Freaks of Nature: Strongest Player in the League.

[Ltsmashie]

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Freaks of Nature: Strongest Player in the League

Man's obsession with strength is not a modern one. For all of eternity the pinnacle of masculinity has been set out by what the heaviest amount of weight a man could move under his own power.

In long since extinct civilisations, writers and story tellers held a loft men known for their sizable strength as heroes, as ones to be admired and emulated.
In Greece, there was Herecles, in the Bible you had Samson and Goliath.

In days of yore there was competitions where strong men the world over would travel to compete and show off their immense physiques, in Scotland you had the highland games, in Ancient Greece, the Olympics.
In more modern times it is weightlifting, powerlifting and "World's strongest man" competitions, and of course the realm of professional American Football, where once again the largest and strongest are held up as pinnacles of masculinity.

Our researchers at the NSFLN, in conjunction with the American Institute for Strength have worked tirelessly to mine, compile and present the following data to you. By calculating maximum strength achievable by a male (MSAM), we have produced a scale out of 100 to show strength.

This is the definitive guide, to the strongest men in the NSFL!
Editors note: Data was compiled from player update pages at 9.30am GMT 23.6.17







Number 5 (jointly held): Franklin Harris - Defensive Tackle - Baltimore Hawks
Strength=76/100

Holding joint fifth spot in our ranking is Baltimore Hawks defensive tackle Franklin Harris.
The 17th overal pickl in the inaugural NSFL draft, Franklin Harris clearly impressed with his college tape, the Hawks saw a hard working physical speciman who could help stop opponents run games as well as put pressure on the opposition QB.

Harris has had a solid start to life in the NSFL, racking up 22 tackles and 3 sacks in his first six games as a Hawk.








Number 5 (jointly held): Jayce Tuck - Defensive End - Arizona Outlaws
Strength=76/100


Joining Harris in joint fifth place is the 18th pick overall in the draft, Outlaws defensive end, Jayce Tuck.
The Outlaws looked past what some people termed as "a questionable motor" when picking up Harris. A man noted for his not only his great strength but enormous speed, he has bags of ability and when he wants to can be a true game changer. His size/speed combination means that he is one of the leagues best at getting into the backfield.

Harris has performed excellently in his first six games as an outlaw, clocking up 21 tackles including 7 tackles for loss (joint 2nd in the league) and seven sacks (joint 2nd in the league.)
He also contributed one tackle for a safety.






Number 4: Stephen Harrison - Linebacker - Baltimore Hawks
Strength=76.2/100


Pipping both Tuck and Hawks teammate Harris into fourth place is Linebacker Stephen Harrison out of Nevada.
Number 54 is power rusher, who combines his great strength with decent speed and high level tackling technique.

Harrison has been outshone in the tackling steaks by follow Baltimore Linebacker Hendrix (71 tackles to Harrison's 31), but with three sacks, two interceptions, one of which was returned for touchdown, Harrison is still putting his considerable strength to work and showing some decent results for his team.

Harrison was particularly prevalent in the Hawks Primetime game versus the Sabercats in Week 5, Number 54 amassed six tackles and one interception which was returned to the house, and was consequently awarded the Defensive Player of The Game.










Image of Dental Dam unavailable


Number 2 (jointly held): Dental Dam - Defensive End - Arizona Outlaws
Strength=80/100

6ft 5 and 290lbs, Dental Dam has been blessed with the combination of size and athleticism that had scouts drooling.
Scoring a massive 80 out of 100 strength rating, Mr Dam also has shown some good tackling and speed to go along with his colossal strength.
Despite beating out his teammate Jayce Tuck in this listing, it is Tuck who has been outshining Dam on the playing field.
After six games Dam has clocked up 14 tackles, with one tackle for a loss and two sacks.
Not terrible numbers by any stretch of the imagination, but coming from a man with such colossal strength, I'd imagine that the outlaws and their fans might be asking for more.







