08-05-2021, 09:32 AM
(This post was last modified: 08-07-2021, 02:32 PM by Tesla. Edited 2 times in total.)
2 years. 2 years that I have dedicated part of my time for something as silly sounding as a simulation football league (I mean technically my 2-year anniversary is tomorrow but I am catering a wedding as a bartender for the first time and am massively nervous so there's no fuckin' way I'm trying to write this tomorrow.) And what a ride it has been for those two years. From that first reddit post, to my DSFL Draft day, to being drafted by the Wraiths, having a Hall of Fame caliber career, my time as GM and now having recreated. In that time I've changed schools, changed career paths entirely to something I'm more passionate about, managed to become a fully licensed bartender and a million other little things. I'm really blessed to have been mostly untouched by COVID (save for a christmas scare that thankfully was pretty minor) and this league has been a constant throughout, which I am very thankful for. Enough about real life, let's reminisce about the league.
I still remember when I first came across the league. During the summer, I used to work for the town at something called a splash pad. It was basically a collection of water fixtures, kind of like the kids area at a waterpark without the pool or slides, and it was a good place for the kids to cool off and have fun cause it was free. It wasn't difficult work, just had to make sure the pumps were working and that people didn't bring food in. So I had plenty of time to scroll on my phone. And I remember seeing a post on the NFL subreddit about a simulation football league. I was somewhat confused at first, but I really didn't have much better to do at the time, so I hopped onto the website that was posted.
I was actually pretty familiar with stuff like forums, I've used them in the past for stuff like gaming clans as well as EVE Online corporations, so I wasn't a complete stranger to the layout at least. But all this stuff about TPE had my head swimming. I had a bank account, I had to write stuff for tasks, it really was a lot to take in for someone like myself who'd never really done anything similar. Even comparing this to DND wasn't that accurate since that had tangible things you could see on a board (or things on a virtual board.)
So I definitely had my share of struggles in my first season. So I was curious as to what the thoughts around me as a prospect were. And thanks to Russ, I was able to take a quick peek into the past and pull out some stuff.
Woelkers was pulling for me a lot, which feels good to see. (Most of this comes during and after R3 of the draft)
"Hanyadi is my favorite available RB"
"Although the more I see him the more I like Hanyadi"
(Shady talking about LR activity)
"True. Hanyadi has been that, of the guys you listed"
Shady had me as the best available RB in that round, Duilio had nice things to say, so it feels nice that the war room had some confidence in me. And honestly, my first season was extremely successful. Me and Ruff combined for almost 2900 rushing yards and 22 touchdowns, and while we weren't able to get over the hump that was Tijuana, it was a fun team. There were a lot of great people on that San Antonio squad and I really have to thank them for keeping me around and making sure I didn't go inactive. I definitely thought about it at points, but I was hooked going forward.
Thanks to fly, I have a couple screenshots regarding Hanyadi from the Yellowknife war room, so thanks to him for giving me what I wanted to fill out this article with.
'Hanyadi is kind of the opposite, spottier earner but vocal locker room presence. Also interested in staying down a season, which is probably what we need' - Shady
'I'd take Virtanen and Hanyadi over that crew' - Shady
'Tbh grabbing Hanyadi in a later round could be good' - Shady
Good to know Shady had some confidence in me after observing me in San Antonio. I completely agree with his assessment btw, I wasn't earning very well during my first season but I was able to pick it up later.
Second season wasn't nearly as good statswise, with Ruff vulturing the majority of the rushing touchdowns for the team (lol), and we had to face the behemoth that was the S18 Tijuana squad in the playoffs. 13-1, a monster defense that let up an average of 13 PPG across the entire season while also scoring nearly 24 PPG themselves. Somehow we had gone 1-1 with them despite being 6-8 on the year, both sides barely squeaking out a victory in their respective victories. Frankly, I was expecting to get thrashed around as they steamrolled towards another chance at the Ultimini. But, somehow, the team pulled a rabbit out of their collective ass, and yours truly stunned the Luchadores with a 78 yard touchdown run (the longest of my entire career IIRC). And what a win that was. Even if we didn't win the Ultimini, we had taken out our rivals when they were at their peak, and while they would have one more run in S19, the house came crumbling down in S20. That win is what got me hooked on this league for good, the camaraderie I felt in the locker room was amazing and I wanted to chase that high into the major leagues.
