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7/11/2021 10:57 pm  #1041


Re: History of the National Football Association - 1974-75 Season

Big fan of both expansion teams, New Orleans is particularly nice.

Not the biggest fan of the move to red for Chicago, they still look good, but it just doesn't seem right for the Zephyrs. I like the changes to Seattle, the colors are great and their new unis are sharp.



 

7/12/2021 12:53 pm  #1042


Re: History of the National Football Association - 1974-75 Season

Loving the Tulane-inspired look of New Orleans





 

7/12/2021 5:28 pm  #1043


Re: History of the National Football Association - 1974-75 Season

Rugrat wrote:

Wow, that is one busy offseason! Here are my thoughts!

The Condors look pretty sweet! Definitely liking the logo a lot, this has potential to become a classic look as time goes by. As for the Hurricanes, that looks amazing as well. Blue and Black are two of my favorite colors so that’s a good start. The logo looks pretty cool with the Crecent acting as the eye of the storm, in fact this could be one of my teams moving forward.

Like the Summer Bowl logo as well, looks everything SoCal. Assuming the 1976 Champions Bowl will be in Philly because it’s the bicentennial and most sports had something there that year?

Seattle defiantly looks cooler, hopefully between the new look and a new owner they can start winning more games in the future. Same with Chicago.

Cheers to another great offseason! Bring on the 1974-75 NFA campaign!

I think you mean the forest green and blue color scheme? You don't have to read all of it, I know it's a lot but you can at least get the colors right if your going to comment. It's also the Champions Bowl, I'm not sure what the Summer Bowl is. Although I like the name Summer Bowl, I might borrow that for something. 

​Oh and yes, the 76 Champions Bowl will be in Philadelphia. 

Stickman wrote:

Whew!  You weren't kidding about how long that post was!  Plenty to talk about for sure!

San Diego Condors: Lot of behind the scenes personality with team, starting with the owners (really appreciating the fleshed out backstories and personalities of the owners and players in this league, good ol' world building at its finest!), but also with their pick of Atticus Godwin-who's certainly got quite the backstory!  The logo is excellent, very fun 70s' feel to it and it'll definitely stand out amongst the league, as will the teal and yellow uniforms!   Only gripe is the white logo on the white helmet.  Personally, I might have gone with a teal helmet to let the logo stand out more, but overall, this is really nice!  Definitely getting a sunny Miami Dolphins feel with this one!

New Orleans Hurricanes: This is your best logo yet, I feel!  That hurricane looks awesome and the crescent moon "eye" of the hurricane is a brilliant little bit of detail!  Really loving the Bayou Blue and wish that were the primary color over forest green, as it feels like the Hurricanes would "own" that color.    It's still a solid uniform for sure though!  Liking their approach to get a more grizzled roster instead of a bunch of spring chickens like the Condors did, this choice should result in a much better team right away and maybe could make a surprise run at the playoffs sooner than we'd think!

Seattle Lumberjacks:  It looks like there's finally reason for optimism for this team!  New ownership (we'll see if they stay in Seattle or not, looks like they will though for now), making a pretty solid gamble on what could be a franchise quarterback (imagining that Rudy Walker will be just fine, although he mistakes while under pressure is concerning.  Seattle better build that OL ASAP!).  The new uniforms, yes, aren't bright anymore and that's sad (only because kelly green and athletic gold are as solid of a color combo as it gets in sports).  However, I still really enjoy the forest green and metallic gold look a lot, (and this was a good time for a redesign anyway), very nice job there, (and also liking that more and more teams are starting to go colored jerseys for home instead of white!).

Chicago Zephyrs: It's certainly an interesting choice to change the classic look up that they've had since the beginning, (and after 6 championships in 8 years).   However, they've been pretty bad/mediocre for a while now, so why not try something new?  I am definitely a huge fan of the new red primary look though!  Hope that sticks around a while, although I also hope that they someday bring the black uniforms back!

