[div align=\\\"center\\\"]Looking Back At The S6 Draft
Posted in time for the 1.5x media bonus
For those of you who were around back then to witness it, the thing that will probably stick around is the number of quality members and players it saw make their initial entry into the league. I'm talking about the type of people who the league as we know it probably wouldn't exist without today, and it's almost certain that the NSFL wouldn't be the success it is today without the time ad effort that people who joined around this time have sunk into the league in the time since. It seems almost embarrassing for me on a personal level to think to back then and know that I was drafted before all but one of them and hit a peak of somewhere around 450 TPE with my first player, but this is probably why I've found the S6 class so fascinating since I've returned to activity in the league. To look back on the people who made up the draft class that I was a part of and see how much they've been able to achieve is really interesting to me, and I've toyed with the idea of doing a piece like this looking back on the draft for some time, but it wasn't until the media bonus that was announced this week that I've actually had the motivation to sit down and write it, so here we are. I should probably preface the article by mentioning that I haven't really done enough of a deep dive into drafts that took place when I was inactive to evaluate whether there have been classes that notably beat this one in terms of quality and depth, but obviously the personal connection I feel to this class and the way that it passes the eye test when I look back on it means that it's going to be the one that I focus my energy on for this time around. I've talked a fair amount about the members that it introduced but to focus so much on the member side of it probably does a disservice to the level of player that it introduced. Along with a huge number of Pro Bowl calibre players, it saw the introduction of 4 different Hall of Fame players. As mentioned before, I'm not overly familiar with the quality of other classes but I would be really surprised to see that amount being beaten by many other draft classes in the history of the NSFL. And with that being said about the good parts of the class, that isn't an attempt to try and pretend that it wasn't without its busts and bad players too. I'll try and give some insight into those guys too, and hopefully I'll be able to think far enough back to remember what my thoughts about these players were at the time when the draft actually went down. It's not really something I've done for any sim league draft I've been in before, so I'm hoping this could be quite a fun exercise to do. So without any further ado, strap in and get ready for a high octane walk down memory lane.
So to start things off, I'm going to take a bit of an unconventional route and discuss my journey into the NSFL, and with that, the S6 draft class. I actually remember when the NSFL started back in like summer 2017, it was created by some guys from SHL if I'm remembering correctly, and being active there I checked it out but thought I'd give it some time before thinking about whether or not I'd actually join. I'd joined some other sim leagues that had sprung up a little before then and spent some time getting started before they eventually flamed out and everything I'd done ended up being pointless, so I thought I'd let the league find its feet a little bit more before I actually joined. I got to Christmas break in university that year and was back home chilling so thought why not finally give this a go and see what it's all about. I made my guy after the DSFL draft so got assigned to the Chicago Coyotes as they were back then. Jiggly was the GM in name but didn't really do anything at all that you'd expect of a GM while I was on the team (not trying to take shots or anything, I just remember it being particularly egregious as someone new to the league the lack of help from a minor league GM). As someone who'd been in the SHL for quite a while at that point and was familiar with the system it ran on, and in turn the one the NSFL ran on as they were virtually identical, I managed to push myself a bit further up in the rankings of my draft class in terms of TPE and output, and me playing as an in demand position as a defensive lineman definitely didn't do my draft stock any damage. When the day itself came around, San Jose made a crazy trade to move up one spot and stop the Liberty from drafting me. They gave up a future 1st round pick to move up from 3rd overall to 2nd overall and draft me, which even to me seemed quite crazy. I really enjoyed the NSFL at the time of the draft, and went hard that season in the DSFL and my rookie season in the NSFL in earning TPE, but in all honesty I probably went too hard and took on some jobs that I didn't really enjoy and so basically became very burnt out in a fairly short period of time. This led to me dropping my activity to basically inactive, and after my rookie contract ended I was gone from the Sabercats to the Hawks where I updated once a season at most and played out the rest of my career. It's weird for me to look back because I feel quite sad about what my player's career could have been. Because of the low amounts of TPE needed to be pretty good as a defensive lineman, my guy actually had a pretty respectable career, making a couple Pro Bowls, winning an Ultimus and for a time being top ten in all time Tackles for Loss, all as an inactive. But all that said, I was just a small part of the S6 class. Now I've talked about myself in more detail that anyone cares about, I should probably talk about the rest of the people in the class, maybe giving a bit more discussion of those who actually managed to go for a full season as an active. So, let's get to it and recap some draft picks.