I won't get too much into my ISFL career from S19 to S22, but I do wanna talk about S23. Yes, I am talking about that season once again, for the 50 millionth time. I've written articles about it, I've done a podcast on it, it's been seen in other pieces of media, I've talked to death about it. But I just want to prove a point, as to how special that season was for me. What it meant. I had a really good career up to that point. 2 OPoTY awards, 2 RBoTY awards, 3 pro bowls. Hadn't won a chip yet, but everything else was mine. I was a big name now, which was pretty cool. But this season was different. Not only was I the best running back in the league that season, I had the receiving stats of a WR2/3. I was also an elite punt returner, one of only three to score a TD and one of four to have an average return over 11 yards. It was a season beyond my wildest dreams, and the team topped it off with Yellowknife's second ever ring. MVP, RBoTY, OPERoTY, a pro bowl and a ring. It's hard to top a season like that, and to be completely honest, I never got close to those heights again. Like the old story of Icarus and his wings, I flew too close to the sun and got burned.
I guess the question I have to answer is 'did I make the right choice leaving Yellowknife?' Thinking back on it with a more critical lense, probably not? Arizona and Baltimore were great, the GMs were very understanding with what I wanted and they were both great locker room environments. But up until recently, the team has continued to be cursed with running backs going IA. First it was Drake, then Skyline gave up the ghost, then Vermillion also gave up before he reached 600 TPE. They finally have a known quantity at RB with Opera, who I know is going to do great there, but what if I had stayed? Would I have two rings? How much longer would I have lasted with Hanyadi? That's all water under the bridge now, but it is something I think about on occassion.
Of course, now I'm on my second player. And honestly? The journey to get where I am kinda sucked. But it also gave me a lot of info on the league, especially in regards to quarterback drafting. One thing I learned soon after my ISFL draft was if you're gonna be a QB, you either need an in with a specific ISFL team or you need to be prepared to position switch. Being a good earner doesn't seem to be enough on its own nowadays (unless people genuinely didn't want me as a QB, that's a depressing thought but what can you do,) but a team needs to plan around you eventually coming up. And I get why, if you mess up a quarterback pick in the ISFL it's extremely punishing. Even rookies with 800+ TPE can sometimes struggle to play well, lord knows what would happen if you have no choice but to start someone at 400 TPE because your last guy flopped. Just a little disappointed more than anything else.
But, that all means I have goals for my next player. Pretty lofty goals, at least in terms of the draft. I want to be a first rounder in both drafts, at bare minimum. Which means starting at OL, probably, since they have the bonus of being able to convert 75% of their TPE during a position switch rather than the normal 50%. That's all I really know for now, at least, but eventually I'll have something more concrete as I approach regression.
Before I get to some questions, I just wanted to thank as many people as I can remember, for helping me on this journey so far.
To Woelkers, Duilio and Shady for believing in me when I first entered the league. You guys really put me on the correct path.
To BigRed, Shady and Fly for putting up with me in Yellowknife. I know I wasn't the easiest guy to work with, and I must've given you some serious headaches at times, but you guys were really accommodating to me.
To Dewalt, for unironically choosing me to be his co-GM in Minnesota. I bet he questions that move every single day.
To Voiceless, for being a better GM than I could have ever imagined. Hope you're doing ok, buddy.
To the entire Minnesota war room and locker room during my time as a GM. I know we weren't a super successful team during my tenure, but let it be known I loved each and every single one of you and wanted nothing but the best.
To Dewalt (again) and High for having faith in me as a recreate. Berlin has been a great environment and I'm super happy to have been drafted there.