Lots of good stuff here as always Pepper!  Looking forward to next season!

Probably one of my favorite things to see are people commenting posts like these under mine, it's really motivating to see people so into in my work!
I'm glad you like Marty and Dorothy! They're definitely some of the most exuberant owners in the league, and quite the hoot! The logo hopefully feels very 70's, I took heavy inspiration from the Hawks Pacman logo, and Winthrop's logo, which I feel is more apparent after the fact. I'd probably prefer a teal helmet as well, but I kind of relegated to white since I feel like it feels more 70's. Who knows, maybe a teal helmet is in their future.
It's relieving to hear New Orleans has been a big hit, it took me a bit to get a hurricanes logo I actually liked. The crescent moon was practically a last minute decision, I went back and forth on it since Houston also features moon imagery in their logo, but I figured it should be okay. The Bayou Blue is, at least is supposed to be, a direct copy of the Broncos old unique shade of blue, and I considered making it the primary helmet or away uniform, however I liked the vibe the forest green gave too much. I took a lot of inspiration from the Tampa Bay Rays forest and blue era, and Tulane, and the green kind of won me over. Although similarly to San Diego,  I could see the blue becoming more prominent in future changes. Both 70's expansion teams in real life have followed a similar path of changing to super modern looks as time has gone on, so don't be surprised if these both do as well.

Seattle and Chicago were both changes to in my opinion, worse uniforms. That was the intention. Not to say they're bad uniforms, but they were supposed to be changes that fans didn't like. So I'm a bit surprised to see the Lumberjacks change be praised a bit, especially because most people seem to want the A's and Eagles to both return to kelly, but I'll take it haha. Both these changes, well maybe not Seattle now if you guys, or well, the "fans" seem to actually like the uniforms, will be involved in more story in the future.

Wallflower wrote:

Well done on the long post!

I like both the expansion teams, both logos and colour schemes look good. The Condors is very nice and I think fits the colour scheme really well. It does feel a little less aggressive than I would expect for a condors team, but it works nonetheless. The Hurricanes are very nicely done tho, the logo, especially with the crescent in the middle, is nice, and honestly was not expecting dark forest green and light blue, but it works really well. 

I do like the Seattle update, it's a nice fresh start for a team that needs it. Hopefully, the new ownership and young QB can help give the team something to cheer about. 


I'm super glad to hear your a fan of the two new teams. I think y'all will really like the Kansas City and Portland franchises next offseason as well!
And that's the hope with the Lumberjacks, it's a whole franchise reset pretty much. Their coach is also on thin ice, so I wouldn't be surprised if that position gets reset as well.

Section30 wrote:

Big fan of both expansion teams, New Orleans is particularly nice.

Not the biggest fan of the move to red for Chicago, they still look good, but it just doesn't seem right for the Zephyrs. I like the changes to Seattle, the colors are great and their new unis are sharp.

Thanks for the feedback!

ZO82 wrote:

Loving the Tulane-inspired look of New Orleans

I'm happy to hear!

Also, here's the sigs for the Canes and Condors!




I reused an older style that seems to be more popular.