1. New Orleans Second Line - Brian Mills
This was really quite an interesting time in the early history of the league. If memory serves it was around a season after the big controversy around the mass retirement that had basically reduced the Las Vegas Legion franchise to rubble. The league had given the keys to the franchise to respected member Bovovovo to steady the ship and clean up the mess the team had been left in. He made what was in hindsight a vital move to move the team from its old location and give it a new branding, totally separate to what had transpired in Las Vegas. It was absolutely the right move, as it allowed them to really separate themselves from the controversy that was associated with the team's image. But anyway, this was the draft in which the bulk of the building of their new look team would happen. They came in loaded with draft picks, including two in the first round, one of which turned out to be the first overall pick. There's obviously a high level of responsibility that comes with making the first selection in any draft, but for one as pivotal for the future of a team as this one was slated to be, Bovo must have had to take a lot of consideration over who he was going to step up to the podium and pick with this one. I think from what I could tell at the time though he was fairly set on who would be going there from a while before the draft, and when you see what Mills was able to achieve in his career, it's understandable that he went this way. Mills was a very good prospect on paper, having a big chunk of TPE and was active in earning cash as well, really ticking all the boxes. In hindsight, this was as good a choice as they could have made, as Mills went on to have a very decorated career in the league, so much so that when all was said and done he found himself entering the Hall of Fame. He was a big part of the competitive teams that New Orleans would field in the seasons to come and essentially became a talismanic presence for the franchise; back then it was hard to think of the Second Line without thinking of Mills. All in all, this one aged very well and I'm sure that the Second Line as a franchise would have been on a very different course if they hadn't made this pick.
2. San Jose Sabercats - Cordell Joshua
We've already talked about this one but only have to go down to second overall to find a bad pick. Joshua didn't have an awful career in terms of success but I was basically inactive for the whole thing and his success wasn't for the team that drafted him. There's a lot of regret about being a high pick in a good draft, who really had the opportunity to be a franchise player but ultimately flopped. I've kinda gone the other way with my current player, being taken so late in the draft that teams passed instead of taking me, but yeah. Despite the in sim accolades, this pick hasn't aged very well and is a big drop off after what Mills was able to achieve in his career.
3. Colorado Yeti - Dwayne Aaron
It's actually quite funny to think back to this version of the Yeti compared to what we have now. What is currently a well run organisation lead by Frick and woelker used to be a bit of a shitshow. Their GMs didn't fill anyone with confidence, their quarterback at the time was a long way off the activity required to be good enough for the role and had a pretty terrible build if I'm remembering correctly, and they had a few interesting personalities on the team to boot. Aaron was a good pick in that he was a bit of an abrasive personality that fit in well with the team's image at the time. He doesn't have a Wiki page so it's not easy to track his achievements but from what I can make out Aaron fell more into the category of being good rather than great. He made a Pro Bowl appearance in S11, and earned a decent amount of TPE, but I don't think he ended up being the franchise receiver that the Yeti were hoping for when they picked him at 3rd overall.
4. Philadelphia Liberty - Norman Bagwell
Another pick that worked out well, Bagwell was a very high end player during his prime. Maybe a little bit borderline when it comes to Hall of Fame, he did go to a Pro Bowl (again in S11), but probably more importantly for him were his three Ultimus winners rings that he earned during his career. Obtaining 1 from his time with the Liberty and a further 2 after departing for the Orange County Otters, Bagwell had a very good career in the league, still sitting in the top 10 when it comes to Tackles for Loss and being well up there in the Philadelphia Liberty's all time statistical leaderboard. A very nice pick for the Liberty here as they get a guy that really did bring a lot to their team during his time in the league.