To the people I've collaborated with on various pieces of media over the seasons (way too many to list), without you none of those projects would have come to fruition and I am happy to have gotten them done.
A couple more people I wanna shout out by name that didn't really fit into the other categories.
Gragg, TheCC, Jangorhino, Snowy, Tylus, Darkness, Painted, Russ, Crou, TC, plenty more that I am forgetting.
All of you made my experience in the league better in your own ways, and I can't forget that.
Anyways, with all that out of the way, I have some questions that I wanted to answer! If the graders want to score this section as a presser specifically then so be it, I just wanted to include these here since it's all supposed to be one mega article.
From Number 82:
How have you found your move to safety so far?
Pretty good, honestly! Won DSFL Safety of the Year for my final season down in the minors, so that was a pretty awesome sendoff.
Were there any other positions you considered prior to making the switch to safety? If so what other positions did you consider and why?
My position switch was mostly to benefit Berlin, and the decision was between safety and wideout. I went with safety in the end.
If you had the power to make one change in the league, what would you do?
Actually make agents viable. Cause right now, it's straight up impossible to actually do anything interesting as an agent.
From Jango:
In your two years, what’s your favorite sig or card anyone ever made for either Raske or Hanyadi or for a team you were/are on?
For Hanyadi, it's your MVP sig from S23 and the sig I currently use for Hanyadi (whoever made it please come forward so I can remember lol). For Raske, it's my SoTY sig.
From Russ:
Would you rather have a HOF career with Raske or win 2 rings and miss out on HOF? Why?
Rings. Already have a HoF career locked down.
From painted:
What does CLG stand for?
Counter Logic Gaming, an esports organization.
What's been your favorite part about the league since you've stuck around for so long?
The locker rooms are always something I can count on to be a good place to relax.
Favorite in game memory?
Either winning the ultimus in S23 or that 78 yard run against Tijuana in S18.
Thank you everyone who had questions to ask! This really was a passion project kind of article, if it's unreadable then oh well. I just had a lot of things to say and I hope it's in an order that makes some sense, at least.
I wanted to end off with one thing: be kind to each other. We've all seen that article, the one where we get to see the unfiltered thoughts people have on the league. It's been deleted, but honestly, something like that could be fun. Unfortunately, people also seem to forget that there are actual people behind the usernames of every single account here. I like to think I have decently think skin, but not everyone does. Some people take these comments to heart and it can kill their love for this league. Just try to remember that, all I ask.
I still remember when I first came across the league. During the summer, I used to work for the town at something called a splash pad. It was basically a collection of water fixtures, kind of like the kids area at a waterpark without the pool or slides, and it was a good place for the kids to cool off and have fun cause it was free. It wasn't difficult work, just had to make sure the pumps were working and that people didn't bring food in. So I had plenty of time to scroll on my phone. And I remember seeing a post on the NFL subreddit about a simulation football league. I was somewhat confused at first, but I really didn't have much better to do at the time, so I hopped onto the website that was posted.
I was actually pretty familiar with stuff like forums, I've used them in the past for stuff like gaming clans as well as EVE Online corporations, so I wasn't a complete stranger to the layout at least. But all this stuff about TPE had my head swimming. I had a bank account, I had to write stuff for tasks, it really was a lot to take in for someone like myself who'd never really done anything similar. Even comparing this to DND wasn't that accurate since that had tangible things you could see on a board (or things on a virtual board.)
So I definitely had my share of struggles in my first season. So I was curious as to what the thoughts around me as a prospect were. And thanks to Russ, I was able to take a quick peek into the past and pull out some stuff.
Woelkers was pulling for me a lot, which feels good to see. (Most of this comes during and after R3 of the draft)
"Hanyadi is my favorite available RB"
"Although the more I see him the more I like Hanyadi"
(Shady talking about LR activity)
"True. Hanyadi has been that, of the guys you listed"
Shady had me as the best available RB in that round, Duilio had nice things to say, so it feels nice that the war room had some confidence in me. And honestly, my first season was extremely successful. Me and Ruff combined for almost 2900 rushing yards and 22 touchdowns, and while we weren't able to get over the hump that was Tijuana, it was a fun team. There were a lot of great people on that San Antonio squad and I really have to thank them for keeping me around and making sure I didn't go inactive. I definitely thought about it at points, but I was hooked going forward.
