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Word Count – 3004Through this entire first season, quarterbacks have been arguably the least talked about position of any. Tight ends have received their own weekly articles, the freaks of nature articles are usually based around the many other positions, and running backs and offensive lineman have a plethora of statistical articles centered on them. Somehow in this mess of words and numbers, quarterbacks have been left out to dry in terms of media despite being one of the most valuable pieces on every football team.
In fact, as far as I can recall the only quarterback centered articles published have been about the now long forgotten battle of the best in Orange County and most recently the freaks of nature article about gunslinger armed QB’s. One of the least talked about positions in the league, quarterbacks should be getting a little more recognition for the incredible importance of their job.
Welcome to the Quarterback Corner with Carson Shmyr. Here, we will be looking at a each of the quarterbacks, separated into three segments until we have covered each of the NSFL team’s starters. This piece will continue into S2 until we’ve talked about all eight teams and the ability they have at the position which commands the offense on the field. The three segments will be; King’s Court (single player highlight), Battle Royale (five player highlight), and Next in Line (two player highlight). This week we will be uncreative and will be taking an in depths look at the current king of the quarterbacks, Logan Noble. With a name like Noble, he was destined to take the world by storm, and so far has not disappointed. Now, without further ado, let’s investigate the life and times of the NSFL’s top starting quarterback.
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The Early Years
It was a cold and snowy day the first time the media met with Logan Noble. It was the NWFL (North-West Football League) bantam championship between the Seattle Knights and the Everett Storm, and Seattle’s young first string quarterback was talk of the town. Logan Noble had led his District 7 Knights to a city championship in an astounding Cinderella story that was all the topics of conversation for youth football enthusiasts and pro football scouts nationally. The Knights were a low skill team from the lower east side of Seattle, an area mostly known for its gang violence and crime rate. Noble was the first white player to play for the team in over a decade since the area had fallen into disarray, and this had been a topic of discussion for many media outlets.
It’s odd to think that even in this day and age there is still people who split by race and that find the need to force their opinions onto the minds of our easily manipulated youth. Noble had been featured on a local news network via a telephone call where he talked about playing for the Knights and gave one of the most straight forward and mature answers by a youth maybe ever heard on television. When asked why he chose the Knights over the nearby District 8 Angels (located in upper east Seattle), he replied to the media in what some people found a hilariously blatant way.
“I live in the area of District 7, if I went and played for another team I’d have to file a bunch of paper work just so I could play for a better football team. Instead, I might as well just try and make this team better if I can. We deserve to win just as much as the next team.”
This quick response shows the character and drive that Noble would carry into his later years of football. His pure sportsmanship is arguably one of his best qualities, and is unrivaled by his fellow quarterbacks (a position usually filled by the most arrogant of athletes). He displayed this again in his first ever live interview with media with network Seattle KOM at his championship game. The news network asked him about how the team grew and how he grew as an individual to which he had another great reply.
“At the start of the year, we were losing games and didn’t work together as a team. After a five game losing streak to open it up, we kind of just started to click and only lost on game in the entire rest of our season. Myself, I think the main area I’ve progressed is just with my look at the game. Skill wise I’ve stayed on point with myself, but I’ve really become a better team mate.”
This was coming from a fifteen year old kid in his last year of recreational contact football. Noble ended up leading the Knights to a 31-10 victory, making three passing touchdowns and running one in himself for a great end to a legendary Cinderella season for a lower east side Seattle team. The NWFL awarded Noble the Playoff MVP trophy following the game, and a week later Noble took home his first two pieces of individual hardware with the League MVP award and the Offensive POTY. Shortly following this Noble was named as the All-State Seattle starting quarterback.
The season wasn’t over for the District 7 Seattle Knights (now representing the state as the Washington Knights), in fact in some ways it was only just beginning. The NWFL is only the start for amateur football teams, and after winning the state and regional championships, the Knights were nationals bound. Coming into the thirty two team tournament, the Knights were given the fourth seed (first in NW), giving them an easy first round matchup against NW Division’s eighth seeded North Dakota Wolfpack.
The Knights walked over the Wolfpack in a commanding 27-3 victory. Noble had a huge impact on this game, throwing two passing touchdowns and handing off another to be directly a part of twenty one points. With two hundred and eighty six passing yards in his first game and a 60.1 completion percentage, Noble was well on his way to setting the national tournament record at multiple quarterback statistics.
