1969 League Meetings

THE KANSAS CITY ISSUE
Conversations about how to manage the developing situation in Kansas City were at the forefront of the league meetings. However, before the conversations got into full swing, the league confirmed that the Minneapolis team would be joining the NAAF on schedule for the 1969 season. Kris Matheson was very much relieved to know he would finally get to see his team take the field.

The first of the solutions was to see if there were other suitable stadiums available for the Kansas City team to play in until the stadium is finished. The first option was to play at the University of Kansas City, which had a smaller venue. The issue with this solution was the stadium was not built to house the slightly larger field size with pavement and fencing at the back of the endzone, which was deemed unsafe by the players. If they wanted to use the field, they would need to perform renovations which wouldn’t be a lot, however, the University wished to have a full-on renovation if they were going to do any changes, which would be costly and there was no interest to continue to throw more funds into a different stadium. 

The second option was to turn to Omaha, Nebraska, the other strong option for expansion that KC had beat out. The city had the option to play at Major Nebraska University’s football field, however, the state and university had also taken a hit due to the drought as well. On top of that, Jacob Cross was going to need some help keeping the team afloat and the ownership group behind the Omaha bid did not want to invest in a team that would not ultimately be theirs. 

The next option that was looked at was another bid in the Northeast to house the team for a couple of seasons. Not only giving a city that has been passed over multiple times a chance but could keep the current divisions intact. They looked at Quebec City, Portland, and Hartford, but once again there was not a lot of movement on that front. Some of the cities wanted a full-time team and not just be a stop-gap for another team, similar to the Omaha situation. Also, Mr. Cross didn’t want to own a team so far from his home in Kansas City.

Further options were discussed, but very briefly. None of the options seemed reasonable, so the league went ahead with a new decision. The Kansas City team would be postponed for the time being. If everything goes forward under a new ideal plan for the stadium’s completion it should be finished in time for the 1971 season, however, this is best case scenario and much of the funding is going to have to hope for a strong comeback crop next summer. Commissioner Ryan Jameson is expected to explore other options as well over the next season just in case the stadium’s production remains in limbo over the next year.

As for the 1969 season, Minneapolis will join the West Division for the upcoming season. However, Toronto will not have to make the shift to the East Division due to KC not joining the league. A 12-game schedule is expected, however, instead of the mid-season bye weeks, each team will get a bye week throughout the season as one team will be off each week. The actual makeup of a team’s schedule is yet to be determined, but ideas of a pure round robin or an all-divisional schedule have been tossed around along with a more balanced option. More news on the 1969 season will occur later.

MINNEAPOLIS EXPANSION DRAFT
With only one team taking part in the 1969 expansion draft, the NAAF has elected to follow the same expansion draft protection rules as the 1965 Blacksmiths’ expansion draft. Each of the established 12 teams will be able to protect 12 players of any age, with an additional 4 slots that can go to players that are 24 and under. After that the Minneapolis team will select 3 players from each team to make up their first roster. The expansion draft will occur prior to free agency in the early months of 1969.

HYBRID FOOTBALL COLLEGE
CANADIAN CONFERENCE CHANGES
After the shutdown of the OFU and the rise of the Canada East Hybrid Conference, there were several colleges that shut down their football programs, not desiring to continue with hybrid football. However, a couple of those schools have been desiring a return to football athletics. Conversely, the NAAF is open to continuing to grow the game and adding more schools to their hybrid conferences. In order to make some new moves, the league is moving some funds to help new programs get off the ground at these schools. There are expected to be a lot more changes down the line, but for this season, the CEHC will see 2 new schools join them for 1969.

Dominion University of Canada
Location: Kingston, ON
Abbreviation: DOM (some also call it the DUC, but the university prefers DOM)
Common Name: Dominion
Mascot: Knights
Rival: St. George
Notable Players: Edmund Landry, Gregory Ferrell, Hector Greenville
Dominion is the oldest school in Canada. Originally built just after the time the Dominion of Canada was formed in 1867. It’s a prestigious school with lots of history. It falls under the same category as St. George in Toronto and Cambridge of Boston in Boston, as a school that puts academics first. However, they have always been a surprisingly strong school in sports sharing rivalries with St. George, Toronto, and Rideau. 

