It brings tears to my eyes...

[Bull58]

...when i see what has happened to THIS once great league, the NWFL...

[dbo]

i agree the league was DOPE in the early part of the decade!! I had fun competing with real elite playerz!

[Coach Scott]

Keith,

Why do you think it went away?

[Bull58]

I dont know coach, but the NWFL was never the same after Sam Adams and the Hawks left...

[quisedawg95]

I agree with you Bull..it is sad! But I think the league was even better before Sam got involved. The Jets/Bolts/Bengals/Jags/Bucs.....etc. The messed up part of it all is it will NEVER be the same! Waaay too many leagues now which watered down the talent pool DRASTICALLY!The old NWFL may you R.I.P!

[bearcats58]

everything comes back around. the NW had to hit bottom before people wake up and pick up the pieces. Theres still good teams and people who want the same goals for NW football. It will come back.

[JCuellar]

Y did teams go 2 the CFL from NWFL?

[The Reporter]

I have heard many reasons for teams leaving and some may be valid. The Northwest football league has hit rock bottom, this is in no way a reference to the four remaining teams playing in the league. But, the league is in cardiac arrest and the prognosis of returning to what it was back in the day is unlikely. There are only a couple options either the four remaining teams join other leagues or operate as an independent. The downside of operating as an independent you don't get to participate in the postseason. Unlike being a part of an established league which has its benefits and makes the season more meaningful.

I have been around the league since 1995, I would get excited about each new season. All the traveling to different stadiums and listening to all the trash talking on the field, those are the moments and memories that made the league so special. Keith, our feelings are mutual about the state of the league and its decline... it brings tears to my eyes also. When old building no longer serve its purpose you tear it down. We have a lot of teams in Washington that play summer football. There is absolutely no reason why we shouldn't have one league. Whether it be the Northwest football league, cascade football league, or North American football league-there's got to be away! A quote from Denzel Washington in the movie remember the Titans-" either we come together or we will perish".

Craig Jackson

for the love of the game

[The Reporter]

Hey Jeff Scott

Give me a Call 360-223-2128

Craig

[toucdown34]

very sad how people forget about the early years 70s 80s 90s
and the players, coaches and the teams it comes down to history respect the past and the future will grow

[Bull58]

Simple, no internet back then. I came into the NWFL in 2000, when the internet was beginning to be a popular source of information for semi-pro ball. I STARTED playing semi-pro ball in 95 down in L.A. and saw the influence the internet made on this level of ball through my experience playing...

[justjohn]

It used to bother me that so many people who were around during the 70s, 80s and 90s won't take a moment to record their own memories and submit them for everyone to read, but I got over it and now am enjoying the free time.

[sixtysixb7]

