1965 League Meetings

1965 League Meetings

Expansion Draft Rules
With the addition of Pittsburgh to the NAAF, the league would be holding an expansion draft this offseason. They would officially announce the protection rules to the public, which had been fed to teams a little earlier in the season so they had more time to prepare. 

Each current NAAF team will be allowed to protect 12 players of their choice, without any age restriction, however, they will have an additional 4 protections for players that are under the age of 24. They are allowed to protect more than 4 players under the age of 24, but they will not be able to protect more above the age. 

Pittsburgh will then get to select 3 players from each team across the league. They can only take 1 player that is under 24 per team but can take all 3 above 24 if they so choose.

League Alignment and Season Format
Heading into next season, the NAAF will now have 12 teams in the league. Pittsburgh will be added into the West Division joining the Thunder, Victors, Tigers, Blue Wings, and Steelheads. The playoff format will not be changing, the top 3 teams in each division will make the playoffs, with a crossover rule for the final spot in either division. 

As for the schedule, the league was deciding between two major formats, which would either see a format similar to the divisional heavy 1964 schedule where teams would play everyone in their division 2 times (10 games) and only 2 other teams from the opposite division (2 games) or more back to an all-around schedule that would see everyone play at least once during the season with an additional game being played against a division rival. In the end, the NAAF decided to go with the second format where everyone in the league would play at least once (11 games), and the team that they play for rivalry week will be the additional game to make up the 12 game season. These rivals would be predetermined and would be:

East
MTL-OTT
BOS-PRO
LI-HFX

West
BUF-LDN
LOU-IND
TOR-PIT

ACFL
Well, it certainly was an interesting year for the ACFL as they hoped the Boston Shamrocks would start to make up ground after grabbing QB Kenny Hodgson from the Pittsburgh Hammers. They would certainly improve, winning 4 games this season with Hodgson, but the stadium remained mostly empty. However, things were looking direr surrounding the Hammers, as the team, now without a young starter, was abysmal going winless and barely coming close to a win all year. There is now a lot of tension surrounding the league as both of the markets are now (or still) leaning in NAAF favour. The tough season from the Hammers certainly opens the door for the NAAF squad to give something for the city to cheer about. 

GLFL talking to Minneapolis
The NAAF had taken a long look into expanding into Minnesota, but there just was not a viable stadium plan in place to get a team in the city. However, the GLFL is a little more lenient on the stadium issue and is willing to look at options to bring a team to their league. The move would make total sense and increase the league’s size to 8 teams. The discussion will likely continue throughout the GLFL’s upcoming offseason.