(S23) - PT 4 - The Butterfly Effect

[Kyamprac]

Zoe Watts has gone through two pivotal changes in her career so far. First, partway through her college career she switched to an entirely different sport. Formerly a midfielder for the Stanford Cardinals women’s soccer team, Watts earned a permanent spot on the roster as a kicker/punter for the Cardinals football team after proving her abilities during tryouts. Despite showing great success on the soccer field, she was excited at the prospect of trying something new and making a splash in a primarily male dominated sport. After she proved her worth on the football field, sports agents enthusiastically encouraged Watts to join the Developmental Simulation Football League in Season 22, where she was picked up off waivers by the Dallas Birddogs.

In the 2038 DSFL draft, Watts was drafted 4th overall by the Dallas Birddogs. This puzzled a lot of people as kickers do not ordinarily go so early in the draft. While her performance had been decent for a rookie waiver pickup, it was not good enough to warrant a 4th pick as far as the DSFL’s critics were concerned. Within days of being drafted however, Watts was asked to switch to an offensive role. Interested at the prospect of playing a new position, Watts obliged and started the challenging process of transitioning from the role of a kicker to that of a speed back. While she still has a long way to go in terms of preparation for the National Simulation Football League, Watts is now a strong contributing member of one of the arguably most successful running back duos in the DSFL.

Code:

268 words

[bjkman]

PBE PT

[Sutj]

As of right now, Friedrich Vequain leads the DSFL in receiving yards, despite being fifth in total receptions amongst the DSFL's top five receivers in terms of receiving yardage. In the previous year, Friedrich Vequain again found himself atop the rankings in receiving yardage, while also holding the title for most receptions, added on to his championship run with Tijuana, their seventh in franchise history. This legacy may not have come to fruition however, had it not been for one decision he made all the way back in high school. As many might know, Vequain was a legendary yo-yoer. Over his short (17 year) career, Vequain won tens of millions of dollars, 10 consecutive yo-yo championships (a remarkable record as the next-highest is 2 consecutive championships), international fame and recognition, and a place in the Yo-Yo Hall of Fame, being the only yo-yoer to be crowned a Hall of Famer while still being active. However, Vequain retired and dropped out of yo-yo championships in his senior season at Florida to focus on his football career. Though many wonder how much more Vequain's yo-yo legacy would have grown had he forgone his football career, the Tijuana Luchadores are surely glad that he made this decision. Vequain was one of the most important parts of last year's championship run and a vital part of the lethal Tijuana offense.

[Lime]

SHL CW - NeonLime

[Troen]

Written Option: Reflect on one moment in your player’s career (childhood, college, DSFL, or NSFL) where they faced an important turning point - perhaps a season-ending injury, unexpected trade, position switch, or a difficult decision. How did your player’s reaction change the way that their career has unfolded? What ramifications has their choice or circumstance had on their future or on the league?

I think there are two obvious points to consider. In high school, I first played at safety as a freshman and only moved to DE after growing and getting more time in the weight room. So, if I'd stuck with safety that clearly would have changed everything that came after. It also means there's almost no chance I'd have broken my hands in college, the event which actually led to my changed last name and unique playing style of using the cast/club style hand covers. The play I injured my hands on was a line play where I landed poorly after getting tripped by a guard. Were I playing safety instead (and assuming everything else in my life had remained the same to the point that I was on the same team playing against the same team with the same plays which is itself unlikely), there's almost no chance I would have been engaged with the guard and so almost no chance that I would have broken my hands. And so, I'd presumably have remained Troen McBjornson. That might have made my parents happier - they treat the Egghands name as a stage name even though I legally changed it - but I can't help but think it wouldn't have been as good as an outcome. With how things have gone so far, I've won an Ultimini with the Buccaneers and made it to the conference championship with the Copperheads. Would the same have happened if I'd stayed at safety instead? I can only say it seems unlikely.

[yonggarius]

William Lim is currently playing his third season as a pro. During that time stretch, William had a relatively calm career path with Dallas Birddogs and Colorado Yeti. So far, the biggest turning point of William's career was the change of playing style he went through as he first set foot in the NSFL.

From college to his DSFL career with the Birddogs, William was more known as a sure handed pass catcher than he was known as a speedster. So naturally, he thrived on short to mid range targets, and he expertised in getting first downs in tough situations.

