Player’s Tribune – Slinky Claxton: From Draft to Virus
Slinky here, hope everyone is holding up well and staying healthy. With the recent Virus outbreak and craziness hitting midseason, I wanted to put my thoughts together on paper for the fans. This write up will be covering my experiences so far in the league. From pre-draft until now, midway through my first season.
Pre-Draft: As a new player I really wasn’t sure what to expect, nor do with myself. After graduating WMU and declaring for the DSFL draft, I began training. Between all the training, tweeting, and trying to work out some brand imaging, GMs started to take notice. I was not sure when or where I would be drafted but knew that I had established myself as a viable prospect. After talking with a few GMs, I realized that this league is for me. A good place to work on my skills and bond with whichever team I shall be chosen to.
Prospect Bowl: This may have been the most underrated part of the journey to coming into the DSFL. My team, the Baltimore Muleriders were unfortunately bounced in the first round. However, our defense gelled together extremely well. We actually didn’t even allow a touchdown in the two games that we played. Only gave up one field goal the entire two games. Personally, I had a pretty solid performance as well. 6 Tackles, with 2 for a loss and 2 sacks (but who’s counting?). Anyway, the prospect bowl was a great chance to feel out the pace of play and get to know some guys in the league.
Draft Day: Finally the time had arrived, it was draft day. As players began to be picked and rounds seemingly flying by, I grew anxious. Would I be picked in the top 100? Did all of the pre-season effort go unnoticed? Then it happened. “With the 43rd pick in the S22 Prospect draft, The Portland Pythons select Slinky Claxton, Defensive End, Western Michigan University”. I was elated. The idea of moving to the West Coast was a little stressful on the family, but what a great opportunity. Also seeing Portland’s focus on defense made this a clear winner for me. To be chosen to head to the Pythons and be a part of this defensive unit really was a dream come true. With the draft commencing, I started packing my bags and would head out to Portland.
Portland and Pre-Season: Upon moving to Portland and settling in, I had no real prior knowledge of what to expect. The only things I knew about Portland were that they had a lot of Strip Clubs, they liked being weird, and they like their microbreweries. Let me tell you, that was more than enough to sell me on the place. I did not know how friendly all of the Portland fans would be. On multiple occasions fans have hooked me up with drinks, food, and just general kindness. It has truly been overwhelming so thank you all for welcoming me into your city. I am sure there are other cities in the DSFL that would not be nearly as embracing (I won’t name names).
Weeks 1-4: To start off the season with our first two games on the road, we knew would be a tough task. We would lose both games but the key in those games were to not let it get to our head. Coach kept us in check and the road games really helped us to bond. The only thing on my mind after those couple weeks was returning to Portland for two straight home games. We knew the next couple games being at home would be huge for us. The moment we stepped onto the home field in week 3 was one I will never forget. Excitement and a loud roar of cheers from the moment we left the tunnel until the end of the game. We would win this game and our next to bring our record back to an even 2-2. Finally it seemed we were settling in as a team and figuring out everyone’s role here.
Weeks 5-10: These weeks of the season tend to be the most grueling. Guys get hurt, bodies are sore, but you play on. The thing that we couldn’t count on, nor comprehend, was the Coronavirus taking the forefront. With all of the other Major Sports Leagues closing their doors, the NSFL would make the decision to press on. This adding a tremendous amount of pressure on to our teams. Oddly enough, they did decide that our fans could no longer attend the games making homefield advantage nothing more than sleeping in your own bed. Our record through the end of the 10 weeks would end up being 5-5. Seemingly, trading off close games week after week.
The Future: With the uncertainty when the Virus will come to a close, we are not sure when the fans will be able to come back. Perhaps writing this is filling the void that they have left in the Stadium for me. Moving forward, all we can do is keep on grinding and hope we can put together a playoff run. With only 5 weeks left in the Regular season, everyone on the squad as been making sure to put everything into every rep. Whether it be on the field or in practice, leaving it all out there. We have a lot of fight left in us and we hope that the fans can at least find joy in cheering us on from home. We want that Ultimini pretty bad and will not take no for an answer. Not too look too far ahead, another recent development has been dealing with the scouting through all of this. With the NSFL draft also quickly approaching, it was been crazy having skype calls and email interviews with the teams. Much prefer the face to face interactions from before. Regardless, wherever I should end up, I will be ready to take the field and embrace whichever new city I will be living in.
Signing off, thanks again to all the fans for keeping with us in these crazy times. Hope you all stay safe and enjoy a little look inside the season so far.
