It's really tough to exaggerate how much this league has meant to me. It started from a reddit post on my favorite NFL team's page, posted on May 24th of 2017 - almost 3.5 years ago today. "The NSFL," it advertised, "is ready to open its doors." The recruitment post was really strange, and I don't think I really understood what it meant. After all, the league was then composed entirely of SHL guys who had been in sim leagues for multiple years. Many of them were excited to join the first major sim football league since the MSFL_R closed down 9 years ago then. As a result, the recruitment post was poorly written and the site offered no clear instruction upon clicking on it - our current ISFL site has a prominently placed discord link which people can join before even creating their account. So, I got confused before even creating an account. But the strange allure of this mysterious and confusing league stuck with me, and I ended up saving the post to my reddit account. About a month later when school ended, I finally created an account on this mysterious website. The rookie guide was incomplete and poorly written, and I stumbled through the process of completing a player. By then the league had begun play and was around week 9 of its inaugural season. It's really hard for me to believe that was well over three years ago. I'm not very good at writing long-form emotional pieces so I'll just go through some of my favorite or most notable memories from my time in the league.
Getting drafted before S2: by the time of the S2 draft I'd been scouted by half the league although most were just simple questionnaires. The scouting/pre-draft process was nothing like it is today, and even the draft was nothing like it is today either. Draft picks were announced by GMs posting in a thread who they picked, and it was done live. I was at a camp at the time of the draft and had to walk about a mile to get cell service to check my draft spot, but I was happy to see that I'd landed on the Liberty.
Losing the S6 Ultimus, but winning in S7: The S6 Ultimus was really unfortunate, because I really was worried that would've been the Liberty's last chance to win a ship. Josh Garden dropped a game-winning pass in the end zone and prevented us from winning the game. It felt even better to win in S7, finally.
Being on the greatest team of all time: The S9 Second Line was just a blast. I joined the LR after being traded there, practiced piano for an hour and missed 800 messages - 400 in the lobby and 400 in the team room. Winning two rings was fun too, I guess.
Retiring as the greatest TE of all time: That was pretty cool too.
Winning two ultimini with RDA5: I'm running out of space, but this was a ton of fun as well.
HO stint: Being on HO was absolutely the most fun I've had in my life. I have a bunch of regrets though, so I hope some time I'll get another chance at HO.
All-time teams: Honestly was super satisfying to see two of my players on this.
This is way longer than I'd intended, I was going to write about the league's future but I don't have space either way the league has been super cool, super special, super important to me. I really hope I'm able to still write about it in S50, and I'm excited to read all of the other responses here.
600+ words
Getting drafted before S2: by the time of the S2 draft I'd been scouted by half the league although most were just simple questionnaires. The scouting/pre-draft process was nothing like it is today, and even the draft was nothing like it is today either. Draft picks were announced by GMs posting in a thread who they picked, and it was done live. I was at a camp at the time of the draft and had to walk about a mile to get cell service to check my draft spot, but I was happy to see that I'd landed on the Liberty.
Losing the S6 Ultimus, but winning in S7: The S6 Ultimus was really unfortunate, because I really was worried that would've been the Liberty's last chance to win a ship. Josh Garden dropped a game-winning pass in the end zone and prevented us from winning the game. It felt even better to win in S7, finally.
Being on the greatest team of all time: The S9 Second Line was just a blast. I joined the LR after being traded there, practiced piano for an hour and missed 800 messages - 400 in the lobby and 400 in the team room. Winning two rings was fun too, I guess.
Retiring as the greatest TE of all time: That was pretty cool too.
Winning two ultimini with RDA5: I'm running out of space, but this was a ton of fun as well.
HO stint: Being on HO was absolutely the most fun I've had in my life. I have a bunch of regrets though, so I hope some time I'll get another chance at HO.
All-time teams: Honestly was super satisfying to see two of my players on this.
This is way longer than I'd intended, I was going to write about the league's future but I don't have space either way the league has been super cool, super special, super important to me. I really hope I'm able to still write about it in S50, and I'm excited to read all of the other responses here.
600+ words