There has been rampant speculation from the NSFL media this offseason in regards to the sudden disappearance of Orange County Otters season 2 first round draft pick, Offensive Lineman Gregor Clegane. Some sports journalists have concluded that Gregor Clegane had lost interest in the sport and was letting his career end on a quiet whimper. Others in the sports media sphere claimed that he was being railroaded off the team due to his locker room character concerns. Some even suggested he was dead. They were all wrong.
As these things normally are, the truth turned out to be far more complicated for Gregor Clegane. After his high-profile criminal trial delayed his entrance into the Season 1 NSFL draft, instead reconciling himself to a waiver pickup and soon-to-be season 2 draftee, Gregor Clegane had been exonerated but was still struggling with his demons. Following the controversial statement from Clegane that the much anticipated round 1 pick would only accept a contract offer from the Orange County Otters the league and sports media turned on him even more. Being the quiet, brooding presence he is in the locker room he found little solace there either.
As season 2 wore on Gregor Clegane found himself becoming more and more withdrawn from the game, the league, his teammates, and even his fellow offensive linemen. Clegane would show up to the weight room and get his reps in. He would show up to practice and run his drills and scrimmages. He would go to watch film with his position group, and even take some notes. And he would show up on game day and block for Mike Boss and Leroy Jenkins. But emotionally, Clegane was empty. His heart was not in it anymore. He struggled to get out of bed in the mornings. He found himself reaching for the bottle earlier and earlier in the day.
By the end of season 2 Clegane was up to his eyeballs in addiction. Between prescription pain pills, alcohol, and cocaine his mind was a fog. Leaving after the Otters' defeat in Solis game he never made it back to the team hotel. The next morning he missed the flight back to Orange County. His phone went straight to voicemail. The Otters' GMs reported him missing to the police. Nobody knew where Clegane had gone to. Until today.
Yesterday, Clegane mysteriously showed back up at the Otters Orange County training facility. The dark circles that had shadowed his eyes in recent history were gone. His head was shaved bald. The unique stench of sweat, whiskey, cigarettes, and shame was gone. His body was different, just as large as before but more defined. His walk once again had the swagger of a man who was strong enough to take on the world. Yet he said nothing. He returned to his locker, changed into his workout clothes, and went into the weight room, alone.
Only an hour later as the rumors swirled throughout the facility that the enigmatic Gregor Clegane had returned it came to the attention of the new General Management team. Mr. Molarpistols was seen walking into the weight room a short time later, and exited the room with Clegane in tow. As Molarpistols, Clegane, and Roshambo were all seen entering the General Management conference room along with Clegane's agent, the rumors intensified. Was Clegane being let go? Is he being traded away? To whom? The Legion?!
Some of the more enterprising players and staff members attempted to listen in on the conversation. After holding an ear to the door Ragnar Kronen quickly found himself being lifted into the air by his belt as Angus Winchester removed him from the hallway. New Orange County draftee Julian O'Sullivan was found studying the air duct lines on a set of the facility blueprints, but also had these confiscated by Winchester. Only the men in that conference room knew what was being discussed.
Two hours later Clegane (with agent in tow), Molarpistols, and Roshambo left the conference room silently. They exchanged handshakes. Molarpistols and Roshambo stood by the door as Gregor Clegane and his agent walked off. Clegane's agent headed for the door. Clegane, on the other hand, walked back towards the weight room. Winchester followed him inside, "What the hell is going on? You up and vanish like a fart in the wind and come back and say nothing? What were y'all talking about in there?" Clegane stared at Winchester for a second, shrugged his eyes, flared his nostrils, and walked into the power rack. Flabbergasted Winchester stood there for a moment before throwing his hands into the air, screaming an expletive, and storming out the door.
They did not have to go without answers for long, however. During all of the commotion Orange County's newest controversial draftee JD Boom took the time to rifle through Clegane's locker, where he had dropped off a duffel bag before entering the weight room. Inside he found several curious items. A chinese to english dictionary, a tibetan to english dictionary, a hand-held GPS unit, an assorted amount of mountain climbing gear (rope, harness, cams, helmet), a tattered set of extremely large buddhist monk robes, and a journal.
Wasting no time JD Boom quickly scanned through the journal looking for hints as to what had transpired during Clegane's mysterious disappearance, and found a story almost too unbelievable to be true. The journal began:
I write these words to remind myself why I am here. I write this not so I can see who I am becoming, but rather who I used to be.
