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The History of the Northern California Lawmen
by Rick Williams - Lawmen
Team Founder
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One early fall night in 1993, I was watching a movie called The Best of Times
with Robin Williams and Kurt Russell. This movie was about a man who
still had something left to prove in the sport he loved, football. So he puts
back together his old high school team to replay the game that has haunted him
for years. The moral to this story for me was that its never to late to fulfill
your dreams, and this struck at a nerve in my heart.
After playing football in high school I went on to college and became a state
correctional officer at San Quentin state prison thus bye passing on playing the
sport I loved in order to start my career. While |
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working on San Quentin's Death Row I became friends with a
neighbor who was a state parole agent, and whom was playing semi pro football
for the Deuel Vocational Institution Officers football team in Tracy. I started
playing for the DVI Gladiators in 1987, and continued playing off, and on for
the next five years, but because this team would play only two or three games
yearly, I still felt that I had much more to offer to this sport!! Then in 1992
the Gladiators folded for good!! I was left feeling that I still had a
void with no way to fill it, then fate struck when I rented the movie the Best
of Times!! The movie put an idea in my head about forming my own Semi Pro
football team, thus I began the beginning stages for forming my team by
approaching an old friend, and fellow officer Raven Keene!!
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When I approached Raven in housing unit #one control at the Northern CA Women's
Facility on a late Fall night ,and asked if he wanted to be my partner in the
formation of a football team, I was greeted with the statement, "Lets Do It!!!"
The Rick and Raven train was now on the tracks, and we started asking anybody we
thought could play to come out ,not to mention putting flyers everyplace
imaginable !! We decided on the name the Northern CA Lawmen after much
consideration, and choose to wear red jerseys with black numbers and white pants with
black helmets ( the paint stains are still in my garage )!! We assembled a
group of about 40 players, some good, some bad, and definitely some ugly!! Our
first game was set for February 12,1994 al Linden High School vs the Soledad
State Prison Correctional Officers team!!
On a cool, crisp Feb. night
the Northern CA Lawmen football team took the field for our first game, and
although we fell short that evening, I knew that the foundation for something
very ,very special had been formed!! For the next four years we remained
an independent organization traveling throughout the state perfecting our craft
!! Their were several games in Los Angeles against the Falcons in Inglewood!! We
traveled to Las Vegas, Nevada, Delano, Pleasanton, San Francisco, Oakland.
Tracy, Sacramento, etc. etc. etc. etc ,all with one goal in mind to become the
very best team in the state of California!!
In 1997 the the Lawmen joined
the league that we helped form, the Gold Coast Amateur Football League!! (GCFL)
The Team had a good year but lost in the conference championship to the
Sacramento Stray Dogs!! In 1998 we again had a very good year but deja vu
struck, with us falling short in the conference championship again to the
eventual champion Sacramento Stray Dogs!! During the off season we made
some huge player acquisitions which propelled us into the 1999 GCAFL
Championship game against our old rival the undefeated and, defending champion,
Sacramento Stray Dogs !!
On March 20,1999 the Northern
CA Lawmen defeated the Sacramento Stray Dogs 14-12, winning our first
Championship and igniting a dynasty!! On April 1,2000 we again were GCAFL
Champions, and had accomplished the ultimate with an undefeated season at 12-0
!!
In 2001 we cruised through the regular season,
and playoffs (en route to a span of 27 straight wins!), only to fall short in the championship game against the Capital
City Fury!! That same night while dealing with the pain from this loss, I
vowed to myself that the next year we wouldn't fall short again ,and thus
I began the recruiting process for 2002 the very next day!! During the
off season myself, and Raven worked very hard on putting our Championship team
back together, and also began negotiations with the United States Amateur
Football League in regards to unifying our two leagues!! With the help
of Charlie Ruiz, Alex Flores, and Gene Johnson, the Golden State Amateur
Football League was formed with 20 teams strong, and made us one of the largest
if not the largest leagues in the U.S.A.!!
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On
June 8,2002 the Northern CA Lawmen defeated the Solano Chiefs 17-0 at Kezar
Stadium in San Francisco to win the inaugural 2002 GSAFL Championship!! We
were later crowned California State Champions for 2002!!
 
So after four straight Conference Championships, three League Championships, and a State Championship,
my trophy cabinets were overflowing, and my dreams had been fulfilled, thus I
had nothing left to prove in the ownership role in the sport of football. So on
New Years eve of 2002 I phoned Boots James, and gave my half of ownership of the
Lawmen as a gift to the player who I feel was the heart ,and sole of our team, and a man who
I trust has the vision to carry this team to new heights!! I
will always be a Lawmen at heart but being able to walk away as a champion on
top of the semi pro world here in California was the greatest feeling ever!! Now
as the league's commissioner I have set my goals on a bigger picture, and that is
making the GSAFL the very best league in all of the U.S.A.!!!! I believe that
the best days are still to come for the Northern CA Lawmen, and so to all the
preseason--regular season mythical champions I give this warning ,"beware of a
team that possess the heart of a champion, because in this heart beats the
desire and will that non-champions can only dream about!!!"
GO
LAWMEN !!!!!!!!!!!!!
RICK WILLIAMS
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