09-30-2022, 10:26 PM
(This post was last modified: 10-04-2022, 11:45 AM by dude_man. Edited 1 time in total.)
Hello folks, Crody here. Some of you may have been following the details surrounding my player’s experience testing free agency. In case you hadn’t, the tl;dr version is I decided to leave the only ISFL team I’ve ever played for and meet some new folks from around the league. If you’re considering testing free agency yourself, or are just curious about the experience, this article is for you, dear reader. This media is going to be a little freeform and stream of consciousness at times, but I’ll do my best to keep things organized. Here we go!
PROLOGUE:
Why’d you do it?
I think it’s important to establish a bit of context as to the “why” of testing free agency. In real life I work as a head chef for a non-profit organization. During the Fall, Winter, and Spring months, we mostly handle weddings, facility rentals, and school programs. The work is laborious, but extremely manageable; comfortable, even. Yet during the summer the non-profit is host to a number of camps for kids and families, and the 10-week span between June and the middle of August is fairly brutal as far as work goes. 65-70+ hour work weeks, with most days for me being 7am to 6pm. There is usually one day off a week.
I stepped down from the Co-GM position in Chicago nearing the start of the summer in anticipation for the change in work schedule. I hadn’t anticipated how busy I would be, but I had an inkling. During this time I fell almost entirely out of touch with the league. My narrow understanding of the events happening was extremely limited to how things were in Chicago. That didn’t really bother me at first–time went on and I continued updating as frequently as I could.
When the summer ended and work got back to being a bit slower, I expected that my love for the league would be reinvigorated. Unfortunately, I still felt detached to everything, and that made me feel pretty bummed. Where was the excitement I’d felt? The drive to see my player and team perform better? I wanted to write some media, but I didn’t even know where to begin. I felt like I needed to capture some of the initial excitement I’d felt when I created my first player and landed with Chicago for the first time in S25.
I made a tough decision, but @TheCC was the first one I told. I had no idea where I’d be going, and that was very, very exciting.
SUITORS
Art Deco is an S35 Cornerback with fairly paltry career stats at this point, due somewhat in part to being an immediate call-up and playing NB and LB4 the first two seasons. I’ve been around the league long enough to know a few folks, but I’ve never really held a league job besides DSFL and ISFL GM, and never really spent too long establishing relationships with folks around the league (or so I thought at the time.) For those two reasons, I was anticipating being contacted by three or four teams looking to pick up a young corner. I was wrong.
The outreach 24 hours after my initial media (link here) was five teams, IIRC. Out of respect for our conversations, I won’t be listing which teams contacted me. Suddenly I was talking to old friends of mine, acquaintances from the DSFL, and folks I’d never even talked to beyond one or two messages in GM chat. It was a lot to handle. I spent most of Friday glued to my phone, even though I was back in my hometown visiting my friends and family. It reminded me of the scouting process. When I first started scouting people, I used to reach out to a bunch of people at once–then get extremely overwhelmed as I tried to juggle multiple conversations at once, never really being able to devote my attention entirely to a single person I was talking to. This was the same.
Before all things were said and done, eight teams reached out. I think I spoke with all of them except one, because at that point I had narrowed my decision down to two teams and wasn’t looking to even open the door for more doubt and consideration.
Some folks focused on the details of why their team would be a great fit, some made more appeals to the heart, and some were a mixture of the two. The hours passed, and every time I opened my phone I’d see the pings. Ping, ping, ping. Ping city. It was getting to be too much. I began to realize I was going to have to let all these people down. All except one. And that would suck.
If you’re considering testing free agency, be prepared to let down a handful of people, some of whom are probably your friends. Don’t do what I did–that is, make a spectacle out of your free agency by stringing along teams (link here) until the very end. I think what I did was a bit rude, but at the moment, it was exciting for me to be creating a story with my player that didn’t involve the game. It was news, and news is exciting. If you do decide that what you want is to play up the drama of your player, that’s fine; but know that every conversation with another team incurs a debt that will eventually come due.
I’d like to mention as well that only three of the teams that reached out sent me locker room invites. I really liked that, and if you’re a GM approaching a FA who isn’t in your locker room, you should do that.
MAKING A DECISION
So how do you make a decision when everyone is saying (roughly) the same thing? “We’d be a great fit for you,” “We have a real shot at competing,” “You could get us over the hump,” etc, etc.