However, that changed when William got to the big leagues. Right after he was drafted by the Yeti, the GM called and asked him to focus his training mainly on speed. That was because the Yeti's offence was much more focused on speed and stretching the field. Also, the Yeti brass wanted William to focus on a more traditional wide receiver role- namely generating big plays. So William changed his training regimen. Speed drills and weights increased a lot more while time for jug machines got sacrificed a little. And that change certainly yielded results, as William got a lot faster through his NSFL rookie season. Now, in his sophomore season in the NSFL, he's one of the fastest wide receivers in the whole league. He still got his catching abilities from his early days, but William is primarily a speedster now. (242)

[sakrosankt]

Back in S22 – when the big, big reddit class joined – I had a hard decision to take. After the Kansas City Coyotes drafted three amazing wide receivers in the draft, there was one of them who had to take the WR3 position. The clear #1 receiver on the team was Eddie Jeeta, taken in the second round at 13 overall. One hell of a player, no doubt. In the draft, I came in second in regards of receivers, in round 7 at 53 overall. And the missing piece was Tan Johnson in round 13 at overall 101. Eddie was first in terms of TPE, I was slightly behind him, but we were far ahead for DSFL standards of Tan. But it was me, who was WR3 at season start. I accepted it, because it was the GMs decision. But as the season continued, the gap between us two grew bigger, and therefore my expectations to rise up the depth chart did the same. But I still wasn‘t considered WR2. Finally, I reached out to the GMs and asked why I didn‘t get to play, as I already was ahead of Tan in almost all attributes. The answer was disillusioning. He gives us better results. That was nothing to set me back in my strive for playing time. I finally closed the gap on the last attribute, and from then on, I was WR2 for the rest of the season. I worked hard to challenge Eddie for the #1 spot, but in the end we both pushed us to become a better player. And after just one season, our ways parted as we both were already called up into the NSFL.

[2Burkeulosis]

So the biggest instance of the butterfly effect was in college at Colorado State University. I was trying out for the quarterback position and well long story short I didn’t make the cut. I was pretty bummed out about it but I tried not to sweat it too much. Unlike a lot of the other guys there I wasn’t there on a football scholarship so I wasn’t as motivated as the rest of them were. For a little while it looked like my football career was going to end right there but obviously that was not the case.
So what ended up happening was that somehow either during tryouts or just throughout the course of my day to day life. I had somehow managed to impress the team captain. A wide receiver by the name of Tyrell Franklin. He took a shining to me and basically mentored me throughout my freshman year in college. All the while he was grooming me to one day replace him at the WR position. With his help and guidance I was able to successfully make the switch from mediocre QB to star WR. Without him I very likely would not be where I am now.

[Goat_Whisperer]

Blago played both the European version of football and the North-American version while growing up, the European version was the dominant sport in Croatia, which sometimes made it hard to play NA football due to lack of players and coaching, but luckily Rijeka had a fair number of fans for the sport, so there was always someone ready to coach and help out, so kids could play.

When Blago was 13 years old, an important decision was coming up - which sport would he play from now on? The football in Europe is an all-in type of deal if you want to make it at the top even on the national level, Blago was ok as a player, but not a super talent by any means. The path to good things was also a lot smoother in the European version due to clear steps you need to take. Meanwhile, NA football would mean the need to move away from Croatia as soon as possible to get into youth teams that had quality coaching.

In the end, Blago chose the NA version of football as his main sport, parents of Blago felt that move away would be a good thing for the boy and for the whole family. When Blago was 14 the whole family moved from Rijeka, Croatia to Arizona where Blago joined a local youth team, rest is history.

[Number 82]

I guess the most that stands out as the turning point or catalyst for Dawkins career so far would be the ACL tear at age 14. To that point the focus was on playing professionally in either the NBA or Euroleague. Football wasn't really on the table at that point and with a few offers to join the youth development program of team's in the NBL on the table, it appeared at the time that a career playing professionally was on the cards.

Tearing his ACL meant time off away from the sport as well as time sitting out to recover. Recovery though, was straight forward. In a attempt to rush back, Dawkins pushed himself but struggled with confidence in his knee. Feeling slow and steps behind his peers, doubts began to creep and the feeling that a career playing professionally was slipping away.

On the road to recovery, Dawkins was roped into a local flag football competition. A new sport and something else to focus on. Having no prior experience or expectations, it wasn't about where he thought he should be at in terms of ability and performance, it was about what needed to be worked on get better. This helped a lot and eventually, the confidence was back and the interest in football started to grow.

Fast forward a few years, Dawkins made the decision to travel to Chicago to attend a tryout at the University of Chicago for the Basketball and Football programs after turning down opportunities in the NBL. Dawkins do well enough to earn a spot on the Maroons football program where he spent 3 seasons before being drafted by Portland in the DSFL in Season 21. By all accounts the focus prior to the ACL tear was on playing basketball professionally. The prospect of playing football wasn't on the table till the injury. However, things have worked out well having been called up to play in the NSFL as a starter on defense while serving as a kick returner for Honolulu.

Code:

335 words