I was always fascinated by the process of choosing players to the Hall of Fame, whether it be real leagues or sim leagues format. American Football is most recent sport I was following, so I was a bit surprised given the scarcity of metrics or other tangible marks player got to achieve to get into fabled Hall of Fame.
Some of it has go to with sport specifics, in Baseball not only it's easier to measure player value with catch all stats like WAR, but you have dedicated Hall of Fame metrics like JAWS, Black Ink/Gray Ink. In Basketball rings and all-star nods along with career total milestones seems to be most important, given how big, comparatively to other sports, individual can impact the team.
If we add to that our sim and even bigger scarcity of stats it really becomes a tough ask to find a common ground what NSFL HoF should achieve (even more if you include some of earlier seasons drama, that muddied the marks of Hall of Famer even more), but since it's quite interesting topic for me (especially with Fyodorovich nearing the end of his own career and entering ballot in like ~5/6 seasons) I tried to analyse it and maybe find some common ground to be able to distinguish some marks that our enshrined players represent.
With most recent S16 ballot that inducted 4 more, after record S15 with 6, NSFL Hall of Fame has now 20 members, a sensible sample size, especially considering all positions are more or less represented. What's different than usual HoF is the unique circumstance of sim league position switches, as we have inducted several OL switched to LB or QB, same we have converted RB to LB and DE to RB, and given how extraordinary their careers were it wasn't any obstacle for them to get in. Depending on how much this grows while researching it should become a series, hopefully I finish before next class is inducted and some stuff becomes outdated.
So to develop standards we need closer look at each and every Hall of Famer, so let's take a look at our 20 and how voting history looked every year:
\======[]==============[]=====[]======[]=====[]=====[]=====[]======[]=====[]=====[]=====[]=====[]=====//
|| || || || Electors || 15 || 15 || 15 || 13 || 13 || 15 || 13 || 15 || 15 ||
|| || || || Season || S08 || S09 || S10 || S11 || S12 || S13 || S14 || S15 || S16 ||
|| Season || Name || Position || Elected || 2022 || 2023 || 2024 || 2025 || 2026 || 2027 || 2028 || 2029 || 2030 ||
|| (S1) || King Bronko || WR/QB || 2024 || NYE || NYE || 13 || - || - || - || - || - || - ||
|| (S1) || Ian Bavitz || LB/S || 2024 || NYE || NYE || 15 || - || - || - || - || - || - ||
|| (S1) || Mike Boss || QB || 2025 || NYE || NYE || NYE || 13 || - || - || - || - || - ||
|| (S1) || Dan Miller || DT || 2025 || NYE || NYE || NYE || 13 || - || - || - || - || - ||
|| (S1) || Boss Tweed || RB/LB || 2026 || NYE || NYE || NYE || NYE || 10 || - || - || - || - ||
|| (S1) || Antoine Delacour || CB || 2026 || NYE || NYE || NYE || NYE || 12 || - || - || - || - ||
|| (S1) || Harrif Ernston || LB || 2026 || NYE || NYE || NYE || NYE || 11 || - || - || - || - ||
|| (S1) || Bradley Westfield || WR || 2026 || NYE || NYE || NYE || NYE || 12 || - || - || - || - ||
|| (S1) || Fuego Wozy || DE || 2027 || NYE || NYE || NYE || 8 || 8 || 12 || - || - || - ||
|| (S1) || Johnathon Saint || LB || 2028 || NYE || NYE || NYE || NYE || 6 || ??? || 10 || - || - ||
|| (S1) || Josh Garden || WR || 2029 || NYE || NYE || NYE || NYE || NYE || NYE || NYE || 14 || - ||
|| (S1) || Reg Mackworthy || RB || 2029 || NYE || NYE || NYE || NYE || NYE || NYE || NYE || 15 || - ||
|| (S1) || Jaylon Lee || LB || 2029 || NYE || NYE || NYE || NYE || NYE || NYE || NYE || 13 || - ||
|| (S1) || Alexandre LeClair || WR || 2029 || NYE || NYE || NYE || NYE || NYE || NYE || NYE || 12 || - ||
|| (S2) || Darren Smallwood || WR/RB || 2029 || NYE || NYE || NYE || NYE || NYE || NYE || NYE || 14 || - ||
|| (S2) || Avon Blocksdale || OL/QB/CB || 2029 || NYE || NYE || NYE || NYE || NYE || NYE || NYE || 13 || - ||
|| (S1) || Turk Turkleton || K/P || 2030 || NYE || NYE || NYE || NYE || NYE || NYE || NYE || NYE || 14 ||
|| (S1) || Angus Winchester || OL/LB/DE || 2030 || NYE || NYE || NYE || NYE || NYE || NYE || NYE || NYE || 15 ||
|| (S2) || Owen Taylor || DE/RB || 2030 || NYE || NYE || NYE || NYE || NYE || NYE || NYE || NYE || 15 ||
|| (S2) || Marc Spector || CB || 2030 || NYE || NYE || NYE || NYE || 7 || ??? || 7 || 8 || 10 ||
\\======[]==============[]=====[]======[]=====[]=====[]=====[]======[]=====[]=====[]=====[]=====[]=====//
(Tables are my undoing, please jcink gimme tables supoprt).
*NYE means not yet eligible
To summarize we have so far 16 Season 1 players & 4 S2 Players. They soon should be joined by more, as some player that I would consider locks are just waiting for their eligibility.
Outside of first couple votes Hall of Fame inducted at least a single player every year, not sure if that's a trend that is there to stay, but I like it, though with how many players were recently 1st ballot it might not become unwritten rule if there is dearth of candidates. Only S13 & S14 ballots featured single inducted person, on other 6 occasions we had multiple players enshrined.
Out of 20 players enshrined:
- 17 were first ballot - 85% of the inducted
- 6 were unanimous 1st ballot - (S1) Ian Bavitz LB/S, (S1) Mike Boss QB, (S1) Dan Miller DT. (S1) Reg Mackworthy RB, (S1) Angus Winchester OL/LB/DE, (S2) Owen Taylor DE/RB - 30% of the inducted
- 2 were 3rd ballot - (S1) Fuego Wozy DE & (S1) Johnathon Saint LB - 10% of the inducted
- Only one player was elected further down the line on the 5th year of eligibility - (S2) Marc Spector CB - 5% of the inducted.