I don’t have a good answer for how to make a decision. I really don’t. I didn’t think it’d be that hard to choose a new team, but I was wrong. A happy discovery that this process revealed to me was just how great this community is. I could honestly see myself playing for any one of those teams based solely on the folks there. People I hadn’t even really thought about much while I was in Chicago. Really nice, funny people. For me, I chose Philly because I felt the pitch that @negs gave me was the one that most applied to the desires I expressed in my initial media. He wasn’t pushy, but he made a good case. I went and looked at the roster and saw how I could fit in. I could see a window lining up for us in the future, and it felt nice not to jump ship to a team that was already playing in the playoffs, potentially knocking on the door to an Ultimus. I could be a meaningful member of the squad, but it would still take engagement and work on my part. I guess you could say it seemed like a good reason to log-in everyday.
BREAKING THE NEWS, BAD AND GOOD
Most of the teams took the news well. A couple folks asked a few more questions, as they are entitled after being strung along. But overall I was pleased to see them give me their best wishes and end the conversation there. I wish I had reached out to all of the teams individually before posting my final decision (link here), but I did manage to break the news in person to a handful of teams that were really close.
I was relieved to be done with it. It was not a casual experience–sure, it was exciting, but man, was it stressful.
I think I broke the news to @Sebster first. “Say less, I’m there.” I messaged Negs right away, but Negs bad and wasn’t online. The excitement in the Liberty locker room made me feel really appreciated right away. Suddenly folks were adding the suffix “--odyman” to their names, and that was pretty funny. It felt like I belonged, and I hadn’t even gotten to know anyone yet. I knew I had made the right choice.
I joined the War Room, and immediately started tinkering with my player build. I found it again–the excitement and drive I had been looking for. I felt like a new user again for the first time in two years. It was wonderful.
EPILOGUE
So you’re thinking about testing Free Agency. Is it a good idea?
Yes. In my opinion, do it.
I think this league has something of a fraternity problem. A lot of folks play somewhere, settle down their roots, and have a hard time leaving. Sometimes they even work their way into landing with a specific team through the draft. I think that’s a shame. Sure, I spent my entire first player’s career with the same team, valuing loyalty above all. That’s okay. But as you move forward in your league experience, I urge you to get out and meet more of these amazing users. If there was more cross-pollination in the league, I’d wager the league as a whole would be a nicer, friendlier place. I’m not saying it’s an easy decision to make, but I do think that if you are feeling like I was feeling, you should take a chance on the rest of the teams in the league.
If you’ve made it this far, thank you for reading. I’m sorry if it was a bit of a ramble, but I finally got the motivation to write some of these thoughts down, and I don’t want to lose the muse.
The ISFL is, and has been, a great community to be a part of. It took me eight teams and 10000 pings to remember that. I’m thankful I had the opportunity.
That’s all for now. Be good, congrats AZ on your Ultimus, and best of luck next season everyone!
PROLOGUE:
Why’d you do it?
I think it’s important to establish a bit of context as to the “why” of testing free agency. In real life I work as a head chef for a non-profit organization. During the Fall, Winter, and Spring months, we mostly handle weddings, facility rentals, and school programs. The work is laborious, but extremely manageable; comfortable, even. Yet during the summer the non-profit is host to a number of camps for kids and families, and the 10-week span between June and the middle of August is fairly brutal as far as work goes. 65-70+ hour work weeks, with most days for me being 7am to 6pm. There is usually one day off a week.
I stepped down from the Co-GM position in Chicago nearing the start of the summer in anticipation for the change in work schedule. I hadn’t anticipated how busy I would be, but I had an inkling. During this time I fell almost entirely out of touch with the league. My narrow understanding of the events happening was extremely limited to how things were in Chicago. That didn’t really bother me at first–time went on and I continued updating as frequently as I could.
When the summer ended and work got back to being a bit slower, I expected that my love for the league would be reinvigorated. Unfortunately, I still felt detached to everything, and that made me feel pretty bummed. Where was the excitement I’d felt? The drive to see my player and team perform better? I wanted to write some media, but I didn’t even know where to begin. I felt like I needed to capture some of the initial excitement I’d felt when I created my first player and landed with Chicago for the first time in S25.
I made a tough decision, but @TheCC was the first one I told. I had no idea where I’d be going, and that was very, very exciting.
SUITORS
Art Deco is an S35 Cornerback with fairly paltry career stats at this point, due somewhat in part to being an immediate call-up and playing NB and LB4 the first two seasons. I’ve been around the league long enough to know a few folks, but I’ve never really held a league job besides DSFL and ISFL GM, and never really spent too long establishing relationships with folks around the league (or so I thought at the time.) For those two reasons, I was anticipating being contacted by three or four teams looking to pick up a young corner. I was wrong.