Thanks to fly, I have a couple screenshots regarding Hanyadi from the Yellowknife war room, so thanks to him for giving me what I wanted to fill out this article with.
'Hanyadi is kind of the opposite, spottier earner but vocal locker room presence. Also interested in staying down a season, which is probably what we need' - Shady
'I'd take Virtanen and Hanyadi over that crew' - Shady
'Tbh grabbing Hanyadi in a later round could be good' - Shady
Good to know Shady had some confidence in me after observing me in San Antonio. I completely agree with his assessment btw, I wasn't earning very well during my first season but I was able to pick it up later.
Second season wasn't nearly as good statswise, with Ruff vulturing the majority of the rushing touchdowns for the team (lol), and we had to face the behemoth that was the S18 Tijuana squad in the playoffs. 13-1, a monster defense that let up an average of 13 PPG across the entire season while also scoring nearly 24 PPG themselves. Somehow we had gone 1-1 with them despite being 6-8 on the year, both sides barely squeaking out a victory in their respective victories. Frankly, I was expecting to get thrashed around as they steamrolled towards another chance at the Ultimini. But, somehow, the team pulled a rabbit out of their collective ass, and yours truly stunned the Luchadores with a 78 yard touchdown run (the longest of my entire career IIRC). And what a win that was. Even if we didn't win the Ultimini, we had taken out our rivals when they were at their peak, and while they would have one more run in S19, the house came crumbling down in S20. That win is what got me hooked on this league for good, the camaraderie I felt in the locker room was amazing and I wanted to chase that high into the major leagues.
I won't get too much into my ISFL career from S19 to S22, but I do wanna talk about S23. Yes, I am talking about that season once again, for the 50 millionth time. I've written articles about it, I've done a podcast on it, it's been seen in other pieces of media, I've talked to death about it. But I just want to prove a point, as to how special that season was for me. What it meant. I had a really good career up to that point. 2 OPoTY awards, 2 RBoTY awards, 3 pro bowls. Hadn't won a chip yet, but everything else was mine. I was a big name now, which was pretty cool. But this season was different. Not only was I the best running back in the league that season, I had the receiving stats of a WR2/3. I was also an elite punt returner, one of only three to score a TD and one of four to have an average return over 11 yards. It was a season beyond my wildest dreams, and the team topped it off with Yellowknife's second ever ring. MVP, RBoTY, OPERoTY, a pro bowl and a ring. It's hard to top a season like that, and to be completely honest, I never got close to those heights again. Like the old story of Icarus and his wings, I flew too close to the sun and got burned.
I guess the question I have to answer is 'did I make the right choice leaving Yellowknife?' Thinking back on it with a more critical lense, probably not? Arizona and Baltimore were great, the GMs were very understanding with what I wanted and they were both great locker room environments. But up until recently, the team has continued to be cursed with running backs going IA. First it was Drake, then Skyline gave up the ghost, then Vermillion also gave up before he reached 600 TPE. They finally have a known quantity at RB with Opera, who I know is going to do great there, but what if I had stayed? Would I have two rings? How much longer would I have lasted with Hanyadi? That's all water under the bridge now, but it is something I think about on occassion.
Of course, now I'm on my second player. And honestly? The journey to get where I am kinda sucked. But it also gave me a lot of info on the league, especially in regards to quarterback drafting. One thing I learned soon after my ISFL draft was if you're gonna be a QB, you either need an in with a specific ISFL team or you need to be prepared to position switch. Being a good earner doesn't seem to be enough on its own nowadays (unless people genuinely didn't want me as a QB, that's a depressing thought but what can you do,) but a team needs to plan around you eventually coming up. And I get why, if you mess up a quarterback pick in the ISFL it's extremely punishing. Even rookies with 800+ TPE can sometimes struggle to play well, lord knows what would happen if you have no choice but to start someone at 400 TPE because your last guy flopped. Just a little disappointed more than anything else.