Sudbury Provincial University
Location: Sudbury, ON
Abbreviation: SPU
Common Name: Sudbury Prov
Mascot: Miners
Rival: Kitchener-Waterloo Provincial
Notable Players: None
Sudbury Provincial is relatively new to football, but the NAAF is hoping their place further North will be able to bring in talent from other parts of the province. Sudbury had fielded some football teams in the past but had shut down several years before the OFU folded. Sudbury Prov is not expected to be all that competitive, but its goal is mainly to help grow the game and bring talent in from the Northern Ontario communities. 

POTENTIAL FOR FURTHER EXPANSION OF AEHC
In the US, it is certainly much harder to expand the influence of the game, especially with the strong-knit rivalries and traditions that many schools have, however, there are a few schools that seem to be interested in making a switch over to the hybrid game. The interest is coming from schools with NAAF teams nearby. The biggest chunk of schools are in Indiana and Kentucky. Louisville State and Northern Indiana (Fort Wayne, IN) both have become NAAF hotbeds as many prospects are choosing to make the transition to hybrid due to the Victors and Thunder. If those schools make the transition, it is expected that state rivals, Daniel Boone (Lexington, KY) and Indiana Tech (Indianapolis, IN) will join them. Allegheny University in Pittsburgh is also tossing around the idea due to the shift of the fan base from the Hammers to the Blacksmiths, however, that transition may still be a long shot for now. 

If the new schools are added, there could be a conference split where a few of the Western teams in the AEHC join the new schools to form a new conference as well. No changes will come to the AEHC this season, but be on the lookout over the next couple of years. 

ACFL
CHANGING COURSE
Last offseason, the ACFL saw a major change with Stephen Van Fossen being removed as commissioner of the league. Don Soriano, the owner of the Philadelphia Rebels, took his place and after 1 season at the helm, it was time to make some changes. The first changes were to pretty much undo the moves that Van Fossen had. Van Fossen’s biggest failure had been the expansion into Boston. The Shamrocks were a desperate attempt at trying to pull the Boston market back into American football, however, no one cared about the Shamrocks. Not only was the team bad, but fans preferred to just go to the Independents’ games instead and not spend more money on the Shamrocks. The Shamrocks barely ever broke 10,000 fans for any of their games in the 45,265-seat Richardson Stadium. Now, the Shamrocks had been improving on the field over the years, but in the stands, nothing changed. Soriano decided to merge the Shamrocks’ roster with the Pittsburgh Hammers, officially ending the ACFL’s venture into the city. As for the Hammers, they are hoping a better overall roster can help fight to keep the Hammers’ fans engaged with the city’s older team. Unfortunately, they are fighting an uphill battle, especially after the Blacksmiths showed that they can tango with the best of the NAAF and are certainly pulling in the disgruntled Hammers’ fans. 

The other move was with the Rochester Millers. While the team overall had not been as big of a failure as the Shamrocks. The owners did not see a strong market in Rochester and felt that the team would begin to fall behind in the near future, especially with the old stadium in the city. Soriano and the ACFL would buy out the ownership and fold the team, sending its players to the other ACFL teams. 

The ACFL and Soriano are hoping the moves can bring more focus to the central teams of the ACFL and regain some stability before they move forward with a new plan under Soriano.

1969 Branding

Introducing the…MINNESOTA SERPENTS
Kris Matheson was grinning ear-to-ear during the press conference to reveal the branding of his team. He first announced that the team would be named after the state prior to the conference by calling it the “Minnesota NAAF Reveal Press Conference”. Matheson first touched on the decision to go with a state name, stating that the decision was 1: to differentiate itself from the other Minneapolis team in the Minneapolis Black Bears, but 2: to represent both of the twin cities and the state as a whole. 

