Tuesday Toss: Brock, All-Time UFA Scoring Leader, Signs with Hustle

January 14, 2025
By Evan Lepler

After 12 seasons, 158 games, 293 assists, and 644 goals, all as a member of the Indianapolis AlleyCats, Cameron Brock has decided to leave the team he’s been with throughout his entire career. Instead of a 13th season with Indy, the UFA’s all-time scoring king will join the Atlanta Hustle for the 2025 campaign, signing on with the South Division franchise that’s still striving to make its first trip to Championship Weekend. 

It’s a surprising but not stunning move for the 36-year-old, who wanted a fresh start following a frustrating 2024 with the AlleyCats. At Championship Weekend last August, Brock was not shy to pontificate about what it might be like to sign elsewhere, indicating that he was not thrilled with the direction of Indy’s offensive system. But considering his Indiana roots, his stature as an original member of the franchise, and his status as the only player in UFA history to compete in every single season with the same organization, it’s still mighty jarring to realize that he has indeed committed to play with another team for the first time. 

“[Atlanta Coach] Tuba [Benson-Jaja] reached out to me in early November,” said Brock. “It was clear during our initial conversation that this could be a good fit. I’ve always been a fan of how Atlanta does things. The culture has always seemed positive and like one that is built on hard work. There is clearly talent. Even in private conversations with others, I’ve always said Atlanta seemed like it would be a lot of fun to be a part of. That offense has been sizzling for years now. We haven’t really had a great deep game in Indy recently, so more parts of the field are going to feel available than has been the case in recent years for me.”

Brock has scored at least 30 goals in 11 of his 12 UFA seasons, every year except for when he briefly retired coming out of the pandemic before returning and playing in four games late in the 2021 campaign. He led the league in goals in 2013, 2014, and 2022, while also finishing as a top 10 UFA goal-scorer in ’12, ’15, ’16, and ’18. Throughout his 12 years overall, he’s been a fixture on the AlleyCats O-line, playing more than 86 percent of his league record 3,456 total points on offense. Consequently, it’s easy to envision Brock creating and taking space as a downfield option for the Hustle this spring, particularly in the wake of a couple key retirement decisions from a pair of Atlanta’s scoring stalwarts. 

“With the loss of Matt Smith and Bobby Ley, I knew we needed to add a strong veteran cutter to our offense,” said Benson-Jaja, who enters his third season as Atlanta’s Head Coach in 2025. “Cam represents that as well as a player who is calm, collected, and knows how to score. After talking to him the first time, I was more than certain that he would be a good fit for our culture. He talked about his work ethic and how he was already training for 2025. That is the DNA of the Hustle. Hard work and commitment to teammates [...] Cam also represents a player that doesn’t have history in our division. I need a few players who are ready to win and have fresh new energy when it comes to our run in the playoffs.”

It’s no secret that the Hustle have been knocking on the door of a division title for a half-decade now, haunted by three painful one-goal losses in the past four postseasons, with the last two heartbreakers both coming at home. They are presently the winningest franchise in UFA history that has never advanced to Championship Weekend, a reality that Brock is obviously hoping to help vanquish this summer. 

“My only goal in going to Atlanta is to contribute to winning,” said Brock, who helped lead the AlleyCats to Championship Weekend in 2019, not to mention an appearance in the league’s inaugural title game back in 2012. “I don’t really care what that looks like for me personally. I’m not looking to put up 50 goals. I’m looking to put up 15 wins.”

Meanwhile, the team that Brock is leaving will be undergoing a massive transition, as he joins fellow AlleyCats’ veterans Travis Carpenter, Rick Gross, Nick Hutton, and Levi Jacobs in stepping away from the team heading into 2025. Collectively, that quintet played 653 games for the Cats, scoring 1,831 goals, dishing 1,267 assists, and registering 560 blocks. These numbers would be even larger if we included Xavier Payne, who spent the past four years with Indy prior to signing with Chicago for the 2025 season. Undoubtedly, the AlleyCats will feel like a completely different franchise this coming season, though Brock did emphasize that the team’s brigade of departures was not the reason he also decided to leave. 

“My jump to Atlanta, conveniently timed as it may be, is not really related to the retirement of some of our vets,” he said. “I ended last season trying to make sure the guys that weren’t retiring were going to come back. I wanted to keep running it back.”

But as the offseason progressed, Brock’s perspective shifted. 

“After some time away and reflection on just how frustrating last year was, I thought a change of scenery would do me some good,” he said. “Of course, I wasn’t going to travel to a team that was uncompetitive, and I really preferred to not go to a different team in the [Central] Division. I was fortunate that Atlanta reached out, because it’s a team that has been on the cusp of Championship Weekend three of the last four years.”

He’ll attend his first minicamp with the Hustle in February, eager to prove to his new teammates that he can positive impact winning. 

“Just because I’ve signed a contract doesn’t mean I have a spot on the line,” said Brock. “That’ll come when I earn it.”

As for what other splashes the Hustle could make in free agency, Benson-Jaja says his team is not done pursuing and adding additional talent. 

“We have a few more signings that we are hoping to lock in by February,” said Benson-Jaja. “I won’t let it out now, but we’re hoping to secure a couple more players that can come in and make instant impact on our team, not only on the field but with the intangibles as well.”