL team in Rocester. 

Louisville Make Minor Changes
The Thunder ended up wearing their Gold pants in 9 of 10 games last season. They decided that they would remove the white option from their set and have both home and away jerseys paired with the gold pants. Additionally, the team added a more detailed design to the helmet logo adding the detail found on the “Lucky Thunder” logo in Red on the gold outline. 

ACFL’s Boston Shamrocks Strike Deal to Play at Richardson Stadium
The new Boston team in the ACFL officially announced that they would be named the Boston Shamrocks, aiming to strike a chord with the Irish heritage in Boston. They also announced that they had an agreement with Independents owner, Benjamin Harris, to rent Richardson Stadium during the ACFL season. 

Gold Stars owner, David Maxwell, was a little critical of his fellow NAAF owner allowing the team to actually play. “It's a rival league, why would we provide them with the opportunity to potentially succeed? To me that’s a dangerous move, I certainly do not agree with it.”

Harris accepted the criticism, “I made a decision I thought was best. Not everyone is going to agree with me that it was the right one to make, but it is my business to handle and I did just that.”

Harris was surprisingly praised by ACFL commissioner Steven Van Fossen following the move. “He made a good decision that will be beneficial to all in the long-run. That’s a business decision I respect. Overall, we are very excited about the Shamrocks and we will be ready to go this season.”

Rugrat wrote:

Surprised the Indepedents owner let the ACFL into his stadium. Like the Athletics temporary rebrand, hopefully they can make their last year memorable. Surprised Hartford won't be one of the venues they'll play in. 

It is likely one location still to be added, I just hadn't decided yet. I have not decided if Hartford even has their stadium still, but certainly, there is a possibility still, which will be confirmed by the time the schedule comes out. 
Hartford and Kitchener are the most likely candidates.

1962 Free Agency - Part 1

The free agency window opened up with Louisville continuing to build on their strong moves this offseason. They would sign the biggest free agent in OL Cliff Strautzenberger. The veteran was all for joining the plethora of former Athletics on the Thunder. He hopes that the team will be able to be super competitive this season. The Thunder also grabbed RB Johnnie Stafford who will step into RB Stavros Black’s role as the number two in the backfield behind RB Rodney Clark.

Providence was able to get their main need of the offseason in a stronger backup QB. Christian Stewart has lots of experience, most notably a pair of seasons as a starter with the Tigers as well as helping the team reach the McCallister Cup in 1960 following an injury to QB Riley Kiernan. They also added a former teammate of Stewart’s in WR Benedict Spencer, who comes from London to round out a strong WR core.

Montreal was the other top team making major moves with some defensive moves. They would bring in former Athletes DL Vinny Brown and former Independents DB Carson Scott. The two should really round out the defence mixing the youth with the veterans

A pair of lower-end teams made some strong moves. Indiana was able to land the #2 free agent in former Athletic LB Harrison Bennett. The 29-year-old has loads of experience playing next to Scotty Williams, so they hope he will thrive in the lead role on defence. They also locked up young RB Cody Barnes for 3 years to compete with RB Don Gregson for the starting job.

However, it was the Blue Wings with one of the biggest contracts handed out thus far. They ended up landing former Athletics WR Zachariah Pembroke. They would sign him for a $76,000 contract over 4 years. They would also nab former Tigers OL Kazimir Smirnov who was looking for a bigger city to play in and landed in Buffalo for 2 years. 

Top 25 Free Agents
1 - OL Cliff Strautzenberger - MTL -> LOU 2Y, $18,000
2 - LB Harrison Bennett - ATH -> IND 2Y, $22,000
3 - WR Zachariah Pembroke - ATH -> BUF 4Y, $19,000
4 - OL Kazimir Smirnov - LDN -> BUF 2Y, $17,000
5 - RB Johnnie Stafford - IND -> LOU 1Y, $12,000
6 - DL Vinny Brown - ATH -> MTL 2Y, $15,000
7 - RB Cody Barnes - BUF -> IND 3Y, $17,000
8 - QB Christian Stewart - LOU -> PRO 1Y, $17,000
9 - WR Benedict Spencer - LDN -> PRO 2Y, $14,250
10 - DB Carson Scott - BOS -> MTL 1Y, $16,000
11 - QB Terry Bourbon - ATH
12 - TE Richard Stewart - BOS
13 - WR Clyde McIntosh - BOS
14 - DB Wesley Scott - ATH -> OTT 2Y, $13,000
15 - QB Oscar Rigano - OTT -> LI 1Y, $13,000
16 - RB Lawrence Sharp - ATH
17 - RB Leo Ravelli - ATH
18 - WR LeRoy Krueger - BUF -> LI 2Y, $12,000
19 - WR Ronald Vernon - BUF
20 - TE Johnny Mantle IV - LI -> BUF 1Y, $10,000
21 - QB Rigobert St-Hilaire - PRO -> LDN 1Y, 12,000
22 - DB Jontray Cox - MTL
23 - DB Mario Richard - BOS
24 - WR Tony Albano - LI
25 - WR Ronald Macquire - ATH