Albany Metro Mallers The Albany Metro Mallers are a semiprofessional football team that has played its home games primarily in Albany , New York , with the 6500 - seat Bleecker Stadium as its home field . The team has long been successful regionally and nationally , having regularly been in the national semipro playoffs , and having won the national semipro title in 2008 . Some of the team ' s players have gone on to play professional football , and a number of the team ’ s past and present players are listed among the all - time semipro football record holders . Team history . The Seaboard League : NFL Castoffs Trying to Make It Back . After the team ' s first year in 1972 , the Mallers moved into the Seaboard Football League in 1973 , which had teams in New York , New Jersey , Pennsylvania and Maryland . They played their home games in Schenectady , New York , that year . Unlike most semipro leagues , which had only local players and did not pay their players , the Seaboard League teams brought in players from outside their areas , paid their players modestly and helped them find local jobs . League teams were able to attract numerous players who had been signed to NFL contracts , had been cut in the preseason , and were hoping to make the NFL eventually . More than ten of the Mallers had been in NFL camps . Later in the season , the team made an informal arrangement with the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League to develop players for the Alouettes who had been released by that team . , Three of the players on the 1973 Mallers ( Bill Ellenbogen , Don Aleksiewicz and Gary Weinlein ) played professional football eventually , although none ever played for the Alouettes . The Mallers Become Amateurs . The Seaboard Football League folded at the end of that season , and the team then joined the Empire Football League , a league with teams primarily located in Upstate New York that prohibited paying their players . The Mallers moved to Albany that year . They finished second in the league in 1975 and 1976 , and won the league championship in 1979 . In 1981 , the team moved into the Eastern Football League , which had teams in Massachusetts and in New York State . The Mallers won the league championship 12 - 9 on an electrifying play : a 73 - yard flea flicker touchdown pass thrown by wide receiver Mike DeCarlo that was deflected by a defender into the hands of wide receiver Davey Williams , who held on to it and then ran the remaining 50 yards into the end zone . The Mallers also won the Eastern Football League championship in 1986 , defeating the Marlboro Shamrocks 23 - 14 . The Metro Mallers returned to the Empire Football League in 1987 , and finished second in the league that year . They won the league championship in 1989 , and finished second in the league in 1990 . NFL Players Strike : Some Mallers Become Replacements . In 1987 , during the NFL players strike , three members of the team were signed to play on NFL replacement teams ( Dana Melvin , Robbin Williams and Joe Burke ) . Only running back Joe Burke , who had been named the 1986 American Football Association Player of the Year as the best semipro football player in the country , saw actual playing time , however . Burke returned to the Mallers in time to play in the American Football Association national playoffs in November 1987 . The Mallers also were in the national playoffs in 1991 , losing to the eventual national champion Brooklyn Mariners 12 - 6 . 2004 to present : Regional and National Success . The Mallers finished second in the Empire Football League in 2004 , and won the league in 2005 and 2006 . In 2006 , they also won the United States Football Alliance ( USFA ) Eastern Championship . In 2007 , the team again changed leagues , moving into the North American Football League . They won the Empire Division in their first year in that league . In 2008 , the Mallers were named as the USFA and Minor League Football News ( MLFN ) National Champions . Scott Lawson , Record Breaking Quarterback . In 2008 , Quarterback Scott Lawson , who has been with the Mallers since 1990 , broke the all - time semipro football record for the most touchdown passes in a career when he threw his 379th touchdown pass on October 4 , 2008 against the Troy Fighting Irish . He has continued to play , and as of the end of the 2009 season , he had increased his record to 415 touchdown passes . Metro Mallers Who Have Played Professional Football . Many Metro Maller players have signed contracts with professional teams . Most have been released ( cut ) during the preseason . The following Metro Mallers players played during the regular season for professional teams :