Cheers,
Slinky Claxton
Slinky here, hope everyone is holding up well and staying healthy. With the recent Virus outbreak and craziness hitting midseason, I wanted to put my thoughts together on paper for the fans. This write up will be covering my experiences so far in the league. From pre-draft until now, midway through my first season.
Pre-Draft: As a new player I really wasn’t sure what to expect, nor do with myself. After graduating WMU and declaring for the DSFL draft, I began training. Between all the training, tweeting, and trying to work out some brand imaging, GMs started to take notice. I was not sure when or where I would be drafted but knew that I had established myself as a viable prospect. After talking with a few GMs, I realized that this league is for me. A good place to work on my skills and bond with whichever team I shall be chosen to.
Prospect Bowl: This may have been the most underrated part of the journey to coming into the DSFL. My team, the Baltimore Muleriders were unfortunately bounced in the first round. However, our defense gelled together extremely well. We actually didn’t even allow a touchdown in the two games that we played. Only gave up one field goal the entire two games. Personally, I had a pretty solid performance as well. 6 Tackles, with 2 for a loss and 2 sacks (but who’s counting?). Anyway, the prospect bowl was a great chance to feel out the pace of play and get to know some guys in the league.
Draft Day: Finally the time had arrived, it was draft day. As players began to be picked and rounds seemingly flying by, I grew anxious. Would I be picked in the top 100? Did all of the pre-season effort go unnoticed? Then it happened. “With the 43rd pick in the S22 Prospect draft, The Portland Pythons select Slinky Claxton, Defensive End, Western Michigan University”. I was elated. The idea of moving to the West Coast was a little stressful on the family, but what a great opportunity. Also seeing Portland’s focus on defense made this a clear winner for me. To be chosen to head to the Pythons and be a part of this defensive unit really was a dream come true. With the draft commencing, I started packing my bags and would head out to Portland.
Portland and Pre-Season: Upon moving to Portland and settling in, I had no real prior knowledge of what to expect. The only things I knew about Portland were that they had a lot of Strip Clubs, they liked being weird, and they like their microbreweries. Let me tell you, that was more than enough to sell me on the place. I did not know how friendly all of the Portland fans would be. On multiple occasions fans have hooked me up with drinks, food, and just general kindness. It has truly been overwhelming so thank you all for welcoming me into your city. I am sure there are other cities in the DSFL that would not be nearly as embracing (I won’t name names).
Weeks 1-4: To start off the season with our first two games on the road, we knew would be a tough task. We would lose both games but the key in those games were to not let it get to our head. Coach kept us in check and the road games really helped us to bond. The only thing on my mind after those couple weeks was returning to Portland for two straight home games. We knew the next couple games being at home would be huge for us. The moment we stepped onto the home field in week 3 was one I will never forget. Excitement and a loud roar of cheers from the moment we left the tunnel until the end of the game. We would win this game and our next to bring our record back to an even 2-2. Finally it seemed we were settling in as a team and figuring out everyone’s role here.
Weeks 5-10: These weeks of the season tend to be the most grueling. Guys get hurt, bodies are sore, but you play on. The thing that we couldn’t count on, nor comprehend, was the Coronavirus taking the forefront. With all of the other Major Sports Leagues closing their doors, the NSFL would make the decision to press on. This adding a tremendous amount of pressure on to our teams. Oddly enough, they did decide that our fans could no longer attend the games making homefield advantage nothing more than sleeping in your own bed. Our record through the end of the 10 weeks would end up being 5-5. Seemingly, trading off close games week after week.
The Future: With the uncertainty when the Virus will come to a close, we are not sure when the fans will be able to come back. Perhaps writing this is filling the void that they have left in the Stadium for me. Moving forward, all we can do is keep on grinding and hope we can put together a playoff run. With only 5 weeks left in the Regular season, everyone on the squad as been making sure to put everything into every rep. Whether it be on the field or in practice, leaving it all out there. We have a lot of fight left in us and we hope that the fans can at least find joy in cheering us on from home. We want that Ultimini pretty bad and will not take no for an answer. Not too look too far ahead, another recent development has been dealing with the scouting through all of this. With the NSFL draft also quickly approaching, it was been crazy having skype calls and email interviews with the teams. Much prefer the face to face interactions from before. Regardless, wherever I should end up, I will be ready to take the field and embrace whichever new city I will be living in.
Signing off, thanks again to all the fans for keeping with us in these crazy times. Hope you all stay safe and enjoy a little look inside the season so far.
Cheers,
Slinky Claxton