Name: Art Coleman
Age: 44
Bio: A member of the Canadian House of Commons serving Halifax, NS, Coleman ran an unsuccessful campaign for Parliament in 1945 before being elected in 1949 and re-elected in 1953.
Choices: Ottawa and Minneapolis. Coleman believes on growing the game on both sides of the border, and believes these two markets are the way to do it, with the Twin Cities far enough from the existing teams to bring new fans in but not so far as to completely alienate a new market from the rest of the league.

Now that the Expansion Council has came to a close, the two expansion franchises have been awarded to Minneapolis, Minnesota and Ottawa, Ontario! The identities will be released within the next day.

West Division Summary

Winning the West for the fourth year in a row were the Toronto Nationals. Led by Wayne Hill once again, the Nationals relied much more on the ground game after starting quarterback Josh Norton went down with a season-ending knee injury in week 3. In second were the Chicago Cougars, who look to be solid challengers for the Nationals. Kristopher Knight had another solid year for them, rushing for 765 yards and receiving 343. Coming in third were the Cleveland Lumberjacks! After years of disappointment and losing seasons, the 'Jacks finally recorded their first .500 record. The have plenty of hope, as rookie quarterback Stuart Hunter had the best season of any rookie quarterback in NAFA history. If they can build a solid team around him they could be a force to be reckoned with in the future. Finishing in last was Indianapolis, who was plagued by injuries all season.

East Division Summary

New York surprisingly did not with the East this year, the Knights of St. Louis did. The Knights were known for a balanced attack this season on both offense and defense. They didn't have any crazy performers, just a ton of solid players. Lester Riley missed 6 games for the Blues as they came in second place this year. Young backup halfback Aubrey Lyons was pretty good in his place, and seems to be a player who could fill his role once Riley is done playing (most likely within the next 5 seasons). In third was Philadelphia who had their season up-ended when quarterback Milton Gilbert broke his hand in practice just 3 days before week 1. He didn't return until week 9 when the Americans were already eliminated from the playoffs. Montreal seems to be the new Cleveland, as it seems they are set to be bottom-dwellers for the next few seasons at least.

NAFA Semifinals

West Division Final: Chicago 28, Toronto 6

Chicago came out and quickly put up 14 first quarter points with two Knight rushing touchdowns. Toronto then got on the board with two field goals early in the second quarter, but a late Knight receiving TD raised the Cougar lead to 21-6 at half. Chicago chewed a ton of clock in the second half and scored another touchdown early in the fourth quarter, bringing the lead to 28-6, which was the final. After the game, Coach Kent Collier was quoted saying "We're coming to New Haven to win a championship, and dethrone those dang Blues. We're going to win the Continental Bowl." New York hadn't even won their semifinal game, it would take placed the next night.

East Division Final: New York 20, St. Louis 16

The East Final was much closer, as St. Louis actually had the lead for a majority of the game. They came out and quickly scored a touchdown. This would be the only scoring of the first quarter. New York was able to muster two field goals in the second, but gave up a safety with 1:14 to go in the half, setting the lead at 9-6. St. Louis scored another touchdown early in the third, and it seemed they were on their way to their first Continental Bowl appearance. But NY had other plans. Lester Riley took a hand off 77 yards in the first play of their next drive to cut the lead to 16-14 midway through the third quarter. An interception set the Blues up in good field position, and they sank a 25-yard field goal taking the lead 17-16 with :58 remaining in the third. The fourth began with three punts before New York was able to get another field goal with 4:55 to go. St. Louis drove into NYB territory, but were unable to capitalize and turned the ball over on downs.

Continental Bowl VIII: Chicago 23, New York 22

It seemed as though New York would coast to their fifth Continental Bowl Championship after taking a 16-0 first quarter lead. Lester Riley rushed for both TD's, and both two-point conversions were converted successfully. The second quarter was much slower, as the only scoring was a Chicago field goal as the half expired. With the score sitting at 16-3, Coach Kent Collier needed to make adjustments. He shifted his defense from a 5-2 to a 4-3, in an attempt to surprise the Blues and stifle their explosive rushing attack. On the first drive of the second half, Chicago finally put the ball into the end zone on a 23-yard Kristopher Knight rushing TD. With the score now at 16-10, the Blues answered with a touchdown of their own, raising the lead up to 22-10 after the extra point was blocked. This would be the score as the quarter came to a close. To open up the 4th, Chicago marched down the field before a 23-yard pass put them back in the end zone, cutting the lead to 22-17. Lester Riley led the Blues right back to the other side of the field before Chicago's Spencer Christensen (LB) stripped him, halting the Blues' drive at the 11-yard line. The Cougars then went back to the end zone and took the lead with 4:14 remaining. In an attempt to go up 3, they went for 2, but failed. New York then marched right back into Cougar territory. Then, on 3rd and 4, Christensen once again came up clutch, picking off Brendan Boone and sealing the game for the Cougars.

Congratulations to the Chicago Cougars, the first team not named New York or Toronto to capture a Continental Bowl Title!

Thanks for viewing, C&C is appreciated.

Last edited by DoctaC (6/07/2019 11:13 pm)

1956 NAFA Off Season

On June 4 the Montreal Saints were put up for sale by Michelle and Elena Roberson. Because the Saints' lease with le Stade Montreal runs out after the 1956-57 season, if the team is purchased and then moved there will be little stopping them from doing so.

Then, on June 21, the new Minneapolis identity was unveiled at a press conference at the NAFA Building in Manhattan:


The team will be known as the Minneapolis Black Bears, named after the bears which roam throughout the forests of Minnesota.

The Black Bears are owned by Walter Clark, the owner of a large food processing company based out of Minneapolis. He is actually the cousin of the former owner of the now-defunct Connecticut Sailors, Jerry Clark. He decided to use the half-sleeves in order to pay homage to the Sailors' old uniforms.

Two teams made changes to their looks this off season.

The Chicago Cougars added their logo to their helmets:


And the Toronto Nationals changed their logo. It now uses the maple leaf, a symbol of Canada. They use a partial version on their helmets:


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Last edited by DoctaC (6/11/2019 12:36 pm)

Steelman wrote:

Good base identity package for the Black Bears. It's funny, I personally can't stand the sight of those half sleeve things but they fit the look and I could see some version of them evolving with their look.

Toronto is so sharp. Now that Chicago has their logo on their helmets, I could see them switching to white helmets soon. That logo would really pop.

I actually forgot to mention the reasoning behind the half-sleeves for Minneapolis.

The Black Bears are owned by Walter Clark, the owner of a large food processing company based out of Minneapolis. He is actually the cousin of the former owner of the now-defunct Connecticut Sailors, Jerry Clark. He decided to use the half-sleeves in order to pay homage to the Sailors' old uniforms.

I just added it in the original post.

Last edited by DoctaC (6/11/2019 12:37 pm)