1986 NAFL season (Jayverse)

The 1986 NAFL season was the 67th Regular Season of the North American Football League.

Major rule changes

 * Players are prohibited from wearing apparel, equipment, or other items that carry commercial names, names of organizations, or any type of personal message unless they get specific permission from the league.
 * If the offensive team commits a dead ball foul during the last two minutes of a half, the clock will start at the snap.
 * If an offensive player fumbles the ball and it goes forward and out of bounds, the ball is returned to that team at the spot of the fumble.
 * If an offensive player fumbles the ball in the field of play and it goes out of bounds in the opponent's end zone, the ball is given to the defensive team at the spot of the fumble (this rule would be changed in 1991 to result in a touchback).
 * A limited system of instant replay was adopted to aid officiating. A replay official in a booth would decide what plays to review and make the final ruling, regardless of the current score or the amount of time left in the game. The replay official communicated with the game officials via radio transmitters. However, there was no time limit on how long the replay official could review a play and this led to long game delays (this was a major reason why the system was eventually repealed in 1992 and not brought back until a more comprehensive replay system with time limits were established in 1999).

New Referee
Dick Hantak was promoted to referee. Fred Silva was then assigned as a swing official instead of his own crew.

Putting Football back to Kansas City
After Failing to Make the Post Season in Franchise History, The Baltimore Colts relocate to Kansas City, MO and became the Kansas City Colts after Kansas City took a Year off from having an NAFL Team in this league, However the Colts are planning to get RB Bo Jackson to play Football in the Fall and Baseball in the Spring despite he played for the Kansas City Monarchs of MLB.

The Rookie Draft
Hamilton Tiger-Cats draft Leslie O'Neal (DE) from Oklahoma State as the Top Draft Choice in the 1986 NAFL Draft, the Boston Patriots took 2nd in the Rookie Draft and select SMU RB Reggie Dupard, The Chicago Bears went 3rd in the Rookie Draft to get RB Neal Anderson from Florida, The Washington Sentinels take Marcus Koch (DE) from Boise State as the 4th Choice in the Rookie Draft, The Atlanta Falcons get Pick #5 to draft DT Tony Casillas from Oklahoma, The St. Louis Gunners get their 6th pick to draft Michigan STate LB Anthony Bell, Western Michigan LB John Offerdahl was chosen as the 7th pick in the NAFL Draft to the Miami Dolphins, Montreal gets LB Matt Finlay from Easstern Michigan as the 8th pick in the NAFL Draft, Temple G John Rienstra gets chosen as the 9th pick to the Pittsburgh Steelerrs and to Round out the Top 10, The San Francisco 49ers draft LB Pat Swilling from Georgia Tech

Other Picks taken in the 1986 NAFL Draft are

Birmingham Vulcans draft Jon Hand (DE)

New York Giants draft Eric Dorsey (DE)

Las Vegas Gamblers draft Tim Green (LB)

Memphis Steamers draft Jim Everett (QB)

Winnipeg Bombers draft Brian Belway (T)

Detroit Lions draft Chuck Long (QB)

Dallas Texans draft Mike Sherrard (WR)

New Orleans Saints draft Jim Dombrowski (G)

Vancouver Lumberjacks draft Paul Nastasiuk (RB)

Calgary Stampeders draft Kent Warnock (DE)

New York Jets draft Mike Haight (G)

Buffalo Bills draft Will Wolford (T)

Minnesota Vikings draft Gerald Robinson (DE)

Cleveland Browns draft Webster Slaughter (WR)

San Diego Destroyers draft James Fitzpatrick (T)

Houston Oilers draft Ernest Givins (WR)

Kansas City Colts draft Bo Jackson (RB)

Cincinnati Chargers draft Joe Kelly (LB)

Southern California Sun draft Kenneth Davis (RB)

Seattle Orcas draft John Wiliams (FB)

Green Bay Packers draft Robbie Bosco (QB)

Saskatchewan Roughriders draft Rueben Mayes (RB)

Philadelphia Eagles draft Keith Byars (RB)

Edmonton Elks draft Blaine Schmidt (G)

Jacksonville Sharks draft Robert Thompson (WR)

Chicago Bears draft Sam Mills (LB)

St. Louis Gunners draft Ray Brown (G)

San Francisco 49ers draft John Taylor (WR)