5. New Orleans Second Line - Poopyface Tomatonose (later Jaylon Broxton)
I have really good memories from way back when this draft went down of sharing a locker room with PFTN as he was known down in the DSFL. We played on a Coyotes team that ended up producing some great players in this class, and I really enjoyed getting to know him as the team we were on didn't exactly have the best vibe from the lack of management at the time. Fast forward to the draft and he was taken with the 5th overall pick by the Second Line. Tomatonose burst into the NSFL in his rookie season, winning Offensive Rookie of the Year playing as a tight end, and looked set for stardom from his first season. He would indeed go on to have a great career, earning many accolades and being a multiple time champion. A lot changed in his career, as he switched both name and position to go onto further his career while known as Jaylon Broxton playing on the Otters, but truly a great pick here of a member who has brought an incredible amount to the league since he was drafted. I can't remember exactly what NOLA received in the trade for him back in the day, but for what Spec has been able to contribute to the league this is a really good pick as far as I'm concerned.
6. Baltimore Hawks - Austin Roenick
Here we find ourselves looking at another Hall of Fame pick. I knew Leafer at the time from both of us being in the SHL, so I thought that he would be a good pickup going into the draft. He had his heart set on playing as a quarterback in the league and was initially drafted as such, but due to the saturation at the position and there not really being any vacant quarterback roles within the league, he ended up switching from quarterback to linebacker. The rest as they say is history, as Roenick went on to have an incredible career; winning two rings, being voted to 9 Pro Bowls, winning a host of awards including Defensive Rookie of the Year, holding the career league tackles record and being a consistently excellent player. Roenick could easily be viewed as one of the best players on defense to ever play in the NSFL, and I don't think there's too many people who have a better case as being the greatest Baltimore Hawk of all time. All things considered, I'd say this pick worked out pretty well for the Hawks.
Okay full disclosure, I'm getting quite bored of this article now. I am going to finish this off by not going through every remaining pick in the class, but instead by talking about the two Hall of Fame players that were taken after the first round.
15. New Orleans Second Line - Borkus Maximus III
See what I meant earlier when talking about how pivotal a draft this was for New Orleans? The second Hall of Famer they took here, Maximus was autopicked for them in the second round as a GM player, giving them a great advantage by being able to select someone this good much later than his talent level merited. Maximus did everything his team could have asked for him, winning two championships, holding a whole host of quarterback records that still stand to this day, and even being one of the best earners of TPE in the league's history as he currently sits at 6th in the all time leaderboard. Although like I mentioned previously, Maximus could only have gone to the team because of his GM status, them securing a player as good as this here was a huge win in terms of getting the franchise going again. Looking at their three picks to this point, getting Mills, Spec and Bovo himself is quite frankly an obscene draft haul. It's fair to say that Bovo really managed to pull this one off.
18. Colorado Yeti - Micycle McCormick
Talk about a steal. Even at the time, the Yeti looked like they were able to get insane value drafting McCormick in the third round of the draft. He'd' been a very active and impressive prospect but fell somewhat due to his position of kicker not really being in demand from many teams. McCormick is as much of a staple to the Yeti franchise as one could imagine, and the league as we know it today really couldn't exist without the incredible contributions that Infinite has made in revolutionizing the league's appearance as a whole, but specifically the process that exists around drafting. McCormick had a very successful career in both of the positions he played, reaching the top of the pile both as a kicker and quarterback. Infinite would go on to GM the Yeti in the future, and remains on the franchise to this day with their recreate. It's safe to say that for everything he's brought to the team with both McCormick and McDummy, his recreate, this might just be the best draft pick the Colorado Yeti ever made.
So, I've come this far and have decided that I shall go no further when it comes to reminicising over the first draft I experienced in the league. It's crazy to look back and see the types of careers that some of the guys I was lucky enough to share a class with were able to have, and although there's definitely some envy based on how much wasted potential I think there was with Joshua, it's been a good experience to look back on what happened all those years ago. Congratulations to all the people I've talked about in this article on what they were able to achieve, you certainly all played your part in shaping the league as we know it today and setting a great example for those draft classes that were to follow.
