[div align=\\\"center\\\"][/div]
The end of the football season is upon us, and with it comes the start of awards season. There were notable performances in almost every position in the NSFL this season, including some record-breaking efforts, which means that there's plenty of competition for the relatively scarce number of awards on offer.
Of note is the battle for Wide Receiver of the Year. There were standout performances from the Colorado Yeti's Howard Miller, Yellowknife Wraiths' Tegan Atwell, New Orleans Second Line's Charlie Law, and Baltimore Hawks' Trey Willie.
While Miller felt confident about his chances of taking out the top award for receivers in his fourth season, after accumulating a league-best 1430 yards (16.1 YPC) from 89 receptions (T2nd) and the third-most receiving touchdowns with 11, murmurs around league's front offices suggest that Miller isn't even in the running.
Although it cannot be revealed which player is in line to take out the award, our sources suggest that Miller is unlikely to come close to taking out the honour. We spoke with the Yeti's star receiver and broke the news.
"Yeah, I'm pretty pissed off", Miller said of his likely awards snub. "The people voting for these awards are overweight pencil-pushers who've never stepped foot on a football field in their lives, except to shake the saggy skinned hand of some other deadbeat front office goon after the players have done all the real work".
It has been suggested that some of Miller's frustration stems from the lack of recognition he's received for what was a record-breaking season. Miller set the Colorado franchise record for both receiving yards in a season (1430) and receiving touchdowns in a season (11). He also surpassed Kendrick Hendrix - who played 6 seasons with the Yeti - for highest career receiving yards total (4496) and total receiving touchdowns (23) despite having only been in the league for 4 seasons.
Miller currently sits in third for the Yeti's career reception total with 279, behind the aforementioned Hendrix (299) and current teammate Dwayne Aaron (305). Barring any offseason injury or shock departure from the team, Miller will overtake Hendrix in Season 11. Time will tell if Miller can also eclipse Aaron's reception total, though current trends suggest it will occur at some point within the next 3-5 seasons if there are no drastic changes to the team's receiving corps.
For a player so pivotal to his team's success, and already one of the franchise's greatest offensive contributors of all time, Miller feels unjustly ignored by major sports media outlets.
"I get it, there's not been a lot to love about the Yeti historically. But we've been to back-to-back playoffs now and held our own, too. We've been through a couple of disastrous periods of management, with general managers being forcibly removed by the league, or simply up and vanishing, and despite that lack of stability - and our history of poor drafting - this team has continued to perform on the field. I am very curious to see whether someone like a Crush or an Atwell could perform at my level if they're not being gifted some of the greatest supporting casts in the league's history".
Miller's last point sheds light on another issue he has with the current state of the league: ring chasers.
"They're pathetic, plain and simple", Miller said of players who join powerhouse teams in search of championships.
"I played with Crush in Colorado, and his mind was already elsewhere back then. Maybe we'd have won a couple of extra games while he was on the team if he'd not been imagining how he'd look in orange".
Carlito Crush, the former Yeti tight end and first overall pick of the Season 5 draft, is a notable case study for the NSFL's personnel movement. Crush left Colorado to play for Orange County, before being traded in the most recent season to the reigning champion New Orleans Second Line, and is again on the move back to Orange County for Season 11, this time via free agency.
"She's another one that wouldn't know the meaning of the word loyalty", Miller said when asked about Tegan Atwell.
Atwell was originally a cornerback for Orange County, before requesting to join the star-studded Otters receiving corps. Her general managers obliged, and she debuted at her new position in Season 8, seeing immediate success. However, after seeing a slight drop in production in Season 9, Atwell left in free agency for the Yellowknife Wraiths.
Season 10 was Atwell's best to date for yards, yards per catch, and touchdowns, and she only caught 3 fewer receptions (68) than her career-high total of 71, which she achieved in her first year as an official wide receiver with Orange County in Season 8. Despite this success, Atwell wasted no time in fleeing the Wraiths after just a single season with the team, to return to the Otters (along with former teammate Carlito Crush).
"I'm not saying it's as simple as joining a great group and producing", Miller said of Crush and Atwell's success with different teams. "I have no doubt in my mind that they both work nearly as hard as I do to improve and stay at the top of my game, but I simply can't respect people who show such little loyalty for the teams that invest time and money in them".
In his 4 seasons in the NSFL, Miller has earnt $5,000,000 with the Yeti, not including end-of-season bonuses. Atwell and Crush's most recent contracts - signed to bring them back to Orange County - were $10,000,000 and $8,000,000 respectively. Prior to that, Yellowknife signed Atwell for $9,000,000 for a single season, and the Otters had paid Crush $14,000,000 for a single season's work.