So we went over the year of induction, years on the ballot and regression class, time to take a look at position distribution:
- 13 players were inducted as single position, 7 played multiple throughout, including 2 OL converts that played total of 3 positions - note here is that goes as official position, since most of them were more than often moved around on the field in depth charts than just stuck on LB or RB.
- 3 QB made the hall, two converted (King Bronko from WR, Avon Blocksdale from OL and switched to CB in his last year), though without a doubt they were elected for their QB achievements.
- 4 RB, but all but Reg Mackworthy also played different officials positions throughout their career and while Owen Taylor and Darren Smallwood were mostly famous because of their running, Boss Tweed was also excellent LB.
- 3 Pure WR - Bradley Westfield, Josh Garden & Alexandre LeClair spend their career catching the ball. I wouldn't consider converts like Bronko or Smallwood here, because they were much more impactful on other positions.
- 0 TE so far, but this should change soon
- 5 LB - Harrif Ernston, Johnathon Saint & Jaylon Lee played only this position while Angus Winchester spend most of their time there with already mentioned Boss Tweed being also a force there. Iirc Bavitz was mostly playing in the secondary, so I'll count him in next category.
- 3 DB - Ian Bavitz & Marc Spector, both Otters joined by Hawk lifer Antoine Delacour are the only players to be elected as members of the secondary so far. The first of the bunch spend some time as LB too.
- 2 DL - two members in the HoF playing the defensive line in their career so far are Dan Miller & Fuego Wozy
- 1 K/P - Turk Turkleton is the only kicker so far inducted
- 0 OL as both Blocksdale and Winchester only spend their early career there and flourished in another positions
It's really nice even spread of 9 offensive/9 defensive players plus special team kicker and unique Boss Tweed that excelled as both RB & LB. It also shows lack of bias toward any position on the first look, tough certainly I plan to go position by position to check if there is are any notable omissions compared to players already in. Maybe just maybe, overall number of RB inducted is rather high compared to WR, that should be closer to LB inducted, as similar amount of such is required per team, put pecking order makes bigger difference in the offence side of things.
In the couple of first paragraphs I mentioned that NBA HoF discussions often circulate around individual accolades and especially RINGZ ERNEH argument, so let's see how inducted so far stack up in department of finger worn jewelry.
| Rings | Season | Name | Position |
|-------|--------|-------------------|----------|
| 4 | (S1) | Jaylon Lee | LB |
| 4 | (S1) | Angus Winchester | OL/LB/DE |
| 3 | (S1) | King Bronko | WR/QB |
| 3 | (S1) | Ian Bavitz | LB/S |
| 3 | (S1) | Mike Boss | QB |
| 3 | (S1) | Bradley Westfield | WR |
| 3 | (S1) | Reg Mackworthy | RB |
| 3 | (S2) | Marc Spector | CB |
| 2 | (S2) | Darren Smallwood | WR/RB |
| 1 | (S1) | Boss Tweed | RB/LB |
| 1 | (S1) | Antoine Delacour | CB |
| 1 | (S1) | Fuego Wozy | DE |
| 1 | (S1) | Josh Garden | WR |
| 1 | (S2) | Avon Blocksdale | OL/QB/CB |
| 1 | (S1) | Turk Turkleton | K/P |
| 1 | (S2) | Owen Taylor | DE/RB |
| 0 | (S1) | Dan Miller | DT |
| 0 | (S1) | Harrif Ernston | LB |
| 0 | (S1) | Johnathon Saint | LB |
| 0 | (S1) | Alexandre LeClair | WR |
And we have rather clear answer that this doesn't matter that much, which makes absolutely perfect sense if you ask me, in Basketball you can have short rotation of 7/8 players in the playoffs with the superstars playing almost whole game, in the football not so much, so judging HoF worthiness by team results seems misguided, even if league was just 8 teams back in the day when those player competed.
Starting the search of potential snubs, let's evaluate how rest of the league stacked and check players that won at least 3 Ultimus Trophies in their career:
| Ringz | HoF | Player |
|-------|-----|-------------------|
| 5 | NO* | Jayce Tuck |
| 5 | NO | Godfrey King |
| 5 | NYE | Julian O'Sullivan |
| 4 | YES | Jaylon Lee |
| 4 | NO | Ryan Flock |
| 4 | NO | Gregor Clegane |
| 4 | YES | Angus Winchester |
| 4 | NO | Ryan Sierra |
| 4 | NO | Tegan Atwell |
| 3 | YES | King Bronko |
| 3 | YES | Reg Mackworthy |
| 3 | NO | Jack Durden |
| 3 | NO* | Tim Pest |
| 3 | NO | Alex Thomas |
| 3 | NO | Scott Timlin |
| 3 | NO | Dental Dam |
| 3 | NO | Arbin Asipi |
| 3 | YES | Hariff Ernston |
| 3 | NO | Jason Williams |
| 3 | NO | Mayran Jackson |
| 3 | NO | Dustin Evans |
| 3 | NO | Charlie Law |
| 3 | YES | Mike Boss |
| 3 | NO | Erlich Burnsman |
| 3 | YES | Bradley Westfield |
| 3 | NO | Robert Phelps |
| 3 | NO | Steven O'Sullivan |
| 3 | NO | George Wright Jr. |
| 3 | YES | Ian Bavitz |
| 3 | YES | Marc Spector |
| 3 | NO | Anthony Petrakis |
| 3 | NYE | Bradley Madlad |
| 3 | NO | Jonathan King |
| 3 | NYE | Paul DiMirio |
| 3 | NO | Norman Bagwell |
| 3 | NYE | Chad Pennington |
| 3 | NYE | Brian Mills |
| 3 | NYE | Blackford Oakes |
Apologies for potential mistakes, data was taken from wiki, so S16 ultimus winners were not yet included and I'm not sure if some players said as NO/Not yet eligible aren't switched up, as already crossed off or vice versa.