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Posted in time for the 1.5x media bonus
For those of you who were around back then to witness it, the thing that will probably stick around is the number of quality members and players it saw make their initial entry into the league. I'm talking about the type of people who the league as we know it probably wouldn't exist without today, and it's almost certain that the NSFL wouldn't be the success it is today without the time ad effort that people who joined around this time have sunk into the league in the time since. It seems almost embarrassing for me on a personal level to think to back then and know that I was drafted before all but one of them and hit a peak of somewhere around 450 TPE with my first player, but this is probably why I've found the S6 class so fascinating since I've returned to activity in the league. To look back on the people who made up the draft class that I was a part of and see how much they've been able to achieve is really interesting to me, and I've toyed with the idea of doing a piece like this looking back on the draft for some time, but it wasn't until the media bonus that was announced this week that I've actually had the motivation to sit down and write it, so here we are. I should probably preface the article by mentioning that I haven't really done enough of a deep dive into drafts that took place when I was inactive to evaluate whether there have been classes that notably beat this one in terms of quality and depth, but obviously the personal connection I feel to this class and the way that it passes the eye test when I look back on it means that it's going to be the one that I focus my energy on for this time around. I've talked a fair amount about the members that it introduced but to focus so much on the member side of it probably does a disservice to the level of player that it introduced. Along with a huge number of Pro Bowl calibre players, it saw the introduction of 4 different Hall of Fame players. As mentioned before, I'm not overly familiar with the quality of other classes but I would be really surprised to see that amount being beaten by many other draft classes in the history of the NSFL. And with that being said about the good parts of the class, that isn't an attempt to try and pretend that it wasn't without its busts and bad players too. I'll try and give some insight into those guys too, and hopefully I'll be able to think far enough back to remember what my thoughts about these players were at the time when the draft actually went down. It's not really something I've done for any sim league draft I've been in before, so I'm hoping this could be quite a fun exercise to do. So without any further ado, strap in and get ready for a high octane walk down memory lane.
So to start things off, I'm going to take a bit of an unconventional route and discuss my journey into the NSFL, and with that, the S6 draft class. I actually remember when the NSFL started back in like summer 2017, it was created by some guys from SHL if I'm remembering correctly, and being active there I checked it out but thought I'd give it some time before thinking about whether or not I'd actually join. I'd joined some other sim leagues that had sprung up a little before then and spent some time getting started before they eventually flamed out and everything I'd done ended up being pointless, so I thought I'd let the league find its feet a little bit more before I actually joined. I got to Christmas break in university that year and was back home chilling so thought why not finally give this a go and see what it's all about. I made my guy after the DSFL draft so got assigned to the Chicago Coyotes as they were back then. Jiggly was the GM in name but didn't really do anything at all that you'd expect of a GM while I was on the team (not trying to take shots or anything, I just remember it being particularly egregious as someone new to the league the lack of help from a minor league GM). As someone who'd been in the SHL for quite a while at that point and was familiar with the system it ran on, and in turn the one the NSFL ran on as they were virtually identical, I managed to push myself a bit further up in the rankings of my draft class in terms of TPE and output, and me playing as an in demand position as a defensive lineman definitely didn't do my draft stock any damage. When the day itself came around, San Jose made a crazy trade to move up one spot and stop the Liberty from drafting me. They gave up a future 1st round pick to move up from 3rd overall to 2nd overall and draft me, which even to me seemed quite crazy. I really enjoyed the NSFL at the time of the draft, and went hard that season in the DSFL and my rookie season in the NSFL in earning TPE, but in all honesty I probably went too hard and took on some jobs that I didn't really enjoy and so basically became very burnt out in a fairly short period of time. This led to me dropping my activity to basically inactive, and after my rookie contract ended I was gone from the Sabercats to the Hawks where I updated once a season at most and played out the rest of my career. It's weird for me to look back because I feel quite sad about what my player's career could have been. Because of the low amounts of TPE needed to be pretty good as a defensive lineman, my guy actually had a pretty respectable career, making a couple Pro Bowls, winning an Ultimus and for a time being top ten in all time Tackles for Loss, all as an inactive. But all that said, I was just a small part of the S6 class. Now I've talked about myself in more detail that anyone cares about, I should probably talk about the rest of the people in the class, maybe giving a bit more discussion of those who actually managed to go for a full season as an active. So, let's get to it and recap some draft picks.
