09-25-2023, 02:06 PM
(This post was last modified: 09-28-2023, 06:46 PM by lemonoppy. Edited 1 time in total.)
*Let’s see, just gotta make sure this dude is actually IA before I call one of the legends of the league IA. Okay cool.*
Who is Mike Makmur?
A late round draft pick in the S38 ISFL Draft. A recreate from a former GM, one who helped lead “the resurrection” of the franchise which culminated in the S33 Ultimus trophy going to Baltimore. In that S33 Ultimus, his former player, QB Gimmy Jaroppolo Jr, threw for 5 TDs and almost 400 yards to just barely edge out Tron Carter and the Orange County Otters. A legend of the franchise and a legend of the league through and through.
But in this draft he fell all the way to round 3, pick 35. Why? Makmur was graded as the 10th lowest skilled prospect (TPE) out of 47 players drafted. Every other team passed on him for three rounds, and his own team waited until their last pick in the 3rd round. It seemed as though the league in its entirety didn’t expect much from the young Mike Makmur.
After his first season in 2053 in which he led the league in FGs made with 36, Makmur had an average career. While his team slowly worked their way up the standings after being bottom feeders in S39 and S40, Makmur stayed consistently average. As the 2058 S43 season approached, fans were excited for the now high flying Baltimore offense, and were tepid on Makmur coming back for his 6th season. Yet across the S43 season, Makmur compiled an unheralded but stellar season for the now top of the table Hawks. Since his offense was scoring so many tuddies, Makmur attempted and made the most XPs in the league with 59/60. A 98.3% conversion percentage, an outstanding rate for a 284 TPE kicker. His 90.9% rate on 20 out of 22 FGs across the season was also incredibly solid, and actually the top FG% amongst kickers across the entire ISFL. That's without mentioning his XP % was best in the league as well! Who even is this guy?
Baltimore was dominant on the season however, and finished 1.5 games ahead of their next closest rivals in the 12-4 Cape Town Crash. While Makmur’s 59 points on XPs was impressive, the Hawks were routinely winning by double digits, beating opponents by 10 points or more on 8 of their 13 wins. This meant Makmur didn’t have many opportunities to make clutch or flashy plays in the regular season. He did have a game winning FG in overtime against Orange County in the Hawks 32-29 Week 14 win, but since they finished with a comfortable 13-2-1 record, again 1.5 games ahead of Cape Town, Makmur's realized effect on the regular season was limited.
The postseason was a different story altogether. With their divisional round bye, Baltimore got to watch from home as the Rhinos dismantled the Yetis 55-28 to advance to the conference championship game. The two NSFC powerhouses would meet in Baltimore in a highly anticipated, but ultimately low scoring slugfest for the NSFCCG. Makmur would open up the scoring with two 40+ yard FGs in the first and second quarters to take a 6-0 lead, but after a flurry of offense in the remainder of the first half, Cape Town had a 17-13 lead going into halftime.
After a quick three and out forced by the vaunted Baltimore defense started the half, Hawks QB Preston Beatz and standout RB Kumquat Archipelago combined for a 42 pass out of the backfield to put the Hawks in Rhino territory. But ultimately they couldn’t punch it in, and had to bring Makmur jogging onto the field for a 25 yard field goal try. Makmur, consistent as always, knocked it straight through the uprights to bring the score to 17-16. Baltimore was still behind, but now they were within one FG… Foreshadowing???
As the 4th quarter of play started, both teams were locked at 17-16, unable to get anything going on offense. Time was winding down as Cape Town got the ball with 1:47 left to play in regulation, but the Hawks still had three timeouts in reserve. Three straight runs were stymied with little gain by the Baltimore defense, and three timeouts were swiftly burned to keep 1:41 left on the clock, and a sliver of hope alive in Baltimore. Beatz and the Hawks offense took the field, and heart rates across the Baltimore fanbase increased as they orchestrated a 55 yard drive down to the Cape Town 35 yard line, while the game clock dwindled to 0:16 seconds. Preston Beatz hurried the offense into position and spiked the ball on 3rd down to stop the clock, and bring up 4th and 3.