There are 3 players with 5 Ultimus winning campaigns and it seems only Jullian O'Sullivan, who has several other credentials is lock for HoF. Even more so 4 rings or 3 aren't any guarantee of being inducted, so we can put tracking and focusing on this to rest, especially given 4 Hall of Famers don't have any - while estimated 200 of NSFL players have at least 1, 85 won 2, 38 3, & 9 4 once again not counting S16, so the number of ring hoarders is certainly higher.
So if not the the rings what have given those 20 this the privilege of being in the Hall of Fame? Let's look at other silverware, namely MVP titles, Defensive/Offensive Player of the Award and Positional Excellency wins. I crossed off pro-bowls as they were much easier to win early on than nowadays so not a good idea to rely on them, tough maybe I'll come back once I sort out better method to collect all pro-bowl nods throughout all years than copy pasting them individually... Similarly Most Outstanding Award was not included as defunct and while I researched Rookie of the Year none of the inducted players earned that nod, so won't be included in the table below:
//=====[]========[]===================[]==========\\
|| MVP || Season || Name || Position ||
|| 3 || (S1) || Mike Boss || QB ||
|| 1 || (S2) || Darren Smallwood || WR/RB ||
|| 0 || (S1) || Jaylon Lee || LB ||
|| 0 || (S1) || Angus Winchester || OL/LB/DE ||
|| 0 || (S1) || King Bronko || WR/QB ||
|| 0 || (S1) || Ian Bavitz || LB/S ||
|| 0 || (S1) || Bradley Westfield || WR ||
|| 0 || (S1) || Reg Mackworthy || RB ||
|| 0 || (S2) || Marc Spector || CB ||
|| 0 || (S1) || Boss Tweed || RB/LB ||
|| 0 || (S1) || Antoine Delacour || CB ||
|| 0 || (S1) || Fuego Wozy || DE ||
|| 0 || (S1) || Josh Garden || WR ||
|| 0 || (S2) || Avon Blocksdale || OL/QB/CB ||
|| 0 || (S1) || Turk Turkleton || K/P ||
|| 0 || (S2) || Owen Taylor || DE/RB ||
|| 0 || (S1) || Dan Miller || DT ||
|| 0 || (S1) || Harrif Ernston || LB ||
|| 0 || (S1) || Johnathon Saint || LB ||
|| 0 || (S1) || Alexandre LeClair || WR ||
\=====[]========[]===================[]==========//
Let's start with MVP and I'm honestly a bit shocked, since I expected more HoF players there, especially basically them to dominate those 10 years in which they ruled the league and instead it's Mike Boss trifecta & RB Goat season of Smallwod. So who won and how winning MVP wasn't enough to get into this club?
Well S1 MVP was Bubba Nuck that basically did nothing else so I get that it wasn't enough.
And here comes elephant in the room, the NSFL version of Pete Rose, Roger Clement & Barry Bonds - the infamous Jayce Tuck that was already on previous list with 5 rings, but was main culprit in biggest multi scandal in sim league history as well as accused of sim rigging. In S5 we had co-winner with Eric Kennedy, whose case I'm sure we will closely investigate in later edition of NSFL Hall of Fame standards. S7 MVP, and probably the best Mobile Quarterback season was Mat Akselsen, but his career as OL to QB switch was a case of too little too late to get into HoF. S9 and onward we had next generation of players winning that precious trophy, some that should be strong HoF candidates included (Crush, Borkman, O'Sullivan, Miller, Brown, Gambino, Grithead) so I have a feeling MVP award will be more important in the future HoF bids, albeit not nearly a requirement, given how rare it is.
//======[]========[]===================[]==========\\
|| PoTY || Season || Name || Position ||
|| 3 || (S1) || Mike Boss || QB ||
|| 2 || (S2) || Darren Smallwood || WR/RB ||
|| 2 || (S1) || Boss Tweed || RB/LB ||
|| 2 || (S2) || Owen Taylor || DE/RB ||
|| 1 || (S1) || Ian Bavitz || LB/S ||
|| 1 || (S1) || Antoine Delacour || CB ||
|| 1 || (S1) || Dan Miller || DT ||
|| 1 || (S1) || Harrif Ernston || LB ||
|| 0 || (S1) || Jaylon Lee || LB ||
|| 0 || (S1) || Angus Winchester || OL/LB/DE ||
|| 0 || (S1) || King Bronko || WR/QB ||
|| 0 || (S1) || Bradley Westfield || WR ||
|| 0 || (S1) || Reg Mackworthy || RB ||
|| 0 || (S2) || Marc Spector || CB ||
|| 0 || (S1) || Fuego Wozy || DE ||
|| 0 || (S1) || Josh Garden || WR ||
|| 0 || (S2) || Avon Blocksdale || OL/QB/CB ||
|| 0 || (S1) || Turk Turkleton || K/P ||
|| 0 || (S1) || Johnathon Saint || LB ||
|| 0 || (S1) || Alexandre LeClair || WR ||
\\======[]========[]===================[]==========//
Time for Defensive/Offensive player of the win awards, here we have bigger company as there 2 every year. Boss is only one with trifecta (back in the day you could win both MVP and Offensive/Defensive PoTY - not possible anymore) and 4 more with double, Tweed won both as LB, just like Taylor as RB. So overall we have 8/20 inducted players that won major offensive/defensive player of the year award. Once again not a requirement, but we are getting somewhere.
