1956 Draft Preview

AACA Top 20:

1) Oklahoma - 10-0 

2) Calvert - 9-1 

3) Iowa A&M - 8-1  

4) Georgia A&M - 9-1 

5) Texas State - 9-0-1
6) Rogers Clark - 8-0-1 

7) Michigan - 7-2 

8) Brooklyn College - 7-2 

9) Wisconsin State - 7-2 

10) Pittsburgh State - 7-2-1 

11) Tryon - 8-2 

12) Minnesota State - 6-1-2

13) Oregon - 7-2-1 

14) Southwestern Christian - 7-3

15) UCleveland - 6-3
16) Navy - 6-1-2
17) Columbian - 7-1-1
18) ULA - 8-2 

19) New Jersey - 7-1-2 

20) Nebraska State - 7-2-1 

AACA Bowls:

Tournament of Roses Bowl (Los Angeles, CA) - (13) Oregon 27-21 (19) New Jersey

Palm Bowl (Miami, FL) - (6) Rogers Clark 35-19 (17) Columbian

Magnolia Bowl (Houston, TX) - (5) Texas State 27-28 (20) Nebraska State

Columbian Bowl (Chicago, IL) - (1) Oklahoma 13-7 (3) Iowa A&M

Gold Bowl (San Francisco, CA) - (7) Michigan 27-13 (18) ULA

Cigar Bowl (Tampa, FL) - (2) Calvert 13-0 (12) Minnesota State

Syrup Bowl (New Orleans, LA) - (4) Georgia A&M 14-32 (10) Pittsburgh State

Sun Bowl (El Paso, TX) - (11) Tryon 14-21 (15) UCleveland 

Orange Bowl (Orlando, FL) - (8) Brooklyn College 13-20 (9) Wisconsin State

AFL Top 25 Prospects

1) RB Mickey Greene - Pittsburgh State -  DireBear

2) OL Harvey Leonard - Los Angeles State - DireBear

3) QB Aksel Kahr - Pittsburgh State - Darknes

4) LB Isaac Bullock - Pennsylvania - QCS

5) WR Julian Washington - University of Cleveland - Kingsfan11

6) LB Matt Ross - Texas State- Kingsfan11
7) DB Joe Bellisario - New Jersey - DireBear

8) TE Isaac Vella - Chicago Christian- Darknes

9) S Bobby Loes - Staten Island - DireBear

10) DB Casey Selig - Permian Industrial* - DireBear

11) LB Tim Semptimphelter - Montana State - idm

12) DL Rusty Shankles - Wisconsin State - Dan O’Mac

13) QB Otto Brunswick - St. Paul* - MitchSwanson94

14) RB Andrew Outlaw - Wisconsin State - Kingsfan11

15) LB Hak-Kun Park - University of Los Angeles- Darknes
16) RB Rob Golden - Anaheim State* - DireBear

17) DL Moe Greene - Monongalia State - QCS
18) WR Jimmy Woods - Rogers Clark - Dan O’Mac
19) DL Buford Grant - Utica* - Wallflower

