[MIJB#19]

75th season anniversary: 50 Legends, Jay McGee period
To celebrate the 75th season of the Maassluis Merchantmen, I selected 50 players that I consider the legends of that time span from 2004 until the start of the 2078 season. I split the list of players into 5 groups, each being a time period of roughly 15 seasons. We'll continue with episode 3: the Jay McGee period.

FB #20 Albert "The Shovel" Shalon 2029-2039
Albert Shalon, fullback out of Oklahoma State. In the middle of the 4th round of the 2029 draft, the Merchantmen decided to make that name announced. Shalon was a big backfield player, who was scouted to be a top-notch power inside and the mentality to jump into the third and short situations. At the same time, he was fierce enough to support the run blocking on first and second down. As a rookie, Shalon immediately was thrown into the 2-back and short yardage situations. A couple of times per game, the Merchantmen would be in a short yardage situation and about once per game, they needed a big bulldozing player to breakthrough the melee of offensive and defensive linemen. Shalon turned out to be exactly that and quickly got nicknamed "The Shovel". For 10 seasons, Shalon played that role. After perhaps his best season, the Merchantmen decided to dismiss Shalon and promote second-year fullback Greg Brass into that role. Brass was a better blocker, but was unable to reach Shalon's 68 percentage conversion rate, the best in Merchantmen history.

QB #7 Jay McGee 2030-2039
Jay McGee was the 2030's surprise trade addition for the Merchantmen. When they were finalizing the blockbuster deal that would send Russell Harrison to the Rochester Lake Monsters, the Merchantmen rang the Fort Worth Furty, whom had put fourth year McGee on the trade block. The former first round pick had lost the starting role in 2029. McGee turned out to be a dependable and safe quarterback. In his first three seasons, McGee threw for 65 touchdowns with only 29 interceptions, but failed to guided them to the playoffs once, twice missing out with a 9-7 record. On Harrison's return to Maassluis, McGee was demoted to a backup role for 2 seasons, but after the man of glass retired, McGee upped his game and quarterbacked the Merchantmen to the playoffs for 5 straight seasons, with at least 10 wins each season and 4 division titles. Despite having a reputation of played bad in the post season, McGee has a 5-5 record in the playoffs, leading the Merchantmen to the 2038 and 2039 AOC Championship game. In 2039 he threw 4 touchdown passes there to lead the Merchantmen past the Tucker Tigers into IHOF Bowl XXXVI. After throwing for just 159 yards in the 23-10 loss against the Chesapeake Chitterlings, the Merchantmen decided that cutting McGee was the best move to get out of cap hell. McGee ranks fourth all-time for the Merchantmen with 31,422 passing yards, 255 touchdowns and 106 interceptions in 139 regular season games. Curiously, despite not making it into the Hall of Fame, with a 92.5 figure, McGee has a highest passer rating than the three Merchantmen quarterbacks who did get elected. McGee saw limited action from the Iowa Cobbers' bench in 2040 and after spending the entire 2041 season on the Paris Musketeers' bench he decided to retire.

S #42 Perry Walker 2030-2043
Perry Walker from West Viriginia was the Merchantmen's fifth round pick in the 2030 draft. In Merchantmen tradition, as a rookie Walker played mostly in a dime back role and promoted to nickel back in his second season. Things got really interesting in his third season, when he was promoted to strong safety as the reign of Hopper & Walker began. Walker was a hard hitting safety, able to walk all over the field. As a result, in 14 seasons, Walker made 895 tackles, 333 assists and forced 19 fumbles, more than any other safety in Merchantmen history. With 23 interceptions and 88 defended passes, he's managed a 81.1 pass defense score.

