Tier 1: 800 words
The Austin Copperheads currently sit on the brink of their second Ultimus victory in only 8 years of existence. Even though they haven’t been around that long, it’s very clear that they’ve been pretty important to the league, and you could make a case that they may have been able to win 3 or even 4 Ultimii in their history if things fell properly. There are more than a few players who are battling for the Copperheads’ “Mt. Rushmore”. Narrowing it down to 4 was pretty difficult, but I think I nailed it. I will start off by saying that AdamS will NOT be on this list. He’s the single most important person in the history of this franchise, being its creator and all, but this is about four players, and because Adam has already had two different players for this franchise, you can’t really put one on here above some others. But, I wanted to give Adam his due for sure. (The following stats are from Week 15 of Season 23)
The first person I’d put on the Mt. Rushmore for Austin is Dermot Lavelle Jr. Dermot was our first ever draft pick, and he’s been with the team for the entire ride. He’s proved to be invaluable over the years, offering his sage wisdom and advice whenever asked. Lavelle Jr. has been the anchor of this defense from Day One, and he’s also been a fantastic kick and punt returner for us as well. It’s Dermot who draws the assignment of the opposition’s #1 WR each week, and he tends to do a pretty good job. Yes, we’d love to see more interceptions out of him, but he’s been an inspiration on and off the field with how hard he works to be the best player he can be. Lavelle has some impressive career numbers anyway, with 15 interceptions, 107 pass deflections, 455 tackles, 3 forced fumbles, and just over 9100 return yards, with 3 Punt return TDs. He also has a pick six.
The second spot on the Mt. Rushmore goes to Mako Mendonca. When he was taken with the 8th pick in the S16 Draft, nobody batted an eye. Sam Torenson was widely considered the only “breakout star” running back in the small S16 draft class. Austin taking an RB was a blip on the radar and nobody had high hopes for the running back from Rice. However, they were quite wrong. Mako became the starting running back almost right away, and he single handedly made it okay when Ashley Owens burned the franchise. Mako has consistently been near the top of leaderboards for rushing each of the last 5 seasons, and while his running abilities are top notch, its his ability to catch the ball out of the backfield that has made him such a dual threat. Mako has a nose for the end zone as well, scoring 8 or more touchdowns each of the last 5 years, including double digits in three of them. Mako’s career numbers are nice. He’s just over 10,000 total yards (7078 rushing, 3038 receiving), and he’s scored 72 total touchdowns in his career, 54 rushing, 18 receiving. Mako also gets extra credit for coming aboard as the Co-GM of the team when Adam stepped down, and his hard work, scouting, and testing have proved literally INVALUABLE to the Austin Franchise. Someday this will all be his.
The third spot on the Austin Copperheads’ Mt. Rushmore belongs to star wide receiver Rod Tidwell. Tidwell has just announced that he’s retiring after the Ultimus, putting to bed a fantastic career. Tidwell has been nothing short of spectacular for the Copperheads, to prove he recently won the ISFL WR of the Year trophy last season, finally capturing the award after a few “should haves” in seasons 19 and 20. Tidwell was drafted in Austin’s first ever draft in Season 15, and he’s been Easton Cole’s favorite target ever since. Tidwell has some impressive career numbers as “the guy” in Austin’s offense. He has 450 catches for 7703 yards and 51 Touchdowns. It’s going to be incredibly hard for the likes of Eddie Jeeta, Videl San, and even Net Gaines to keep up with the Austin legend.
The final piece of the Mt Rushmore puzzle for the Copperheads is pretty self serving, and I know it. But there is no doubt that the last player is going to be none other than Easton Cole. Cole has been the QB of the Copperheads since Day One. He’s won awards, and he’s played pretty great. Yeah, he has a penchant for interceptions, but he was money in the S20 Ultimus, winning game MVP that game. For every bad pick he throws, he makes up for it with a memorable play, such as his 63 yard rush against Orange County where all 11 Otters couldn’t bring him down. He’s been a top QB for a few seasons now, and his career numbers are pretty damn good. Cole has completed 57.4% of his passes for 26,790 yards. He has thrown for 168 TDs to go along with his 103 interceptions. He has also rush for 1217 yards, and 10 rushing touchdowns, which is great when you realize he didn’t start running the ball until a few seasons ago. He has won breakout player of the year and performance of the year as well. He was completely robbed of the MVP won by Cooter Bigsby not too long ago, Cole had very similar numbers but wasn’t able to inflate his stats against teams like Chicago. It changed the way the industry does awards in fact.
