1965 NAAF Expansion Decision and Announcement

1965 NAAF Expansion Decision and Announcement

With the merger with the OFU, the NAAF was looking for a 12th team to add to the league. As stated before, the league was looking for a financially viable candidate and had a stadium that was ready to be played at for the 1965 season. 

The Deliberation
The NAAF began their search with many of the cities that The Athletics had played at during the 1962 travelling season. Those cities included Hartford, CT, Springfield, MA, Portland, ME, Quebec City, QC, and Kitchener, ON. Kitchener was quickly discarded from a possible team due to the small size and the league’s previous time in the market. The other 4 cities were looked at quite carefully. 

The league would make some cuts shortly after to narrow down the options. Springfield was dropped due to a lack of a financially viable ownership option, despite having an alright stadium in Patrick Smyth Memorial Stadium. Hartford was the second dropped as the city still is not willing to build a new stadium, and Arnold H. Benson Park was no longer good enough to hold a team for the future. Quebec City and Portland would be looked at further. 

The one issue with the NAAF looking in the East was that the Long Island Raiders were hoping that they would be able to stay in the East Division instead of being moved back into the West. If either Quebec City or Portland are added, it would likely result in Long Island being stuck in the West Division again. With the Raiders’ hopes in mind, the NAAF looked for more candidates out west. 

They would look into several mid-western cities that would fit well with the Victors and Thunder. The top candidates in this area were Fort Wayne, IN, Toledo, OH, and Grand Rapids, MI. After looking at them, Fort Wayne would be determined as the best option due to having decent potential ownership and a big enough college stadium. Grand Rapids was still an uncertain market much like they were when they were considered during the 1957 expansion process, and would be dropped. Toledo did not have a stadium ready to go despite being a decently sized market. 

Ultimately, one of the biggest and closest options ended up being Minneapolis, MN. Minneapolis is one of the biggest markets that does not have a professional-level football team. The main reason for this was the mayor’s reluctance to build a new stadium. There is already the city's baseball stadium, however, it was built back in 1927 and it is the smaller size. The potential owner, Kris Mathieson, was still taking a chance on trying to get a team. The NAAF certainly would love to work with Mathieson, but they would like a new stadium in place to make the big jump over there. Mathieson’s attempts to get Mayor Brad Kennard and the city to approve a new stadium were unsuccessful. Kennard mainly stands by the belief that the current building is perfectly fine and does not see a reason to build a new stadium. 

With that proposal up in arms the NAAF turned back towards their other options. Over the final months of decisions, a final option would come into fruition and soon after commissioner Ryan Jameson would officially announce the decision. 

The Decision
“We are excited to announce that the 12th North American Association of Football franchise will begin to play in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1965.”

The announcement seemed to come way out of left field, however, the reasons for the move make too much sense. Starting with the official owner of the team, William Braddock. William Braddock, former Pittsburgh Hammers’ QB and father of current Independents’ QB Nathaniel Braddock, has become immensely interested in the NAAF. His initial frustration with his son’s decision to got to the NAAF instead of the ACFL had faded over the years as he slowly started to appreciate what the NAAF was doing. He has begun to believe that the NAAF is the better run of the two leagues. In the last few seasons, he has been looking for an opportunity to get involved somehow. The desire led to several attempts to get into the Independents organization, but had been unsuccessful thus far. Once the expansion possibility came up, he jumped all over it. 

As for the market itself, Pittsburgh does have the challenge of directly competing with the Pittsburgh Hammers, however, it may be a winnable fight. Ever since William Braddock retired, the Hammers have had only one good QB, and that was Angelo Medina who didn’t last long before heading to Buffalo in 1950. Since then, they have not had a .500 or above season. They have drafted several top-end QB’s that have all somehow flopped. Though that may have been due to the lack of talent around them as some went on to be good with other teams. Fans were getting very frustrated with the team’s lack of success. However, the ultimate turning point happened just a few weeks earlier when the last bit of hope in Pittsburgh was thrown away.

In the last couple of seasons, the team seemed to finally land an alright QB in Kenny Hodgson. He had been solid in the last couple of seasons, however, out of the blue the team traded the QB to the Boston Shamrocks. The move was a head-scratcher that infuriated the fanbase. There were some conspiracy theories that the ACFL, mainly Steven Van Fossen, forced the move, which only increased when the Richmond Lions made a similar move with Boston regarding a young RB. 

At this point, the fans were done with the ACFL. Even Pittsburgh’s mayor was done with it all. When Braddock came to him, he was more than willing to help secure a lease to use the Hammer’s Stadium, Riverfront Stadium of Pittsburgh. The second issue for Braddock was securing a financial partner. He didn’t have to go far as long-time friend and Hammers’ supporter and sponsor Bert Marshall of Marshall Steelworks was more than willing to help Braddock with the new opportunity. 

It was a perfect opportunity for the NAAF to grow the league. A team that was more to the west, with a stadium and financial support, and a vulnerable ACFL team. The situation feels very similar to both the Buffalo Blue Wings’ and Long Island Raiders’ dealings with the NYFL (prior to and during their merger with the ACFL). Jameson is very ecstatic about the new team and can’t wait to see what the future holds for the NAAF. 

Steven Van Fossen was asked about the NAAF’s move and was quick to reassure that everything would be just fine. “I’m not worried. Pittsburgh is a true American football market. The fans have stuck with the team through thick and thin, they will still win out. You will see over the next few years, the ACFL will pull through in both Pittsburgh and Boston.”

That is all that I have for now. The team’s branding will be revealed next offseason.