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+---- Thread: *Before and After the S28 Draft (/showthread.php?tid=30789)
*Before and After the S28 Draft - Alcott - 03-18-2021
What would a day in the life of your favorite DSFL player be? Well that depends on a lot of different factors, from the player’s personality, the city they live and play in, what time of year it is, even what day of the week it is if that day in the life is during the season. But for one small budget, local broadcast news team that was the story board item they wanted to pursue. A day in the life of a DSFL player, and not only a DSFL player, but one who grew up in the very city they play in now.This greatly limited the candidate field, but didn’t single any one player out quite yet, so to further refine the criteria the news team had to think, what did they want? A new face, someone on the rise, a recent draftee who was garnering attention for on field play in addition to being a home town kid. That left them with just one name left on the list...Cole Maxwell. The starting free safety for the Dallas Birddogs had just completed his final season in college at the University of Oklahoma, and after the Prospect Bowl stint in Jakarta on the Seafarers, he had been drafted 28th overall by Dallas. It was perfect, now they just needed to get him to agree. So they reached out to his PR department and prayed, and to their great surprise the news team received a response in record time. Cole was more than happy to be a part of their “Day in the Life” segment, and after a few emails back and forth to figure out all the logistics, a date was scheduled for the team to come out and film, which would be his next available day off from regular duties on the Birddogs.
The camera crew rolled up to Cole’s house around 6:30 AM the day of filming, and while unloading their equipment found Cole running back up to the house from his morning run. He greeted each of them and joked they missed the most exciting hour of his day, seeing the sun rise over the horizon on his morning run. It wasn’t the funniest joke the team had ever heard, but Cole was affable and welcoming, unlike a lot of athletes they had encountered, so he was already starting on a good foot with them. The cameras were finally set up and rolling as Cole finished his morning protein shake and started cooking the prepped breakfast, introducing himself to the audience and explaining the way his diet worked and how most of his meals are either made by a personal chef ready to eat or partially prepped with instructions for him to finish them out. After he completed his meal, Cole sat for a short interview section where he was asked different questions about growing up in the Dallas area, playing high school ball just down the street from his new home field, and other fluff piece questions. Once finished with the questions, Cole headed over to the Dog House (Dallas’s DSFL field) facility to get his weight lifting workout and massage in and pick up lunch before heading out. The crew followed and got to see some of Cole’s interactions with coaches, teammates, and facility personnel while he was there, all of which Cole seemed to have a good relationship with.
After arriving back at his house, Cole changed into a pair of swim trunks and Ray-Bans, picked up his playbook and a towel, and headed out back to the pool. He turned on the outdoor TV and switched over to the DVD in the Blu-Ray player and started an impromptu film breakdown for the camera crew, going over the last weeks game and giving the analysis on what the offense was doing, how the defense was reacting, providing honest feedback on his play and where he made mistakes and why those mistakes happened and what can be taken away from the experience to make sure he doesn’t make those same mistakes again. What was intended to be a five to ten minute showcase to help the crew understand his process turned into an hour and half tutorial on football schemes and player packages that showcased Cole’s cerebral approach to the game and how playing smart can help make up for any physical and skill deficiencies. After wrapping about half of the crew noted that the film breakdown was by far their most enjoyable segment they filmed that day. When the film study did finally subside, Cole spent another thirty minutes in the pool with his playbook, silently going over what his roles and responsibilities would be for the following week, although truthfully it was hard to tell if his eyes were even open behind the sunglasses as he listfully drifted across the water on the pool float. At the end of the thirty minutes Cole waded out of the water to shower off and show the crew how he relaxed before dinner.
When Cole emerged from his room, freshly showered and changed, he guided the news crew over to his media room. It certainly wasn’t the flashiest or most expensive set of electronics and furniture the crew had ever seen, especially for a professional athlete, but it was comfortable and fit Cole’s personality. Function without excess. Now there was a big ass TV with a quality sound bar and bluetooth surround sound speakers set up to provide an immersive experience, either gaming or watching something for entertainment. The leather chairs and sofas were arranged so that six to ten people could comfortably get together and enjoy a movie, or swivel around and have a conversation. Despite its relatively large size, the area felt intimate and inviting. The crew watched The Shawshank Redemption, one of Cole’s favorite movies, until he got up to start prepping for dinner. This meal Cole didn’t have to cook though as he had arranged with his private chef to have a dinner made for himself and a few members of his friends and family. It was a great meal that the crew eyed longingly for, but remained focused on catching the conversation and atmosphere of their story. After dinner the table top was removed, to the shock of the crew, to reveal a gaming vault underneath, from which the group picked back up on a previously left off point of a Pandemic Legacy. Cole was obviously very proud of the table, as he took time to show the features, and made sure to plug the local furniture company he had contracted out to make the custom table he was so fond of.