LT #60 Kerry Zumdahl 2031-2038
Kerry Zumdahl was one of three first round picks for the Merchantmen in 2031. Coming off a disastrous 5-11 season, the Merchantmen held the 6th overall pick and decided to grab Zumdahl as the new left tackle for quarterback Jay McGee. As a rookie, he was throwing into that role from the start. It turned out to be a tremendous decision. Zumdahl would never allow more than 5 sacks in a season while wearing the orange-white-and-blue uniform. Moreover, Zumdahl also turned out to be a contributor to the running blocking duties of the offensive line and was an All-IHOF first team selection for 3 straight seasons from 2032 to 2034. In the 2039 off-season, to get out of cap hell, the Merchantmen decided to trade Zumdahl after 8 seasons to the Tucker Tigers, the team that held the Merchantmen out of the IHOF Bowl in 2038. His first encounter with the Merchantmen was a 47-7 victory, but in the rematch in the 2039 AOC Championship game, Zumdahl saw his previous quarterback torch the Tigers' secondary. Zumdahl would continue his stellar play for 6 seasons in Tucker, winning 3 IHOF Bowls and eventually getting elected into the Hall of Fame.

S #49 Thurman Hopper 2031-2044
Thurman Hopper was one of three first round picks for the Merchantmen in 2031. They gave up a second round pick to trade up from 24th overall to 15th to be able to pick Hopper. The Merchantmen defense ranked 26th in yards allowed the season prior. Hopper had to work himself up in the pecking order, despite being a first round pick. Hopper became a fulltime starter late in his second season, establishing the Hopper & Walker partnership at safety, which would stick together until Walker's retirement in the 2044 off-season. Hopper was the ball hawker of the two. With 42 interceptions and 105 defended passes, he has a 82.5 pass defense rating. He ranks in Merchantmen history in interceptions. An injury kept Hopper sidelined for basically the entire 2039 season, also meaning he had to miss the Merchantmen's first participation in the IHOF Bowl, but otherwise he appeared to be near unbreakable in an era where safeties played the most injury prone position in football.

G #71 Ricky Castillo 2032-2038
Ricky Castillo became the Maassluis Merchantmen's 2032 first round pick. The guard out of Ohio State was immediately thrown into the starting lineup, to play side by side with second-year pro Kerry Zumdahl and became the primary run blocker of the line for Darrin Keegan. For 7 straight season, Castillo was a building block of the Merchantmen offense. Castillo earned All-IHOF first team honors in 2032 and 2034, while being a second teamer in 2033. In the 2039 off-season, the Merchantmen put Castillo on the trade block to get out of cap troubles. Castillo was traded to the Tucker Tigers, the team that beat the Merchantmen in the 2038 AOC Championship game. Castillo was on the losing end in 2039 again, this time against Maassluis. After 5 decent seasons in Tucker, he was a cap casualty there and played his final IHOF season for the Moontown Darksiders. Despite petitions from the Merchantmen fans, Castillo hasn't been elected into the Hall of Fame.

WR #83 Adam Brautlacht 2034-2044
Adam Brautlacht was drafted in 2034 by the Merchantmen high in the third round. He came in with high expectations, as the Merchantmen thought they had acquired a fast, agile receiver who could also be used as a punt returner and special teamer. Notoriously, the Merchantmen stadium announcer would by pronouncing his last name as if it was Dutch, making it sound very similar to how his German ancestors would pronounce it. In his second season, Brautlacht maneuvered himself into the WR2 role, ahead of the underperforming veteran Travis May. After the arrival of Terry Haskell, Brautlacht bounced around on the depth chart, but still managed to total 207 catches for 2,702 yards and 29 touchdowns in his first six seasons. The highlight came as he was a starter in the IHOF Bowl XXXVI loss. In the 2040, he got buried deep on the depth chart, spending most of the season inactive. Albeit getting a bit more action in the next 4 seasons, his role in the offense was limited to 4th or 5th receiver. After being the primary punt returner in the 2044 season, and occasionally getting the "Brautlacht!" chants going around in Oranje Haven, he retired in the 2045 off-season.