20) LB Gabriel Rose - Trinity - - DireBear

21) S Ernie Haas - Washington State - DireBear

22) WR Vlademar Kahr - Pittsburgh State - Darknes

23) WR Ben Fitzgerald - Brooklyn College - idm

24) QB Johnathan Lewis - Calvert - MitchSwanson94

25) WR Johnathan McDonald - Minnesota State - Kingsfan11

The Stormin’ Tornadoes of Oklahoma put together another undefeated season, claiming another national championship while claiming their second Missouri River Valley Conference title in just two years. Their players would once again get scooped up by the PAFC, and the Tornadoes would head up north to Chicago at the behest of PAFC president Virgil Bradshaw to play the Midwest’s best team in 3rd ranked CAC champion Iowa A&M Fightin’ Monks in the Columbian Bowl. In what would be a prospective bowl for PAFC talent, Oklahoma and Iowa A&M engaged in a defensive battle, where the Tornadoes capped off their undefeated season in a tight 13-7 win. Oklahoma’s traditional place in the Magnolia Bowl would instead be filled by MRVC runner-up Nebraska State Bulls, who had the tall task of playing the 5th-ranked RRC champion Texas State Lonestars. The Lonestars flew under the radar before the season, but had an excellent defense led by LB Matt Ross that propelled them to a 9-0-1 record and their first Red River Conference title in nearly a decade. The Bulls would end up narrowly staving off a fierce comeback by the Lonestars to win 28-27 in one of the bigger upsets in recent bowl memory. Calvert was unfortunately unable to match its undefeated season last year, but still managed a 9-1 year behind strong-armed senior QB Johnathan Lewis. The Terriers’ high-flying offense was lured to the PAFC thanks to hometown support from the Baltimore Barons, but Lewis was undeterred from their offers and instead declared for the AFL. They would be paired up in the Cigar Bowl against 13th ranked Minnesota State Twisters, where WR Johnathan McDonald awaited them in Tampa. McDonald was not the x-factor that the Twisters needed, as he was shut down by Calvert DB Harold Knox as the Terriers cruised to a 13-0 victory. With Calvert going south, the Tournament of Roses Bowl instead featured 19th ranked New Jersey Mallards, who took the bid after the bowl did not want Brooklyn College or either Los Angeles school for the 5th year in a row. Luckily for the Roses Bowl promoters, neither of the LA teams would win the Pacific Coast Conference, with the honor going to 13th ranked Oregon Pioneers. The Mallards were primarily led by a stout secondary headed by the tenacious DB Joe Bellisario, but the Pioneers were able to get past the Mallards to sneak ahead and win the Roses Bowl 27-21. The real underdogs this year were the 17th ranked Columbian Colonials, who would win out in a relatively weak Piedmont Conference, only to be put against the 6th ranked powerhouse known as the Rogers Clark Badgers in the Palm Bowl. Rogers Clark WR Jimmy Woods put up a dominant performance, speeding past the Columbian defense for 3 TD’s as the Badgers soundly defeated the Colonials 35-19. Brooklyn College instead was invited to the Orange Bowl in Orlando instead of their now-usual spot in the Roses Bowl, where they faced the perennially dominant Wisconsin State Warriors. Each side was not as strong as they had been in years past, but still provided some excellent talent to show off against one another. BC WR Ben Fitzgerald would show off his flashiness early, but Wisconsin State managed to pull ahead and win 20-13 thanks to two TD’s from RB Andrew Outlaw and a critical stop by DL Rusty Shankles. 7th ranked Michigan Beavers would end up finishing second in the CAC and as a result was selected to the Gold Bowl with PCC runner-up and 18th ranked ULA Aztecas, headed by the insanely smart LB Hak-Kun Park, who only recently took up football after his family fled Korea. Park alone would not be enough to stifle Michigan, who dominated them through the arm of QB Chick Buckley for a 27-13 victory. The Sun Bowl pitted RRC runner-up and 11th ranked Tryon Armadillos against Great Lakes Conference champions Cleveland Wildcats, where the Wildcats were highlighted by best WR this year in Julian Washington, a shifty and elusive player who easily torched the Armadillo defense for two touchdowns to put UCleveland above Tryon 21-14. 

What was a relatively normal year was marred by the events surrounding the 1956 Syrup Bowl in New Orleans between the 4th ranked Georgia A&M Chargers and 10th ranked Pittsburgh State Great Danes. Pitt State had rocketed out of nowhere to their first appearance in the top 10 of the polls thanks to a high-flying offense led by QB Aksel Kahr and WR Vlademar Kahr, and this year’s Bernheim Trophy winner RB Mickey Greene. The only problem beforehand was that the Syrup Bowl was one of the last Southern bowl games to still enforce segregation, and the best college player in the nation just so happened to be black. Many of the older bowl promoters wanted either a different team to play or to outright prevent Greene from playing. Pitt State and new bowl promoter Rudy Branthwaite II made their stance very clear: no Greene, no game. The Great Danes were so adamant about Greene playing that they announced he would travel, eat, live, practice, and live with the team, treating him just like any other player. The Chargers of Georgia A&M received their invitation to the Syrup Bowl after Pitt State did, and their head coach Leroy Edwards polled his players if they were willing to play an integrated team. Every single player voted in favor. The vote made its way to both Georgia governor Marvin Griffin, who had a son attending Georgia A&M, and to Birmingham Steelers owner Gerald Carlisle, who had already hired Edwards to be the Steelers’ new head coach. Griffin had already confirmed the Chargers’ participation in the bowl game, and Carlisle (allegedly at the behest of Virgil Bradshaw) persuaded him to think otherwise for the “integrity of the game”. Griffin then sent a public telegram to the state’s board of regents to prevent any Georgia-based college teams from engaging with any integrated sporting event, regardless of integrated participants or in the stands. That night, a group of Georgia A&M students began a protest against Griffin’s actions, which soon gained numbers and became a riot. The students marched their way from the Georgia A&M campus to the governor’s mansion in Atlanta, hung effigies in Griffin and Carlisle’s names, and ransacked properties until a state representative ensured that the game would be played. Similar protests spread to the other two major colleges in Georgia (Georgia University in Savannah and Baldwin College in Athens), where both protesting bodies stated “for once we agree with (Georgia) A&M.” The news of Carlisle’s and Griffin’s actions would spread after the protests subsided, where nearly everyone detested their actions, including AFL commissioner Donovan Hasenkamp, who called their actions “un-American”. PAFC president Virgil Bradshaw was unsurprisingly the only one at least leaning in favor of Carlise and Griffin, defending the un-American comment from Hasenkamp by stating “football is the most American of sports, and it must stay that way to stand out.” Leroy Edwards would back out of the Birmingham coaching position the morning of the protests in Atlanta and return to coach the Chargers, who would take himself to the Georgia board of regents soon after to argue in favor of Georgia A&M, ending his statement with “...we’re either going to the Syrup Bowl or you can find yourself a new goddamn head coach of Georgia A&M.” The board of regents would end up voting 13-1 in favor of allowing the game to proceed, the lone detractor being a good friend of both Bradshaw and Carlisle. With the Syrup Bowl back on track, it was an offensive showing by Pitt State. Mickey Greene would prove to put on a show, rushing for nearly 200 yards on the ground and 2 touchdowns. The Kahr brothers would connect for a touchdown of their own, while DL Buster Wright took down the Chargers’ offense late for a safety to put the game away. Branthwaite would directly hand the game’s trophy to Greene, bringing excitement to New Orleans football not seen in nearly a decade. 

