We Say Farewell to Some Big Names
So long Mel Jaeger. He played his entire career with the Asheville Tourists and leaves the league with 9 ints ,2 TDs, 490 tackles (career leader) and 3 sacks.
So long Keith Baumann. He played his entire career with Charlotte and leaves the league with 258rec/3403yds and 13Tds. He's no8 on the all time receiving list.
So long Reece Lassitter. He played his entire career with Charlotte and leaves the league as the number 2 career tackler with 479. He also had 15 sacks and 9 ints.
So long Dick Seals. Again his entire career was with Charlotte where he finished 7th on the career tackle list with 403 and had 8ints with 2TDs.
So long Billy Jost. His entire career was with Gastonia and he leaves the number 9 receiver of all time with 3,365yds on 298 receptions and 7TDs. He also had 517yds on kick returns over his career.
So long Howie Morris. His entire career was with Salisbury and he's the number 4 career receiver with 4,052yds on 328 receptions with 23TDs. Morris was more than just some great receiver he also rushed for 1,023yds on 152 careers for a 6.7 yds per carry avg and 7TDs. Morris was also an effective kick returner averaging 22.4yds per kick return for 426yds on 19 returns. Morris sits number 7 on the career all purpose yards list and will be missed by many a loyal fan.
So long Sean Brooks. His career was split between Salisbury and Durham. He's the 4th highest rated passer with 1,170 completions on 2,130 attempts for 11,314yds, 84TDs and 53Ints.
So long Dermontti Kelly. His career was split between Burlington and Winston-Salem. He ends with 8 ints, 1TD, 301 tackles and 3 sacks.
So long Nicky Frerotte. His entire career was with Kinston and he's number 3 on the all time receiving list with 4,313yds on 295 receptions and 15TDs. Frerotte also had 605yds on 50 punt returns for a 12.1 yd avg which would have made him number 4 on the all time punt return list (51 is the minimum number of returns to make the list).
So long Tim Cadigan. His entire career was with Kinston and he retires with the 3rd highest FG percentage and PAT percentage in the league history. He is second in Field Goals Made with 109 and 3rd in points scored.
So long Joseph Robers. His entire career was with Kinston and he ends with 9 interceptions, 5TDs, 372 tackles and 3 sacks. He's scored more points than any other defensive player that didn't cross between defensive back and receiver.
So long Fred Parker. His career was split between Gastonia and Raleigh. He finishes with 2,661yds with 257 receptions and 6TDs. He's the number 2 TE all time.
So long Andy Bailey. A journeyman his best years were with Gastonia and then went on to Salisbury and Raleigh. He is the 10th best rated QB of all time at 68.6. He had 9.491yds on 984 completions and 1,881 attempts. He struggled with his TD/INT ration finishing with 36TDs and 39Ints.
So long Adam Duffy. He spent all fo his years with Rocky Mount and he finishes with 363 tackles, 1 sack and 5 Ints.
So long Vinny Reich. He played for Rocky Mount, Wilson and then returned to Rocky Mount. He ends his career with 124 tackles and 54 sacks.
So long Jim Augustine. He played his entire career with Rocky Mount. He ends with 8 ints, 4TDs and 335 tackles.
So long Ed Gilbert. He played for Salisbury and Wilson and ends with 7 Ints, 207 tackles, and 426yds on punt returns and 502yds on kickoff returns.
There are also some top offensive linemen retiring this season and as oblivious as they were while playing so they stay after retirement.
Sean Brooks Says Goodbye to the NCFA
Sean Brooks and the Durham Bulls announced his retirement from play and coaching this week. He leaves the league the 4th highest rated quarterback with 13,122 yds and 84TDs to 53Ints. He lead Salisbury to three straight championship games and a 12-0 season in 2002. In 2003 he found himself sharing time with younger qbs and expressed an interest to Popes owner Eric Woehler in being traded to another team. He landed in Durham in 2004 and took over not only the starting QB role but the head coaching job as well. Over the past 3 seasons Durham has gone 11-25 and this last 2-10 season put an end to any hope Brooks may have had for sticking around in Durham after his playing days.
Durham, like Gastonia and Raleigh who released their coaches recently, is the bottom team of its division. Brooks had high hopes when he came into Durham in 2004, but as his play began to slip so too did those hopes. This season found Brooks benching himself in favor of a player he believes has real potential in the league Mark Oates. The Bulls responded with better play, but it was way to little to late. Whether Brooks will somehow stay connected with the NCFA is up in the air. After 15 years of his life Brooks sounds as though he's ready to maybe take some time away, but he has a lot of fans out there and the NCFA owners would be happy if he could stay involved at some level.
The Pirates Let Edwin Philip Off the Boat
Gastonia has announed the release of head coach Edwin Philip. After going 2-10 then 3-9, ownership didn't feel the turn around they wanted was coming fast enough. Over the past 5 seasons Gastonia's record is 14-46. With Salisbury, Charlotte, and Asheville all regulars in post season play over the past 7 seasons Gastonia's owners are highly motivated to see some sort of improvement in their team. There has been some talk of the current owners shopping the team around or closing shop all together. No one is sure whether a winning season would help cool this talk, but for sure another last place finish in the division won't help.
Philip had come into Gastonia with a good history at Kinston and Gastonia had hoped the winning attitude would help the locker room environment. But Philip has been unable to find any consistancy out of his team and as Asheville seems to be a sure factor for the next few years and Charlotte seems to have improved greatly after being the worst team in the league last season, Gastonia is still a question mark, looking good one week then awful the next.
