The 1950 NFA Season would be the first season that would have 12 franchises. The Washington Senators would play in the NFA East Division and the Cleveland Generals would play in the NFA West Division.
Also new for the 1950 NFA Season was a new award. The NFA Rookie of the Year Award was established to honor the rookie who's performance overshadowed all other rookie players. A rookie could still be awarded MVP also. During the off season, Colonials Owner William Middleton would hire a General Manager for his franchise. Since Middleton was Owner and GM of his American Baseball League franchise, the Philadelphia Railroaders, he would hire Andy McCarthy as his GM for the Colonials. McCarthy was head of the NFA Labor Relations Department from 1944 - 1949. This was the second franchise in NFA history to hire a GM. Head Coach George Majors would work with his new GM to hire a new coaching staff. Two time American Bowl Champion with the New York Lions, Benjamin Moore, would be hired by McCarthy as the new Offensive Coordinator under Majors. Moore who retired in 1946, would become the first retired NFA player to be hired on a coaching staff. In 1950, the Detroit Mustangs would finally be able to move into a new stadium, Mustangs Stadium. Their old stadium, Mustangs Field, was built out of wood in 1911 and was in desperate need of repair and updates. Due to World War II, the Mustangs were not able to build a steel and concrete stadium. When the war ended and there was no longer a shortage of steel, Mustangs owner Chester Ford ordered a new stadium. The stadium would take two years to complete and would be ready for the 1950 season.
1950 NFA DRAFT
At the end of the 1949 NFA Season Detroit's star halfback, John Ames, announced his retirement. His retirement would be the only "blockbuster" player to retire prior to the 1950 NFA Season. The Mustangs would begin their search for a new halfback. Detroit's Owner Chester Ford would contact the Washington Senators and Cleveland Generals to try and trade for a higher draft pick. Both teams would decline. Ford would then make a deal with Ernie Madison, the owner of the Pittsburgh Ironmen. Detroit would trade their first round pick in the 1950 NFA Draft (10th overall) and their first round pick in the 1951 NFA Draft to Pittsburgh for their first round pick in the 1950 NFA Draft, which was 3rd overall. The Washington Senators won a coin toss to earn the first overall pick in the 1950 NFA Draft. Cleveland would pick second. On January 20, 1950 at the Hay-Adams Hotel in Washington DC, the draft would start. The Senators would select Adam Burks, quarterback from Baylor first overall. The Generals would then select Fred Singer, halfback from Florida. With their newly acquired third overall pick, the Mustangs selected George Morrison, halfback from Ohio State. Many analysts and scouts believed Cleveland made a rookie mistake and picked the less talented halfback with the second pick.
The 1950 NFA Regular Season started on September 10th and was the twelfth season. To commemorate football coming to Washington DC, President Truman attended the Senators first game and flipped the coin at the coin toss before the game. The Senators hosted the New York Lions, who soundly beat them 31-6. The NFA East would be won again easily by the New York Lions for the third straight season with a career year by their fourth year quarterback Phil Sans. He would pass for 2,061 yards, 18 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. This would be good enough for NFA's Most Valuable Player for the 1950 Season. The Lions would finish the season 11-1 for the second straight season. Their only loss would be on Week 11 against the Bluejackets in Boston. The Senators would finish the season with an honorable record of 5-7 which was good enough for 5th place. For an expansion team, this exceeded expectations. Quarterback Adam Burks would put together a decent rookie year. He would start all 12 games and pass for 1,608 yards, 11 touchdowns and 20 interceptions. The Philadelphia Colonials continued to be in the basement of the entire NFA finishing with the worst record in the league for the fourth time in five seasons. It seemed that the Colonials two number one overall draft picks in the 1947 and 1948 drafts were not the answer to help turn the franchise around. Their quarterback Jack Freeman would have a nightmare of a season. He would start 7 games, pass for 228 yards, 4 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. Freeman would only win one game. The Colonials would look to their backup quarterback, Fran Rogel, on Week 8. He would finish the season losing five straight with 213 yards, 1 touchdown and 12 interceptions. Philadelphia's top draft pick in the 1947 draft, HB Malcolm Christopher, also had a terrible season. He would play in all 12 games but only rush for 283 yards and 3 touchdowns. Christopher would lead the league with 12 fumbles. The Baltimore Knights would have high hopes to begin the season. Quarterback Mark Trent looked like his all pro self again to begin the season. Baltimore would win their first three games of the season to tie the Lions for first place. They would then lose three straight however to fall 3-3 at the halfway mark. This would ultimately knock the Knights out of contention for the division title. Pittsburgh would surprise many sports writers. They would remain in second place in the NFA East from Week 4 until the end of the season. With New York dominating, the Ironmen would not be able to take first place and would lose both games against the Lions. Pittsburgh's defense was the heart of their team. Safety Don Doll would have 12 interceptions and score 2 touchdowns. During the Week 8 game against the Philadelphia Colonials, Doll intercepted four of Fran Rogel's passes returning one for a touchdown. Boston would finish 5-7 as they continued their rebuild. The Bluejackets would show improvement on their offensive line. Halfback Mike Dakota would be able to rush for 571 yards and 6 touchdowns. Quarterback Dick Hoerner would struggle. In 10 games he would pass for 720 yards, 6 touchdowns and 13 interceptions. Boston's owner Jim Cook made it clear at the end of the season that his top priority would be to find his next franchise quarterback. The NFA West would be easily won by the Detroit Mustangs. They would finish the season 10-2 and win their fifth NFA West title and their first since 1947. The trade Detroit made with Pittsburgh in the draft would pay off for the Mustangs. George Morrison would have 610 rushing yards, 127 receiving yards, and 11 total touchdowns (10 rushing, 1 receiving). He would be the first rookie to be awarded Rookie of the Year. Cincinnati would have a disappointing start to their season. During their Week 1 game against the Aviators, their star halfback George Washington would suffer a high ankle sprain. This would knock him out for much of the season from Weeks 2 to Week 8. During that stretch the Buckeyes would go 2-4. It looked like the Buckeyes were going to have their first losing season since 1943. After Washington returned, Cincinnati would finish 4-1 good enough for second place with a 7-5 record. The defending champion St Louis Aviators would not live up to expectations many had. Halfback Paul Walker would under perform following his MVP season. He would rush for 397 yards, 8 touchdowns and fumbled 5 times. With the run game struggling all season for the Aviators, quarterback Ernie Case would be unable to step his game up. He would pass for 1015 yards, 10 touchdowns and 7 interceptions. A decent season, but not good enough to keep the Aviators in contention with the Mustangs. The Aviators would lose both games against the Buckeyes and would finish in 3rd place. With the Lions winning the East and the Mustangs winning the West, this set up a rematch of the 1943 NFA Championship that New York won. This would be the third straight championship New York would play in. This would be Detroit's first NFA Championship Game appearance since 1947.
Phil Sans (QB, NY Lions) was awarded the NFA Most Valuable Player Trophy. Leonard Mitchell (NY Lions) was awarded the NFA Coach of the Year Trophy. George Morrison (HB, DET Mustangs) was awarded the NFA Rookie of the Year Trophy. AWARDS MVP: Phil Sans (QB, NY Lions) COY: Leonard Mitchell (NY Lions) ROY: George Morrison (HB, DET Mustangs) 1950 NFA CHAMPIONSHIP New York Lions vs Detroit Mustangs (December 17, 1950, Manhattan Field, New York, NY)