Acquired: In Person 1/30/12, 1300 The Zone 3rd Base Appearance
Recently Charlie Ward became the subject of a topic through Facebook on 1300 The Zone, – as the greatest quarterback never to play professional football. An amazing athlete through and through, he was an acclaimed player at quarterback and guard (basketball) for the Florida State Seminoles. He also was drafted by the Brewers (1993), and Yankees (1994), and played tennis avidly.
Charlie had 2 illustrious seasons at Florida State, and threw for 27 touchdowns and 4 picks in 1993, winning the Heisman Trophy and was named ACC Athlete of the year. Equally as dangerous on the ground as in the air, Charlie tore teams apart as the team won its first National Championship that season.
Charlie decided to go to the NBA instead of the NFL. He’d be drafted by the Knicks (1994-2004), and play for the Spurs (2004), and Rockets (2004-2005) before retiring. Always mindful of Christ, he now coaches high school sports in Houston. He was inducted into the College Sports Hall of Fame in 2006 and is an active participant in christian charities.
I met Ward at 3rd Base bar in Austin with Eric Metcalf. I was unable to get a card of him before I arrived. He was very nice however. Unfortunately when Charlie looked at me, he looked at my beer first, then flashed a look of disgust at me before we spoke, which made me feel very sad. When I asked him why he didn’t go to the NFL, he said to me, “It was God’s will.” This was his persistent response to every question I asked. Overall he seemed to be a really nice guy, who is so grounded, it was almost surreal. When the waitress was clearing out my tab, I asked her for a bit of extra receipt paper so I could get his autograph, which he wrote “God Bless” at the top of.
Sloan Thomas played collegiately at the University of Texas and was one of quarterback Major Applewhite‘s favorite targets (at 6-2, 201). He’d finish 10th in career receptions at the school with 88 and seventh in touchdowns with 15. The Houston Texans drafted Thomas in the 7th round of the 2004 draft along with first round picks Dunta Robinson and Jason Babin. Slowed by injuries during the preaseason and faced with a do or die situation to make the roster, Thomas came out in the final contest and singed the Buccaneers for a 72 yard touchdown, but it was too little too late and he’d be released in the final cutdowns. The Texans just didn’t have enough film on Sloan to go on.
Sloan signed with the Titans in 2005. He’d spend one season there and be claimed off of waivers by the Jets in 2006, and then finally head over to the Seahawks later that season and retire after the 2007 season. Thomas immediately afterwards jumped at the opportunity to help establish the football program for the University of Texas- SA where he is the associate director of development for athletics. He also spends a lot of his time doing volunteer work for football camps as well with other former Longhorns and currently lives in the San Antonio area.
Coach: Jacques Dussault Stadium: Olympic Stadium, Montreal Record: (1991) 4-6, (1992) 2-8
The Machine’s colors were primarily a strong contrast of burgundy/maroon and machine gray, with white, red, and black mixed in for accents.
BACKGROUND:
The Montreal area had an on and off love affair with American football because of it being a tricky market. This was due to the need to market it to both English speaking and French speaking Canadians without ostracizing either parties. As the NFL at the time saw the growing threat of the Canadian Football League coming down from the North, the NFL strategically and preemptively struck by granting a franchise to the Montreal area in the WLAF for play in the 1991 season.
Roger Dore owned the franchise and Lionel Vital served as director of player personnel. Up and coming Jacques Dussault, was shrewdly hired by Dore, due partly to his prominence in French Canada as a football coach. Joe Faragalli and Don Sutherin respectably would round out a CFL pedigree heavy staff.
Olympic Stadium was their chief venue and really North America’s crown jewel at the time of stadiums in the league. Fans did not disappoint posting some of the higher attendance numbers in the league, averaging over 30,000 a contest in 1991 and 25,000 in 1992.
Montreal’s name was a given out of the gate. It was the design that took a bit. Eventually the design team settled on an M that looked like it were created by a large stamping machine- projecting an image of a big, powerful entity. It was a slam dunk afterwards to use the machine gray which stood out solidly on the burgundy background. Fans called the team ‘La Machine’.
1991:
In 1991, Montreal’s team focus was squarely on a solid ground game utilizing Deep I Formations such as the Power I and the I Stretch Play. After Elroy Harris was cut early on, Ricky Johnson shouldered the RB load fulltime. Fullback Broderick Sargent was the lead man up for them making holes as one of the premier blocking backs in the league, and finished second on the team in receptions with 20. The team’s most solid receiver was NFL caliber receiver and blocker KD Dunn at tight end.
Kevin Sweeney started at quarterback, but later yielded due to injuries to Michael Proctor- a dangerous scrambler. -He’d need it as the line was quite porous. The Machine in particular had problems against teams that employed stunts or LB blitzes, and gave up quite a few sacks.
On defense, the team had a strong linebacking corps built around Kansas City Chiefs loaner Tracey Simien and Ray Savage. Desmond Royal, the NG was considered the team’s best down lineman. In the secondary, Richard Shelton was a ball hawking mercenary that graduated back to the NFL when the season ended.
