Team Previews
They Are Back!
Imaan The reigning champs of CFL Retro. Faiq and Pulak rode a hot streak and depth to a championship last season, taking down some big teams to get there. Asif showed he can make all the throws in an MVP performance for Imaan in the chip game, now the question is was that a Cinderella performance where he now turns into a pumpkin or will he continue the momentum from last season. The team is stacked with contributors everywhere from Isa, Anas and Umair all making big plays all season for an Imaan team going for a repeat.
Niners The Niners had an entertaining season highlighted by one of, if not the most intense controversial playoff game CFL Retro has ever seen. Moody comes back after surprising everyone with a good display at QB with some repeat players and a few new faces to retro. His main stay Ruhel will be back and after a quiet season for him he will try and bounce back. Some “new” players are set to make their debut in Dwayne, Lou and H. We say new because they have experience in the league in previous seasons but this is the first run in retro. They need to improve on defense as that was their huge issue last season.
Marine Park Squids MPS made their debut last season and played some competitive games. Rick is a veteran QB who had some games where he kept his team in it and some where he could not get in rhythm. Finding some consistency will help a lot. They have a deep roster of talented receivers and defenders in guys like Evin, Daquan, and Arjun. Coming into their sophomore season that experience will be a big help in the way they play. Expect a jump from the boys from Brooklyn.
Interceptors Adam’s team has been to two straight finals and will look to avenge their loss last season by running back a really talented squad. They lose their defensive anchor in Sal who will not be playing this season but will look to run it back with key contributors like Fahad, Prentan, and Todd. A big factor that may come into this is how Faizan bounces back from a subpar championship performance. He was a steady presence at QB all last season, getting the ball to all his receivers and letting them make plays. We will see if he can repeat that this season.
Warriors The Warriors are back and the core remains the same. Ezra will lead a high flying offense flanked by his usual guys like Louis and the TD machine Greg but will be looking to replace a big weapon for him in Toheed. They are bringing a big roster with a lot of players and will try to rotate a lot of guys to try and stabilize a defense that got better but was not a strength of the team in the spring outside of ball hawk Louis. This team went as far as Ezra could take them last season so lets see if he can return to championship form.
Botz Commissioner Aqib’s team brings back the core group who are often pests to play but do not have the playoff success just yet. Syed in his second season as QB made improvements but some games looked better than others. His next step is consistently putting together those steady performances. The offense was at its best getting the ball out quick and they should focus on that this season. The defense is another question. The back line was extremely vulnerable and young gun Nabil needs to take the next step to help guys like Jishan and Adil lock down opposing teams.
Old Faces, New Places!
Pluto Shak and Toheed are running their own team again and the roster has some familiar faces and some new players. The old Pluto had a formula that went something like give up 50 score 51 to win games. It worked as they won a lot of games that way but this is a new version of Retro with a lot more teams and the squads that tried that formula did not make very deep runs. We will see if they are trying to turn a new leaf this time around.
Bing Bong The Hussaini boys have split up with the elder AZ taking his talents to a new squad to try and lead his own way. It is a family team with his son and his new QB Tayeb who is turning in his ref shirt for a jersey will be playing football for the first time in years. His brother in laws Zamier and Munier are young and athletic on the basketball court but we will see if that will translate over to the football field. They do get Talha Shanawaz there to lead the defense and we hear in a late breaking acquisition CFL legend Ken Teleski will give Tayeb the ultimate high IQ security blanket.
Phantoms The reigning MVP ZQ will try to replicate a great season that saw him have to drag his team through most games as their offense was top notch but their defense was a sieve that allowed anyone to get through them. They lost a big time player in Zian who made many clutch plays in the playoffs and Omar who was a steady contributor. Fahad is still their best defender and Samad will give a huge boost as a quick receiver and safety who can cover a ton of ground.
Ballers A classic franchise makes their Retro debut. Usman appeared in a single game as a replacement last season and I guess he liked what he saw. He brings the Ballers over to try and do what they have not been able to in Elite, capture a title. The team’s core is the Hanif brothers. Usman and Aqib are great defenders and in Retro will be dangerous receivers. Umair is a former MVP at the QB position but in a league where his athleticism won’t be as big a tool can he rely solely on his arm to generate offense. We shall see.
Mama’s Boys Another offshoot from the Caliphs last season, Omar has split off to take over the reins of his own franchise. It is a group of players where we know some and others are a mystery. Safwan, an elite stud at the WR position makes his QB debut and will get the ZQ treatment, having to watch the defense from the sidelines. If these guys are anything like Omar and Saf they will be athletic and in Retro that is enough to keep you in games.
Hunters We will call this the veteran team. Naji, a Browns legend, brings a team of guys who will bring a ton of experience to the field. We do not know exactly what these guys' talent levels are but if they are associated with the Browns franchise even in an ancillary way they will be smart and know how to operate at a high level. We will see what they bring for the whole season.
Total Wildcard!
Mean Machine This team is a huge unknown. From what we know about them they are a team full of ballers who are going to try to take their talents to the gridiron. We hear Rahat will be playing QB and Jay Pal is an excellent athlete. Outside of that no one knows what to expect out of them. Mysteries can be shocking or disappointing, we will see which one they turn out to be.