The outreach 24 hours after my initial media (link here) was five teams, IIRC. Out of respect for our conversations, I won’t be listing which teams contacted me. Suddenly I was talking to old friends of mine, acquaintances from the DSFL, and folks I’d never even talked to beyond one or two messages in GM chat. It was a lot to handle. I spent most of Friday glued to my phone, even though I was back in my hometown visiting my friends and family. It reminded me of the scouting process. When I first started scouting people, I used to reach out to a bunch of people at once–then get extremely overwhelmed as I tried to juggle multiple conversations at once, never really being able to devote my attention entirely to a single person I was talking to. This was the same.
Before all things were said and done, eight teams reached out. I think I spoke with all of them except one, because at that point I had narrowed my decision down to two teams and wasn’t looking to even open the door for more doubt and consideration.
Some folks focused on the details of why their team would be a great fit, some made more appeals to the heart, and some were a mixture of the two. The hours passed, and every time I opened my phone I’d see the pings. Ping, ping, ping. Ping city. It was getting to be too much. I began to realize I was going to have to let all these people down. All except one. And that would suck.
If you’re considering testing free agency, be prepared to let down a handful of people, some of whom are probably your friends. Don’t do what I did–that is, make a spectacle out of your free agency by stringing along teams (link here) until the very end. I think what I did was a bit rude, but at the moment, it was exciting for me to be creating a story with my player that didn’t involve the game. It was news, and news is exciting. If you do decide that what you want is to play up the drama of your player, that’s fine; but know that every conversation with another team incurs a debt that will eventually come due.
I’d like to mention as well that only three of the teams that reached out sent me locker room invites. I really liked that, and if you’re a GM approaching a FA who isn’t in your locker room, you should do that.
MAKING A DECISION
So how do you make a decision when everyone is saying (roughly) the same thing? “We’d be a great fit for you,” “We have a real shot at competing,” “You could get us over the hump,” etc, etc.
I don’t have a good answer for how to make a decision. I really don’t. I didn’t think it’d be that hard to choose a new team, but I was wrong. A happy discovery that this process revealed to me was just how great this community is. I could honestly see myself playing for any one of those teams based solely on the folks there. People I hadn’t even really thought about much while I was in Chicago. Really nice, funny people. For me, I chose Philly because I felt the pitch that @negs gave me was the one that most applied to the desires I expressed in my initial media. He wasn’t pushy, but he made a good case. I went and looked at the roster and saw how I could fit in. I could see a window lining up for us in the future, and it felt nice not to jump ship to a team that was already playing in the playoffs, potentially knocking on the door to an Ultimus. I could be a meaningful member of the squad, but it would still take engagement and work on my part. I guess you could say it seemed like a good reason to log-in everyday.
BREAKING THE NEWS, BAD AND GOOD
Most of the teams took the news well. A couple folks asked a few more questions, as they are entitled after being strung along. But overall I was pleased to see them give me their best wishes and end the conversation there. I wish I had reached out to all of the teams individually before posting my final decision (link here), but I did manage to break the news in person to a handful of teams that were really close.
I was relieved to be done with it. It was not a casual experience–sure, it was exciting, but man, was it stressful.
I think I broke the news to @Sebster first. “Say less, I’m there.” I messaged Negs right away, but Negs bad and wasn’t online. The excitement in the Liberty locker room made me feel really appreciated right away. Suddenly folks were adding the suffix “--odyman” to their names, and that was pretty funny. It felt like I belonged, and I hadn’t even gotten to know anyone yet. I knew I had made the right choice.
I joined the War Room, and immediately started tinkering with my player build. I found it again–the excitement and drive I had been looking for. I felt like a new user again for the first time in two years. It was wonderful.
EPILOGUE
So you’re thinking about testing Free Agency. Is it a good idea?
Yes. In my opinion, do it.
I think this league has something of a fraternity problem. A lot of folks play somewhere, settle down their roots, and have a hard time leaving. Sometimes they even work their way into landing with a specific team through the draft. I think that’s a shame. Sure, I spent my entire first player’s career with the same team, valuing loyalty above all. That’s okay. But as you move forward in your league experience, I urge you to get out and meet more of these amazing users. If there was more cross-pollination in the league, I’d wager the league as a whole would be a nicer, friendlier place. I’m not saying it’s an easy decision to make, but I do think that if you are feeling like I was feeling, you should take a chance on the rest of the teams in the league.
If you’ve made it this far, thank you for reading. I’m sorry if it was a bit of a ramble, but I finally got the motivation to write some of these thoughts down, and I don’t want to lose the muse.
The ISFL is, and has been, a great community to be a part of. It took me eight teams and 10000 pings to remember that. I’m thankful I had the opportunity.
That’s all for now. Be good, congrats AZ on your Ultimus, and best of luck next season everyone!