Special teams also boasted punter Chris Mohr, who after his time with Tampa Bay, stop-gapped in Montreal before returning to the NFL with the Bills where he became a mainstay of the franchise. Bjorn Nittmo would be named to the All-World team at kicker, and Richard Shelton saw action on punt and kick returns, returning one of each for a TD.
Opening the 1991 season against the Birmingham Fire, the teams played a defensive struggle on USA Network until the Machine pulled away late to win 20-5. Two things of note from the game I remember were NFL players giving bumbling commentary, and Tracey Simien sporting the helmet camera.
After losing to Barcelona, Montreal again beat the Fire, this time 23-10 to move to 2-1, but then the wheels fell off the well-oiled Machine. Getting thumped at home by the New York New Jersey Knights 44-0 was a wake up call, and the Machine would lose the next two contests against grueling opponents London and Frankfurt, before beating Sacramento 26-23 in overtime to crawl back into the playoff hunt. A win against hapless Raleigh-Durham the next week 15-6 helped move the franchise to 4-4, but a week 9 loss to the Riders ended any playoff hopes the Machine had. They closed out the season in an OT thriller against the Thunder losing 33-27, dropping the Machine to 4-6.
Turnovers, injuries, and line play killed the Machine. Richard Shelton, DB and return man, finished second on the team in scoring with 4TDs, an oddity, but also an alarm. Montreal averaged a TD roughly every 60 plays- good for last in the WLAF.
At the end of 1991, Simien, Mohr, and Shelton, would go to the NFL. Nittmo also saw some time on the roster of the Giants, but came back for the 1992 season. Among the WLAF teams, Montreal surprisingly led the way with 7 players being signed by NFL teams for the 1992 season.
1992:
1992 saw the maturation of young quarterback Michael Proctor into a solid passer with 8 TDs. This was despite starter Anthony Dilweg (on loan from the LA Raiders,) and Craig Kupp (on loan from Dallas). After losing the job in camp to Dilweg, he didn’t have to wait long to take back the starting reins with Dilweg being injured in the first game against San Antonio. Proctor posted a solid 85.7 QB rating on the season. Ricky Johnson actually led the league in rushing, until injuries brought him down too against the Glory. Aaron Emanuel would step up and take his place, finishing with 350 yards rushing. Dunn returned at TE but the team fell in love with wide receiver/ punt returner Pete Mandley, who had an impressive season.
On the defensive side of the ball, Ray Savage was again solid, along with Darrel Davis, and future NFL GM and former Raiders LB Reggie McKenzie anchoring down the 3-4 defense. The team invested heavily in space eating monsters along the line with Emmanuel King and Rollin Putzier. Secondary was led by Darryl Holmes and Kris McCall both with 2 picks a piece.
While Nittmo returned at kicker, special teams weren’t up to the same excellent par at either kicker or punter from the previous season- although Mandley was dangerous as a punt returner.
Montreal found itself in a familiar place in 1992, as an injury to the incumbent starter brought in Michael Proctor. Home attendance figures were decent out of the gate in 1992 with 36k showing up for the team’s upset victory over the Orlando Thunder 31-29. The Machine early on were a highly competitive team, losing to the Riders 17-16 and the Surge 14-7. Montreal could have very easily been 4-0 after playing the Glory, but instead sat at 2-2.
Unfortunately Ricky Johnson would be lost for the season- which was the primary reason the team proceeded to drop the next 6 contests. The Machine finished the season at 2-8- good for second worst in the league. In 4 of those losses the defense allowed 30+ points. Mandley had a good season at receiver finishing with 605 yards receiving, and 150 additional yards and a TD on punt returns, however in a snub, no member of the franchise made the All-World squad in 1992.
NOTES:
Montreal became one of my favorites teams out of the gate based on its maroon and silver uniforms- as it closely resembled the high school I went to.
Montreal played host to the two largest crowds to start the season, 53k+ at Legion Field in Birmingham, and 52k+ at home against Barcelona.
Montreal’s biggest rival was Birmingham whom they opened with and played very close contests. (While the Machine never finished above .500, the Fire made the playoffs both season.) Montreal finished with a 2-1 record against the Fire, but the Fire got the last laugh in a 23-16 OT match in 1992.
LEGACY:
At the end of the season, the league hosted World Bowl II in Montreal. Sacramento played against Orlando, winning the game in front of 43,000 fans 21-17. This game would prove to be the swan song of the WLAF before it underwent major reconstruction for a Europe only relaunch in 1995 as the NFLE.
Montreal had to wait until 1996, as the CFLUSA initiative imploded and the Baltimore Stallions moved to Montreal to become the Alouettes. Since that time the Alouettes have been one of the more successful CFL franchises.
Acquired: In Person 1/30/12, 1300 The Zone 3rd Base Appearance