Once again Makmur and the kicking unit trotted onto the field, this time for a 52 yard attempt. Makmur’s season long prior to this game was a 49 yarder, and he did not have a single attempt from 50+ on the season. The stadium was deadly silent as Makmur lined up, and somewhere a pin dropped. But as he struck the ball it sailed true, and straight, and fast, and hard, and perfectly through the uprights! The Hawks reclaimed the lead 19-17! With only 16 seconds left Cape Town couldn’t answer, and Baltimore was headed to the Ultimus! Makmur was the hero of the day, with 4 made FGs and an XP, including the game winner, to account for 13 of Baltimore’s 19 points. The Hawks only scored 6 points that didn’t have Mike Makmur’s name written after it in the boxscore. But the Ultimus still lay ahead, and Baltimore needed to focus.
Waiting for them in the Ultimus was a fearsome New York Silverbacks squad, the marquee team of the ASFC, having lorded over the division with a 14-2 record. It was expected to be a close game, with the teams having the 1st and 2nd highest scoring offenses on the year, but also the 1st and 3rd least points allowed over the course of the regular season. It turned into another low scoring, desperate struggle. Hawks QB Preston Beatz, one the best passers in the league, was held to just 146 yards on 46.2% completions, with 0 TDs and an INT. The Silverbacks defense got home multiple times for 5 sacks across the game. The entire Hawks offense sans Mike Makmur didn’t score a single point in this Ultimus. On the other side of the ball however, it was a similar story. Silverbacks QB Blaine Falco had a slightly better game, recording 238 yards on 66.7% completions, with 1 TD and 1 INT. But the Hawks defense found even more pressure on the QB of New York, recording 7 total sacks throughout the game!
3rd year Baltimore S Bourtol Halcomsby opened the scoring in the first quarter of Ultimus XLIII with a 12 yard pick-six to put the Hawks up 7-0. But both teams couldn’t crack the code throughout the remainder of the first half, and they stayed locked at 7-0 going into halftime. In the 3rd quarter, Baltimore was able to get Mike Makmur into position for a 25 yard FG, which he converted, to extend the lead to 10-0. But the Silverbacks would come roaring back in the 4th quarter with a TD and a FG of their own to tie it up at 10-10 with 6:22 left to play in Chile. Tensions were high as Beatz and the Baltimore offense got the ball back, with good field position from a 43 yard Shane Turnbull kickoff return.
But the offense could only get to the New York 35 yard line, and Mike Makmur was once again faced with a 52 yard FG attempt. With the game on the line, with the Ultimus trophy on the line, and all the hopes of Baltimore faithful across the world riding on him, Makmur once again struck true from 50+, and gave the Hawks a 13-10 lead with 4:40 left to play. The Silverbacks could only manage to get in position for a 57 yard FG attempt, which they missed, before giving Baltimore the ball back. The Hawks decided to give the most clutch kicker in S43 postseason history an encore by settling in for a nice and easy 28 yard attempt. Everyone knew Makmur was going to make it. The scoreboard already read 16-10 before the ball even sailed through the uprights. But 16-10 it would remain as time dwindled down in the Ultimus, and our unlikely hero was hoisted onto the shoulders of his teammates who paraded him around the stadium.
The Baltimore Hawks would be crowned S43 Ultimus champions, off the back of 3 FGs and an XP point from Makmur, who had 10 points when his offense didn’t have a TD on the day. The entire rest of the Baltimore Hawks only scored 6 points from their early pick-six. That’s not to mention that Makmur hit the game winner, again! In the entirety of the playoffs, he had 23 points, while his team only had 12 additional points. Mike Makmur may not have been the hero Baltimore deserved, but he was the hero they certainly needed. One of the most clutch, unlikely kicking performances in ISFL postseason history. Two game winners, while massively out scoring his own team to carry them to an Ultimus victory. He will absolutely go down in the annals of Baltimore Hawks history as a legend.
Mike Makmur is a name that the entire ISFL would do well to remember for his contribution, and a reminder that a hero can come from the most unlikely of places.
This dude has 284 TPE! Insanity! But when Baltimore needed him most he delivered. I just love this story, not only for the fact that it was a kicker who carried a team to an Ultimus win, but a low TPE IA kicker at that. It's not just that he scored a bunch of XPs either, he hit two game winners from 50+ yards in the postseason! Against the best teams in the league! After not having hit from longer than 49 in the regular season! All while outscoring his whole team in the postseason!