To further see how big that award is let's go over Offensive player of the year and who is in and outside of HoF or just before eligibility:
//========[]======================[]=========================[]===================[]========\\
|| Season || Player || Team || Position || HoF ||
|| 2016 || Angus Winchester || Orange County Otters || Offensive lineman || Yes ||
|| 2017 || Chris Orosz || Yellowknife Wraiths || Quarterback || No ||
|| 2018 || Mike Boss || Orange County Otters || Quarterback || Yes ||
|| 2019 || Mike Boss || Orange County Otters || Quarterback || Yes ||
|| 2020 || Eric Kennedy || Yellowknife Wraiths || Runningback || No ||
|| 2021 || Mike Boss || Orange County Otters || Quarterback || Yes ||
|| 2022 || Mat Akselsen || Yellowknife Wraiths || Quarterback || No ||
|| 2023 || Darren Smallwood || New Orleans Second Line || Runningback || Yes ||
|| 2024 || Darren Smallwood || New Orleans Second Line || Runningback || Yes ||
|| 2025 || Owen Taylor || Baltimore Hawks || Runningback || Yes ||
|| 2026 || Owen Taylor || Baltimore Hawks || Runningback || Yes ||
|| 2027 || Vladimir Fyodorovich || New Orleans Second Line || Wide Receiver || Active ||
|| 2028 || Marquise Brown || Philadelphia Liberty || Runningback || Active ||
|| 2029 || Joliet Christ || San Jose Sabercats || Quarterback || Active ||
|| 2031 || Vinny Valentine || Orange County Otters || Wide Receiver || Active ||
\========[]======================[]=========================[]===================[]========//
I might have underestimated Winchester HoF bid as OL, since he had winning year there as only OL in league history (possibly forever, though I cheer for the OL Gang).
Orosz Career was interesting and similarly to already mentioned Kennedy I'll be sure to revisit his candidature, maybe we add Akselsen too, since he shows up again. Until S11 S1 & S2 classes dominated and after that we have only active players, but I dare to say it this nod, similarly to MVP should carry some weight ( ).
//======[]=======================[]=============[]=============\\
|| Year || Player || Team || HoF ||
|| 2016 || Isaiah Rashad(S) || Outlaws || No ||
|| 2017 || Jayce Tuck(DE) || Outlaws || No ||
|| 2018 || Jayce Tuck (DE) || Outlaws || No ||
|| 2019 || Dan Miller(DT) || Sabercats || Yes ||
|| 2020 || Harrif Ernston(LB) || Outlaws || Yes ||
|| 2021 || Antoine Delacour(CB) || Hawks || Yes ||
|| 2022 || Ian Bavitz(S) || Otters || Yes ||
|| 2023 || Boss Tweed(LB) || Wraiths || Yes ||
|| 2024 || Dermot Lavelle(CB) || Wraiths || NYE ||
|| 2025 || Boss Tweed(LB) || Wraiths || Yes ||
|| 2025 || Mason Brown(LB) || Otters || Last season ||
|| 2026 || Chad Pennington(LB) || Wraiths || NYE ||
|| 2027 || Mason Brown(LB) || Otters || Last season ||
|| 2028 || Julian O'Sullivan(LB) || Second Line || NYE ||
|| 2029 || Alex Selich(LB) || Liberty || Active ||
|| 2031 || Raymond Vans(LB) || Outlaws || Active ||
\======[]=======================[]=============[]=============//
Time for the defensive side and here outside of similar to Bubba Nuck oen and done Isaiah Rashad win we have tainted Jayce Tuck career and it's streak of Hall of Famers afterward that I think it's fair to say to continue for a while, at least with Locks in Lavelle & O'Sullivan and Mason Brown solidifying his bid playing last season now.
Anyway, that's it for this week, hopefully won't be end of the series as we have still plenty of topics to go through and we just scratched the surface of topics - there are still plenty of things we can analyze like positional excellency awards, career milestones, records, best seasons and other considerations. I'd love to go back to some players I already highlighted as potentially committed from being enshrined (well, maybe not Tuck).
I have S3 redraft in the making too, though maybe I'll wait until we have some S3 players enshrined in the HoF first. Also if you have way or suggestion how to make damn tables presentable better on jcink absolutely hit me up.
Ever growin research sheet for NSFL Hall of Fame Standards
Some of it has go to with sport specifics, in Baseball not only it's easier to measure player value with catch all stats like WAR, but you have dedicated Hall of Fame metrics like JAWS, Black Ink/Gray Ink. In Basketball rings and all-star nods along with career total milestones seems to be most important, given how big, comparatively to other sports, individual can impact the team.
If we add to that our sim and even bigger scarcity of stats it really becomes a tough ask to find a common ground what NSFL HoF should achieve (even more if you include some of earlier seasons drama, that muddied the marks of Hall of Famer even more), but since it's quite interesting topic for me (especially with Fyodorovich nearing the end of his own career and entering ballot in like ~5/6 seasons) I tried to analyse it and maybe find some common ground to be able to distinguish some marks that our enshrined players represent.
With most recent S16 ballot that inducted 4 more, after record S15 with 6, NSFL Hall of Fame has now 20 members, a sensible sample size, especially considering all positions are more or less represented. What's different than usual HoF is the unique circumstance of sim league position switches, as we have inducted several OL switched to LB or QB, same we have converted RB to LB and DE to RB, and given how extraordinary their careers were it wasn't any obstacle for them to get in. Depending on how much this grows while researching it should become a series, hopefully I finish before next class is inducted and some stuff becomes outdated.