The second round saw the Knights playing the NW Division second seed Minnesota Jr. Vikings. The Vikings were undoubtedly one of the top teams in the entire tournament, coming in with the fifth overall seed right behind the Knights. This was a match up that received a massive amount of media attention, especially after the Knights had a conference final upset of the Vikings in the NWFL Post-Season.
The game opened up slow with the first half staying scoreless on both sides. With twenty five seconds left in the first half, Noble threw an interception that nearly turned into a defensive touchdown, but luckily the Knights were able to keep the Vikings scoreless for the last seconds of the first half. Receiving the ball first in the second half, the Knights went on a dominant run down the field to open the half, taking four first downs before they took a field goal from the thirty three yard line to open the scoring. The Vikings made a quick return, scoring a touchdown on the next down off of a thirty three yard catch followed by a twenty seven yard run.
The Knights were down 7-3 heading into the fourth quarter but were far from being done at the national tournament. In one of the top plays of the year football community wide, the Knights offensive line broke down, leaving Noble exposed on the backside. Instead of panicking and tossing the ball away on a fourth and four yards, Noble took matters into his own hands and dashed passed the oncoming Viking’s defensive wave. He tore his way from the thirty five yard line all the way into the Viking’s end zone for a legendary sixty five yard QB rush. This play was featured on the Sportscentre Top 10 the next morning ranked number three in best QB sneaks of all time.
The game wasn’t quite over yet as the Vikings scored managed to grab a field goal with a minute and twelve seconds left in the game. The game was tied 10-10 heading into overtime. In a very non dramatic fashion, the game ended with the Knights kicker scoring a thirty five yard field goal to put an end to the Vikings/Knights feud that had been the talk of the season and push the Knights onto the divisional championship.
The NW Division championship game between the Washington Knights and the fifth seeded Oregon Colts was disappointingly nothing special. The Knights rose to a 17-7 win to take the North Western championship once again, and Noble neared closer to the quarterbacks records after posting 307 passing yards (802 total) and 2 touchdowns (4 total) in only three games. The final two games of the tournament would decide if Noble really could go down in the record books as one of the greatest QB’s of his age.
The Western Final against the Texas Longhorns, the number one overall seeded team, will go down in history as one of the greatest games of youth football ever played. While neither team’s defense played especially good, it allowed for a game of offensive prowess that would push Noble right into viability for the passing yards and touchdown records. The Knights surprised everyone by beating the Longhorns out in a action packed 41-27 win that gave Noble four passing touchdowns and 312 yards for the tournament’s single game passing yards record and leaving him only 234 yards between the all time single tournament record.
After the continuation of the Cinderella story, many expected the empowered Washington Knights to take the victory over the third overall seeded and Eastern champion Florida Gators. But, with all the pressure riding on the Knights to represent the Western United States, the region that hadn’t lost the national championship in thirteen seasons, they collapsed, losing the final game 3-18 in a game very much the opposite of the Longhorns/Knights match up with the defense reigning supreme for the opponent.
The Gators secondary kept Noble from scoring a touchdown, but couldn’t stop him from making the yards necessary to set the passing yards record after he ran away with 248 yards, passing the old record by 14 yards with a total of 1,362 between the five games of the tournament. Would Noble have scored a touchdown this game he would have tied the tournament record, but still posted an impressive eight touchdowns in five games.
Despite losing the championship game, Noble was still awarded the Tournament MVP and would later take home the National MVP and National Offensive POTY. He had established himself as the single best quarterback in the nation at his age, and this was solidified after he was named to the All-American Team as the starting quarterback. It was a dream come true for a fifteen year old boy from lower east side Seattle and he wasn’t planning to let it end any time soon.
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The life of awards and glamour was over for one year for Logan Noble, in the year commonly referred to by amateur football critics as the “dead year” for development. It’s the year between when a player can play competitive tackle football and when they qualify for college, and it usually consists of young stars playing high school ball and getting injuries that set them back for college scouts. For Noble, this was an opportunity to grow and develop as a player, and he took it in stride.
Playing the role of starting varsity quarterback for Southeast High School (SHS) as a sophomore, Noble ran away with the team. He led them to a 12-2 record right out of the gate in his first season on the varsity team as well as a city championship. Along the way he set the rookie passing yards and touchdown record, boasting over 3500 yards and twenty one passing touchdowns with a completion percentage of 63.81% for some of the best stats seen by a high school quarterback in general let alone a rookie.