So there you have it. These four players stand out above all of the great Copperheads in Austin history, and there’s little doubt that they are the ones that should be on the Mt. Rushmore of Austin. (974)
The Austin Copperheads currently sit on the brink of their second Ultimus victory in only 8 years of existence. Even though they haven’t been around that long, it’s very clear that they’ve been pretty important to the league, and you could make a case that they may have been able to win 3 or even 4 Ultimii in their history if things fell properly. There are more than a few players who are battling for the Copperheads’ “Mt. Rushmore”. Narrowing it down to 4 was pretty difficult, but I think I nailed it. I will start off by saying that AdamS will NOT be on this list. He’s the single most important person in the history of this franchise, being its creator and all, but this is about four players, and because Adam has already had two different players for this franchise, you can’t really put one on here above some others. But, I wanted to give Adam his due for sure. (The following stats are from Week 15 of Season 23)
The first person I’d put on the Mt. Rushmore for Austin is Dermot Lavelle Jr. Dermot was our first ever draft pick, and he’s been with the team for the entire ride. He’s proved to be invaluable over the years, offering his sage wisdom and advice whenever asked. Lavelle Jr. has been the anchor of this defense from Day One, and he’s also been a fantastic kick and punt returner for us as well. It’s Dermot who draws the assignment of the opposition’s #1 WR each week, and he tends to do a pretty good job. Yes, we’d love to see more interceptions out of him, but he’s been an inspiration on and off the field with how hard he works to be the best player he can be. Lavelle has some impressive career numbers anyway, with 15 interceptions, 107 pass deflections, 455 tackles, 3 forced fumbles, and just over 9100 return yards, with 3 Punt return TDs. He also has a pick six.
The second spot on the Mt. Rushmore goes to Mako Mendonca. When he was taken with the 8th pick in the S16 Draft, nobody batted an eye. Sam Torenson was widely considered the only “breakout star” running back in the small S16 draft class. Austin taking an RB was a blip on the radar and nobody had high hopes for the running back from Rice. However, they were quite wrong. Mako became the starting running back almost right away, and he single handedly made it okay when Ashley Owens burned the franchise. Mako has consistently been near the top of leaderboards for rushing each of the last 5 seasons, and while his running abilities are top notch, its his ability to catch the ball out of the backfield that has made him such a dual threat. Mako has a nose for the end zone as well, scoring 8 or more touchdowns each of the last 5 years, including double digits in three of them. Mako’s career numbers are nice. He’s just over 10,000 total yards (7078 rushing, 3038 receiving), and he’s scored 72 total touchdowns in his career, 54 rushing, 18 receiving. Mako also gets extra credit for coming aboard as the Co-GM of the team when Adam stepped down, and his hard work, scouting, and testing have proved literally INVALUABLE to the Austin Franchise. Someday this will all be his.
The third spot on the Austin Copperheads’ Mt. Rushmore belongs to star wide receiver Rod Tidwell. Tidwell has just announced that he’s retiring after the Ultimus, putting to bed a fantastic career. Tidwell has been nothing short of spectacular for the Copperheads, to prove he recently won the ISFL WR of the Year trophy last season, finally capturing the award after a few “should haves” in seasons 19 and 20. Tidwell was drafted in Austin’s first ever draft in Season 15, and he’s been Easton Cole’s favorite target ever since. Tidwell has some impressive career numbers as “the guy” in Austin’s offense. He has 450 catches for 7703 yards and 51 Touchdowns. It’s going to be incredibly hard for the likes of Eddie Jeeta, Videl San, and even Net Gaines to keep up with the Austin legend.
The final piece of the Mt Rushmore puzzle for the Copperheads is pretty self serving, and I know it. But there is no doubt that the last player is going to be none other than Easton Cole. Cole has been the QB of the Copperheads since Day One. He’s won awards, and he’s played pretty great. Yeah, he has a penchant for interceptions, but he was money in the S20 Ultimus, winning game MVP that game. For every bad pick he throws, he makes up for it with a memorable play, such as his 63 yard rush against Orange County where all 11 Otters couldn’t bring him down. He’s been a top QB for a few seasons now, and his career numbers are pretty damn good. Cole has completed 57.4% of his passes for 26,790 yards. He has thrown for 168 TDs to go along with his 103 interceptions. He has also rush for 1217 yards, and 10 rushing touchdowns, which is great when you realize he didn’t start running the ball until a few seasons ago. He has won breakout player of the year and performance of the year as well. He was completely robbed of the MVP won by Cooter Bigsby not too long ago, Cole had very similar numbers but wasn’t able to inflate his stats against teams like Chicago. It changed the way the industry does awards in fact.
So there you have it. These four players stand out above all of the great Copperheads in Austin history, and there’s little doubt that they are the ones that should be on the Mt. Rushmore of Austin. (974)