Prior to the season 22 Developmental Simulation Football League draft, Petrongolo played college football as a tight end for the Vanderbilt University Commodores. While in Nashville, he helped his team to four excellent seasons as well as helping his team to an SEC championship appearance vs the Alabama Crimson Tide, which they would end up losing despite a valiant effort by the TE, who caught 7 passes for 105 yards and one touchdown.
In the prospect bowl leading up to the 2037 Developmental Simulation Football League draft, Petrongolo played for the Carolina Bridges. In the first game of the prospect bowl, vs the Atlanta Ice, Joseph had 5 receptions for 40 yards in their 13-10 win. He also won a bet on this game that he had with Tychondrius Hood, a wide receiver on the Ice, where the winner was whoever's team won. He received 500 thousand dollars for this, his first big pay day. In the Bridges' second game of the prospect bowl, vs the Tampa Bay Goats, he caught the ball 4 times for 32 yards in the Bridges' 14-0 victory.
Late in his senior year of college, Petrongolo elected to declare for the 2037 DSFL draft rather than the NFL's 2037 draft, siting a more competitive atmosphere and greater opportunities to be on the playing field. Joseph watched the DSFL draft from his home in Atlantic City, New Jersey with his mother and siblings. There he saw many other, less promising prospects go before him, including more than one at his own position, tight end. During these nervous moments, he joked "Bex (the commissioner of the league) is def gonna call me a steal no cap". After much waiting, in the 5th round, with the 37th overall pick, the Portland Pythons selected Petrongolo to be their newest rookie. With a celebratory yell, Joseph Petrongolo got on the phone and booked tickets for his entire family to fly to Portland International Airport and get used to their new life on the west coast.
The preseason on the DSFL came with some challenges. The team had a .500 win percentage, 2 wins and 2 losses, which was not bad, but Joseph Petrongolo failed to record a single catch in the whole stretch. It was at some point between the final preseason game and the first game of the regular season that Petrongolo was approached by a member of the coaching staff of the Portland Pythons and was asked to switch positions to running back. Although Joe found this odd, given that he hadn't recorded a carry since he played in high school, he agreed because he hoped to be able to make a bigger impact on the team than what he had previously, nothing, and thus his career in the DSFL as a running back started then.
Now running back Joseph Petrongolo got off to a very slow start in DSFL weeks one and two, carrying the ball a combined 16 times and having just 9 yards. That's right, 9. He averaged less than 0.6 yards per carry and clearly looked sluggish on the field. Additionally, his team got bashed in their first two games, 34-0 and 34-13 vs the Myrtle Beach Buccaneers and the Minnesota Grey Ducks respectively, putting them at the bottom of the NFC North conference to start the season. People speculated that Joseph was either injured or hadn't done enough training since becoming a running back, or under the influence of drugs or alcohol when he played. Skeptics called him "trash" and "slow". But Petrongolo had never really been one to pay attention to his critics, and he had a small group of supporters as well as his teammates pushing him on to be better, stronger, and most importantly, faster. Petrongolo still looked better as a tight end, catching the ball 3 times for 8 yards, averaging a whopping two and two-thirds yards per reception.
By the time weeks 3 and 4 rolled around in the DSFL, Joseph Petrongolo clearly looked like a stronger, more complete back before walking on the field. The entire team as a whole looked fresh and ready to compete, and they came ready to play, winning both of their games vs the Dallas Birddogs in week three and the London Royals in week four. Petrongolo absolutely popped off in the game against the Royals, running for over 150 yards and nearly setting a team record for rush yards in a game. His performance was capped off by a stunning 62 yard rush touchdown. However, due to unknown and unlucky circumstances, the validity of those two weeks was called into question, and eventually the decision was made to re-play weeks three and four, to the dismay of the entire Portland Pythons organization, who were already quite happy with how the weeks turned out, as they had won both games and were now back at .500 on the season.
Despite objections from players and other members of the Pythons organization, weeks 3 and 4 had to be replayed and the snakes had to travel back to Dallas to face the Birddogs in week 3. Portland easily won this game again, with a final score of 20-3 thanks to a great defensive showing. In this game, Petrongolo averaged 4.6 yards per carry on 18 attempts. In the next week's game at home vs the London Royals, Portland had another defense dominating win, finishing the game 27-6. Petrongolo had 20 rushes for 87 yards and one catch for 14 yards, however he failed to run the ball longer than 10 yards on any single carry. In all honesty however, Joseph was just glad his team was able to win both games again, otherwise, there would've been rioting in the streets all across Oregon and the players would've been screaming "rigged" for the entire rest of the season.
Finally getting to weeks 5 and 6, the Pythons traveled to Kansas City to face their division rivals, the Coyotes, in a very important in conference game. Unfortunately, the Portland Pythons were unable to come up with a win, thanks to a fourth-quarter 11 yard touchdown pass from Coyotes quarterback Reginald Covington III to wide receiver Deonte Washington. The heartbreaking game was decided by just one point, with the final score being 10-9. Although his offense struggled to get going and failed to score a single touchdown in the game, Petrongolo ran for another 84 yards, including his (not including the one that was taken back) longest run yet, a 29 yard banger which set his team up to kick a field goal. When week 6 came around, the Pythons welcomed a new opponent to Portland, playing the Norfolk Seawolves for the first time of the season. In yet another close game, decided by just one point yet again, the Pythons lost 21-20 thanks to another 4th quarter touchdown, this time a 3 yard pass from Norfolk QB Suleiman Ramza to wide receiver Griff Oberwald. In this matchup, Joseph Petrongolo managed to crack the 100 yard barrier, running the ball 24 times for 104 yards, however he still hadn't found the end zone and scored for his team, and the season was nearly half way through.