     Thread Starter
 

7/15/2021 8:28 pm  #1044


Re: History of the National Football Association - 1974-75 Season

1974-75 NFA Season

Northeast:
The story of the season was QB Skip Anderson and the Bulldogs out of the Northeast. Gone are the days of the sad Bulldogs teams of the past. Last year wasn’t a fluke and this Atlanta team is really special. Clinching the number 1 overall seed with 12 wins, this year was the best in team history, dating back to Baltimore and previous iterations of the Bulldogs. Anderson would lead an impressive young offense to the league's most efficient and highest scoring offense, collecting an MVP along the way. Coming in second, also proving last year wasn’t a fluke, were the Boston Gaels. Making a second straight postseason appearance, the Gaels captured 9 wins, their highest since 1964. The Gaels’ “Lucky-Gamble” duo lit it up on offense, and off-season acquisition WR Eli Grant helped rival the Bulldogs as one of the best offenses in the league. However the defense showed major problems, and may need to be improved if the Gaels want to go any further than the first round. Following the two young guns of the division, were the Cannons, who surprisingly made a playoff run in the second half of the season. Led by a mess of journeymen and project players, the Cannons chemistry is thought to be the reason for their 8 wins, their first winning season in half a decade. Rounding out the division were the Pirates and Hornets, who both finished with losing records. Firstly, the Pirates finished with an uncharacteristic 5 wins, their lowest since 1966, and only their 7th losing record in their 30 years since joining the NFA. The Hornets finished with just 3, in what’s likely QB Oscar Washington’s last with the team. The former Champions Bowl MVP, entering the later years of his career, has shown an interest in playing for a contender and leaving the declining Hornets. He’s on the last year of his contract so he’ll have the power to sign wherever he pleases this off-season.

North:
The North had an extremely strange year, having 3 teams tied at 7-7-0, including powerhouse Ironmen. This left the Bombers to rise and claim their 1st Northern division title. Despite being led by young talented QB Paul Knight, the Bombers keys to victory were the same that helped them reach the Champions Bowl last post season, their defense. While the Bombers were the division winners, the most interesting story was the Ironmen, who after winning the division 3 years straight, fired their coach in the offseason and now fell to 7-7 and missed the postseason. Some said it was a transition year, some called the firing of Andrew Penn a mistake, but a more likely answer was an injury bug that seemed to have touched every player wearing an Ironmen jersey. At one point the Pittsburgh o-line was out with injuries, and even QB Sam Powers spent some time nursing a sprained ankle. It was quite the disappointment for fans. Thanks to ties, Cleveland would actually slip to 2nd in the division, seemingly led by a mix of pieces of players still from their successful teams of the late 60’s-early 70’s and accumulated rookies from recent less successful years. Also in the same boat were the Barbarians, who were the last team to finish 7-7-0. Chicago found themselves at the bottom of the ladder, winning only 3 games for a second year in a row.

South:
Many thought the South would be less competitive than in years prior, thanks to an aging Stingrays and Explorers team, and the expansion Hurricanes. However, the South would continue to be a bloodbath. The Stingrays' struggles would be predicted correctly, as injuries to the offense, still led by RB Elijah Boone, would hamper any explosiveness they used to hold. What wouldn’t be predicted though was the Hurricanes winning 10 games. Which is about 4-5 more than most had them winning. The Hurricanes' surprisingly good defense would take the league by surprise and help them become the second ever expansion team to make the postseason in just their first year, the first being Miami. They just barely edged out Cincinnati for the division title, who would also capture 10 wins, but thanks to losing the head to head matchup, would lose the tiebreaker. The third team to make the postseason was Texas, who claimed 9 wins behind QB Rich Wilkerson. Houston would take a step back and St. Louis would take a small step forward and both would finish with a 6-8 record.

West:
As was the story for the Ironmen, the West would be highlighted by the off year from the Cougars, who after winning two straight Champions Bowls, and 6 straight postseason games, would finish 7-7, for seemingly no other reason but that they just did. They didn’t have any major injuries or chemistry or coaching issues, however they just seemed off. In their spot, the Ox would finally reach the highs that their fans have been hoping for since the turn of the decade. Led by the best defense we’ve seen since the Cannons, the Ox finally got over what hump that was holding them back in past years and jumped to 11 wins and a division title. DT Randy Hardin would win MOD, becoming the second Ox to win it in the past 3 years. LB Don Field winning it 2 years ago. Behind them were the Tigers, who made seemingly their 100th postseason appearance. In reality it was their 14th, which passed Philadelphia for second most of all time. After LA were the Cougars and then the Lumberjacks, who led by rookie Rudy Walker, had potentially the most promising year in franchise history, right when they needed it. Sure it’s only 6 wins, but it felt like the closest they’ve come to a winning record in a decade. Behind them were the 5 win Whales and the extremely disappointing Condors. In what was hopefully going to be a good year for both expansion squads, the Hurricanes seemingly took half of the Condors wins, leaving San Diego with only 1 to their name.