1. New Orleans Second Line - Brian Mills
This was really quite an interesting time in the early history of the league. If memory serves it was around a season after the big controversy around the mass retirement that had basically reduced the Las Vegas Legion franchise to rubble. The league had given the keys to the franchise to respected member Bovovovo to steady the ship and clean up the mess the team had been left in. He made what was in hindsight a vital move to move the team from its old location and give it a new branding, totally separate to what had transpired in Las Vegas. It was absolutely the right move, as it allowed them to really separate themselves from the controversy that was associated with the team's image. But anyway, this was the draft in which the bulk of the building of their new look team would happen. They came in loaded with draft picks, including two in the first round, one of which turned out to be the first overall pick. There's obviously a high level of responsibility that comes with making the first selection in any draft, but for one as pivotal for the future of a team as this one was slated to be, Bovo must have had to take a lot of consideration over who he was going to step up to the podium and pick with this one. I think from what I could tell at the time though he was fairly set on who would be going there from a while before the draft, and when you see what Mills was able to achieve in his career, it's understandable that he went this way. Mills was a very good prospect on paper, having a big chunk of TPE and was active in earning cash as well, really ticking all the boxes. In hindsight, this was as good a choice as they could have made, as Mills went on to have a very decorated career in the league, so much so that when all was said and done he found himself entering the Hall of Fame. He was a big part of the competitive teams that New Orleans would field in the seasons to come and essentially became a talismanic presence for the franchise; back then it was hard to think of the Second Line without thinking of Mills. All in all, this one aged very well and I'm sure that the Second Line as a franchise would have been on a very different course if they hadn't made this pick.
2. San Jose Sabercats - Cordell Joshua
We've already talked about this one but only have to go down to second overall to find a bad pick. Joshua didn't have an awful career in terms of success but I was basically inactive for the whole thing and his success wasn't for the team that drafted him. There's a lot of regret about being a high pick in a good draft, who really had the opportunity to be a franchise player but ultimately flopped. I've kinda gone the other way with my current player, being taken so late in the draft that teams passed instead of taking me, but yeah. Despite the in sim accolades, this pick hasn't aged very well and is a big drop off after what Mills was able to achieve in his career.
3. Colorado Yeti - Dwayne Aaron
It's actually quite funny to think back to this version of the Yeti compared to what we have now. What is currently a well run organisation lead by Frick and woelker used to be a bit of a shitshow. Their GMs didn't fill anyone with confidence, their quarterback at the time was a long way off the activity required to be good enough for the role and had a pretty terrible build if I'm remembering correctly, and they had a few interesting personalities on the team to boot. Aaron was a good pick in that he was a bit of an abrasive personality that fit in well with the team's image at the time. He doesn't have a Wiki page so it's not easy to track his achievements but from what I can make out Aaron fell more into the category of being good rather than great. He made a Pro Bowl appearance in S11, and earned a decent amount of TPE, but I don't think he ended up being the franchise receiver that the Yeti were hoping for when they picked him at 3rd overall.
4. Philadelphia Liberty - Norman Bagwell
Another pick that worked out well, Bagwell was a very high end player during his prime. Maybe a little bit borderline when it comes to Hall of Fame, he did go to a Pro Bowl (again in S11), but probably more importantly for him were his three Ultimus winners rings that he earned during his career. Obtaining 1 from his time with the Liberty and a further 2 after departing for the Orange County Otters, Bagwell had a very good career in the league, still sitting in the top 10 when it comes to Tackles for Loss and being well up there in the Philadelphia Liberty's all time statistical leaderboard. A very nice pick for the Liberty here as they get a guy that really did bring a lot to their team during his time in the league.