Number 2 (jointly held): Luke Tiernan - Power Running Back - Colorado Yeti
Strength=80/100

The man dubbed the "Lieutenant Smash" for his violent running style, often looking to run through or over defenses rather than around them, holds the joint second spot in our listing.
The Irishman was selected at the end of the third round, and was the second running back off the board when the Colorado Yeti picked him up.
The former underage Irish rugby union international and Nortre Dame alum has not had it all his own way since joining up with the Colorado Yeti, with rumours earlier in the season that he was unhappy with his limited game time.
Things seem to have settled down nicely for him, as he forms a three way running attack for the 5-1 Colorado Yeti Kieran O'Connell and Boss Tweed.

It's no surprise that we haven't seen Tiernan clocking up many large yardage run's this season, but that said he he has clocked up decent average yardage. After 6 games and 48 carries he averages 4.10 yards per carry, this sits him as the sixth best running back in the league if we are purely looking at yards per carry as the metric.
Tiernan also has two touchdowns to his name, one for rushing and one for receiving.


And now, the strongest man in all of the National Football Simulation League is......
































Number 1: Angus Winchester - Offensive Lineman - Orange County Otters
Strength=81/100

Not too many surprises with this one, a native of Manchester, Tennessee, the 6ft5 Offensive Lineman, is an absolute monster.

Some say it's farm strength, others say it's genetics, but what is clear is that Winchester is putting his strength to good use.
Destined for the pro bowl (if there is one), as he has hands down the most dominant offensive lineman in the class. After six games he has racked up an absolutely astounding 27 pancake blocks, while protecting his quarterback on every single play. That's right zero, count them, zero sacks allowed.

Absolutely phenomenal stats for the leagues strongest man.


Our man Matt Smith was lucky enough to catch up with Winchester earlier this week:


Matt Smith and Angus Winchester at the Orange County Otters training facility.

The moment you see Angus Winchester you instantly realise that he is a man not like most others. Visably, he is six feet and six inch's of pure strength, when he moves his 330lb frame, you swear you can feel the ground move beneath you - hyperbolic perhaps, but I certainly felt it when he greeted me with his warm imperfect smile and his bone crushing handshake.

When I first got in touch with Winchester's agent with a view to interviewing him, I had great plans and ideations of the Manchester Giant showing me around his new digs, his favourite places to eat and socialise in Orange County. I wanted to talk to him about how great he was feeling to be out of small town, rustbelt America and into the idyllic setting of Santa Ana, California.

Straight off the bat his agent shot me down, I was told that Winchester didn't feel comfortable and had barely explored Santa Ana, it's roughly 330k population feeling like a metropolis a world away from small town Manchester. Tennessee (population 10,000)
It seems that these days Winchester spends his time in two places, at the training facility in Santa Ana, or in his small, nondescript apartment, situated in a small complex just across the road from the training facility.

so instead of my great plan, I met Winchester where he is most comfortable, situated under an olympic barbell, getting ready to squat a weight the equivalent of four grown men... and this was just to warm up...

Interviewer: Angus, thank you so much for agreeing to meet me. Tell me how does it feel to be listed as "the strongest man in the NSFL"

Angus: Thanks man, it feel's good, but to be honest I'm a bit surprised that i'm only the strongest by such a small margin, I expected a bigger difference.
I mean are you telling me that a running back is the second strongest man in the league? Stronger than any other defensive lineman and every other offensive lineman? I mean that's great for him, but why the hell is he a running back?
Also Zero guards on the list? Zero guards! How can you run the ball without having a couple of grizzly bears in at guard?

It was clear that Winchester realised his whole strength, and while he said the previously mentioned with a smile on his face, it was apparent that he was a little peeved at being so close.

Interviewer: Well Tiernan is only joint second, with a defensive end, but let's focus on you. - Angus Winchester. Tell me about a day in the life of the strongest man in the league.

Angus: Right now, midseason, I tend to wake up around 6am. I am currently eating about 10,000 calories a day. The day after a game, I eat about 12,000. Breakfast is usually something around 10 eggs and my custom breakfast smoothie. It is a gut wrenching combination of whole milk, whey protein powder, strawberries, banana, almond butter, creatine, collard greens, cannellini beans, avocado....it tastes nasty. Lunch and snacks I usually grab whatever they're serving in the lunchroom at the facility. Dinner I eat what the fiance is cooking, lots of it.