So to develop standards we need closer look at each and every Hall of Famer, so let's take a look at our 20 and how voting history looked every year:
\======[]==============[]=====[]======[]=====[]=====[]=====[]======[]=====[]=====[]=====[]=====[]=====//
|| || || || Electors || 15 || 15 || 15 || 13 || 13 || 15 || 13 || 15 || 15 ||
|| || || || Season || S08 || S09 || S10 || S11 || S12 || S13 || S14 || S15 || S16 ||
|| Season || Name || Position || Elected || 2022 || 2023 || 2024 || 2025 || 2026 || 2027 || 2028 || 2029 || 2030 ||
|| (S1) || King Bronko || WR/QB || 2024 || NYE || NYE || 13 || - || - || - || - || - || - ||
|| (S1) || Ian Bavitz || LB/S || 2024 || NYE || NYE || 15 || - || - || - || - || - || - ||
|| (S1) || Mike Boss || QB || 2025 || NYE || NYE || NYE || 13 || - || - || - || - || - ||
|| (S1) || Dan Miller || DT || 2025 || NYE || NYE || NYE || 13 || - || - || - || - || - ||
|| (S1) || Boss Tweed || RB/LB || 2026 || NYE || NYE || NYE || NYE || 10 || - || - || - || - ||
|| (S1) || Antoine Delacour || CB || 2026 || NYE || NYE || NYE || NYE || 12 || - || - || - || - ||
|| (S1) || Harrif Ernston || LB || 2026 || NYE || NYE || NYE || NYE || 11 || - || - || - || - ||
|| (S1) || Bradley Westfield || WR || 2026 || NYE || NYE || NYE || NYE || 12 || - || - || - || - ||
|| (S1) || Fuego Wozy || DE || 2027 || NYE || NYE || NYE || 8 || 8 || 12 || - || - || - ||
|| (S1) || Johnathon Saint || LB || 2028 || NYE || NYE || NYE || NYE || 6 || ??? || 10 || - || - ||
|| (S1) || Josh Garden || WR || 2029 || NYE || NYE || NYE || NYE || NYE || NYE || NYE || 14 || - ||
|| (S1) || Reg Mackworthy || RB || 2029 || NYE || NYE || NYE || NYE || NYE || NYE || NYE || 15 || - ||
|| (S1) || Jaylon Lee || LB || 2029 || NYE || NYE || NYE || NYE || NYE || NYE || NYE || 13 || - ||
|| (S1) || Alexandre LeClair || WR || 2029 || NYE || NYE || NYE || NYE || NYE || NYE || NYE || 12 || - ||
|| (S2) || Darren Smallwood || WR/RB || 2029 || NYE || NYE || NYE || NYE || NYE || NYE || NYE || 14 || - ||
|| (S2) || Avon Blocksdale || OL/QB/CB || 2029 || NYE || NYE || NYE || NYE || NYE || NYE || NYE || 13 || - ||
|| (S1) || Turk Turkleton || K/P || 2030 || NYE || NYE || NYE || NYE || NYE || NYE || NYE || NYE || 14 ||
|| (S1) || Angus Winchester || OL/LB/DE || 2030 || NYE || NYE || NYE || NYE || NYE || NYE || NYE || NYE || 15 ||
|| (S2) || Owen Taylor || DE/RB || 2030 || NYE || NYE || NYE || NYE || NYE || NYE || NYE || NYE || 15 ||
|| (S2) || Marc Spector || CB || 2030 || NYE || NYE || NYE || NYE || 7 || ??? || 7 || 8 || 10 ||
\\======[]==============[]=====[]======[]=====[]=====[]=====[]======[]=====[]=====[]=====[]=====[]=====//
(Tables are my undoing, please jcink gimme tables supoprt).
*NYE means not yet eligible
To summarize we have so far 16 Season 1 players & 4 S2 Players. They soon should be joined by more, as some player that I would consider locks are just waiting for their eligibility.
Outside of first couple votes Hall of Fame inducted at least a single player every year, not sure if that's a trend that is there to stay, but I like it, though with how many players were recently 1st ballot it might not become unwritten rule if there is dearth of candidates. Only S13 & S14 ballots featured single inducted person, on other 6 occasions we had multiple players enshrined.
Out of 20 players enshrined:
- 17 were first ballot - 85% of the inducted
- 6 were unanimous 1st ballot - (S1) Ian Bavitz LB/S, (S1) Mike Boss QB, (S1) Dan Miller DT. (S1) Reg Mackworthy RB, (S1) Angus Winchester OL/LB/DE, (S2) Owen Taylor DE/RB - 30% of the inducted
- 2 were 3rd ballot - (S1) Fuego Wozy DE & (S1) Johnathon Saint LB - 10% of the inducted
- Only one player was elected further down the line on the 5th year of eligibility - (S2) Marc Spector CB - 5% of the inducted.
So we went over the year of induction, years on the ballot and regression class, time to take a look at position distribution:
- 13 players were inducted as single position, 7 played multiple throughout, including 2 OL converts that played total of 3 positions - note here is that goes as official position, since most of them were more than often moved around on the field in depth charts than just stuck on LB or RB.
- 3 QB made the hall, two converted (King Bronko from WR, Avon Blocksdale from OL and switched to CB in his last year), though without a doubt they were elected for their QB achievements.
- 4 RB, but all but Reg Mackworthy also played different officials positions throughout their career and while Owen Taylor and Darren Smallwood were mostly famous because of their running, Boss Tweed was also excellent LB.
- 3 Pure WR - Bradley Westfield, Josh Garden & Alexandre LeClair spend their career catching the ball. I wouldn't consider converts like Bronko or Smallwood here, because they were much more impactful on other positions.
- 0 TE so far, but this should change soon
- 5 LB - Harrif Ernston, Johnathon Saint & Jaylon Lee played only this position while Angus Winchester spend most of their time there with already mentioned Boss Tweed being also a force there. Iirc Bavitz was mostly playing in the secondary, so I'll count him in next category.
- 3 DB - Ian Bavitz & Marc Spector, both Otters joined by Hawk lifer Antoine Delacour are the only players to be elected as members of the secondary so far. The first of the bunch spend some time as LB too.
- 2 DL - two members in the HoF playing the defensive line in their career so far are Dan Miller & Fuego Wozy
- 1 K/P - Turk Turkleton is the only kicker so far inducted
- 0 OL as both Blocksdale and Winchester only spend their early career there and flourished in another positions
It's really nice even spread of 9 offensive/9 defensive players plus special team kicker and unique Boss Tweed that excelled as both RB & LB. It also shows lack of bias toward any position on the first look, tough certainly I plan to go position by position to check if there is are any notable omissions compared to players already in. Maybe just maybe, overall number of RB inducted is rather high compared to WR, that should be closer to LB inducted, as similar amount of such is required per team, put pecking order makes bigger difference in the offence side of things.
