*Morgan Marshall — The Last Presser

[Baron1898]

Ahead of tonight’s Ultimus (and Ultimini) I thought I’d do a presser for the first time in a long time. Ask any questions about Marshall, Yellowknife, San Antonio, Venus Powers, league news, whatever.

Questions from @TeyonSchavari:

1. What lead you to decide it was time to hang up the cleats for Morgan Marshall?
The whole point of a sim league watching tiny circles run into each other with a bunch of strangers is to have fun. To put it simply, I wasn’t having fun. The amount of work that went into building TPE and being easily top 2 in my class (neck and neck with Gump) in that regard simply never translated onto the field the way I’d hoped. I wanted to make the Hall of Fame, and not only was I not on track to do so, I was consistently outperformed by my peers in most non-TD stats. It wasn’t fun anymore — Marshall became a chore. I would’ve hung up the cleats even earlier, but I didn’t want to screw over Yellowknife by retiring at the end of S17 without giving them a shot to prepare for my absence.

2. How does Marshall feel about his career? Does he feel he had a good run in his short time with the Wraiths, or did he desire more?
Well if Marshall was completely satisfied with his career, he’d still be playing. But for what it is, he’s mostly at peace with it. Obviously Marshall’s (and my) biggest motivator has always been postseason success, so in that regard, the disappointment of this Ultimus will sting for quite a while. But he had some good seasons (not as good as they could’ve been), did his best to help his team, and now can retire in peace knowing that he’s still got a potential GM career ahead of him.

3. Will Venus Powers want to go to Yellowknife when she is eventually drafted, or does she have another team in mind?
Venus Powers has allegiance to only one team, and that’s her home town of San Antonio. She’ll be damned if she gets drafted anywhere else in the DSFL. As far as NSFL teams go, it’s all fluid. Yellowknife was Marshall’s team for four good years, I love the culture there, and I’d be perfectly happy to see Powers suit up in the black and silver. But honestly, my home is always San Antonio, the place that first gave me a shot, and Venus would happily play for and fully embrace any NSFL team that is willing to draft her. (Except teams that won’t give her the starting job immediately, because let’s be honest, with the kicking market the way it is, she’s already gonna be better than almost all starters in the league by draft time.)


From @ValorX77:

1. How’d you feel about your swan song season?
It was great, until it wasn’t. We felt like a team of destiny this year, which being me, should’ve set off a whole host of alarm bells given my prior success rate with fantastic teams in the playoffs (cough cough Marshal Law). Team culture was thriving, Cooter was the Comeback King as always, and I had fun racking up the touchdowns and a few game balls even if my yardage wasn’t stellar. I’ve loved my time in Yellowknife, and I think that was helped by knowing that this was indeed my swan song. I could lay it out all on the table. It felt like destiny for us to win. Of course we didn’t, so that kinda sours it retrospectively.

2. If there was one playoff game you could resim, what would it be?
I’m pretty sure you know the answer to this one. C’mon, an Ultimus to cap off a short career off an 11-2 season? My second playoff win ever? Finally capping off the Yellowknife rebuild? Of course the answer is the S18 Ulti-

No. Screw you. Even after all that motivation, I will always pick the S14 DSFL Conference Championship. How could I not? A simply magical season on a super team with four other awesome teammates, going 13-1, forming the Fabulous Five, having our only loss come off a goal line interception on the road? S14 was special, and I will never find room in my heart to forgive Tijuana for how much they ruined it all. We win that game 99 times out of 100, and we probably go on to kick Portland’s ass in the Ultimini as well. It’s a sore wound after all this time, and I doubt it will ever fully heal.


From @IsaStarcrossed:

1. Was there a situation that could have presented itself that would have made Marshall want to continue playing?
Maybe winning a heavily favored home playoff game in S14. Or making the playoffs at all in S15. Or winning a favored home playoff game in S16. Or winning a heavily favored home playoff game in S17. Or being told at the beginning of my career instead of well into it that speed backs were king because the sim said so and all other backs would just have to live with being less competent by default.

Did I mention winning a playoff game?

2. What was the hardest thing about deciding to retire Marshall?
So despite everything I’ve already talked about — the malaise of constantly racking up mediocre stats, getting repeatedly trounced in the playoffs, having to fight for shared snaps with Canton and Wizardry, a general unenjoyment of the whole thing — and the fact that I’d mulled it over since at least the middle of S16, I still wrestled with retiring for months before making up my mind. Part of it was guilt; Yellowknife had spent a second rounder on me, and regardless of any disagreements I had with the way I was used, I respected and still respect the hell out of the team and its leadership. The other half was pride. I was one of the most vocal, active, and high earning members of my class. For a while I was undisputedly the highest earning running back before I slipped a few times and allowed Gump to catch up. I was still bitter that Gump had been chosen above me in the draft. Retiring early would be a message to anyone that ever doubted me that they were right, that I somehow lacked the qualifications to be truly great. It stung like hell for a while, but eventually my happiness had to come before these two things. I don’t doubt that if I had stuck with Marshall much longer, I would’ve left the league entirely, at least for a while.

3. What are your goals for Venus?
To be the greatest kicker of all time. It’s pretty simple. My main competition is Turkleton, Jackson, and Fulture, specifically the former’s field goal completion record. I want to break it. A kicker can do competent with very low TPE in this league, so a max earning kicker can potentially be a starter for every single year of their career, and that’s what I’m aiming for.

4. What is your reaction to this wild, wild free agency that we have going on right now?
I have no idea why there seems to be so many free agents this year in particular — perhaps it’s just lucky timing. In any case, I don’t know why a lot of people are leaving their teams, particularly someone like Bex who is barely into her rookie contract, but I’m sure that they have their reasons for doing so. Sometimes teams just don’t click for people. The Wraith in me hopes that they can continue to maintain excellence through the market. Otherwise, I’m just here to see all the intrigue and drama. Free agent signings are fun.

[TeyonSchavari]

What lead you to decide it was time to hang up the cleats for Morgan Marshall?

How does Marshall feel about his career? Does he feel he had a good run in his short time with the Wraiths, or did he desire more?

Will Venus Powers want to go to Yellowknife when she is eventually drafted, or does she have another team in mind?

[ValorX77]

How’d you feel about your swan song season?
If there was one playoff game you could resim, what would it be?

[IsaStarcrossed]

Was there a situation that could have presented itself that would have made Marshall want to continue playing?

What was the hardest thing about deciding to retire Marshall?

What are your goals for Venus?

What is your reaction to this wild, wild free agency that we have going on right now?