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Old 03-06-2021, 09:10 AM   #464
MIJB#19
Coordinator
 
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Maassluis, Zuid-Holland, Netherlands
Six new members for the Merchantmen Club of 100
As the 2096 regular season came to an end for the Maassluis Merchantmen in the home game against the Gothenburg Giants, on the field safety Devon Farrell started in his 100th straight game for the Merchantmen. As he's been a day one starter and is yet to miss a game due to injury, with 4 playoffs games in that timespan, he reached the number in his sixth season. Most players need 7 seasons to get to 100, the quickest route would be 5 seasons of 16 regular season games each with 4 playoffs games in each of those 5 seasons. Wide receiver George Stuckey wasn't a day one starter, but he too played his 100th game for the Merchantmen in the final game of the 2096 season.

Farrell and Stuckey join a long list of players, several that are Hall of Famers, while others were long time support cast players. All of them get their name and picture on the walls in Oranje Haven for this achievement in loyalty and longevity. They were two of six players to join the Club of 100 during the 2096 season, as they were preceded by linebacker Brandon Brady, tight end Clay Gaynor, safety Chuck Murray and cornerback Adam Harmon. The walls have gotten pretty full, as with the addition of Farrell and Stuckey there are now 287 players to make it.

Five players are within a football season of joining the club. Safety Jon Brotzman is just 1 game short, as is tight end Jeffery Blake, who returned to Maassluis during the regular season for a second stint. Tight end Clarence Gore is 2 games short. Free agent defensive tackle Kurt Ackermann will have to return for a third stint in Maassluis to join the club, being 12 games played short. Current punt return specialist Mark Perkins is 18 games away, which means he'll need more than just a regular season to jump in.

Where membership of the Club of 100 is achieved during their active careers, so far 83 players have had their name and fame enshrined into the Ring of Honor of the Merchantmen, for which one player is selected and announced at the first exhibition home game of each season. Linebacker Craig McCorkle got his name called this off-season, shortly after being inducted into the leaguewide Solecismic Hall of Fame. McCorkle already was a member of the Club of 100.



Notoriously missing from the Club of 100 are wide receiver Alfredo Bass, running back Stanley Givens and cornerback Randall Allen. The three of them do have their name and fame in the Ring of Honor, where they were added when no candidates were available with 100 games played. All three joined the Merchantmen later on in their careers, retiring shortly before their 100th game played in orange-white-and-blue.

Alfredo Bass played only 48 games for the Merchantmen, but he was a phenomenal wide receiver back in the early years of the IHOF and in only 3 seasons with the Merchantmen, bowing out with a then very respectable 82 catches for 1,229 yards and 9 touchdowns. one might that the Solecismic Hall of Fame restrictions were too harsh back in his day to give Bass a chance to get in.

Randall Allen played 5 seasons for the Merchantmen, was an outstanding shutdown corner back in the '10 and '20s and he too is notoriously missing in the Solecismic Hall of Fame. Allen's 49 career interceptions, 173 defended passes, 13 forced fumbles and 607 tackles in 166 regular season games would in today's era be good enough to make it.

Stanley Givens played only 60 games in 4 seasons for the Merchantmen in his Hall of Fame worthy career. He put his name in the football history books as one of few running backs to truly improve the running game from above average to very hard to stop. Although, his 4.40 yards per carry is deceivingly low, he was part of a phenomenal offensive unit, including fellow Hall of Famers quarterback "Rusty" Harrison and wide receiver Gabe Springer.
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* 2005 Golden Scribe winner for best FOF Dynasty about IHOF's Maassluis Merchantmen
* Former GM of GEFL's Houston Oilers and WOOF's Curacao Cocktail
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