My first weight training session of the day usually comes shortly after arriving to the team facility. I like to make sure I can put 100% of my effort into the heavy weight sets (squats, deadlifts, bench, etc) so I do that first. I will then go onto the field for practice and drills. After that is done we get a little bit of film study in, eat some food, and I try to get back into the weight room one more time for some lighter explosive movements (snatches, cleans, etc)


Matter of fact, I got the feeling that this wasn't going to be the most exciting interview of my career.


Interviewer: And your massive strength Angus, what is it that has you the strongest man in the league?


Angus: Genetics plays a role. Everyone in this league has the right genetics. Winchester men have always been big and strong, my grandfather tells me. But we've also always been heavy lifters. I started lifting weights with my grandpa at age 13. When you start training hard an eating a lot that young you really get a head start on the other players. Some of these guys didn't start lifting heavy until college. So while they've been working on absolute strength for 3 or 4 years I've been doing it for almost 10 years.

I also think it's about how I train. I was lucky to have my grandpa give me good coaching my whole life. I don't think a lot of guys had great strength coaches, even in college. If your workout involves you doing 95lb overhead one-legged pistol squats standing on a bosu ball instead of squatting 700 or more pounds for reps, you're training to be a yoga teacher, not an offensive lineman.



In between the first of Winchester's so called "heavy" squat sets - where he was effectively squatting the size of a small car, the Orange County Otters' interim Strength & Conditioning coach, a tall and muscular man, sporting a blond handlebar mustache, and wearing shorts that were just that little bit too short for his lengthy legs, walked in.
He took a look at Winchester, looked at the olympic barbell, overloaded with weight plates, calculating the weight as he went. He quickly scanned the rest of the empty room, populated only by power racks, Winchester, and myself; gave a polite nod to Winchester and turned right around and left.

While such an encounter would seem strange in any other training facility in the league, this is not the case in Orange County, where former Strength and conditioning coach, Kent Liftum, left his previous role following an incident in the training room which left him requiring hospitalization.


Reports at the time stated that the incident started when Liftum allegedly tried to tell the Otters offensive linemen that they were focusing too much on squats and deadlifts, and that they should work on their "functional strength". It is unknown who threw the first plate, some believe the past violence of Boyd or Clegane indicates they are the most likely suspects. Others claiming they saw Hamilton or Winchester escalate the situation.
An anonymous source, widely believed to be star running back Omar Wright, said at the time "I don't hang around out when the [offensive] line is in the weight room. They have an intensity that scares the crap out of me."



Interviewer: I have to ask you, what happened on that faithful day that saw the Otters previous Strength & conditioning coach hospitalised?


Angus:
I'm not really sure what happened. I was in the weight room working squats on the rack near the wall, so my back was to the room. I don't wear headphones when I work out so while I can hear what's happening, when you are in the middle of a squat set on heavy day you can hardly even count your own reps, much less comprehend what is going on around you.

Greg and Cliff were on either side of me spotting the bar, and Marcus was behind me spotting my depth. I had chains on the bar so it was clanging around a lot. I guess Liftum walked in right as I started and I heard his voice, but I don't really know what he said, one of the other guys said something back.

Then as I finished my set of 5 I racked the bar, but the sound was different. I heard metal crashing behind me. I turn around and there's a knocked over plate rack, plates on the floor, and Liftum is on the ground with Greg Clegane) Cliff Hamilton, and Marcus Boyd standing there, everybody is yelling, other players, staff members it was pretty chaotic.

That's all I really know, I didn't really see anything before that, I only heard it and saw the aftermath..


Winchester spoke as if reciting lines for a play, or rather, as if a bad actor was reciting lines for a play.

Interviewer: Really, so you saw nothing?


Angus: Yes, as I said, I get lost in the weights.


But who am I to question the truthfulness of the strongest man in the NSFL, a man who could break me like a twig!

Truth be told I don't blame S&C coach for being afraid, I was petrified of the man before me.

So I cut it short.

Interviewer: Well I guess that wraps it up from me Angus, thanks and congrats again?


Angus: No problem man, I love talking to you guys.


While I think he wanted to love talking to the press, I just can't see it as the truth. What is true though is that Winchester is one seriously impressive dude, the strongest man int he league, but more than that, he's putting it to use and absolutely dominating. [/div]

[timeconsumer]

I guess now I can expect to be asked for a urine sample twice a day.