"Imagine what that sort of cap space could do for a team", Miller said of the above contracts. "I understand we work our whole lives to get to this point and get the opportunity to make a life-changing amount of money. But to me, my first contract was a life-changing amount of money".
"I can only imagine they each demand such high contracts due to the cost of constantly flying around the country for free agency talks, trying to find a team that's closer to winning a championship on their behalf", he added.
The Orange County duo weren't the only players in Miller's sights.
"Oh, God, there's so many of the nowadays. Where do I start? LeClair went looking for greener pastures and lost to his old team in the championship - that was satisfying. Josh Garden's been passed around like a blunt at a Colorado post-game. Come to think of it, maybe it's just the receivers in this league who aren't actually up for a challenge".
Our reported mentioned fellow Wide Receiver of the Year hopeful Trey Willie after Miller's last remark.
"No, you're right. Willie's one of the good guys. I have a lot of respect for him and his dedication to the Hawks. They had some terrible luck in the playoffs, and didn't look like ever overcoming it. It was refreshing to see him stick it out, and ultimately get rewarded - especially against a former teammate [LeClair]".
"Yeah, but that's not really the same, is it?" Miller said in response to our reporter's mention of Bradley Westfield. "The guy had a Hall-of-Fame career, no doubt, but he didn't really have many tough times to suffer through, compared to Willie. Sure, Arizona were a pain for a while, but he won a 'ship in his fourth season. Willie didn't hoist the Ultimus until he'd been catching balls for twice that amount of time".
To cap off the discussion, our reporters took the opportunity to mention the loss of the Yeti's quarterback, Ryan Applehort, while Miller was discussing the Baltimore Hawks.
"Another one who can't see things through. I mean, good luck to the guy and all, but I won't be impressed if I ever see him wearing an Ultimus ring with the Hawks logo on it. At the moment, that's the football equivalent of a gimme. If he'd have stuck it out in Colorado and helped win us the big one - now that would have been impressive".
Miller was asked whether he felt any animosity towards his former teammate, and the man who had played a pivotal role in his success as a wide receiver to this point in his career.
"Not animosity, no. I still like the guy, and I still appreciate having played with him. Do I respect his decision? No, of course not. Do I want him to succeed? Not particularly. Am I concerned that he's not going to be the one behind centre anymore? Not in the slightest".
When asked about the shocking revelation that legendary Yeti kicker Micycle McCormick would switch to quarterback to address the loss of Applehort - and as a result of a gruesome foot injury that seemed likely to end his career - Miller took a moment to simply smile.
"I can't even begin to tell you how excited I am about the move. Micycle's always had this hidden talent up his sleeve. Honestly, there were plenty of days when Ryan [Applehort] would pack up and go home early, and I'd need someone to keep throwing me the ball. He [McCormick] always stepped up and stayed with me for as long as I needed. And, honestly, he throws a much nicer pass than Apple ever could. I'm excited about this season, for sure".
Code:
Please note that this article is in character, and in real life, I couldn't care less who you play for or whether I win an award.
The end of the football season is upon us, and with it comes the start of awards season. There were notable performances in almost every position in the NSFL this season, including some record-breaking efforts, which means that there's plenty of competition for the relatively scarce number of awards on offer.
Of note is the battle for Wide Receiver of the Year. There were standout performances from the Colorado Yeti's Howard Miller, Yellowknife Wraiths' Tegan Atwell, New Orleans Second Line's Charlie Law, and Baltimore Hawks' Trey Willie.
While Miller felt confident about his chances of taking out the top award for receivers in his fourth season, after accumulating a league-best 1430 yards (16.1 YPC) from 89 receptions (T2nd) and the third-most receiving touchdowns with 11, murmurs around league's front offices suggest that Miller isn't even in the running.
Although it cannot be revealed which player is in line to take out the award, our sources suggest that Miller is unlikely to come close to taking out the honour. We spoke with the Yeti's star receiver and broke the news.
"Yeah, I'm pretty pissed off", Miller said of his likely awards snub. "The people voting for these awards are overweight pencil-pushers who've never stepped foot on a football field in their lives, except to shake the saggy skinned hand of some other deadbeat front office goon after the players have done all the real work".
It has been suggested that some of Miller's frustration stems from the lack of recognition he's received for what was a record-breaking season. Miller set the Colorado franchise record for both receiving yards in a season (1430) and receiving touchdowns in a season (11). He also surpassed Kendrick Hendrix - who played 6 seasons with the Yeti - for highest career receiving yards total (4496) and total receiving touchdowns (23) despite having only been in the league for 4 seasons.