WR #89 Terry "The Gasket" Haskell 2036-2048
Terry Haskell was the main acquisition of the 2036 off-season for the Maassluis Merchantmen. As the incredibly talented receiver fell outside the top 5 picks, the Merchantmen picked up the phone and struck a deal with the Neverland Ranch Hands, sending them the 20th and 26th overall picks, as well as a couple of third round picks. The Merchantmen management and coaching staff were ecstatic, they finally got a successor to Hall of Famers Gabe Springer. Haskell broke into the scene with Offensive Rookie of the Year numbers, starting a stretch of 11 seasons in which he missed the 1,000-yard figure just once (the injury plagued 2041 season). Unlike Springer, Haskell remained to be in a starting role through his final season (2048), in which he barely broke the 15,000-yard career mark by a single yard. Haskell received the nickname "The Gasket", suggesting he was a safety measure to keep the Merchantmen from turning over the ball, by making crucial third down catches and remarkable catches that were about to be intercepted. Haskell is the all-time Merchantmen leader in receptions, receiving yards and receiving touchdowns, as well as receiving touchdowns in a single season. Unsurprisingly, he was elected into the Hall of Fame.

LB #55 Wesley Devine 2036-2048
Wesley Devine made the 2036 draft even more awesome after the selection of Terry Haskell. The Merchantmen into the 34th overall, sacrificing their first round pick in 2038 to make the move. Devine was expected to, and turned out to be, a complete linebacker. The three-time All-IHOF selection was a key part to the Merchantmen pass defense and run defense for 13 straight seasons. Devine became the second Merchantmen player to get 1,000 tackles, then ranking second behind Cody Cluff (with inflated number due to special teams tackles being included) on the all-time list. Devine started 200 regular season games for the Merchantmen, still ranks third in tackles and in defended passes amongst all Merchantmen players, and tied for first with 28 forced fumbles. To the pleasure of Merchantmen fans, he was the first Merchantmen linebacker elected into the Hall of Fame.

WR #87 Jack Money 2037-2046
Jack Money was a late seventh round pick in the 2037 draft. The Merchantmen decided to take a shot at the possible dual threat return specialist. It turned out to be a great pick. Already in his rookie season, he leads the league in kickoff return average and ranked third in punt return average, despite boosting his numbers with any touchdowns. In fact, his first touchdown came in his 92nd game for the Merchantmen. It didn't turn out to be a single season miracle though, Money would continue to impress as a return specialist for 7 straight seasons. He lead the league in kickoff return average 6 times and ranked 2nd in 2041, while being in the top five punt returners 6 times. The downfall came hard in the 2044 season, when it became apparent Money had lost some of his speed and agility to make big plays, seeing him get demoted to second in line in both return specialties. Despite that some called him that, he wasn't a Jack-of-all-traits. Money had only 5 receptions in 160 games for the Merchantmen, as he wasn't very useful on the offense. Money retired after 10 seasons, ranking 1st all-time with 33.8 yards per kickoff return, more than 2 yards per return ahead of the second highest figure.

RB #29 Donald Terry 2037-2044
Donald Terry was yet another fifth round product of the Merchantmen. Grabbed in the 2037 draft, the Merchantmen saw a lot of promise from the fast and smart running back. In the change of pace role, Terry saw his first action from the get go. In 2039 he took over from Darrin Keegan, who was traded to the North Plainfield Plague in the off-season. Terry ran for 106 yards and a 5.0 average, setting the tone for the rest of the season. Despite a couple of stinkers, Terry proved to be a worthy replacement, even with the two best linemen (Ricky Castillo and Kerry Zumdahl) from recent seasons also traded away. Terry finished the season running for 1,489 yards and 12 touchdowns, leading the yardage and an impressive 5.6 yards per carry. He was a rare bright light in the IHOF Bowl XXXVI loss, running for 102 yards and the team's only touchdown. Terry remained the starter for two more season, racking up two more 1,000-yard seasons. In 2042 he was demoted to the change of pace role and in 2043 to third string. After just 7 carries in 2044, it was all over. Terry ranks 10th all-time in rushing yards for the Merchantmen and tied for 8th in rushing touchdowns.