5. New Orleans Second Line - Poopyface Tomatonose (later Jaylon Broxton)
I have really good memories from way back when this draft went down of sharing a locker room with PFTN as he was known down in the DSFL. We played on a Coyotes team that ended up producing some great players in this class, and I really enjoyed getting to know him as the team we were on didn't exactly have the best vibe from the lack of management at the time. Fast forward to the draft and he was taken with the 5th overall pick by the Second Line. Tomatonose burst into the NSFL in his rookie season, winning Offensive Rookie of the Year playing as a tight end, and looked set for stardom from his first season. He would indeed go on to have a great career, earning many accolades and being a multiple time champion. A lot changed in his career, as he switched both name and position to go onto further his career while known as Jaylon Broxton playing on the Otters, but truly a great pick here of a member who has brought an incredible amount to the league since he was drafted. I can't remember exactly what NOLA received in the trade for him back in the day, but for what Spec has been able to contribute to the league this is a really good pick as far as I'm concerned.
6. Baltimore Hawks - Austin Roenick
Here we find ourselves looking at another Hall of Fame pick. I knew Leafer at the time from both of us being in the SHL, so I thought that he would be a good pickup going into the draft. He had his heart set on playing as a quarterback in the league and was initially drafted as such, but due to the saturation at the position and there not really being any vacant quarterback roles within the league, he ended up switching from quarterback to linebacker. The rest as they say is history, as Roenick went on to have an incredible career; winning two rings, being voted to 9 Pro Bowls, winning a host of awards including Defensive Rookie of the Year, holding the career league tackles record and being a consistently excellent player. Roenick could easily be viewed as one of the best players on defense to ever play in the NSFL, and I don't think there's too many people who have a better case as being the greatest Baltimore Hawk of all time. All things considered, I'd say this pick worked out pretty well for the Hawks.
Okay full disclosure, I'm getting quite bored of this article now. I am going to finish this off by not going through every remaining pick in the class, but instead by talking about the two Hall of Fame players that were taken after the first round.
15. New Orleans Second Line - Borkus Maximus III
See what I meant earlier when talking about how pivotal a draft this was for New Orleans? The second Hall of Famer they took here, Maximus was autopicked for them in the second round as a GM player, giving them a great advantage by being able to select someone this good much later than his talent level merited. Maximus did everything his team could have asked for him, winning two championships, holding a whole host of quarterback records that still stand to this day, and even being one of the best earners of TPE in the league's history as he currently sits at 6th in the all time leaderboard. Although like I mentioned previously, Maximus could only have gone to the team because of his GM status, them securing a player as good as this here was a huge win in terms of getting the franchise going again. Looking at their three picks to this point, getting Mills, Spec and Bovo himself is quite frankly an obscene draft haul. It's fair to say that Bovo really managed to pull this one off.
18. Colorado Yeti - Micycle McCormick
Talk about a steal. Even at the time, the Yeti looked like they were able to get insane value drafting McCormick in the third round of the draft. He'd' been a very active and impressive prospect but fell somewhat due to his position of kicker not really being in demand from many teams. McCormick is as much of a staple to the Yeti franchise as one could imagine, and the league as we know it today really couldn't exist without the incredible contributions that Infinite has made in revolutionizing the league's appearance as a whole, but specifically the process that exists around drafting. McCormick had a very successful career in both of the positions he played, reaching the top of the pile both as a kicker and quarterback. Infinite would go on to GM the Yeti in the future, and remains on the franchise to this day with their recreate. It's safe to say that for everything he's brought to the team with both McCormick and McDummy, his recreate, this might just be the best draft pick the Colorado Yeti ever made.
So, I've come this far and have decided that I shall go no further when it comes to reminicising over the first draft I experienced in the league. It's crazy to look back and see the types of careers that some of the guys I was lucky enough to share a class with were able to have, and although there's definitely some envy based on how much wasted potential I think there was with Joshua, it's been a good experience to look back on what happened all those years ago. Congratulations to all the people I've talked about in this article on what they were able to achieve, you certainly all played your part in shaping the league as we know it today and setting a great example for those draft classes that were to follow.
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