I love it. Cheers guys, hope you enjoyed.
Who is Mike Makmur?
A late round draft pick in the S38 ISFL Draft. A recreate from a former GM, one who helped lead “the resurrection” of the franchise which culminated in the S33 Ultimus trophy going to Baltimore. In that S33 Ultimus, his former player, QB Gimmy Jaroppolo Jr, threw for 5 TDs and almost 400 yards to just barely edge out Tron Carter and the Orange County Otters. A legend of the franchise and a legend of the league through and through.
But in this draft he fell all the way to round 3, pick 35. Why? Makmur was graded as the 10th lowest skilled prospect (TPE) out of 47 players drafted. Every other team passed on him for three rounds, and his own team waited until their last pick in the 3rd round. It seemed as though the league in its entirety didn’t expect much from the young Mike Makmur.
After his first season in 2053 in which he led the league in FGs made with 36, Makmur had an average career. While his team slowly worked their way up the standings after being bottom feeders in S39 and S40, Makmur stayed consistently average. As the 2058 S43 season approached, fans were excited for the now high flying Baltimore offense, and were tepid on Makmur coming back for his 6th season. Yet across the S43 season, Makmur compiled an unheralded but stellar season for the now top of the table Hawks. Since his offense was scoring so many tuddies, Makmur attempted and made the most XPs in the league with 59/60. A 98.3% conversion percentage, an outstanding rate for a 284 TPE kicker. His 90.9% rate on 20 out of 22 FGs across the season was also incredibly solid, and actually the top FG% amongst kickers across the entire ISFL. That's without mentioning his XP % was best in the league as well! Who even is this guy?
Baltimore was dominant on the season however, and finished 1.5 games ahead of their next closest rivals in the 12-4 Cape Town Crash. While Makmur’s 59 points on XPs was impressive, the Hawks were routinely winning by double digits, beating opponents by 10 points or more on 8 of their 13 wins. This meant Makmur didn’t have many opportunities to make clutch or flashy plays in the regular season. He did have a game winning FG in overtime against Orange County in the Hawks 32-29 Week 14 win, but since they finished with a comfortable 13-2-1 record, again 1.5 games ahead of Cape Town, Makmur's realized effect on the regular season was limited.
The postseason was a different story altogether. With their divisional round bye, Baltimore got to watch from home as the Rhinos dismantled the Yetis 55-28 to advance to the conference championship game. The two NSFC powerhouses would meet in Baltimore in a highly anticipated, but ultimately low scoring slugfest for the NSFCCG. Makmur would open up the scoring with two 40+ yard FGs in the first and second quarters to take a 6-0 lead, but after a flurry of offense in the remainder of the first half, Cape Town had a 17-13 lead going into halftime.
After a quick three and out forced by the vaunted Baltimore defense started the half, Hawks QB Preston Beatz and standout RB Kumquat Archipelago combined for a 42 pass out of the backfield to put the Hawks in Rhino territory. But ultimately they couldn’t punch it in, and had to bring Makmur jogging onto the field for a 25 yard field goal try. Makmur, consistent as always, knocked it straight through the uprights to bring the score to 17-16. Baltimore was still behind, but now they were within one FG… Foreshadowing???
As the 4th quarter of play started, both teams were locked at 17-16, unable to get anything going on offense. Time was winding down as Cape Town got the ball with 1:47 left to play in regulation, but the Hawks still had three timeouts in reserve. Three straight runs were stymied with little gain by the Baltimore defense, and three timeouts were swiftly burned to keep 1:41 left on the clock, and a sliver of hope alive in Baltimore. Beatz and the Hawks offense took the field, and heart rates across the Baltimore fanbase increased as they orchestrated a 55 yard drive down to the Cape Town 35 yard line, while the game clock dwindled to 0:16 seconds. Preston Beatz hurried the offense into position and spiked the ball on 3rd down to stop the clock, and bring up 4th and 3.
