TheEnigmaticOne wrote:

Just a thought that occurred to me, with Kansas City joining, what is the state of football (Hybrid or American) in Saint Louis? Its a major market but I don't recall hearing about it.

St. Louis has a Great Lakes Football League team. Currently named the Hawks, but this could be subject to change as they are added to the story down the line. 

1973 ACFL League Meetings

Last offseason, the ACFL and SFL merged to expand the ACFL to 14 teams. The first season was an overall success with the new markets bringing eyes to the ACFL. While there was still a bit of a talent gap between the ACFL teams and the former SFL teams, the Atlanta Redtails and Birmingham Ironclads each showed they could compete with the Redtails getting to the Semi-Final. They fell short against the Washington Stars, who would go on to win the title this season. Overall, the deal seems to be a success as the ACFL is rising up again as a big attractive landing spot for players coming out of college.

Commissioner Don Soriano has also continued pushing for more systematic changes to increase league parity, something that Soriano has gone on record to praise about the NAAF. However, there is still some convincing that needs to happen amongst the ACFL owners as Stephen Van Fossen, who continues to have an unwavering vendetta against the NAAF, is keeping enough people on his side to block most changes. It is a work in progress, but Soriano hopes to continue to convince other owners that his plan is one for the better in the long run. He hopes that based on how far behind the majority of SFL teams are skillswise to the rest of ACFL teams, may help in getting the new ownerships on his side. 

Another thing working against Soriano is the situation in Pittsburgh. The Hammers, after losing the lease at Riverfront Stadium of Pittsburgh, have seen a rapid decline in the team’s financial performance. Considering the situation they were already in, it isn’t a big surprise that the team is facing a potential shutdown. More investors have pulled out leaving the team in a place where the organization was unable to properly pay players. At this point, Soriano is looking at options for what they can do with the team to give them a financial boost, but the historic franchise may be coming up on its final days. The instability of the weaker teams, which includes teams like Pittsburgh and the Richmond Lions, gives another reason for richer teams to go against balancing changes. They don’t exactly want to have to spend money on other teams just to keep them afloat. If Soriano can sort out these tougher situations, he may finally be able to move on to his bigger ideas.

Last edited by Wallflower (9/20/2024 6:00 pm)

You mentioned that Pittsburgh may fold outright, would it be possible for a relocation? If Pittsburgh is under the spell of the NAAF it might make more sense for the ACFL to bring in a new (or old) market in.

YES!! FOUR STARS ON THE HELMET!!! It's so beautiful ;-;

I like the change for Regina as well, the gold jerseys were never my favorite and the team's look is fantastic on green.

1973 Free Agency

Boston Independents
Boston made one of the biggest splashes of free agency, signing DB Aiden Sargent to a massive 3-year deal. The 29-year-old has been Pittsburgh’s #2 DB for the last couple of seasons. On his new team, he is expected to be the Independents’ top DB next to Tim McGovern. Boston also added LB Benjamin Page, who had a breakout season with the Victors last year after being traded from Providence. Page should shore up a solid LB corps for the team. Finally, RB Wesley Wu is back after a solid season behind RB Reggie Whitehead.

Buffalo Blue Wings
The Blue Wings’ big move was to add OL Martin Graw from Ottawa on a 3-year deal. The 27-year-old can slot well into any position on the O-line making him a valuable piece for a team looking to patch up their O-line. They would also grab a former Tiger in S Ezekiel Locke to fill in for the recently retired S Wesley Jones and S Eric Willis. WR Edward Washington will also get a new opportunity with the Blue Wings after a disappointing start to his career with Pittsburgh after being taken 10th overall in 1970. DL Ross Jackson and DL Miles Mandrycky also add younger depth to the D-line.

Calgary Predators
The Preds would make a couple of big signings in LB Daniel Timothy and OL Alan Farquharson. Timothy was taken 4th overall in 1968 and while he has been solid, he hasn't quite lived up to the expectations of a top 5 pick. In Calgary, he will be more support to an elite LB Junior Abbott and up-and-coming LB Marcus McGhee. Farquharson was taken 9th in the same draft and has been alright as well, but after a heated departure from Toronto, he finds a new home with the Predators. Calgary would also add depth in the form of DL Lukka Kudro, to fill in for the departing Barrett twins, and OL Elias Schenk.

Edmonton Rangers
The Barrett twins of Chris and Roger would head north to Edmonton, joining their hometown’s rival. The two wanted to stick together and Edmonton was able to provide a contract for both players to add depth to their D-line. They continued adding former Predator players in LB Tanner Upton (traded to LI last season) and DB Johnny Fairbanks as well. Then, they added veterans DB Corey Ross and S Pat Washington to the secondary. To help out the QB position, the Rangers would grab veteran QB Mike Key, who had a couple of solid appearances in relief of QB Martin Keller last season. While they have been busy, all but one of the Rangers signings have been 30 or older, which doesn’t exactly help what appears to be a rebuilding team. The only sub-30 player they have signed was depth WR Raymond Jefferson from Regina.

