[MIJB#19]

Maassluis Merchantmen, masters of trading, episode 4.

Sometimes it's a little bit too much to brag about the success the Merchantmen had in their trading sprees these past 86 off-seasons in the IHOF. It sounded like a good idea to count down the top 10 best trades, in between throw in a handful of bad ones and one specific trade that never happened, which could have had major implications on the history of the Merchantmen. Episode 1 through 3 were about how three HOF wide receivers were taken in the draft shortly after the Merchantmen traded up for them. For today's episode, we go back to the day the Maassluis Merchantmen made one of their worst trades: the acquisition of wide receiver Jewell Simpson.

In the 2009 season, the Merchantmen had a touchdown lacking 0-3 start and after a mid-season 4-game losing streak, the Merchantmen needed to win 6 of their last 7 games to avoid a losing season. Quarterback Louie Flannery threw for 3,550 yards, with his leading receivers Bryce Ewald (48 catches for 751 yards) and tight end Jim Reiser (59 catches for 582 yards). Ewald and fullback Jamal Rosenberry lead all offensive players with 3 receiving touchdowns. In the 2010 off-season, the Merchantmen management felt a new wide receivers was a necessity and got their eye on 27-year old Jewell Simpson from the Springfield Isotopes (after several name changes today known as the Moontown Darksiders).

Simpson was coming of an underwhelming season with 19 catches for 233 yards and 2 touchdowns in 14 games. The Merchantmen staff assessed Simpson as a wide receiver with excellent route running skills and felt they could afford a lot to acquire him. After long negotiations and Springfield's little interest to trade Simpson, the Merchantmen management threw their 2011 first round pick on the table. It didn't take long, that offer was unsurprisingly quickly accepted. Backlash was all around from other owners across the IHOF. The Merchantmen started the 2010 season with a couple of wins, but the back-to-back wins in the last two games downgraded the traded pick from a top5 pick to the #9 overall pick.

Naturally, the Merchantmen didn't trade their 2011 first round pick straight up for Simpson, they also negotiated to receive a couple of fourth round picks in exchange for a couple of fifth round picks. Springfield kept their fifth round picks to select cornerback Cary Dubord and linebacker Carl Travers. The Merchantmen traded the 2010 4.5 pick shortly after to the Syracuse Mohawks to be able to move up in the third round to select fullback Quentin Malicki. Syracuse ended up picking center Adrian Clemons with that 2010 4.5 pick.
The Isotopes' 2011 fourth round pick got traded by the Merchantmen in the 2011 off-season in a move up 27 spots to select safety Eddie Cole. The receiving team Georgia Gridlock used that top 4th round pick to select Georgia Tech alumni cornerback Dominic Campbell. The 2011 first round pick from Maassluis remained in Springfield possession and was used to selected running back Will Davidson.

Maassluis Merchantmen send:
2011 1st Maassluis
2010 5.19 pick
2010 5.30 pick

Springfield Isotopes send:
WR Jewell Simpson
2010 4.5 pick
2011 4th Springfield

2011 #9 overall pick Will Davidson turned out to be a useful running back. The Springfield Isotopes became the Knoxville Rebels in 2013. In 7 seasons with this franchise, Davidson had 5 1,000-yard seasons, earning Offensive Rookie of the Year honors in 2011 and eventually peaking in 2015 when he ran for 1,661 yards and 11 touchdowns, also earning him All-IHOF first team honors. In 2016 he was the starting running back in Knoxville's run to the NAC championship, to be held to 50 yards in the lost 41-21 IHOF Bowl against the Orlando Knights. In the 2018 off-season he was traded to the Oakland Black Panthers, only to get traded after just one dreadful game (20 carries for 31 yards) to the Bordeaux Vineyards, where he played 15 more games and retired in the 2019 off-season. Davidson still ranks first in carries for the today called Moontown Darksiders. His career totals of 8,430 rushing yards, 58 rushing touchdowns and 16 receiving touchdowns

2010 5th round pick cornerback Cary Dubord didn't survive the Springfield Isotopes' roster cuts for the regular season and that was the last that was seen of him in the IHOF. He filed for retirement in the 2011 off-season.

2010 5th round pick linebacker Carl Travers became a starter for the Springfield Isotopes in their 5th regular season game that season. But after a promising rookie season, dropped hard on their depth chart. After his rookie contract expired, he was picked up by the Boston Rhinos and after a season on special teams moved on to the Rochester Lake Monsters for another season in a backup role. In 2015 the Williamsburg Colonials signed Travers, the team where he ended up having his longest stint with 7 seasons, including the lost 2017 IHOF Bowl against the Syracuse Mohawks. He retired with 136 games played on his resume.


2010 4th round pick center Adrian Clemons spent the 2010 as an inactive reserve for the Syracuse Mohawks. The deception of his career was getting cut in the lead up to the Mohawks' IHOF Bowl participation, which ended up being a 34-31 victory over the Frederick Red Menace. Clemons subsequently retired from football, disillusioned.

2011 4th round pick Dominic Campbell hung around with the Georgia Gridlock for 5 seasons, aside from his rookie season being a learning year, he was basically their nickelback. In 2016 he was out of contract and signed by the Paris Musketeers. Campbell became a starter that season, doing pretty well with 3 interceptions and 10 defended passes. After a dreadful 2017 campaign (0 picks of defended passes in 404 pass plays) and an injury plagued 2018 season, he was released on cut down day 2019. The Conyers Condors picked him up for the last 3 games of the 2019 season, but failed to get a new contract in 2020 in the IHOF. His 122 regular season games in the IHOF saw him make 5 interceptions and defend 46 passes.

The jewel of the trade was supposed to be wide receiver Jewell Simpson. His 2010 campaign was unimpressive, with just 38 catches for 635 yards and 3 touchdowns. He failed to become the top receiver in 2011 as well and by 2012 was firmly behind then recently acquired wide receiver Alfredo Bass. In 2013 Simpson was active in only 4 regular season games and retired in the following off-season. Because of the trade, Simpson did finally get a chance to see some playoffs action, something he would have never gotten with the Springfield Isotopes. In the end, the Merchantmen basically traded a top-notch running back for a wide receiver that would rack up 149 catches for 1,992 yards and 14 touchdowns.