C&C Appreciated! Let me know how your team did! What are your predictions for the playoffs?

     Thread Starter
 

7/15/2021 8:59 pm  #1045


Re: History of the National Football Association - 1974-75 Season

Wow did not see the Hurricanes being anywhere near the top, which I suppose puts me in with the rest of the doubters, but good on em.
As for Minne, I swear if you guys somehow choke away yet another playoff game...
Either way, it is nice seeing the Blue Ox back in a very competitive spot, as well as the Bulldogs, who look to be here to stay. 
If Minne wins a game, then I like them going the rest of the way, but I also like Cinci and Atlanta to also be in my top teams to take home the title this season, there's a pretty good chance we have a unique final, so I'm looking forward to that. 

Also, glad to see Seattle was actually able to compete this season, hope that ship keeps going in the right direction.

Last edited by Wallflower (7/15/2021 9:00 pm)


 

7/15/2021 9:20 pm  #1046


Re: History of the National Football Association - 1974-75 Season

Wow, what a crazy year! Here are my opinions.

The Hurricanes, wow! Definelty did not see them finishing with the third best record in the league, let alone winning their division. Seems like the Golden Knights, just a team that puts it all together in their first year and shuts up the doubters I guess. I’ll keep my eye on them in the postseason for sure.

I will also keep my eyes on the Ox to see if they can finally break out of their playoff win slump this year, seems like they can since Texas is pretty young and it will be at home. Atlanta vs Detroit will be another interesting matchup as well considering the Bombers run last year.

For the champions bowl I have the Bulldogs vs the Ox with Atlanta winning their first championship 29-24!




 
 

7/15/2021 10:59 pm  #1047


Re: History of the National Football Association - 1974-75 Season

Was not expecting NO to be in the playoffs, let alone win the division.





 

7/16/2021 2:26 am  #1048


Re: History of the National Football Association - 1974-75 Season

Well since my Stingrays fell off, I'm rooting for Minnesota in the playoffs.



 
 

7/16/2021 7:13 am  #1049


Re: History of the National Football Association - 1974-75 Season

Dang, definitely a crazy season!   The Cougars and the Ironmen missing the playoffs is quite the shocker, (especially the 2x champions!).   

The obvious big story of the Hurricanes somehow making the playoffs in their first season as an expansion team is something else and proves going veteran heavy was a good idea! (worth noting I DID predict that they could surprise everyone by making the playoffs sooner than we thought.... I wasn't expecting it to be this 1st season though! haha).  I'd normally have my doubts that they'd go very far in the playoffs, but who knows.   With the Gaels defense being terrible, the Roughriders still being somewhat inexperienced in postseason play themselves, and the Blue Ox being......well, the Blue Ox, there is actually a nice opportunity for them to continue shocking everyone!

The major story is the Atlanta Bulldogs taking that next steps a championship, looking extremely good right now.  After years of embarrassment,  they really seem to have a team to be proud of and they look like they totally deserve that #1 seed.  That first round matchup with Detroit could be a trap game though.... that one will be worth watching closely!

I'm predicting the Bulldogs get through that trap game and also survive a tough challenge from the Tigers to make it to their first championship game.  I'm going to predict that they'll face the Blue Ox.  Yeah, they've been cursed for years, but I think this is the year they finally break through, giving us quite the interesting finale.

Final Score: Atlanta Bulldogs 38, Minneapolis Blue Ox 24




 

7/16/2021 6:55 pm  #1050


Re: History of the National Football Association - 1974-75 Season

Pittsburgh just can't have nice things. Sad days.



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