Halifax Mariners
The Mariners made a couple of solid acquisitions in what has been a relatively quiet offseason thus far. They would bring on DB Perry Ferris, who spent last season with the Tigers after being traded from the Gold Stars. Ferris will play a role in patching up the hole left by DB Joe Robinson’s retirement. WR Shay Hopkins also comes over as a younger speedy option in the WR corps. They would also bring back a pair of younger players in LB Nick Proehl and QB Colt Dorsey.

Indiana Victors
With new management and a whole lot of cap space, the Victors were busy attempting to revamp their team. They would bring in 3 solid veteran players in the form of LB Conrad Kurst, WR Felix Fontaine, and TE Hunter Ziegelbauer. All three should bring stability to their position being consistent starters. With the new management being mostly brought over from the Raiders, it wasn’t a surprise to see the team bring in a couple of former Raiders in DL Abraham Evans Jr. and OL Bob Abuoy. They also set up a QB duel for the season, signing QB Al Washington and QB Nathan Houle to matching 1-year, $15,500 contracts. The two 25-year-olds will hope to make the most of the fresh opportunity. Finally, they added DB Tomik Vrana, a former 1st Round Pick, who is hoping a fresh start can get his career back on track.

London Tigers
It’s been quiet in London, but the team still managed to bring in 2 new faces so far. Career-Blue Wing, WR Julius Drake, is joining the other side of the classic rivalry, set to be the team’s new WR3. RB Maxwell Greenfield is also joining the team to be a power back support to RB Jeremy Royal. The team also re-signed QB Tyrion Gainsborough who didn’t get a strong offer for a starting role.

Long Island Raiders
The Raiders pulled in a very interesting free agent in WR Nick Spalding. Spalding had a great 1970 season with Regina but has been limited in impact in the past 2 seasons. His speed makes him a threat and HC Levi Bray is hoping that he can use that in the passing game. The team also brought on a couple of former Blue Wings in DL Zane Tannith and OL Randal Graham. Then they also brought back QB David Simmons after his 2-year stint with Toronto. Simmons helped the Raiders win the Cup in 1970 when replacing an injured QB Ivan Sanchez in the McCallister Cup. 

Louisville Thunder
With limited cap space, Louisville has only signed 2 players thus far. LB Dylan Hill does return on a 1-year deal. Then, they also brought on TE Terry Wrasse to back up TE Rex Williamson.

Minnesota Serpents
The Serpents brought in a pair of significant signings to their defence, adding S Paul Christopher and DL Ron Prumple. Christopher should fit very well in the Serpents’ strong secondary, while Prumple solidifies their front next to Albert Sullivan and Ferris Kane. Deadline acquisitions, LB Nathan Davidson and DB Chris Berrymore, both returned on 1-year deals. Then the team would add depth in the backfield with RB George Seahorse signing on to be the other half of a backfield with RB Tyler Kuhn and QB Ulysses Lawyer set to back up Martin Keller.

Montreal Rouge
As expected, QB Tom Applewhite would be heading to Montreal on a new 3-year deal. The 31-year-old QB is joining his first new team after spending the last 9 seasons with Indiana. Applewhite has been a solid starter throughout his career, leading the Victors to one McCallister Cup appearance. Montreal hopes with a stronger team behind him, he can finally capture the cup. Indiana teammate, OL Jean-Baptiste Desjardins, has joined Applewhite in the move over to Montreal. Several other veterans also have signed on with the Rouge in the form of DL Bjorn Sigmarsson and WR Nathan Murray-Lawrence. Even S Garet deVale has elected to return to Montreal in hopes of capturing the magic that DB Neville Falkner did upon his return to his old team last season. The team also added a young LB in Grover Smith, who will look to break into a bigger role with his new team after being a solid depth LB in Toronto.

Ottawa Royals
The Royals’ key signing sees the team bring over RB Nikki Yang from Vancouver. The 26-year-old has flashed some potential with Vancouver in a backup role and Ottawa is hoping they may have a future option behind the 33-year-old RB Corbyn Knight. They also added several depth pieces in WR Chad Anderson, OL Clifford Pratt, and S Nick Prince. 

Pittsburgh Blacksmiths
The Blacksmiths had a little more cash to work with this offseason so they were out to make some moves. The first was to replace the departing DB Aiden Sargent. They would sign former Indiana DB Felix Roy. The 27-year-old had been the top corner in Indiana, but taking a smaller role in Pittsburgh might be a better fit overall. The team did bring back both LB Quinn Masters and QB Magnus Torrensen, before adding veteran DL Ryan Sargent. 25-year-old RB Alain Ducharme is joining the team as well to continue his growth behind Max Tracy.