It went on to chronicle a whirlwind of events over the course of several months after his disappearance. Written non-chronologically it was a challenging to follow the sequence of events as they happened. But Boom was able to piece together that Clegane does not remember what happened the night of the ASFC championship or a period of 2 weeks following it. Only shreds of memories remain. He first recalls coming-to on the floor of a motel room in Carson City Nevada, covered in blood. Without answering whose blood or where he went immediately afterwards the journal moved on to Clegane hitchhiking deep into the Rocky Mountains.
As the strange story twisted and jumbled and almost seemed to contradict itself JD Boom did not really know what to believe. At some point Clegane ended up with a group of rock climbers scaling Petit Grepon and Lone Eagle peak in the Rocky Mountains. Tagging along with them they soon left the country and Clegane found himself scaling peaks in the Himalayan mountains near Tibet. That explains most of the items in Clegane's bag, except for the robes.
The story took another turn as Boom read on. The journal then revealed how an avalanche on Xixiabangma peak took out the entire climbing party, leaving Clegane stranded in the mountains. But then he was made his way out and stumbled upon a buddhist monastary high in the Himalayan mountains? Boom shook his head not knowing if this was just a bad story or if something this unbelievable could actually be true. Most of the journal still remained. Flipping through it seemed that most of what Gregor had written in it was covering his time at the monastary, with bits written in another language, probably Tibetan, laced in.
Having spent enough time flipping through, and ending up with more questions than he started with JD Boom quickly shoved everything back into the duffel bag in Clegane's locker. He would later on discuss with his teammates what he found. Most of them shook their heads in silent disbelief, or laughed at the idea of a 350lb Gregor Clegane doing yoga in mustard yellow robes on top of a mountain with a bunch of 5 foot tall 100lb old guys.
After finishing his workout Clegane returned to his locker, grabbed his bag, and left the Orange Country training facility. Every eye followed him on the way out of the door. Whispers rose through the locker room as everyone wondered if he was still going to remain on the team. Shortly afterward General Manager Molarpistols called the team into the locker room and said, very briefly: "I know you all have a lot of questions. Gregor Clegane is a part of this team and will be for the foreseeable future. That is all I have for you right now."
At 4am this morning, Gregor Clegane was spotted walking back into the Orange County Training facility, and into the weight room. He left 3 hours later and hasn't been seen since.
GRADED
As these things normally are, the truth turned out to be far more complicated for Gregor Clegane. After his high-profile criminal trial delayed his entrance into the Season 1 NSFL draft, instead reconciling himself to a waiver pickup and soon-to-be season 2 draftee, Gregor Clegane had been exonerated but was still struggling with his demons. Following the controversial statement from Clegane that the much anticipated round 1 pick would only accept a contract offer from the Orange County Otters the league and sports media turned on him even more. Being the quiet, brooding presence he is in the locker room he found little solace there either.
As season 2 wore on Gregor Clegane found himself becoming more and more withdrawn from the game, the league, his teammates, and even his fellow offensive linemen. Clegane would show up to the weight room and get his reps in. He would show up to practice and run his drills and scrimmages. He would go to watch film with his position group, and even take some notes. And he would show up on game day and block for Mike Boss and Leroy Jenkins. But emotionally, Clegane was empty. His heart was not in it anymore. He struggled to get out of bed in the mornings. He found himself reaching for the bottle earlier and earlier in the day.
By the end of season 2 Clegane was up to his eyeballs in addiction. Between prescription pain pills, alcohol, and cocaine his mind was a fog. Leaving after the Otters' defeat in Solis game he never made it back to the team hotel. The next morning he missed the flight back to Orange County. His phone went straight to voicemail. The Otters' GMs reported him missing to the police. Nobody knew where Clegane had gone to. Until today.
Yesterday, Clegane mysteriously showed back up at the Otters Orange County training facility. The dark circles that had shadowed his eyes in recent history were gone. His head was shaved bald. The unique stench of sweat, whiskey, cigarettes, and shame was gone. His body was different, just as large as before but more defined. His walk once again had the swagger of a man who was strong enough to take on the world. Yet he said nothing. He returned to his locker, changed into his workout clothes, and went into the weight room, alone.