Matheson carried on with the reveal of the mascot. The Serpents. When Matheson was growing up, his grandpa, who was originally from Norway, told him about the Old Norse stories and mythology. Matheson was enamoured by the stories and, of course, was a big fan of Thor. When deciding on the team name, he wanted to pull from those old stories. He did wish that he could have called the team the Thunder after Thor, but of course, that was already taken. He had some other choices like Giants (Jötunn) or Ravens (like Odin’s Ravens), but he ultimately settled on one of the most feared beings in the mythos, the Serpent, specifically Jörmungandr (or the Midgard Serpent). Matheson loved the mascot, it was fierce and cool, as well as still having a connection to Thor, as the Norse God is prophesied to face Jörmungandr during the Norse Apocalypse, Ragnarök. 

Next, Matheson revealed the team’s logos. Here the team continues the Norse theme, taking inspiration from Norse artwork. The primary logo is a Viking shield with a stylized “M” placed on it in Blue, then a depiction of Jörmungandr is painted in green and white over top, making up the shape of an “S”. The serpent also features a classic Norse braid design that is featured in their artwork. The team also has an alternate logo featuring just the head of Jörmungandr. Silver is added to the scheme as the metal on the outside of the shield. 

The logo was quite well received, however, the jerseys left a lot to be desired. The home uniform would be blue with a unique set of stripes. With 4 white stripes encompassing a stripe of each of the team’s colours. However, the Green stripe is the thickest of the stripes. Matheson pointed out that he wanted the striping to be completely different than any other team before. He accomplished it, however with criticism, especially about the fact that silver is only used in that one single stripe on the uniform. The pants would be white with a green stripe, and the socks simply all green. The road is pretty much the same as the home with just the blue base and white numbers colour swapped. The helmet was probably the best element, as the secondary Jörmungandr logo is used. 

Regardless of what others thought, Matheson was still very happy to have his team be brought to life.

On top of the branding reveal, Matheson also revealed the name of the team’s new stadium. While the original name idea had been simply Minnesota Football Stadium, Matheson came through with a better name of Midgard Stadium. Once again, he kept going with the Norse theme, as Midgard is the name of Earth within Norse Mythology. It also connects to serpents with Jörmungandr being the Midgard Serpent who is wrapped around the planet. Midgard Stadium will be about average size for NAAF stadiums, housing 50,230 seats. 

LONG ISLAND RAIDERS CELEBRATE 50 YEARS
The original Long Island Raiders were founded in 1919, as members of the NYCFL. 50 years later, that original team did not exist anymore. After the 1951 NYFL season (the league was renamed in the 1940s), the Raiders were folded as a part of the NYFL’s merger with the ACFL. In 1954, Long Island saw the return of football in the form of the relocated Hartford Hawks. After one season as the Long Island Hawks, the Raiders would return with Owner Wayne Tillman changing the name after just one season. Since then, the team has become a successful team in the NAAF with 2 McCallister Cup titles. 

This season, to mark the 50-year anniversary of the team’s founding, the Raiders made some changes to their uniforms. The first is simply the addition of a “LI50” patch on the front of their jerseys, following in the footsteps of several other teams that have celebrated their history. 

However, the Raiders took it a step further and became just the second team to add a 3rd/Alternate jersey to their mix. While Tillman was a little worried that he may not be able to add the design after Toronto dropped their Hamilton Steelers alts last season, there were no issues from the league and they moved forward with the alternate option. This uniform is a throwback to the Raiders’ look from the 1951 season. The jersey is the team’s usual shade of dark green, which had only become the team’s colour after an attempt at black had ended up discoloured back when they first began to play in 1919. The uniform as a whole is as close as they could get to recreating the 50s jerseys while still following the jersey guidelines in the NAAF. Also to note, Maroon is completely removed as that was only added to the colour scheme following the team’s rebrand from the Long Island Hawks in 1955. 

With the addition of a 3rd jersey, which featured a new helmet, jersey, pants, and socks, the team decided to get rid of their secondary green pants and white socks from the white jersey and replace them with the maroon socks from the home jersey and the white pants from the alternate. 

C&C is welcome

Last edited by Wallflower (8/07/2022 5:31 pm)

50,000 fans chanting "SKOL" at Midgard Stadium for the first game is going to insane

As a big Norse mythology guy, I absolutely love the Serpents name. Really excited to see how their brand develops.

I don't support many Minnesota teams, but I will support the Serpents.