As the night wound down and everyone else left, the news crew decided they had more than enough footage to create their segment on Cole and went to thank him for his time that day. Again, to their surprise, he thanked them for selecting him for such a piece, and insisted on helping them load the equipment into the van, on the condition it would not be a part of the segment. He then thanked each member of the crew individually, and by name, for their work that day, and provided everyone a doggy bag from the leftovers of the dinner they had to watch everyone enjoy from the other side of the lens. And with that, they were off. A few days later the news team sent an advanced copy of the segment for Cole to view, where he learned two things. First, the local broadcast station did an absolutely bang up job in editing and making a coherent story from his day, and second...well second was that his life was a lot more boring to watch than he had anticipated…”Oh well, I don’t need to be a star on a movie or TV show, for now I’ll be happy if I can make it to being a star on the field” he thinks to himself as he turns off his TV and picks his playbook back up.
Fast forward a few months and it’s the day after the Season 28 ISFL Draft, Cole was selected by the Colorado Yeti with the 11th pick in the second round (25th overall selection in the draft) and things couldn’t be more different. Not that his schedule or work ethic had changed at all, quite the contrary as he had reminded dedicated to honing his skills consistently all throughout the year (except for the brief winter storm that knocked out his power for three days in which Cole decided it would be a little too difficult to maintain his routine in the almost uninhabitable conditions) which showed in his consistent performance on tape through the end of the season, including his solid performance in the Birddogs’ Season 27 Ultimini victory. It was now his hometown media, and the fans of a whole new fanbase reaching out that had changed.
Draft night was as expected, from his conversations with the various ISFL team general managers and scouts Cole had determined he would land somewhere safely in rounds 2-3, maybe sneaking towards the end of round 1 if things went obscenely well. Same as the DSFL draft, the current teammates (this time the Dallas Birddogs instead of the Jakarta Seafarers) had a chat line open, with excited congratulations going out every time a Dallas player was selected. Then came the call from the Yeti GM @Sylphreni, welcoming Cole to the team and starting the conversation on some of the business at hand, namely contract specifications and development plans. Thankfully the pre draft conversation had covered most of what the details and as an experienced GM Syl was efficient and more than fair in helping with the contract details. At the same time, all Cole’s new Yeti teammates were reaching out as well to congratulate the newest member of the team and welcome him in as one of their own. This level of warmth and camaraderie felt the same as when he was welcomed to his hometown Dallas team and Cole instantly knew this team would be another great fit for him. After some light celebrating (I mean who has a draft on St. Patty's Day without that expectation) Cole ended his night, grateful for his continued luck with the drafts.
The next morning, however, the feeling around the city had changed. When Cole was first drafted the media was so excited to have a player from the city back for his professional career, only focused on the now and not the future. But now that the future had come and the prospect of their hometown kid moving to another city had come up, the always friendly and welcoming analysts were now suspicious and cold, the local broadcast station had pointed questions about certain rectangular states and geometric preferences. They wanted to know if Cole was coming back or if he had already left the city that so quickly embraced him behind already. This sudden shift in attitude was so foreign to Cole, who had only ever been supported by his city, especially after bringing them their first DSFL championship that very year. Conversely, the Denver media had started sending some requests out to Cole, hoping to get some more information on one of the newest Yeti to join their city. The fans from Denver flooded his inbox and boosted his followers by a significant margin, eager to find out when he would make his debut in the red and black.
Juggling was thankfully one of Cole’s longtime hobbies, something he picked up from his third grade teacher and brought out on occasion, which helped him to try and mediate the situation. He now had to balance managing the excitement and eagerness to move on from the Colorado media with the fear of losing him from the Dallas fans. Thankfully there was already a solution to tide over both parties, another year of development in the DFSL that would allow Cole to further refine his skills and give some more time to the Dallas team that already had given him so much support, while giving hope for a more pro ready player to the Colorado fans who anxiously awaited his arrival. If that were to happen his daily routine could stick for another year before he would have to switch from days by the pool to days on the slopes, but one part would never change. Anywhere he went, there would always be a dog eared page of the playbook for Cole to look over just one more time.
WC: 2100
RE: Before and After the S28 Draft - SchwarzNarr - 03-18-2021
Happy Yeti Noises! So excited to have you in the Yeti family! ♥
RE: Before and After the S28 Draft - Kyamprac - 03-18-2021
Congrats again Alcott! Pumped to see you down in Dallas another season, but can't wait for you to show everyone what you can do in the big league when the time comes.
RE: Before and After the S28 Draft - zaynzk - 03-18-2021