Providence Gold Stars
The Gold Star entered the free agency period needing to clear cap space before they could start spending. They would end up making 2 trades. The first saw RB Ronnie Byers and DL Brandon Hall shipped off to Indiana. In order to take on the cap hit, Providence would move back in the draft, swapping their 2nd for Louisville’s 3rd.

Then, the 2nd trade would see the team move OL Millard Streety to the Toronto Steelheads. To complete that swap, the team would just swap 4th round picks that ended up being only 2 picks apart.

After making the moves, the Gold Stars would then add/re-add some pieces in FA. LB Brian O’Flaherty and RB Bob Sanders both re-joined the team. Then WR Colby Bancana would be added to replace the outgoing WR Owen Paisley. Then, OL Alanzo Tofflers and DL Teddy Piper were added for depth.

Regina Wheat Kings
The Wheat Kings have been looking to improve the roster by picking out from the players looking for a new opportunity. WR Bennie Braverman is going to get a chance to step into a bigger role after being a fringe starter for the Gold Stars in recent years. A pair of younger players looking for fresh starts LB Dallas Rush and TE Knobby Silverton also joined the team. They also boosted their D-line depth by adding DL Winfield Winchester and DL Jesse Rivard.

Toronto Steelheads
The Steelheads once again focused on bringing in help on the O-line to protect their young QB. OL Matthew Miller is the big name coming over from Edmonton before they also added Millard Streety via the trade with Providence. WR Alex Browne Sr. found a new home with the Steelheads hoping for a bigger opportunity than he got with the Tigers in the past two seasons. Local product, S Peter Sellers is also making the move over to Toronto next to a plethora of depth pieces in DB Janek Rodoslav, RB JC Skyes, and WR Eric Hodge. 

Vancouver Wolves
The Wolves set out to try and make some bigger improvements to their roster. They would make a big splash out of the gate landing the breakout DL Derick Parks from the Wheat Kings. Parks at only 25 is a great young player for the team to add to their already sturdy D-line. Unfortunately, the team struggled to land many other players due to cap restraints, but they managed to still add other depth pieces. RB Richard Morin comes in to replace the departing RB Nikki Yang, then WR Jessie Lambert adds some depth to the WR corps. Then QB Jerome Sheppard and DB Tim Ho both returned alongside OL Natsuki Ogawa after he spent a couple of seasons elsewhere.

Winnipeg Falcons
The Falcons have only managed to bring in one new face so far this offseason in LB Daniel Shao-Li coming over from Vancouver. Despite the lack of new talent, they still managed to bring back LB Kyrell Warner, TE John Wells, and DB Carl Odebell. 



Top 25 Signings (Ordered by Salary):
1 - QB Tom Applewhite - IND -> MTL - 3Y, $40,000-$44,000
2 - DB Aiden Sargent - PIT -> BOS - 3Y, $32,750-$33,250
3 - S Paul Christopher - PRO -> MIN - 2Y, $27,000
4 - LB Grover Smith - TOR -> MTL - 3Y, $26,000
5 - LB Daniel Timothy - LOU -> CGY - 2Y, $25,000
6 - OL Matthew Miller - EDM -> TOR - 2Y, $25,000
7 - LB Conrad Kurst - MIN -> IND - 2Y, $24,000
8 - DL Derick Parks - REG -> VAN - 3Y, $24,000
9 - WR Alex Browne Sr. - LDN - > TOR - 2Y, $23,500
10 - OL Alan Farquharson - TOR -> CGY - 3Y, $22,500
11 - OL Martin Graw - OTT -> BUF - 3Y, $22,500
12 - WR Nick Spalding - REG -> LI - 2Y, $22,500
13 - DL Chris Barrett - CGY -> EDM - 1Y, $22,000 - NTC
14 - DB Felix Roy - IND -> PIT - 2Y, $21,250
15 - WR Felix Fontaine - TOR -> IND - 2Y. $21,000
16 - DL Ron Prumple - VAN -> MIN - 2Y, $21,000
17 - LB Benjamin Page - IND -> BOS - 2Y, $20,000
18 - S Ezekiel Locke - LDN -> BUF - 1Y, $20,000
19 - DB Corey Ross - PRO -> EDM - 2Y, $20,000
20 - OL Jean-Baptiste Desjardins - IND -> MTL - 1Y, $20,000
21 - S Pat Washington - LI -> EDM - 1Y, $19,500
22 - QB Mike Key - MIN -> EDM - 1Y, $19,000
23 - TE Hunter Ziegelbauer - MIN -> IND - 2Y, $19,000
24 - WR Julius Drake - BUF -> LDN - 1Y, $19,000
25 - RB Nikki Yang - VAN -> OTT - 2Y, $18,500

FREE AGENCY OVERVIEW

Last edited by Wallflower (10/04/2024 5:02 pm)