(S42) PT #4 - Progression at its Finest

[FootballIsCool]

Spruce Willis' career so far has been a short but also sweet one. Just being in his first season of the Developmental Simulation Football league as part of the Bondai Beach Buccaneers, he has already had an amazing start to his career and has really meshed very well with the secondary team in Bondai Beach. So much so that in week 3. We had the best defensive half I think there has been in recent memory. With Spruce Willis picking off Jay Cue III on the second drive of the game and running the ball back for one of two Bondai Beach Touchdowns. With the fear of god in Jay Cue III's eyes Spruce's side of the field was off limits leading to a Trevor P pick six leading to a narrow victory over the Portland Pythons  and leading to the first win of the season. Due to the amazing play of the defense both Spruce and Trevor P shared the game ball for the first victory of the season.

[Starboy]

The jump from the DSFL to the ISFL is never an easy one for any player to make. Often players are left quite a few years of experience behind their competitors which can cause frustration when it comes to stats or players that give up trying to keep up. Armor Queen faced similar issues when she was called up to New Orleans. After winning an Ultimini, DSFL MVP, 1st Team All-Pro, she still expected there to be issues with the jump and for many seasons those challenges remained. It was looking like Queen would face the age old tale of a player with DSFL success but zero ISFL success after being stuck with some unfortunate teams. Her moment where she decided to rise above was making the difficult decision to move on from the team that drafted her and hoping to find greener pastures. With her second full season in Berlin, she has placed herself in contention for ISFL awards when things were looking dire in her first seasons. Now Queen shows promise as a main figure in the league at the running back position despite initially being an after thought.

[Reedy0rNot]

I grew up in a small suburb of Columbus, Ohio. My first football game was in a small league. If you were to tell that little boy one day, he would be the best defensive lineman in the ISFL. I might not believe you. I never thought college would be for me given my grades, but I was able to transfer to a group program and learn more about the game. If you were to tell me one of my first DSFL games would be against my childhood friend and fellow football. We wouldn’t believe it. Ever since we were small kids, we wanted to be pro players. There’s a large difference between the DSFL and the ISFL. The gap between talent took a few seasons to get used to. The better I got the more I found the teams were trying to wait to get around me. I’ve always been a big team player. I usually don’t notice my stats. Some weeks are better than others and it’s best not to dwell on them.

[Bmason0520]

Brandon hasn’t always played football but once he started he fell in love. Didn’t matter where coaches would put him on the field as long as he was out there. He finally found his niche in the offensive line mostly playing interior linemen to start his career. He performed well in college there and played excellent there throughout his early years in the ISFL. His sophomore year he was even picked as an all pro player and making the pro bowl. He recorded 86 pancakes and 0 sacks allowed. This prompted his move to tackle which was his welcome to the league moment. He really struggled his first couple games out in the edge allowing 3 sacks in 4 games to start the season. However he persevered through the adversity to become the player he is today. He sits in the top 10 of offensive tackles in the league and is still getting better.

[SimmiZ]

Sim Sunigh was an all-star in college, he broke some record there, he knew it would be a bit harder in the ISFL, but he was not ready at all for what he experienced on and off the field. His one year in the DSFL was good, he was pretty consistent, and was able to make some solid play to help his team win the Ultimini, but the ISFL was another beast. His first trainig week with the Otters was so intense, that he throw up after almost every warmup. His first game was a disaster too, he missed 3 easy tackles, could'nt get pass that O-line. After that game, he was feeling so down, that he question himself about his future in the league. Some veterans cheer him up, and told him that it was normal, they have done the same bad performances at their first game too. What a journey to this day, its his 4th season in the ISFL, and with only 3 games left this season, Sim lead the league in tackles.

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[Void_DCXI]

Donte Darius was blessed with athleticism that carried him through little league football, then through high school, then through college. He was as quick as a cat, stronger than a bull, and generally bullied around his opposition. After getting drafted in the first round of the S39 ISFL draft, Donte thought that everything was gonna be just as easy as it was back in college. He couldn’t have been more wrong. In the DSFL, he dominated the opposition, but since he was called up immediately to the ISFL after being drafted, there was gonna have to be an adjustment period. Donte struggled for his first couple seasons in the league, failing to achieve much of anything on a struggling team. Luckily however, he has had guidance from Teemo Swift and The Hammer, fellow linebackers on the Silverbacks. Now, Darius is a pro bowler and all-pro selection, and he has without a doubt lived up to the expectations.

[Cycro]

Justin Willis’ “welcome to the league” moment came in his very first high school game. Growing up, he’d always been tall but mostly lanky with not a long of muscle on his bones. This had led him to being spectacular in sport like Basketball and Track. By the time he’d grown into his frame and put on considerable muscle, he’d been accustomed to “low impact” sports, that mostly did not look favorably on intentional contact. To make matters worse, his first game in high school was against their rival school, last season’s Division I champions who had only gotten bigger and stronger over the summer.

His high school coach had recognized his potential as a tight end early on, and was imagining him lined up against the undersized kids who nonetheless had to be given playtime on most of the teams in the division. But his first snap at tight end was a blocking assignment against one of the only other kids in the division who was as big as him. As the ball snapped, he set up to hold his ground, but wasn’t expecting the force that was sent his way by his opponent. Despite practicing for weeks now, he still wasn’t sure just how hard he should be hitting.

He was flattened, and his opponent didn’t spare him a second glance before strip sacking the quarterback. It was an embarrassing first showing, to be sure, but it opened his eyes to what needed to be done on the field. His second snap of his high school career, on the very next drive, he didn’t hesitate to put his opponent down hard.

[ajtigger]

Booter McGavin has had a mixed transition from his time in college to the pros. One would think that for a player that just kicks the ball, nothing should change but that just simply is not true. The balls in this league are bigger, your holder and long snapper are different and the real difference is the level of pressure on kickers. For Booter McGavin punting has not been a problem in the ISFL. He is averaging nearly 50 yards a punt in his career and is doing an excellent job of pinning his opponents deep. However, Booter has also been one of the worst kickers in the league in terms of field goal percentage. It is clear the pressure of kicking in the league has gotten to the player as he wants to blame everyone but himself. Coaches, teammates and the weather have all been blamed so far but the real reason is Booter is in his own head. Hopefully he can improve his accuracy moving foward.

[Ephenssta]

The jump to the DSFL for Bell Pepper has been a bit of a struggle. Some people go pro and still seem to manage to dominate despite the apparent gap in talent levels between the leagues. Others, like Pepper, come out and are fairly mid early in their careers at the new level. This is usually a challenge for folks who have always been among the best of the best at what they do even since they were small. Pepper has, of course, always been small. Usually, he has beena ble to make up for his size with his other attributes, but being in the DSFL has really pushed him harder physically and mentally than he was maybe ready for. His stats haven't been terrible and the team still seems satisfied with bringing him home, but he finds himself nowhere near the lead in any of the categories he cares to think about. He hopes next season will be better and plans to grind hard in the offseason to get there.

[jeffie43]

SHL Affiliate TPE