In the couple of first paragraphs I mentioned that NBA HoF discussions often circulate around individual accolades and especially RINGZ ERNEH argument, so let's see how inducted so far stack up in department of finger worn jewelry.
| Rings | Season | Name | Position |
|-------|--------|-------------------|----------|
| 4 | (S1) | Jaylon Lee | LB |
| 4 | (S1) | Angus Winchester | OL/LB/DE |
| 3 | (S1) | King Bronko | WR/QB |
| 3 | (S1) | Ian Bavitz | LB/S |
| 3 | (S1) | Mike Boss | QB |
| 3 | (S1) | Bradley Westfield | WR |
| 3 | (S1) | Reg Mackworthy | RB |
| 3 | (S2) | Marc Spector | CB |
| 2 | (S2) | Darren Smallwood | WR/RB |
| 1 | (S1) | Boss Tweed | RB/LB |
| 1 | (S1) | Antoine Delacour | CB |
| 1 | (S1) | Fuego Wozy | DE |
| 1 | (S1) | Josh Garden | WR |
| 1 | (S2) | Avon Blocksdale | OL/QB/CB |
| 1 | (S1) | Turk Turkleton | K/P |
| 1 | (S2) | Owen Taylor | DE/RB |
| 0 | (S1) | Dan Miller | DT |
| 0 | (S1) | Harrif Ernston | LB |
| 0 | (S1) | Johnathon Saint | LB |
| 0 | (S1) | Alexandre LeClair | WR |
And we have rather clear answer that this doesn't matter that much, which makes absolutely perfect sense if you ask me, in Basketball you can have short rotation of 7/8 players in the playoffs with the superstars playing almost whole game, in the football not so much, so judging HoF worthiness by team results seems misguided, even if league was just 8 teams back in the day when those player competed.
Starting the search of potential snubs, let's evaluate how rest of the league stacked and check players that won at least 3 Ultimus Trophies in their career:
| Ringz | HoF | Player |
|-------|-----|-------------------|
| 5 | NO* | Jayce Tuck |
| 5 | NO | Godfrey King |
| 5 | NYE | Julian O'Sullivan |
| 4 | YES | Jaylon Lee |
| 4 | NO | Ryan Flock |
| 4 | NO | Gregor Clegane |
| 4 | YES | Angus Winchester |
| 4 | NO | Ryan Sierra |
| 4 | NO | Tegan Atwell |
| 3 | YES | King Bronko |
| 3 | YES | Reg Mackworthy |
| 3 | NO | Jack Durden |
| 3 | NO* | Tim Pest |
| 3 | NO | Alex Thomas |
| 3 | NO | Scott Timlin |
| 3 | NO | Dental Dam |
| 3 | NO | Arbin Asipi |
| 3 | YES | Hariff Ernston |
| 3 | NO | Jason Williams |
| 3 | NO | Mayran Jackson |
| 3 | NO | Dustin Evans |
| 3 | NO | Charlie Law |
| 3 | YES | Mike Boss |
| 3 | NO | Erlich Burnsman |
| 3 | YES | Bradley Westfield |
| 3 | NO | Robert Phelps |
| 3 | NO | Steven O'Sullivan |
| 3 | NO | George Wright Jr. |
| 3 | YES | Ian Bavitz |
| 3 | YES | Marc Spector |
| 3 | NO | Anthony Petrakis |
| 3 | NYE | Bradley Madlad |
| 3 | NO | Jonathan King |
| 3 | NYE | Paul DiMirio |
| 3 | NO | Norman Bagwell |
| 3 | NYE | Chad Pennington |
| 3 | NYE | Brian Mills |
| 3 | NYE | Blackford Oakes |
Apologies for potential mistakes, data was taken from wiki, so S16 ultimus winners were not yet included and I'm not sure if some players said as NO/Not yet eligible aren't switched up, as already crossed off or vice versa.
There are 3 players with 5 Ultimus winning campaigns and it seems only Jullian O'Sullivan, who has several other credentials is lock for HoF. Even more so 4 rings or 3 aren't any guarantee of being inducted, so we can put tracking and focusing on this to rest, especially given 4 Hall of Famers don't have any - while estimated 200 of NSFL players have at least 1, 85 won 2, 38 3, & 9 4 once again not counting S16, so the number of ring hoarders is certainly higher.
So if not the the rings what have given those 20 this the privilege of being in the Hall of Fame? Let's look at other silverware, namely MVP titles, Defensive/Offensive Player of the Award and Positional Excellency wins. I crossed off pro-bowls as they were much easier to win early on than nowadays so not a good idea to rely on them, tough maybe I'll come back once I sort out better method to collect all pro-bowl nods throughout all years than copy pasting them individually... Similarly Most Outstanding Award was not included as defunct and while I researched Rookie of the Year none of the inducted players earned that nod, so won't be included in the table below:
//=====[]========[]===================[]==========\\
|| MVP || Season || Name || Position ||
|| 3 || (S1) || Mike Boss || QB ||
|| 1 || (S2) || Darren Smallwood || WR/RB ||
|| 0 || (S1) || Jaylon Lee || LB ||
|| 0 || (S1) || Angus Winchester || OL/LB/DE ||
|| 0 || (S1) || King Bronko || WR/QB ||
|| 0 || (S1) || Ian Bavitz || LB/S ||
|| 0 || (S1) || Bradley Westfield || WR ||
|| 0 || (S1) || Reg Mackworthy || RB ||
|| 0 || (S2) || Marc Spector || CB ||
|| 0 || (S1) || Boss Tweed || RB/LB ||
|| 0 || (S1) || Antoine Delacour || CB ||
|| 0 || (S1) || Fuego Wozy || DE ||
|| 0 || (S1) || Josh Garden || WR ||
|| 0 || (S2) || Avon Blocksdale || OL/QB/CB ||
|| 0 || (S1) || Turk Turkleton || K/P ||
|| 0 || (S2) || Owen Taylor || DE/RB ||
|| 0 || (S1) || Dan Miller || DT ||
|| 0 || (S1) || Harrif Ernston || LB ||
|| 0 || (S1) || Johnathon Saint || LB ||
|| 0 || (S1) || Alexandre LeClair || WR ||
\=====[]========[]===================[]==========//
Let's start with MVP and I'm honestly a bit shocked, since I expected more HoF players there, especially basically them to dominate those 10 years in which they ruled the league and instead it's Mike Boss trifecta & RB Goat season of Smallwod. So who won and how winning MVP wasn't enough to get into this club?
Well S1 MVP was Bubba Nuck that basically did nothing else so I get that it wasn't enough.
