The Athens Crush have begun free agency with a bang, announcing back-to-back quarterback signings that caught everyone’s attention. Whether they choose the 2026 IFL MVP or the two-time Harlon Hill winner, Athens appears to have the proper pivots in place to be championship contenders in year one, as ownership has mentioned since day one.
2026 IFL MVP Headed to Athens
The Green Bay Blizzard will be looking for a new QB1 in 2027, and it’s not because their former signal caller followed their former Head Coach to New Mexico like most expected. Instead, Liam Thompson is taking his talents a lot further East, to Athens, Georgia. This will be his third city in three seasons in the IFL.
In 2025, Thompson spent what would be the final season for the Bay Area Panthers holding a clipboard behind Josh Jones under…Rob Keefe, and his Assistant Head Coach Les Moss. Keefe and Co. brought Thompson in after he attended rookie mini-camp with the New York Giants. By the end of his rookie season, Thompson played in 2 games, going 7 of 14 for 74 yards and 1 touchdown, while running 21 times for 105 yards and 4 touchdowns.
Heading into 2026, Liam Thompson made it known he wanted to be a starter wherever he landed next, and Green Bay was prepared to hand him the keys after losing 2025 IFL MVP Max Meylor to the Arizona Rattlers. Thompson proved to be the perfect player to take over as he went on to win his own IFL MVP award, unfortunately losing in the 2026 IFL Championship to the Rattlers.
Now Thompson reunites with Rob Keefe and Les Moss, who have been hired by the Athens Crush. Thompson comes off an unbelievable season while playing in 19 games; he finished 5th in passing yards per game, 4th in passing yards, and 1st in passing tds,
216 for 352 for 2,743 yards
7.8 per attempt
66 touchdowns, 6 interceptions
155 carries, 784 yards
5.1 per attempt
22 touchdowns, 4 fumbles
Signing the 2026 IFL MVP to lead the way in your first season as a franchise is a great way to start. However, they did not stop there.
Zach Zebrowski Signs with Athens
Zach Zebrowski enjoyed winning the Harlon Hill trophy so much while at Central Missouri; he did it twice in back-to-back seasons. Allowing Zach Zebrowski to play Division II football was like allowing Drini Gjoka to play me in Madden. He cruised through the league for two seasons, putting up literal video game numbers.
25 games:
789 completions
1,115 attempts
9,881 yards
101 touchdowns
17 interceptions
233 carries
1,032 yards
12 touchdowns
He went on to get extended looks with the Minnesota Vikings and Kansas City Chiefs in 2025, but ultimately ended up signing a CFL contract with the Edmonton Elks in December of 2025 in preparation for the 2026 season.
He would go into camp with Edmonton in 2026 to compete with Cole Snyder for the QB3 spot behind veterans Cody Fajardo and Taylor Powell. The Elks simply opted to carry three quarterbacks. They released Zebrowski, who reportedly performed fairly well in camp. This left him off the roster throughout the 2026 season. The Crush have now brought him in to ensure that, no matter who starts at QB, they will have championship-caliber quarterback play.
Skill Positions
It is still early in free agency, but the Crush have made some moves to ensure they will surround their quarterbacks with playmakers. Wide receivers Trevon Alexander, DaShun Mitchell, and Running Back Dominic Roberto make for a nice trio of players to build their offensive system around in 2027.
For a first-year team, these moves speak volumes about how they plan to move in 2026 and beyond. While the title was clearly a playful pun on their name, it is also the reality of the situation. Athens has signed two very high-caliber quarterbacks, protecting themselves if either get the call to the next level. At this point, it should come as no surprise if Athens is in the thick of things late into the playoffs in 2027, if either of these players is still under center at the end of the season.
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