1952-53 Offseason

Retirements:

Headlining the retirements this year is a trailblazer of not just football, but all of professional sports. Chicago RB Johnnie Hendrix was one of the first players to break the color barrier along with DB Vincent Kelly, who retired the previous year. With two championships under his belt, Hendrix is hanging up his cleats after an 8 year career, all with the Hogs. He won’t be going far from the football field, as he approached Donovan Hasenkamp about a coaching position with the team, which Hasenkamp happily obliged to make him a running backs coach with the team. This move makes Hendrix the first black coach in any capacity in professional football. Two other prominent names also took their last steps as a player on the field. Detroit’s Sellers brothers, TE Francis Sellers and DL James Sellers, were cornerstones for the Knights for nearly a decade. Both had seen a sharp decline in playing ability in the 3 years since the AFL formed, and decided to retire together to go back to their alma mater of Michigan for coaching positions. Cincinnati QB Lee Christian had a rough few years since entering the league, going from starter in 1950 to benched in 1951 and finally ended his career as a backup to QB Lester Parker. Christian was well-liked by fans and players alike, with his charismatic presence on the field even the most uninterested of people. He won’t be going far from River Field though, as he will be in the ears of Rivermen fans as a radio commentator for Cincinnati. The last prominent retirement of the offseason is Columbus Buckeyes all-time leading scorer K Darrell Hoffman. He spent all 16 years of his career with the team, and was the team’s first all-star in 1951 (and the only one for that year). His short time in the league will be well-remembered at least to Buckeyes fans, as he kicked the final points as the Columbus Buckeyes to upset the Cincinnati Rivermen last year on a game-winning field goal. 

Coaching Changes:

Washington Federals owner Bernard McCullough was determined to turn the team around once they moved to the nation’s capital. As soon as the relocation was finalized, McCullough fired HC Leon Maddox, OC Jesse Tracy, and DC Bill Cooper to start the new era in Washington. Cincinnati joined in on the firings, letting OC Michael Franklin walk after the Rivs’ offensive slump in the latter half of the 1952 season.  

The head coach hunt for the Federals was between a few candidates, notably Chicago OC Leonard Holland, Chicago DC Irving Berry, and Buffalo OC Ross Dean. McCullough knew the offensive unit was sound, so he went with the defensive mind of Berry to be the Federals’ first ever head coach. The Federals also brought in Virginia Commonwealth OC Tommy Park, who McCullough frequently had seen while down in his hometown of Richmond, and Wisconsin State DC John Norman, whose defensive unit last year brought the Warriors a share of the national championship, and has produced Rookie of the Year LB Barry Moore. 

Chicago was rumored to hire someone from Chicago Christian, but instead decided to hire from within. DL coach Anthony Conway was promoted to the DC position, being largely instrumental in DL Eric Forbes’ rise to stardom in just the 2 years he’s been in the league. Conway had previously been a defensive assistant at Minnesota State, and will become the youngest coach in the AFL at just 38 years old. Cincinnati went the route of hiring a local college coach, hiring Cincinnati State OC Alfred Joseph to the same position. The Trojans are coming off of back-to-back Great Lakes Conference titles, and Joseph’s offensive schemes were a key part as to why they were successful. The Rivermen hope that Joseph is able to bring his schemes over and translate it to the same success the Trojans had, as the Rivermen are now Chicago’s main competition in the West and want a championship of their own. 

Trades:

The Hawks’ midseason collapse last year was primarily due to the injury bug getting to everyone, but some sports writers were putting the blame on the Hawks’ secondary for not stepping up during the season to help the ailing offense. With the retirement of starting S Walter Carey, the Hawks were without a definitive starter for the year. They had just drafted S Tom Meltzger the year prior, but owner Bert Hester wanted to go bigger. Cincinnati had a burgeoning star in S Tom Silva, who had been named to the previous two all-star teams. The Hawks and the Rivermen eventually agreed to a trade, where Cincinnati would send over Silva in exchange for the Hawks’ 1955 1st round pick and WR Chris Marks. Marks had shown flashes of potential while subbing in for the main trio of receivers in Tri-Cities due to injuries, but never got to truly shine behind the main starters. With the Hawks drafting and favoriting the home-grown receiver of Max Ausloos last year and coming into this season, Marks was sent along in the trade to get a change of scenery and to pair up with WR Alfred Dunn, who has been effectively carrying the Rivermen receiving core since entering the league in 1951. The Hawks were once again criticized for giving up too much in a trade, with owner Bert Hester taking once again taking the majority of the blame. Many local sportswriters believed that the secondary was not an issue with the team, with the primary issues coming on the offensive and defensive lines. Hester assured local press that these issues would be addressed in the upcoming draft, and that the team will perform like they did in the 1950 season with the newly acquired talent. 

 

 

After 3 consecutive losing seasons in the AFL and not having more than 6 wins in a season since 1944, the Cleveland Crows were going to blow everything up and start from scratch. GM Ike Schwann made it very clear to every owner that he wanted picks for players, and almost every owner came knocking on his door for a deal. The first, and largest, of these deals was with Washington. The Crows sent over 1951 All-Star OL Chester Garrett and WR Joseph Atkins to Washington in exchange for OL Donald Sparks, the Federals’ 3rd round pick this year and their 2nd round pick next year. Garrett had been a consistent starter for the Crows the past 3 years, and Atkins had been a solid player since entering the league in 1951 but never meshed well with the scheme. The Federals need more help for QB Johnnie Sellers, and Garrett is set to provide him excellent protection while Atkins may be a solid receiver for Sellers that isn’t over 30. Sparks had mainly been a depth piece while in Columbus, but he may have a shot at the starting role over in Cleveland.

 

Pittsburgh wanted an answer to Buffalo’s high-flying offense, and sent in trade proposals to Cleveland to acquire some pieces for their secondary. The Shamrocks would end up getting DB

Jerry Pruitt, who was an all-star for the Crows last year, and sent over a 3rd round pick in 1954 and a 2nd rounder in 1955 to the Crows in exchange. Pruitt had formed an incredible tandem with DB Nicholas Lamb while in Cleveland, and the former’s departure almost certainly spells the end of Lamb’s career as a Crow. Lamb’s name was never called before the trade deadline, but other teams will almost certainly be asking for his services soon. 

 

 

The final major trade was more of a shocking one. Cleveland RB Perry Ferguson was signed in 1950 as a player that could change the running back position with his play at Boston Christian. However, the past two seasons have proved that Ferguson’s amazing college abilities were not transferring over to the professional level like Cleveland had hoped. Undrafted RB Max Panders was showing incredible signs of growth during the offseason, and the Crows were willing to do almost anything to get Ferguson off their hands. In the end, Cincinnati came calling to acquire Ferguson, sending WR Stanley McIntyre and a 3rd rounder this year while the Crows would send Ferguson and 4th rounder this year as part of the deal. McIntyre was the former top receiver in Cincy before Dunn arrived, and wanted a place where he could be the #1. The Rivermen shocked most sports writers with the Ferguson trade, as current starter Billy Garcia had done a perfectly fine job in his first season as a starter. Ultimately, the Rivermen were willing to do anything to get over their Chicago hurdle, and hoped they could get Ferguson back to playing like his college days to bring a huge boon to their offense.