Miller currently sits in third for the Yeti's career reception total with 279, behind the aforementioned Hendrix (299) and current teammate Dwayne Aaron (305). Barring any offseason injury or shock departure from the team, Miller will overtake Hendrix in Season 11. Time will tell if Miller can also eclipse Aaron's reception total, though current trends suggest it will occur at some point within the next 3-5 seasons if there are no drastic changes to the team's receiving corps.
For a player so pivotal to his team's success, and already one of the franchise's greatest offensive contributors of all time, Miller feels unjustly ignored by major sports media outlets.
"I get it, there's not been a lot to love about the Yeti historically. But we've been to back-to-back playoffs now and held our own, too. We've been through a couple of disastrous periods of management, with general managers being forcibly removed by the league, or simply up and vanishing, and despite that lack of stability - and our history of poor drafting - this team has continued to perform on the field. I am very curious to see whether someone like a Crush or an Atwell could perform at my level if they're not being gifted some of the greatest supporting casts in the league's history".
Miller's last point sheds light on another issue he has with the current state of the league: ring chasers.
"They're pathetic, plain and simple", Miller said of players who join powerhouse teams in search of championships.
"I played with Crush in Colorado, and his mind was already elsewhere back then. Maybe we'd have won a couple of extra games while he was on the team if he'd not been imagining how he'd look in orange".
Carlito Crush, the former Yeti tight end and first overall pick of the Season 5 draft, is a notable case study for the NSFL's personnel movement. Crush left Colorado to play for Orange County, before being traded in the most recent season to the reigning champion New Orleans Second Line, and is again on the move back to Orange County for Season 11, this time via free agency.
"She's another one that wouldn't know the meaning of the word loyalty", Miller said when asked about Tegan Atwell.
Atwell was originally a cornerback for Orange County, before requesting to join the star-studded Otters receiving corps. Her general managers obliged, and she debuted at her new position in Season 8, seeing immediate success. However, after seeing a slight drop in production in Season 9, Atwell left in free agency for the Yellowknife Wraiths.
Season 10 was Atwell's best to date for yards, yards per catch, and touchdowns, and she only caught 3 fewer receptions (68) than her career-high total of 71, which she achieved in her first year as an official wide receiver with Orange County in Season 8. Despite this success, Atwell wasted no time in fleeing the Wraiths after just a single season with the team, to return to the Otters (along with former teammate Carlito Crush).
"I'm not saying it's as simple as joining a great group and producing", Miller said of Crush and Atwell's success with different teams. "I have no doubt in my mind that they both work nearly as hard as I do to improve and stay at the top of my game, but I simply can't respect people who show such little loyalty for the teams that invest time and money in them".
In his 4 seasons in the NSFL, Miller has earnt $5,000,000 with the Yeti, not including end-of-season bonuses. Atwell and Crush's most recent contracts - signed to bring them back to Orange County - were $10,000,000 and $8,000,000 respectively. Prior to that, Yellowknife signed Atwell for $9,000,000 for a single season, and the Otters had paid Crush $14,000,000 for a single season's work.
"Imagine what that sort of cap space could do for a team", Miller said of the above contracts. "I understand we work our whole lives to get to this point and get the opportunity to make a life-changing amount of money. But to me, my first contract was a life-changing amount of money".
"I can only imagine they each demand such high contracts due to the cost of constantly flying around the country for free agency talks, trying to find a team that's closer to winning a championship on their behalf", he added.
The Orange County duo weren't the only players in Miller's sights.
"Oh, God, there's so many of the nowadays. Where do I start? LeClair went looking for greener pastures and lost to his old team in the championship - that was satisfying. Josh Garden's been passed around like a blunt at a Colorado post-game. Come to think of it, maybe it's just the receivers in this league who aren't actually up for a challenge".
Our reported mentioned fellow Wide Receiver of the Year hopeful Trey Willie after Miller's last remark.
"No, you're right. Willie's one of the good guys. I have a lot of respect for him and his dedication to the Hawks. They had some terrible luck in the playoffs, and didn't look like ever overcoming it. It was refreshing to see him stick it out, and ultimately get rewarded - especially against a former teammate [LeClair]".
"Yeah, but that's not really the same, is it?" Miller said in response to our reporter's mention of Bradley Westfield. "The guy had a Hall-of-Fame career, no doubt, but he didn't really have many tough times to suffer through, compared to Willie. Sure, Arizona were a pain for a while, but he won a 'ship in his fourth season. Willie didn't hoist the Ultimus until he'd been catching balls for twice that amount of time".
To cap off the discussion, our reporters took the opportunity to mention the loss of the Yeti's quarterback, Ryan Applehort, while Miller was discussing the Baltimore Hawks.
