History of the Baltimore Hawks

This article details the history of the Baltimore Hawks American football club.

Origins

At conception of the National Simulation Football League, Ray Cobaine was granted the rights to start a franchise in Baltimore, Maryland. Logos were designed, kit deals negotiated, and a stadium found, but before the inaugural draft, for reasons unclear, Cobaine relinquished control of the franchise. Stepping in to take his place were evryday and .broken. The Hawks finished the inaugural season with a 4-10 record, ranking last in the league in both offensive passing and rushing yardage gained; they were also last on defense with the most passing and rushing yardage allowed. Tight end Gabriel Tenzini was the only Hawks individual award winner, earning the top TE award. Although they tied for the worst record in the NSFL, the Hawks acquired key players – Antoine Delacour, Turk Turkleton, Kurt Hendrix, Erasmo Broadway, and Stephen Harrison – that would form the core of the team for several seasons to come. Toward the end of the season, a new GM took over by the name of Gordon Gekko.

Start of the Gekko era (2017-2018)

The offseason of 2017 (S2) was the busiest offseason in Hawks history. With the overall roster already behind the rest of the NSFL contenders, and that talent gap exacerbated by several player retirements and trade requests, Gekko had to hit the reset button. There was also an expansion draft which depleted the roster even more, but Gekko managed to protect the core players of the team, forming a stable foundation to build off of. The 2017 (S2) draft class was extremely strong and the Hawks collected as many picks as they could. Adding a strong rookie class to the core of the team led to an immediate turnaround for the Hawks. Halfway through the season it was discovered that the Hawks' leading tight end, Carmel Gibson, was using illegal performance enhancers. He was cut immediately and the Hawks finished the season with a new tight end, Jesse Sanderson. The Hawks finished the season with an 8-6 record and earned the top seed in the conference. In the NSFC championship game they defeated the Wraiths 16-14 and earned a spot in Ultimus Bowl II against the reigning champion Arizona Outlaws. The Outlaws won the game 33-6. Runningback Darlane Farlane, kicker Turk Turkleton, and linebacker Erasmo Broadway won the top player awards at their respective positions. Farlane also won offensive rookie of the year and Broadway earned the breakout player award.

In the 2018 (S3) draft the Hawks were able to add three more great players to an already strong roster: defensive tackle Ricardo Sandoval, wide receiver Trey Willie, and safety Vincent Valentine. The Hawks started the season 6-0, and at the trade deadline, dealt a first-round pick in the season 4 draft to the Las Vegas Legion for speedy wide receiver Stormblessed. There was also a change in the co-GM position, ItsJustBarry was hired to work alongside general manager Gordon Gekko. Once again they earned the top seed in the conference after they finished with a 9-5 record – the best in franchise history. This time in the NSFC championship game they faced off against the Philadelphia Liberty. The Hawks won that game handily by a score of 34-3 and earned their second straight NSFC championship and another matchup against the Arizona Outlaws in Ultimus Bowl III. Unfortunately for the Hawks the Outlaws won the matchup again by the score of 49-12. Rookie wide receiver Trey Willie was awarded the offensive rookie of the year and the award for the best single-game performance of the season.

Adapting to NSFL changes (2019-2021)

Even though the Hawks did not have a first-round pick in the 2019 (S4) draft, there was still a lot of change throughout the roster, and the rest of the league. This was the offseason when there was the creation of offensive line robots in the NSFL, so existing offensive linemen were able to switch position without consequence. As a result, Juan Andres moved to defensive end, Avon Blocksdale moved to quarterback, and Dieter Koch became a fullback. Defensive end Owen Taylor also moved position, becoming the new Hawks runningback, while Scrub Kyubee moved from quarterback to the safety position. The Hawks looked destined to finish with a great record after starting the season 5-1, however, a late-season slump put their playoff berth on the line against the Philadelphia Liberty the final week of the season. The Liberty defeated the Hawks 35-33 and in doing so clinched the playoff seeding tiebreaker over the Hawks. The Hawks finished the season with a 7-7 record, and missed the post-season.

In the offseason, Ricardo Sandoval was traded along with the 11th pick in the 2020 (S5) draft to the Las Vegas Legion for veteran wide receiver Alexandre LeClair and the 8th pick. Then the Hawks packaged their 3rd rounder with the 8th pick to move up to the 6th pick, giving them two first-round picks, as they also had their own pick at 3rd overall. They were able to then draft the DSFL Offensive Player of the Year John Wachter at wide receiver, as well as promising cornerback Gregory Fletcher in the first round. The Hawks finished the season with an 8-6 record and the 2nd seed in the playoffs, by virtue of having a better divisional record than the Liberty. In the NSFC championship game they played on the road against the Yellowknife Wraiths. The Wraiths won the game 37-21, eliminating the Hawks. Owen Taylor and Turk Turkleton won top positional awards while John Wachter won offensive rookie of the year.

The Hawks were able to make much-needed improvements to the linebacker group during the 2021 (S6) offseason. In a trade with the Arizona Outlaws, the Hawks received former number one overall pick, Noah Goodson, in exchange for a 2nd rounder and 3rd rounder. In the draft, the Hawks selected Austin Roenick who switched from quarterback to linebacker, and won defensive rookie of the year. In the last game of the season, the Hawks lost to the Yellowknife Wraiths 41-28, which gave them a record of 7-7, keeping the Hawks out of the playoffs. Owen Taylor set the NSFL record in rushing yards with 1,402 on the way to the top RB award, while veteran cornerback Antoine Delacour won the first Defensive player of the year award in franchise history in addition to the top defensive back award.

End of the first era (2022- )

In the 2022 (S7) draft the Hawks were able to draft Verso L'Alto, the first true tight end on the team since 2018. Their second round pick was traded to the Orange County Otters for defensive tackle Bogdan Wojcik. Several key players on the team were at or near their peak at this point in time, leading to a sense of urgency if the Hawks were to claim an Ultimus before their championship window closed.