[MIJB#19]

2078 - 2088 Ellis McAlister era

In 2078 a wild off-season resparkled the glory of the Maassluis Merchantmen. After four straight non-winning seasons, the arrival of quarterback Bennett Morris as a free agent gave new hope. Especially the connection with J.R. Mills was exceptional and with rookie running back Walt Blair racking up the 100-yard games, the Merchantmen offense was a pleasure to watch. With 490 points scored, they were second in the league and first in the AOC, deservingly reaching the AOC Championship game. A game they lost miserably 37-14 at the Toronto Lake Monsters.

Albeit a short stint, Morris retired after just one season, he left behind a legacy and inspired a fourth string quarterback to come out of nowhere to become the new face of the franchise: Ellis McAlister. A sixth round pick in the 2074 season, McAlister had to witness the disaster that Robbie Howe was and then played zero downs as Erick Loera's backup. In 2077 and 2078 he barely made the roster as the fourth quarterback. But Merchantmen management kept believing in what had been a promising interview back in 2074. And after five long seasons, McAlister's patience was finally rewarded, he became the undisputed starting quarterback. The Merchantmen built on their success from the season before, flirted with their second best single-season record ever, but eventually settled for a 12-4 campaign and crashing out in the conference semifinals. It turned out to be J.R. Mills' last game, coming 56 yards short of 15,000 receiving yards and at that 58 to break Terry Haskell's franchise record of 15,001 receiving yards.

Running back Walt Blair left Maassluis after only 4 seasons, in which he missed 16 games due to concussions. Concerns over his health made the Merchantmen decide to not give him a big contract in his fifth season and eventually Blair would be forced to retire early, despite playing all games in two seasons for the Brooklyn Fightin' Bums. The Merchantmen didn't invest in likewise top-notch running backs, but focused on a strong offensive line with left tackle Nathan Hadinger, right tackles Oscar Meadows and his succesor Howard Humphrey, center Butch Pearson, guard Carlos Webb and his succesor Michael Szott. Aside from the offensive line, the Merchantmen managed to rebuild the roster around McAlister well, almost exclusively through the draft. Season after season, one of the top prospects in the entire draft class was added to the team. One of them, in 2082 Wide receiver Theodore Bondy joined the Merchantmen and grew into a phenomenon. With four 2,000-yard seasons completely vanished former stars from the top spots of the single-season receiving yardage records. The defense saw the arrival of many great players as well. The Merchantmen continued to be strong at linebacker, with Craig McCorkle (2079 draft). On top of that, the Merchantmen found exceptional talent in cornerback Kirk Hitchock (2081 draft) and defensive tackle Heath Oliver (2083 draft).

The Merchantmen kept defining themselves as a team capable of crushing opponents, but also choking in unexplained fashion, but always outscoring their opponents on a season long basis. In 2085, the Merchantmen finally snapped a five season stretch of not winning a playoffs game, scoring 463 points, second most in the AOC. They reached the 2085 AOC Championship game, upsetting the top seeded Orlando Talons, but fell to the North Plainfield Plague. McAlister guided the Merchantmen to two more lost conference semifinals.

Eventually the Merchantmen's success of drafting highly talented players backfired om them. For season after season they managed to stick the bunch together, showing their cap management magic by offering their star players heavy signing boni and exorbitant cap figures. Hitchcock, Oliver, Bondy and McCorkle, as well as McAlister all were getting franchise quarterback money. The snowballing effect of pushing cap hits to the future came to a grueling halt in the 2088 off-season. The biggest roster turnaround in team history was the inevitable result. McCorkle was traded to the Arizona Miners, McAlister and Oliver were cut. McAlister joined McCorkle in Arizona, while Oliver signed with division rival Gothenburg Giants and anchored them into a lost IHOF Bowl. The Merchantmen went through one of their weakest seasons, getting outscored by 73 points, the third worst figure in the 85-season history.

2078 11-5 (3rd) conference finalist
2079 12-4 (2nd) conference semifinals
2080 7-9 (13th)
2081 9-7 (7th)
2082 10-6 (5th) wild card round
2083 9-7 (6th) wild card round
2084 7-9 (12th)
2085 9-7 (4th) conference finalist
2086 9-7 (3rd) conference semifinals
2087 11-5 (3rd) conference semifinals
2088 6-10 (15th)


Editor's note: It was time to add another 'era' chapter, a follow up of the first 10 posts in this thread