Once again Makmur and the kicking unit trotted onto the field, this time for a 52 yard attempt. Makmur’s season long prior to this game was a 49 yarder, and he did not have a single attempt from 50+ on the season. The stadium was deadly silent as Makmur lined up, and somewhere a pin dropped. But as he struck the ball it sailed true, and straight, and fast, and hard, and perfectly through the uprights! The Hawks reclaimed the lead 19-17! With only 16 seconds left Cape Town couldn’t answer, and Baltimore was headed to the Ultimus! Makmur was the hero of the day, with 4 made FGs and an XP, including the game winner, to account for 13 of Baltimore’s 19 points. The Hawks only scored 6 points that didn’t have Mike Makmur’s name written after it in the boxscore. But the Ultimus still lay ahead, and Baltimore needed to focus.
Waiting for them in the Ultimus was a fearsome New York Silverbacks squad, the marquee team of the ASFC, having lorded over the division with a 14-2 record. It was expected to be a close game, with the teams having the 1st and 2nd highest scoring offenses on the year, but also the 1st and 3rd least points allowed over the course of the regular season. It turned into another low scoring, desperate struggle. Hawks QB Preston Beatz, one the best passers in the league, was held to just 146 yards on 46.2% completions, with 0 TDs and an INT. The Silverbacks defense got home multiple times for 5 sacks across the game. The entire Hawks offense sans Mike Makmur didn’t score a single point in this Ultimus. On the other side of the ball however, it was a similar story. Silverbacks QB Blaine Falco had a slightly better game, recording 238 yards on 66.7% completions, with 1 TD and 1 INT. But the Hawks defense found even more pressure on the QB of New York, recording 7 total sacks throughout the game!
3rd year Baltimore S Bourtol Halcomsby opened the scoring in the first quarter of Ultimus XLIII with a 12 yard pick-six to put the Hawks up 7-0. But both teams couldn’t crack the code throughout the remainder of the first half, and they stayed locked at 7-0 going into halftime. In the 3rd quarter, Baltimore was able to get Mike Makmur into position for a 25 yard FG, which he converted, to extend the lead to 10-0. But the Silverbacks would come roaring back in the 4th quarter with a TD and a FG of their own to tie it up at 10-10 with 6:22 left to play in Chile. Tensions were high as Beatz and the Baltimore offense got the ball back, with good field position from a 43 yard Shane Turnbull kickoff return.
But the offense could only get to the New York 35 yard line, and Mike Makmur was once again faced with a 52 yard FG attempt. With the game on the line, with the Ultimus trophy on the line, and all the hopes of Baltimore faithful across the world riding on him, Makmur once again struck true from 50+, and gave the Hawks a 13-10 lead with 4:40 left to play. The Silverbacks could only manage to get in position for a 57 yard FG attempt, which they missed, before giving Baltimore the ball back. The Hawks decided to give the most clutch kicker in S43 postseason history an encore by settling in for a nice and easy 28 yard attempt. Everyone knew Makmur was going to make it. The scoreboard already read 16-10 before the ball even sailed through the uprights. But 16-10 it would remain as time dwindled down in the Ultimus, and our unlikely hero was hoisted onto the shoulders of his teammates who paraded him around the stadium.
The Baltimore Hawks would be crowned S43 Ultimus champions, off the back of 3 FGs and an XP point from Makmur, who had 10 points when his offense didn’t have a TD on the day. The entire rest of the Baltimore Hawks only scored 6 points from their early pick-six. That’s not to mention that Makmur hit the game winner, again! In the entirety of the playoffs, he had 23 points, while his team only had 12 additional points. Mike Makmur may not have been the hero Baltimore deserved, but he was the hero they certainly needed. One of the most clutch, unlikely kicking performances in ISFL postseason history. Two game winners, while massively out scoring his own team to carry them to an Ultimus victory. He will absolutely go down in the annals of Baltimore Hawks history as a legend.
Mike Makmur is a name that the entire ISFL would do well to remember for his contribution, and a reminder that a hero can come from the most unlikely of places.
This dude has 284 TPE! Insanity! But when Baltimore needed him most he delivered. I just love this story, not only for the fact that it was a kicker who carried a team to an Ultimus win, but a low TPE IA kicker at that. It's not just that he scored a bunch of XPs either, he hit two game winners from 50+ yards in the postseason! Against the best teams in the league! After not having hit from longer than 49 in the regular season! All while outscoring his whole team in the postseason!
I love it. Cheers guys, hope you enjoyed.