And here comes elephant in the room, the NSFL version of Pete Rose, Roger Clement & Barry Bonds - the infamous Jayce Tuck that was already on previous list with 5 rings, but was main culprit in biggest multi scandal in sim league history as well as accused of sim rigging. In S5 we had co-winner with Eric Kennedy, whose case I'm sure we will closely investigate in later edition of NSFL Hall of Fame standards. S7 MVP, and probably the best Mobile Quarterback season was Mat Akselsen, but his career as OL to QB switch was a case of too little too late to get into HoF. S9 and onward we had next generation of players winning that precious trophy, some that should be strong HoF candidates included (Crush, Borkman, O'Sullivan, Miller, Brown, Gambino, Grithead) so I have a feeling MVP award will be more important in the future HoF bids, albeit not nearly a requirement, given how rare it is.
//======[]========[]===================[]==========\\
|| PoTY || Season || Name || Position ||
|| 3 || (S1) || Mike Boss || QB ||
|| 2 || (S2) || Darren Smallwood || WR/RB ||
|| 2 || (S1) || Boss Tweed || RB/LB ||
|| 2 || (S2) || Owen Taylor || DE/RB ||
|| 1 || (S1) || Ian Bavitz || LB/S ||
|| 1 || (S1) || Antoine Delacour || CB ||
|| 1 || (S1) || Dan Miller || DT ||
|| 1 || (S1) || Harrif Ernston || LB ||
|| 0 || (S1) || Jaylon Lee || LB ||
|| 0 || (S1) || Angus Winchester || OL/LB/DE ||
|| 0 || (S1) || King Bronko || WR/QB ||
|| 0 || (S1) || Bradley Westfield || WR ||
|| 0 || (S1) || Reg Mackworthy || RB ||
|| 0 || (S2) || Marc Spector || CB ||
|| 0 || (S1) || Fuego Wozy || DE ||
|| 0 || (S1) || Josh Garden || WR ||
|| 0 || (S2) || Avon Blocksdale || OL/QB/CB ||
|| 0 || (S1) || Turk Turkleton || K/P ||
|| 0 || (S1) || Johnathon Saint || LB ||
|| 0 || (S1) || Alexandre LeClair || WR ||
\\======[]========[]===================[]==========//
Time for Defensive/Offensive player of the win awards, here we have bigger company as there 2 every year. Boss is only one with trifecta (back in the day you could win both MVP and Offensive/Defensive PoTY - not possible anymore) and 4 more with double, Tweed won both as LB, just like Taylor as RB. So overall we have 8/20 inducted players that won major offensive/defensive player of the year award. Once again not a requirement, but we are getting somewhere.
To further see how big that award is let's go over Offensive player of the year and who is in and outside of HoF or just before eligibility:
//========[]======================[]=========================[]===================[]========\\
|| Season || Player || Team || Position || HoF ||
|| 2016 || Angus Winchester || Orange County Otters || Offensive lineman || Yes ||
|| 2017 || Chris Orosz || Yellowknife Wraiths || Quarterback || No ||
|| 2018 || Mike Boss || Orange County Otters || Quarterback || Yes ||
|| 2019 || Mike Boss || Orange County Otters || Quarterback || Yes ||
|| 2020 || Eric Kennedy || Yellowknife Wraiths || Runningback || No ||
|| 2021 || Mike Boss || Orange County Otters || Quarterback || Yes ||
|| 2022 || Mat Akselsen || Yellowknife Wraiths || Quarterback || No ||
|| 2023 || Darren Smallwood || New Orleans Second Line || Runningback || Yes ||
|| 2024 || Darren Smallwood || New Orleans Second Line || Runningback || Yes ||
|| 2025 || Owen Taylor || Baltimore Hawks || Runningback || Yes ||
|| 2026 || Owen Taylor || Baltimore Hawks || Runningback || Yes ||
|| 2027 || Vladimir Fyodorovich || New Orleans Second Line || Wide Receiver || Active ||
|| 2028 || Marquise Brown || Philadelphia Liberty || Runningback || Active ||
|| 2029 || Joliet Christ || San Jose Sabercats || Quarterback || Active ||
|| 2031 || Vinny Valentine || Orange County Otters || Wide Receiver || Active ||
\========[]======================[]=========================[]===================[]========//
I might have underestimated Winchester HoF bid as OL, since he had winning year there as only OL in league history (possibly forever, though I cheer for the OL Gang).
Orosz Career was interesting and similarly to already mentioned Kennedy I'll be sure to revisit his candidature, maybe we add Akselsen too, since he shows up again. Until S11 S1 & S2 classes dominated and after that we have only active players, but I dare to say it this nod, similarly to MVP should carry some weight ( ).
//======[]=======================[]=============[]=============\\
|| Year || Player || Team || HoF ||
|| 2016 || Isaiah Rashad(S) || Outlaws || No ||
|| 2017 || Jayce Tuck(DE) || Outlaws || No ||
|| 2018 || Jayce Tuck (DE) || Outlaws || No ||
|| 2019 || Dan Miller(DT) || Sabercats || Yes ||
|| 2020 || Harrif Ernston(LB) || Outlaws || Yes ||
|| 2021 || Antoine Delacour(CB) || Hawks || Yes ||
|| 2022 || Ian Bavitz(S) || Otters || Yes ||
|| 2023 || Boss Tweed(LB) || Wraiths || Yes ||
|| 2024 || Dermot Lavelle(CB) || Wraiths || NYE ||
|| 2025 || Boss Tweed(LB) || Wraiths || Yes ||
|| 2025 || Mason Brown(LB) || Otters || Last season ||
|| 2026 || Chad Pennington(LB) || Wraiths || NYE ||
|| 2027 || Mason Brown(LB) || Otters || Last season ||
|| 2028 || Julian O'Sullivan(LB) || Second Line || NYE ||
|| 2029 || Alex Selich(LB) || Liberty || Active ||
|| 2031 || Raymond Vans(LB) || Outlaws || Active ||
\======[]=======================[]=============[]=============//
Time for the defensive side and here outside of similar to Bubba Nuck oen and done Isaiah Rashad win we have tainted Jayce Tuck career and it's streak of Hall of Famers afterward that I think it's fair to say to continue for a while, at least with Locks in Lavelle & O'Sullivan and Mason Brown solidifying his bid playing last season now.