Wow, it's been along time since I've left a post on this message board. But I always check it to see what type of "things" are going on here, and I've got to say that it really hurts to see the direction the NWFL has gone in. But I still love this League. I've got so many great great memories and say to myself "what would've happened if Ondre Brown hadn't have stopped me in the Mall and told me about the NWFL and convinced me the there was a such thing as semi-pro football and asked me to try out. Since that day, it's been a wild ride for sure!!
I joined the League in 2000 and since then I have played on two different teams. I played my first seaon with the Sno Co. Vikings. A team with a lot of history in the NWFL. Then I got the privalege to play with the Eastside Hawks. A team in which we all know only played in the League for three sasons and I'm proud to say that I was one the very few players on that team that was with the that team from the very first scrimmage at Redmond H.S., all the way until the clock hit all four zeros and we won the National Championship in Orlando and I one thing that didn't change on either team that I played for and that is BS. politics in the League that started all the way at the very very top. And that didn't start with Sam Adams. It was alot of dictatorship going on back then and other people involved with the League that had no real official title that had alot of influence on things back then.
I mean it was real bad at one point for our teams. Anyone else who was on a team that really competed for the Championship or won the Championship back then knows what i'm talking about. Don't get me wrong... I understand the difference between teams trying to get an edge and teams trying to compete against juggernauts. I played against the almighty Jets for three seasons. Back when the Jets were winning, anyone who wasn't a Jet hated em. That's how it is when your winning, everyone hates you and everyone wants your team's spot... That's elementary... But there were lot's of people making accusations about our Championship team for alot of his reasons, but mostly what I kept constantly seeing was people who got cut, or who just couldn't cut it or people the Sam just wouldn't have anything to do with for whatever reason. Those are the people who took the football beef and turned it into something personal off the field. You had guys putting people's personal info on this msg board abot people's families and everything. You had people after games that wanted to "meet you in the parking lot" after games when you beat them on the field. People trying to do whatever they could to keep your players from playing or from joining our team, but if the same individual had've came to their squad it was all good and you never heard a peep. You had other players trying to discredit your team's accomplishments... In '03 When the Hawks won our first League Championship (even though we did not finish the regular season with the best record, we did defeat the King Co. Jaguars in the Championship game) we had players and adminstration come on to this very message board and mock our team and our accomplishment by congratulating the Jags on being the Regular season Champs. Something that I had never seen anyone do on this board before and didn't see the very next season when went undefeated an repeated as Champions. We didn't even get a Championship Trophy in '03 when we won it the first time... Those are the types of things that will leave a bad taste in a team owners mouth and the players. You had an owner that is also the Commish for life who is also the Head Coach and Owner of a team... I mean come on people, how can you really expect the man not to be a little bias. You had other people that would come on to the message board and ignore your post just because they don't like you personally. Even if they didn't know you... But they could sit at their cpu and trash-talk and say whatever they wanted to say to you. I thought that the peolpe at the top were supposed to be fair and impartial? All we had is a bunch of professionals up there who tried to look out for the interests of the League and prevent its destruction. You couldn't even voice your opinion without someone threating to do what it takes to keep you form playing or out of the League completely. Back then there wasn't the other fifty Leagues out there either, so an owner really didn't have much of a choice. When you complained to the higher-ups they could basicly strong-arm you and tell you " if you don't like the way that we do things then why don't you take your team and go play somewhere else"and they knew that you couldn't go and play as an indenpent... not if you want a chance to compete for the National Championship. When I played, you HAD to win you League's Championship or at least make it to the Championship game just to get an invite to the Tournament.
In my opinion the League started it's descent from the top when all of these other Nortwestern Leagues started to form and that gave alot of teams who weren't happy with their current arraigment with the NWFL. We all know that t be true because we have alot of former NWFLers who were very influential in the formation of both, the new Leagues and the new teams that joined them.
Another thing that helped to kill off our League was when the NAFL changed their rules about what they considered to be their teams competed in dual Leagues remeber? When our teams had o decide whether to compete in the NAFL or to stay home... we lost half of our League to them. Come on people, look past your own pride, egos, and whatever feelings you may or my not have For Sam A. our League was close to the end of its rope for alot of his reasons. Let's put the blame on the shoulders of the people who really deserve it anddo something to try to fix it... If not.... the be quiet up and retire like I did.... Just my two-cents ya'll, PEACE.

[deuman79]

Bull,

I came into the league with the Eastside Chiefs in 2000. I played for Wes as a Viking after that. But 2000 was perhaps one of the greatest years the NWFL had ever seen. I know this league had put out some high quality teams, and I was honored to play against some of the best semi-pro players in the nation. For the 7 or 8 years I played in the NWFL, I didn't appreciate how great the league we had been in was. Now to come back to this league site and see this is truly heart wrenching to me. I don't think we will ever se anything like those years again. There will never be a team like the Jets, or Bucs, or the Thunderbolts of the early 2000's again. As much as I respect the Eastside Hawks, it wasn't the same as playing the Puget Sound Jets. The talent is so watered down now.
I'd also like to say, in my opinion, Wes Fischer and Bill Alexander are the last remaining icons of glory years of the NWFL. I have the utmost respect for them and their willingness to hold on to the values and pride that a lot of guys found in the early 2000's.
I'm just rambling, but it you are right and it is sad.

Ken Deuman #79

[Bull58]

To tell you the truth, the death of the NWFL came with the passing of the Jets. The NWFL would have been so great with BOTH teams in it for more than just 1 year. But Deuman, you are right. 2000 was the most competitive Ive ever seen the NWFL. EVERY week was a tough game, even your Chiefs. The Thunderbolts were almost mirror images of us, and the Buccs were so athletic. I moved to L.A. and played down there after the Jets disbanded, and came back in 2004 to find a different NWFL. It just went downhill from there...

[huz]

I just came across this board and site.

Many things have changed for this league since I played. I was a RB for the Skagit Valley Raiders from 1983 to 1986. Even during those years there was quite a bit of transitioning happening in the NWFL and in other football arenas as well- USFL, NFL strike, CFL restructuing it's divisions and playoffs.

Many teams were pieced together informally when I and several road trips were "on your own" to get to the games. Good memories none the less.