The Southeast Serpents would represent Washington in the state championship but would take their season ending loss to the Kenwick Kings in a disappointing 6-16 game that had NCAA scouts not looking at Noble despite his incredible statistics last year in the National Bantam Championships. Over the summer this would change and Noble would hit six feet in height and gain tons of muscle mass in the gym, making him an extremely viable option when the NCAA Combine came around. At the end of his first season playing varsity football, Noble was offered a spot on the roster of the Ohio State Buckeyes.
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Ohio State
In what was easily the best move of the year for a NCAA squad, the Ohio State Buckeyes decided to sign on top potential prospect Logan Noble to the team as a fresh faced seventeen year old player. With the loss of their last starting quarterback to graduation, the team was handing Noble the reigns as their new starter despite his inexperience with the college system. Giving the young player this opportunity was one of the best moves the college could have made.
The team managed to have another absolutely great season, and trucked their way straight to the National Championship where they beat the Oregon Ducks in the final game to bring Ohio State a national title. This was Noble’s first national title, and while he was a rather average quarterback for the majority of the season with Ohio State, he still managed to make a big enough impact to catch the eye of professional scouts for multiple leagues across the country. Maybe the most notable of these was Carson Shmyr, general manager and head scout for the Denver Grizzlies of the newly created National Simulation Football League (NSFL). Here’s where the story continues.
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National Simulation Football League
The phone call between Carson Shmyr and Logan Noble was made early in the morning on a Saturday night. Prior to the call, Noble had heard mention of the league being created, and had even mentioned to the league’s other general managers that he had an interest in playing for their teams. But when Shmyr called him, it was a dream come true once again for the little boy from lower east side Seattle.
The call was rather unexpected and went something like this;
Quote:Carson Shmyr: Hey Logan, its Carson Shmyr. You remember me from the collegiate awards banquet a couple weeks back, yes? Anyways, I’m contacting you about the prospect of joining the Grizzlies as one of the managerial players. We were told by the league ownership that we could bring two players onto contract without bringing them through the inaugural draft gauntlet. You’d be joining our star linebacker, Wyatt Fulton, and would be part of the development squad. I know it seems rushed, especially since the draft is next week, but it’s a decision that has to be made quick so I thought I should call you to get it sorted out.
Logan Noble: I’m sorry, I’d be joining the team immediately? What about signing contracts, bonuses, clauses, and stuff like that. I’ve been receiving interest from other teams in the league and from places like the NFL, but this is definitely something I want to look more into.
C. Shmyr: As of right now, we aren’t sure of contract details, the league hasn’t announced that information yet. The decision as to our managerial players needs to be finished by tomorrow, so sorry if you feel rushed into this but I need a decision tonight at the latest. We weren’t given much notice. Obviously you’d be the starting quarterback, and we wouldn’t be selecting any competition for that role in this draft pool because you’re by far a strong enough prospect as it is.
L. Noble: A guaranteed roster spot is definitely a draw in, let me consult with my agent more before I make any solid decision but I think you might have me hooked. One of the big points that I had to debate with other teams was where I’d fall in the quarterback pecking order. Orange County had interest in me but told me they plan to run a four man quarterback rotation, and that’s obviously not very fun sounding (sorry I had to).
C. Shmyr: Of course, our main concern will be making our player’s happy. Thanks for this Logan, keep me informed and let me know shortly what your decision is.
Later that night, Noble gave Shmyr the news of his decision to join the Grizzlies. Less than twenty four hours later, Noble was told the team had been rebranded to the Colorado Yeti, and the adventure had begun.
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The Season So Far
This season, Noble has put up an impressive performance. With 2255 yards, 13 passing touchdowns and a 58.1% completion rate, he’s done exactly what the Yeti expected out of him as their top quarterback. Should he keep up the impressive numbers, he will continue to lead Colorado to win after win. For now, he focuses on the last two games of the season, which decide whether the Yeti go into the playoffs ranked first or second in the NSFC.
The story may have just begun, but there is many more tales to tell about what happens next. There’s one thing for certain though. That cold boy, shivering on a bench after his team won the city championship so long ago, his dreams have only begun to be realized. The world is his oyster. I have absolutely no motivation to write because my family is making a huge ass racket right now and I cannot focus, but I have to hit three thousand words so I do not feel like a failure and so I can finally get myself out of the financial crisis I have placed myself in by consistently paying for weekly training I cannot afford because I am an idiot.
Amen.
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Let's show the Wraiths they're in our town now!
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