But, that all means I have goals for my next player. Pretty lofty goals, at least in terms of the draft. I want to be a first rounder in both drafts, at bare minimum. Which means starting at OL, probably, since they have the bonus of being able to convert 75% of their TPE during a position switch rather than the normal 50%. That's all I really know for now, at least, but eventually I'll have something more concrete as I approach regression.
Before I get to some questions, I just wanted to thank as many people as I can remember, for helping me on this journey so far.
To Woelkers, Duilio and Shady for believing in me when I first entered the league. You guys really put me on the correct path.
To BigRed, Shady and Fly for putting up with me in Yellowknife. I know I wasn't the easiest guy to work with, and I must've given you some serious headaches at times, but you guys were really accommodating to me.
To Dewalt, for unironically choosing me to be his co-GM in Minnesota. I bet he questions that move every single day.
To Voiceless, for being a better GM than I could have ever imagined. Hope you're doing ok, buddy.
To the entire Minnesota war room and locker room during my time as a GM. I know we weren't a super successful team during my tenure, but let it be known I loved each and every single one of you and wanted nothing but the best.
To Dewalt (again) and High for having faith in me as a recreate. Berlin has been a great environment and I'm super happy to have been drafted there.
To the people I've collaborated with on various pieces of media over the seasons (way too many to list), without you none of those projects would have come to fruition and I am happy to have gotten them done.
A couple more people I wanna shout out by name that didn't really fit into the other categories.
Gragg, TheCC, Jangorhino, Snowy, Tylus, Darkness, Painted, Russ, Crou, TC, plenty more that I am forgetting.
All of you made my experience in the league better in your own ways, and I can't forget that.
Anyways, with all that out of the way, I have some questions that I wanted to answer! If the graders want to score this section as a presser specifically then so be it, I just wanted to include these here since it's all supposed to be one mega article.
From Number 82:
How have you found your move to safety so far?
Pretty good, honestly! Won DSFL Safety of the Year for my final season down in the minors, so that was a pretty awesome sendoff.
Were there any other positions you considered prior to making the switch to safety? If so what other positions did you consider and why?
My position switch was mostly to benefit Berlin, and the decision was between safety and wideout. I went with safety in the end.
If you had the power to make one change in the league, what would you do?
Actually make agents viable. Cause right now, it's straight up impossible to actually do anything interesting as an agent.
From Jango:
In your two years, what’s your favorite sig or card anyone ever made for either Raske or Hanyadi or for a team you were/are on?
For Hanyadi, it's your MVP sig from S23 and the sig I currently use for Hanyadi (whoever made it please come forward so I can remember lol). For Raske, it's my SoTY sig.
From Russ:
Would you rather have a HOF career with Raske or win 2 rings and miss out on HOF? Why?
Rings. Already have a HoF career locked down.
From painted:
What does CLG stand for?
Counter Logic Gaming, an esports organization.
What's been your favorite part about the league since you've stuck around for so long?
The locker rooms are always something I can count on to be a good place to relax.
Favorite in game memory?
Either winning the ultimus in S23 or that 78 yard run against Tijuana in S18.
Thank you everyone who had questions to ask! This really was a passion project kind of article, if it's unreadable then oh well. I just had a lot of things to say and I hope it's in an order that makes some sense, at least.
I wanted to end off with one thing: be kind to each other. We've all seen that article, the one where we get to see the unfiltered thoughts people have on the league. It's been deleted, but honestly, something like that could be fun. Unfortunately, people also seem to forget that there are actual people behind the usernames of every single account here. I like to think I have decently think skin, but not everyone does. Some people take these comments to heart and it can kill their love for this league. Just try to remember that, all I ask.