1965 Award Winners

1965 Award Winners

Most Valuable Player - QB Lyle Painter IND
It seemed like the former 1st overall selection had fallen quite far from his solid first few seasons in Long Island, but this season he showed that he still can make a huge impact. After not starting the first 2 games of the season, Painter would step up and would take over and lead the Victors on a 6-4 run to clinch their first-ever playoff spot. He would finish second in the league in passing touchdowns (which was on pace for the league lead had he played the first two games) and finish 3rd in passing yards. Painter is hoping to be able to continue to play at this level into the future and likely with a different team with his contract expiring and the Victors having a future with QB Tom Applewhite.

Playoff MVP - LB William Washington II LI 
Washington had quite the playoff run with the Raiders this season. He narrowly beat out DB Oliver Langstrom of the Thunder for the award (Langstrom had 3 picks in 3 games), with a stat line of 25 tackles and 2 forced fumbles over the Raiders’ two playoff games. Certainly, his play on defence helped the Raiders to only allow 23 points over the two games.

Offensive Player of the Year - QB Nathaniel Braddock BOS
Braddock has been around for quite some time, but he finally has won a regular-season award, taking home the OPOY award. He lead the league in passing touchdowns and passing yards this season and was clearly the best QB through the air this season. A great performance from a great player. 

Defensive Player of the Year - LB William Washington II LI
Washington’s comeback season certainly showed why he was taken 2nd overall back in 1963. He dominated within the Raiders’ defence all season long, leading the league in tackles for the first time. He was an absolute menace for teams to deal with and some may see him as the next great LB right as LB Scotty Williams may be leaving the sport.

Special Teams Player of the Year - K Nimrod Handsworth LDN
Handsworth continues to make an argument to be one of the greatest kickers of all time. He claims his 4th STPOY award this season which puts him only 1 behind K Thomas McFadden for the most of all time. He has continued to dominate like no other kicker and he could likely have several more before his career comes to a close as he is only 28.

Rookie of the Year - DB Aquilio Ruiz HFX
Ruiz narrowly beat LB Marshall Langenbrunner to the ROY award, but he does take home the award after quite an electrifying performance this season. Ruiz showed how dangerous he could be with his speed, sometimes appearing almost out of thin air to take the ball away from offences across the league. Ruiz has got a strong future ahead of him with the Mariners. 

Coach of the Year - Dannell Willis IND
Willis has gone through a few tough seasons since his last COTY award back in 1957, but being able to bring the Victors to the playoffs for the first time earned him his second nod for the award. He did only beat Toronto HC Ronald Martin by one vote to the award, which means there were several great performances at the jobs. 

Breakout Player of the Year - WR Evan Clanton BOS
There was a big hole in Boston’s WR core with the retirement of WR Ellis Lindholm, but Evan Clanton was able to rise to the occasion with a fantastic season as Boston’s new #1 WR. He ended being 3rd in both receiving yards and touchdowns this season, which certainly means he is likely making his mark as a top WR in the NAAF.

1965 All-Stars

WEST ALL-STARS
QB Lyle Painter IND (1)
RB Jimmy Golden BUF (2)
OL Taylor Forbes LOU (3)
OL Gregory Farrell TOR (2)
OL Viktor Stahl IND (1)
OL Jean-Baptiste Desjardins IND (2)
OL Emil Jennings LDN (1)
WR Ed Edwards IND (4)
WR Max Sutton LDN (6)
WR Edmund Landry TOR (2)
TE Emmanual Hines IND (1)

DL William Sanderson BUF (9)
DL Bjorn Sigmarsson LOU (3)
DL Lawrence Armstrong TOR (1)
DL Lonnie Vincent BUF (4)
LB Terrence Patton IND (1)
LB Dallas Dillard LDN (3)
LB Daniel Carpenter TOR (2)
DB Oliver Langstrom LOU (3)
DB Orville Blake TOR (1)
DB Kelly Kirkland IND (5)
S Wesley Jones BUF (1)

K Nimrod Handsworth LDN (4)

EAST ALL-STARS
QB Nathaniel Braddock BOS (1)
RB Dareion Fields LI (6)
OL Graham Chambers BOS (8)
OL Harrison Ward MTL (3)
OL Forrest Green LI (1)
OL Elliot Winterbottom LI (7)
OL Ward Briscoe HFX (4)
WR Cedric Peterson PRO (3)
WR Evan Clanton BOS (1)
WR Taylor Karis MTL (2)
TE Ryan Hatcher OTT (1)

DL Wayne Baxton HFX (3)
DL Craig White PRO (4)
DL Pionk Bjorkkstrand LI (1)
DL Timmy Kerr BOS (3)
LB William Washington II LI (1)
LB Konrad Aust BOS (8)
LB Sam Fitzroy MTL (2)
DB Neville Falkner PRO (5)
DB Rutherford Winter LI (1)
DB Alexander Bradley LI (10)
S Garet deVale MTL (5)

K Ira Foster OTT (1)

1965 League Leaders

Passing Touchdowns
1 - QB Nathaniel Braddock BOS - 24
2 - QB Lyle Painter IND - 21
3 - QB Gene Bishop MTL - 19
4 - QB Riley Kiernan LDN - 19
5 - QB Charles Lemieux BUF - 18

Rushing Touchdowns
1 - RB Jimmy Golden BUF - 19
2 - RB Dareion Fields LI - 16
3 - RB Max Tracy TOR - 16
4 - RB Rodney Clark LOU - 14
5 - RB Scott Mallard-White MTL - 12

Receiving Touchdowns
1 - WR Ed Edwards IND - 12
2 - WR Cedric Peterson PRO - 11
3 - WR Evan Clanton BOS - 10
T4 - WR Max Sutton LDN - 9
T4 - WR Edmund Landry TOR - 9

Interceptions
1 - DB Neville Falkner PRO - 8
2 - DB Rutherford Winter LI - 7
3 - DB Oliver Langstrom LOU - 7
T4 - DB Alexander Bradley LI - 6
T4 - S Garet deVale MTL - 6
T4 - DB Orville Blake TOR - 6

Forced Fumbles
T1 - DL William Sanderson BUF - 7
T1 - LB Konrad Aust BOS - 7
T3 - DL Wayne Baxton HFX - 6
T3 - DL William Washington II LI - 6
T3 - DL Craig White PRO - 6

48th McCallister Cup Host - Anderson Stadium - Toronto, ON - Capacity: 51,220
For the first time, the McCallister Cup is coming to Toronto. A grand stage will be set in the Nation’s biggest city and biggest stadium. Anderson stadium’s mega bowl will be a prime place for the big game. Many are expecting Toronto to become a fairly regular home of the big game considering the size of the stadium and the market that is the city of Toronto.