The Future for DTF
Very recently, Deondre Thomas-Fox signed a one-year extension to play Season 26 for the San Jose Sabercats. That was before the team made it to the title but he committed to the franchise that believed in him to give them another year no matter what. What many people outside the front office for the Sabercats are not aware of is that the one-year extension will be the last contract Thomas-Fox ever signs again in the International Sim Football League. Thomas-Fox or DTF as he is more widely known will be making Season 26 his last and either way, he will either try and get the Sabercats back to the championship for the third time in a row, whether it going for a three-peat or coming back to make it 2 in 3 years. Either way, it has been a pretty fun ride.
Thomas-Fox has been an interesting story and honestly, I did not feel like his career went how I pictured it playing out or even as good I was hoping it to be but at the same time, maybe it was just as good or even better, I have literally no idea. I started Thomas-Fox out as a quarterback and he played one season down in the DSFL with the Myrtle Beach Buccaneers right after they rebranded from Palm Beach. In fact, I believe DTF was technically drafted by Palm Beach and then the team rebranded right after but my memory is a little hazy there but I think that sounds right. Thomas-Fox was supposed to be my original plan for Joliet Christ which was a mobile QB from start to finish but gauging the QB market out there, it definitely seemed like maybe it was not the right time and heck, JLC did pretty well as a running quarterback anyways, before the 79 speed thing was all the rage, Christ was running all over the field with his 75 speed, not even aware that the coding thing existed. DTF, I would say, was also not really used in the correct way while he played for the Bucs as the team wanted to go in a pass heavy, air raid sort of offense to utilize good targets such as Sweet James Jones but DTF's best stat was his speed so it was tough to see him throw as much because it usually ended bad. I forget who it was but someone showed me what DTF's stats would look like in a running offense that utilized QB runs and it was pretty insane and I wish that I could have seen it play out.
Anyways...so the quarterback thing did not really work out and I could have just held out and said I was going to wait to get a QB spot, it would have been okay but I decided to tell teams in pre-draft scouting interviews that I was okay switching position as long as it was on offense as a wide receiver or a running back to stay on the offensive side of the ball. I was surprised on draft night even though I shouldn't have been as I was drafted second overall to the San Jose Sabercats, a place I had been since Season 10 and a place I was a co-GM and a hall of fame quarterback. If anyone knows CK, if he knows you, he will draft you so yeah, I should not have been shocked. Wide receiver was a need in San Jose to get some weapons to work with Dan Wright and eventual QB recreate, co-GM player Monty Jack. It was a bit rough at times and I would say the wide receiver position is definitely not my favorite especially when the running game is so heavily used by a lot of ISFL teams and especially the Sabercats. I definitely lost interest a lot of times with DTF because I felt like he did not do much and when he did, it was few and far between. Some years, Thomas-Fox was really really good and I got more engaged, it made me more engaged in the ISFL as a whole and I got a co-GM position in the DSFL back at DTF's former stomping ground at Myrtle Beach. It was a great experience and while it was short lived, I had a lot of fun working with Thor building the team and a lot of players we drafted are still there now and helped the Bucs be one of the best teams in the league. San Jose meanwhile over these past few years have been incredible as well and the locker room is probably the best it has been in a long long time. DTF had some great plays last season in the run up to the Ultimus game and despite a poor showing by him in the title game, the San Jose Sabercats beat the Yeti for their 2nd title ever, it was an incredible feeling being part of another Ultimus winning team, especially one that is always doubted like San Jose is.
We find ourselves in the same position and against the same foes having beaten both Arizona and Orange County to get to this point, it has been a hell of a ride just to get here and no matter what, I don't think we can look down on this season even if we tried, or even if we lost 50-0 in the title game, we have a great team and great attitude. I have very much enjoyed meeting all the people and being part of the war room having been responsible for scouting some of the big names we have in the locker room today. I can happily say that I scouted and recommended guys like Bass and Lackson to be drafted and even Matt Krause who made a huge play in the Ultimus win with a pick six, thanks for being so good to me Ducks organization!
I don't think I have any regrets with how Deondre's career has gone on to this point. Could I have been even more active? Yes, I could probably have 300 more TPE than I do now but I don't know how much that would have helped anyways. I didn't play a super long career with Christ and I enjoyed him 6000x more than I enjoy Thomas-Fox but I also feel like Christ, at least for his time was pretty unique which was fun while DTF is just a cog in the machine of the wide receiver position where you max speed, hands and stuff like agility and you are golden and you just hope the sim gets you the ball. I actually had the most fun being a return man and that is what got me through a lot of the bad games where I didn't have many catches or yards because I at least added some production elsewhere. I enjoyed being part of a truly great Sabercats team and being a guy that can help the team rather than be the face of the team like I was before, it was a good change for a bit and now with DTF slowly becoming the number two option for the team, it is in a pretty good place to call it a day and say I did what I could for SJS.
Let's go win that Ultimus Sabercats and I will try and do as best I can in the game and next season with the shell of Thomas-Fox!
Former players:
QB Joliet Christ Jr. (HON/BER) (1x Ultimus Champ)
WR Deondre Thomas-Fox (SJS) (2x Ultimus Champ)
QB Joliet L. Christ (SJS) (Hall of Fame) (1x Ultimus Champ)