The arguably next best player after Mickey Greene is OL Harvey Leonard from LA State, who might be one of the next best pass blockers in the league to whichever team will take him. Unfortunately, the rest of the offensive linemen in this class aren’t up to the same caliber as Leonard, so there are no clear-cut rookie starters besides him. Sitting with Greene as one of the other best prospects in this class is Pennsylvania LB Isaac Bullock. Bullock has the mental skill needed to play at the position, but the only knock against him is that he lacks a bit of the physicality typically needed at the linebacker position. If teams are willing to further develop that part of his game, Bullock can immediately become a game-changer for whichever team takes him. Rounding out the best players that did not participate in a bowl game includes Chicago Christian TE Isaac Vella, a block-first tight end that will slot nicely into any run-focused offense, and Staten Island S Bobby Loes, who has the ability to fly across the field to get to nearly any play. Although the best at each of their positions, they suffered a bit of stock due to either being part of a rare down Chicago Christian year for Vella or playing for a mid-major and not getting the prime experience at a larger college for Loes. The best players out of the Lower Division this year include DB Casey Selig out of Permian (TX), an excellent man-to-man type of back, RB Rob Golden from Anaheim State, who rarely needs more than one move to get into the clear, and DL Buford Grant from Utica, who is a menace on the offensive line but can get easily angered. 

Outside of Pitt State’s Aksel Kahr and Calvert’s Johnathan Lewis, no other QB clearly stands out as a starting option. Washington A&M’s Chris Bell and St. Paul’s Otto Brunswick both come from smaller schools, and thus could go either way if they are starting caliber or not. Bell prefers to extend plays with his legs, while Brunswick prefers to throw it deep while allowing more time for defenders to get to him in the backfield. These two could either range from great starting QB’s in a pinch to potential backups to ASPFL starters or anywhere else in between. Michigan’s Chick Buckley is similar in style to Brunswick but has a tendency to overthrow his receivers while trying to show off his arm. The other remaining option at QB is UCleveland’s Maximus Richards, whose attitude on and off the field has been detracting his play and would also need some time to develop. 

Draft Picks/Needs:

1 - Philadelphia Rattlesnakes

Picks: 1, 13, 25, 49

Needs: Everything

2 - St Louis Stallions

Picks: 2, 14, 26, 43 (PIT), 50

Needs: Everything

 

3 - Pittsburgh Shamrocks

Picks: 3 (DET), 20 (TRI), 31, 38 (STL), 40 (DET), 55, 58 (CHI)

Needs: QB RB OL WR DL LB DB S P

4 - Boston Dragons

Picks: 4, 16, 28, 45 (BUF), 52

Needs: OL WR TE DL

5 - New York Lions

Picks: 5, 17, 29, 53

Needs: OL WR TE LB DB

6 - Cleveland Crows

Picks: 6, 18, 42, 54

Needs: OL WR TE DL LB DB

7 - Detroit Knights

Picks: 7 (PIT), 15, 19 (PIT), 27, 37 (PHI), 39, 51

Needs: QB OL WR DL LB DB S

8 - Tri-Cities Hawks

Picks: 8, 30 (CLE), 32, 44, 56

Needs: OL WR TE DL LB DB S

9 - Buffalo Hammers

Picks: 9, 21, 33, 57

Needs: QB RB OL WR TE DL DB S

10 - Chicago Hogs

Picks: 10, 22, 34, 41 (NY), 46

Needs: RB OL WR TE DL LB DB

11- Washington Federals

Picks: 11, 23, 35, 47, 59

Needs: RB OL WR TE DL LB S

12 - Cincinnati Rivermen

Picks: 12, 24, 36, 48, 60

Needs: QB RB OL WR DL S