"Another one who can't see things through. I mean, good luck to the guy and all, but I won't be impressed if I ever see him wearing an Ultimus ring with the Hawks logo on it. At the moment, that's the football equivalent of a gimme. If he'd have stuck it out in Colorado and helped win us the big one - now that would have been impressive".
Miller was asked whether he felt any animosity towards his former teammate, and the man who had played a pivotal role in his success as a wide receiver to this point in his career.
"Not animosity, no. I still like the guy, and I still appreciate having played with him. Do I respect his decision? No, of course not. Do I want him to succeed? Not particularly. Am I concerned that he's not going to be the one behind centre anymore? Not in the slightest".
When asked about the shocking revelation that legendary Yeti kicker Micycle McCormick would switch to quarterback to address the loss of Applehort - and as a result of a gruesome foot injury that seemed likely to end his career - Miller took a moment to simply smile.
"I can't even begin to tell you how excited I am about the move. Micycle's always had this hidden talent up his sleeve. Honestly, there were plenty of days when Ryan [Applehort] would pack up and go home early, and I'd need someone to keep throwing me the ball. He [McCormick] always stepped up and stayed with me for as long as I needed. And, honestly, he throws a much nicer pass than Apple ever could. I'm excited about this season, for sure".
Code:
1604 words - ready for grading
[div align=center]
Update Page
[div align=center][/align]
[div align=center][SELECT style="background-color:maroon; color:white; font-family:Arial; font-size: 12px; width: 400px; "][br]
[OPTION]Scott Michaels || Colorado Yeti General Manager || #YetiNoises
[OPTION]Birthplace: Scranton, Pennsylvania
[OPTION]===========================================
[OPTION] NSFL Regular Season Record
[OPTION] S9: 3 - 1
[OPTION] S10: 9 - 5
[OPTION] S11: 8 - 6
[OPTION] S12: 6 - 8
[OPTION] S13: 8 - 6
[OPTION] Career: 34 - 26 (.567)
[OPTION]===========================================
[OPTION]NSFL Playoff Record
[OPTION] S9: 0 - 1
[OPTION] S10: 0 - 1
[OPTION] S11: 0 - 1
[OPTION] S12: DNQ
[OPTION] S13: 1 - 1
[OPTION] Career: 1 - 4 (.200)
[OPTION]===========================================
[OPTION] DSFL Regular Season Record
[OPTION] S8: 10 - 4
[OPTION] S9: 9 - 5
[OPTION] Career: 19 - 9 (.792)
[OPTION]===========================================
[OPTION]DSFL Playoff Record
[OPTION]S8: 1 - 1
[OPTION]S9 0 - 1
[OPTION] Career: 1 - 2 (.333)
[OPTION]===========================================
[OPTION]Accolades
[OPTION]S11 NSFL GM of the Year
[OPTION]S9 DSFL NFCN Division Champions
[OPTION]S8 DSFL NFC Conference Champions
[OPTION]S8 DSFL NFCN Division Champions
[OPTION]===========================================
Update Page
[div align=center][/align]
[div align=center][SELECT style="background-color:maroon; color:white; font-family:Arial; font-size: 12px; width: 400px; "][br]
[OPTION]Scott Michaels || Colorado Yeti General Manager || #YetiNoises
[OPTION]Birthplace: Scranton, Pennsylvania
[OPTION]===========================================
[OPTION] NSFL Regular Season Record
[OPTION] S9: 3 - 1
[OPTION] S10: 9 - 5
[OPTION] S11: 8 - 6
[OPTION] S12: 6 - 8
[OPTION] S13: 8 - 6
[OPTION] Career: 34 - 26 (.567)
[OPTION]===========================================
[OPTION]NSFL Playoff Record
[OPTION] S9: 0 - 1
[OPTION] S10: 0 - 1
[OPTION] S11: 0 - 1
[OPTION] S12: DNQ
[OPTION] S13: 1 - 1
[OPTION] Career: 1 - 4 (.200)
[OPTION]===========================================
[OPTION] DSFL Regular Season Record
[OPTION] S8: 10 - 4
[OPTION] S9: 9 - 5
[OPTION] Career: 19 - 9 (.792)
[OPTION]===========================================
[OPTION]DSFL Playoff Record
[OPTION]S8: 1 - 1
[OPTION]S9 0 - 1
[OPTION] Career: 1 - 2 (.333)
[OPTION]===========================================
[OPTION]Accolades
[OPTION]S11 NSFL GM of the Year
[OPTION]S9 DSFL NFCN Division Champions
[OPTION]S8 DSFL NFC Conference Champions
[OPTION]S8 DSFL NFCN Division Champions
[OPTION]===========================================