Anyway, that's it for this week, hopefully won't be end of the series as we have still plenty of topics to go through and we just scratched the surface of topics - there are still plenty of things we can analyze like positional excellency awards, career milestones, records, best seasons and other considerations. I'd love to go back to some players I already highlighted as potentially committed from being enshrined (well, maybe not Tuck).
I have S3 redraft in the making too, though maybe I'll wait until we have some S3 players enshrined in the HoF first. Also if you have way or suggestion how to make damn tables presentable better on jcink absolutely hit me up.
Ever growin research sheet for NSFL Hall of Fame Standards
[OPTION]Balanced || 6'5'' || 265 lbs || #77
[OPTION]============================================
[OPTION] Trophy Case:
[OPTION]============================================
[OPTION] Regular Season Stats:
[OPTION] [DSFL] S6 KCC: 4 G | x Tackles | x Sacks | x PD
[OPTION]============================================
[OPTION] Playoff Stats:
[OPTION]============================================
[OPTION] Transactions:
[OPTION]============================================
[OPTION]Speed Receiver || 6'2'' || 220 lbs || #77
[OPTION]============================================
[OPTION] Trophy Case:
[OPTION] [S9] [S11] Ultimus Champion with New Orleans Second Line
[OPTION] [S6] SFC & Ultimini Champion with San Antonio Marshals
[OPTION] [S12] NSFL Offensive Player of the Year
[OPTION] [S12] NSFL Wide Receiver of the Year
[OPTION] [S11] NSFL Performance of the Year Award for Ultimus Game
[OPTION] [S14] NSFL Returner of the Year Award
[OPTION] [S6] DSFL Co-Defensive Player of The Year
[OPTION] [S6] Top DSFL DB
[OPTION] [S10] [S11] [S12] [S13] [S14] [S15] [S16] [S17] NSFL Pro-Bowl
[OPTION] [S6] DSFL Pro-Bowl
[OPTION] [S8] [S9] [S10] [S11] ASFC Champion with New Orleans Second Line
[OPTION] [S7] ASFC Champion with Orange County Otters
[OPTION]============================================
[OPTION] Regular Season Stats:
[OPTION] [DSFL] S6 SA: 13 G | 33 Tackles | 1 Sacks | 3 INT | 10 PD | 1 DTD
[OPTION] S7 OC: 14 G | 49 Tackles | 7 Sacks | 0 INT | 4 PD
[OPTION] S8 NO: 14 G | 69 Tackles | 0 Sacks | 1 INT | 13 PD
[OPTION] S9 NO: 14 G | 51 Tackles | 0 Sacks | 1 INT | 9 PD | 1 TFL
[OPTION] S10 NO: 14 G | 59 Tackles | 0 Sacks | 3 INT | 14 PD | 1 FR
[OPTION] S11 NO: 14 G | 73 Tackles | 0 Sacks | 2 INT | 9 PD
[OPTION] S11 NO: 14 G | 1150 Rec. Yards | 6 TD | 71 Catches | 16.2 AVG | 58 LG
[OPTION] S12 NO: 14 G | 1637 Rec. Yards | 10 TD | 81 Catches | 20.2 AVG | 76 LG
[OPTION] S13 NO: 14 G | 1383 Rec. Yards | 5 TD | 75 Catches | 18.4 AVG | 47 LG
[OPTION] S14 NO: 14 G | 1335 Rec. Yards | 8 TD | 80 Catches | 16.7 AVG | 55 LG
[OPTION] S15 NO: 14 G | 1289 Rec. Yards | 3 TD | 82 Catches | 15.7 AVG | 50 LG
[OPTION] S16 NO: 13 G | 1006 Rec. Yards | 5 TD | 64 Catches | 15.7 AVG | 57 LG
[OPTION] S17 NO: 13 G | 1140 Rec. Yards | 10 TD | 64 Catches | 17.8 AVG | 55 LG
[OPTION] S18 NO: 13 G | 802 Rec. Yards | 5 TD | 57 Catches | 14.1 AVG | 38 LG
[OPTION] S19 NO: 13 G | 260 Rec. Yards | 1 TD | 22 Catches | 1.8 AVG | 26 LG
[OPTION] Total NSFL Defensive: 70 G, 299 Tackles, 49 PD, 7 INT
[OPTION] Total NSFL Offensive: 113 G, 10002 Rec. Yards, 53 TD, 596 Catches, 76 LG
[OPTION]============================================
[OPTION] Playoff Stats:
[OPTION] S6 SA: 2 G | 6 Tackles | 1 PD
[OPTION] S7 OC: 2 G | 6 Tackles
[OPTION] S8 NO: 2 G | 9 Tackles | 2 PD
[OPTION] S9 NO: 2 G | 7 Tackles | 1 PD
[OPTION] S10 NO: 2 G | 5 Tackles
[OPTION] S11 NO: 2 G | 5 Tackles
[OPTION] S11 NO: 2G | 200 Rec. Yards | 5 Rec. TD | 15 Catches | 50 Yard PR TD
[OPTION] S19 NO: 2G | 96 Rec. Yards | 2 Rec. TD | 7 Catches
[OPTION]============================================
[OPTION] Transactions:
[OPTION][S7] Drafted 3rd OA in the NSFL Draft by OCO
[OPTION][S7] Signed $10M/3 year rookie deal with OCO
[OPTION][S8] Traded for S Jaylon Broxton by OCO with OCO S8 1st
[OPTION][S9] Signed $6M/3 year extension with NOLA
[OPTION][S10] Opted out of S11/12 deal
[OPTION][S10] Signed $16M/4 year extension with NOLA
[OPTION][S10] Position Changed to the Wide Receiver
[OPTION][S12] Opted out of S13 contract
[OPTION][S12] Signed $30M/6 year extension with NOLA
[OPTION][S18] Opted out of S18 contract
[OPTION][S18] Signed $1M/1 year extension with NOLA
[OPTION][S19] Signed $500k/1 year extension with NOLA
[OPTION]============================================