Los Angeles Rams draft Tom Newberry (G)

New York Giants draft Erik Howard (DT)

Milwaukee Mustangs draft Darryl Sampson (CB)

New Orleans Saints draft Dalton Hilliarrd (RB)

Milwaukee Mustangs draft Seth Joyner (LB)

Vancouver Lumberjacks draft Paul Osbaldiston (K)

Denver Broncos draft Steve Wallace (T)

Cleveland Browns draft Pepper Johnson (LB)

Sacramento Condors draft Kent Hull (C)

Kansas City Colts draft Dino Hackett (LB)

Cincinnati Chargers draft David Fulcher (S)

Green Bay Packers draft Tim Harris (LB)

Philadelphia Eagles draft Clyde Simmons (DE)

Washington Sentinels draft Mark Rypien (QB)

St. Louis Gunners draft Vai Sikahema (RB)

Miami Dolphins draft Charles Haley (DE)

San Francisco 49ers draft Brent Jones (TE)

Saskatcheawn Roughriders draft Glenn Harper (P)

Final Standings
NFC East: Philadelphia Eagles (10-6), Kansas City Colts (10-6), Toronto Huskies (9-7), Montreal Beavers (8-8), Washington Sentinels (7-9), New York Giants (4-12)

NFC North: Indianapolis Racers (11-5), Green Bay Packers (10-6), St. Louis Gunners (9-7), Chicago Bears (9-7), Detroit Lions (7-9), Milwaukee Mustangs (1-15)

NFC South: Jacksonville Sharks (12-4), Mexico City Diablos (11-5), New Orleans Saints (8-8), Tampa Bay Buccaneers (8-8), Kentucky Bourbons (7-9), Dallas Texans (7-9)

NFC West: Sacramento Condors (13-3), Seattle Orcas (11-5), San Francisco 49ers (10-6), Denver Broncos (6-10), Portland Storm (6-10), Los Angels Rams (3-13), Las Vegas Gamblers (3-13)

AFC East: Brooklyn Barons (9-7), Ottawa Canadians (9-7), Hamilton Tiger-Cats (9-7), Boston Patriots (8-8), Buffalo Bills (6-10), New York Jets (4-12)

AFC North: Saskatchewan Roughriders (12-4), Minnesota Vikings (11-5), Cincinnati Chargers (11-5), Cleveland Browns (7-9), Pittsburgh Steelers (5-11), Winnipeg Bombers (5-11)

AFC South: Birmingham Vulcans (12-4), Atlanta Falcons (9-7), Houston Oilers (9-7), San Antonio Gunslingers (8-8), Memphis Steamers (8-8), Miami Dolphins (7-9)

AFC West: Southern California Sun (12-4), Honolulu Raiders (8-8), San Diego Destroyers (8-8), Edmonton Elks (6-10), Vancouver Lumberjacks (6-10), Oakland Invaders (6-10), Calgary Stampeders (5-11)

Playoffs
AFC Wildcard: Cincinnati def. Saskatchewan 35-31, Minnesota def. Brooklyn 24-21

NFC Wildcard: Indianapolis def. Mexico City 38-17, Seattle def. Philadelphia 34-21

AFC Divisional: Cincinnati def. Birmingham 41-37, Southern California def. Minneapolis 30-23

NFC Divisional: Indianapolis def. Jacksonville 49-42, Sacramento def. Seattle 23-21

AFC Championship: Cincinnati def. Southern California 31-27

NFC Championship: Sacramento def. Cincinnati 44-35

Super Bowl XXI (at Condor Stadium in Sacramento, CA): Cincinnati def. Sacramento 38-20

Pro Bowl (at Giants Stadium in the Meadowlands in East Rutherford, NJ): NFC def. AFC 37-27

League Leaders
Passing Yards - Kenneth Becker (Honolulu) 5,391

Passing TD's - Kenneth Becker (Honolulu) 49

Passing Rating - Ron Sally (Jacksonville) 118.4

Rushing Yards - Joe Morris (NY Giants) 1,674

Receiving Yards - Art Monk (San Diego) 1,949

Total Points - Fred Scarborough (San Francisco) 150

Tackles - A.J. Duhe (Minnesota) 128

Sacks - Richard Dent (Ottawa) 17

Interceptions - Hugo Moore (NY Giants) & Andre Waters (Pittsburgh) 7