Only an hour later as the rumors swirled throughout the facility that the enigmatic Gregor Clegane had returned it came to the attention of the new General Management team. Mr. Molarpistols was seen walking into the weight room a short time later, and exited the room with Clegane in tow. As Molarpistols, Clegane, and Roshambo were all seen entering the General Management conference room along with Clegane's agent, the rumors intensified. Was Clegane being let go? Is he being traded away? To whom? The Legion?!
Some of the more enterprising players and staff members attempted to listen in on the conversation. After holding an ear to the door Ragnar Kronen quickly found himself being lifted into the air by his belt as Angus Winchester removed him from the hallway. New Orange County draftee Julian O'Sullivan was found studying the air duct lines on a set of the facility blueprints, but also had these confiscated by Winchester. Only the men in that conference room knew what was being discussed.
Two hours later Clegane (with agent in tow), Molarpistols, and Roshambo left the conference room silently. They exchanged handshakes. Molarpistols and Roshambo stood by the door as Gregor Clegane and his agent walked off. Clegane's agent headed for the door. Clegane, on the other hand, walked back towards the weight room. Winchester followed him inside, "What the hell is going on? You up and vanish like a fart in the wind and come back and say nothing? What were y'all talking about in there?" Clegane stared at Winchester for a second, shrugged his eyes, flared his nostrils, and walked into the power rack. Flabbergasted Winchester stood there for a moment before throwing his hands into the air, screaming an expletive, and storming out the door.
They did not have to go without answers for long, however. During all of the commotion Orange County's newest controversial draftee JD Boom took the time to rifle through Clegane's locker, where he had dropped off a duffel bag before entering the weight room. Inside he found several curious items. A chinese to english dictionary, a tibetan to english dictionary, a hand-held GPS unit, an assorted amount of mountain climbing gear (rope, harness, cams, helmet), a tattered set of extremely large buddhist monk robes, and a journal.
Wasting no time JD Boom quickly scanned through the journal looking for hints as to what had transpired during Clegane's mysterious disappearance, and found a story almost too unbelievable to be true. The journal began:
I write these words to remind myself why I am here. I write this not so I can see who I am becoming, but rather who I used to be.
It went on to chronicle a whirlwind of events over the course of several months after his disappearance. Written non-chronologically it was a challenging to follow the sequence of events as they happened. But Boom was able to piece together that Clegane does not remember what happened the night of the ASFC championship or a period of 2 weeks following it. Only shreds of memories remain. He first recalls coming-to on the floor of a motel room in Carson City Nevada, covered in blood. Without answering whose blood or where he went immediately afterwards the journal moved on to Clegane hitchhiking deep into the Rocky Mountains.
As the strange story twisted and jumbled and almost seemed to contradict itself JD Boom did not really know what to believe. At some point Clegane ended up with a group of rock climbers scaling Petit Grepon and Lone Eagle peak in the Rocky Mountains. Tagging along with them they soon left the country and Clegane found himself scaling peaks in the Himalayan mountains near Tibet. That explains most of the items in Clegane's bag, except for the robes.
The story took another turn as Boom read on. The journal then revealed how an avalanche on Xixiabangma peak took out the entire climbing party, leaving Clegane stranded in the mountains. But then he was made his way out and stumbled upon a buddhist monastary high in the Himalayan mountains? Boom shook his head not knowing if this was just a bad story or if something this unbelievable could actually be true. Most of the journal still remained. Flipping through it seemed that most of what Gregor had written in it was covering his time at the monastary, with bits written in another language, probably Tibetan, laced in.
Having spent enough time flipping through, and ending up with more questions than he started with JD Boom quickly shoved everything back into the duffel bag in Clegane's locker. He would later on discuss with his teammates what he found. Most of them shook their heads in silent disbelief, or laughed at the idea of a 350lb Gregor Clegane doing yoga in mustard yellow robes on top of a mountain with a bunch of 5 foot tall 100lb old guys.
After finishing his workout Clegane returned to his locker, grabbed his bag, and left the Orange Country training facility. Every eye followed him on the way out of the door. Whispers rose through the locker room as everyone wondered if he was still going to remain on the team. Shortly afterward General Manager Molarpistols called the team into the locker room and said, very briefly: "I know you all have a lot of questions. Gregor Clegane is a part of this team and will be for the foreseeable future. That is all I have for you right now."
At 4am this morning, Gregor Clegane was spotted walking back into the Orange County Training facility, and into the weight room. He left 3 hours later and hasn't been seen since.
GRADED
[img src=\"http://i.imgur.com/lVbzvTH.png\" height=\"200px\" width=\"400px\" /]