When weeks 7 and 8 rolled around the Pythons were sitting at the bottom of the league with 2 wins and 4 losses, on the outside of the playoffs looking in. Thankfully, the rest of their division wasn't doing much better and Petrongolo and company still had plenty of opportunity to make it to the playoffs. in week 7 the Pythons welcomed the DSFL-leading Tijuana Luchadores north of the border and handed them the L, winning the game as under-snakes 26-21 although Joseph Petrongolo saw a decrease in volume behind fellow running back Kenyel McZeal, he finally found the end zone on a 2 yard run in the middle of the second quarter and additionally caught the ball one time for a gain of to yards. His touchdown in this game was the only time Petrongolo would find the end zone in the first half of his first season in the Developmental Simulation Football League. In week 8 Petrongolo and the Pythons traveled down south to Myrtle Beach to face a strong Buccaneers team who had won the Ultimini last season and were looking to repeat. Portland quickly got down to a 16-3 deficit, and this proved too much to come back from, despite efforts from the entire team. The game ended in another close loss for Portland, with the final score being 16-13. Although Kenyel McZeal saw more ball touches this week, Petrongolo still managed to run the ball for more yards, and was eager to get back to a greater workload and help his team be more competitive in the league.
The Pythons managed to win their week 9 matchup at home vs the conference-leading Minnesota Grey Ducks, with the final score being Portland 21 to Minnesota 16. Running back Joseph Petrongolo managed to break the 100-yard mark once again as well as set a new personal best for yards on a game, 106. However, he was not able to reach the end zone, as his team elected to hand the ball to fellow RB Kenyel McZeal when they got close, and he scored twice in the affair. In his next game with the Pythons, against the Dallas Birddogs for the second time of the season, Joseph Petrongolo scored his second touchdown on the season, coming later in the second quarter on a carry from the 5 yard line. Petrongolo ran for 97 yards total on 22 attempts in the Pythons' loss to Dallas, thanks to a game-winning 53-yard field goal by their kicker, Bobby Boomski. Portland's 1-1 record in these two games was enough to move them up to third place in the NFC North conference, with 4 games yet to be played.
In the Pythons' week 11 matchup vs their rivals, across the pond in London to face the London Royals, Joseph Petrongolo ran the ball 17 times for 127 yards, averaging 7.5 yards per carry thanks to a 50-yard bomb about midway through the second quarter. Despite Petrongolo putting p his best numbers in the DSFL yet, Portland was unable to win the game, and a late touchdown by London put it out of reach, winning the game for them, London 29, Portland 20. In week 12's game, the Pythons welcomed the Kansas City Coyotes for an important matchup which could have major implications on the playoff picture in the North conference. A win would put the Pythons at second in the division, which would be enough to make the playoffs, and a loss would mean dropping back down to last in the league, where a playoff finish would look unlikely. The Coyotes got off to a hot start, scoring very early in the first quarter, but Joseph Petrongolo's best performance, a 156 yard game, kept the offense on the field and allowed them to win the game, 21-16, putting the Pythons in playoff position for the first time of the season. Additionally, Joseph Petrongolo reached 1000 yards on the season, specifically 1002, with two games still remaining on the regular-season schedule.
With a record of 5 wins and 7 losses, the Pythons really needed to get at least one win in order to extend their season. They had a week 13 matchup vs. the Norfolk Seawolves, a team who was 6-6 and hoping for two wins in order to get past the Dallas Birddogs and make their own playoff run. Unfortunately for Joseph Petrongolo and the Pythons, the Seawolves would get lucky, winning the game with the help of a pick-six as the second half expired and a long kick return as the 4th quarter was ending, setting them up for a game-winning field goal. Petrongolo carried the ball 22 times and broke 100 yards again, this time racking up 101 yards. The Pythons' only hope now was a win in week 14 against the DSFL best 9-4 Tijuana Luchadores, in Mexico. If they won that game, playoffs were a possibility. Lose it, and they would have a long flight back to Portland. Joseph Petrongolo opened the game up with a 56-yard rush touchdown on Portland's first offensive play. However, things quickly went downhill from there and the Luchadores pulled ahead 17-7. The Portland Pythons certainly weren't giving up though, and in the beginning of the fourth quarter Petrongolo made it to the house again, this time on a much shorter carry of just one yard, giving him the first multi-score game of his career.
Tijuana proved to be too great a challenge for the Pythons however, and they would lose the game 24-14 and fail to make the playoffs. Petrongolo rushed for 85 yards on just 13 attempts, had one reception for four yards, and found the endzone twice.
Now that his season is over, Joseph Petrongolo is looking forward to the season 23 NSFL draft and to getting an opportunity to show his next team that he is worth a higher spot than wherever they pick him. In the meantime, Joseph will continue to practice and get better so that if he returns to the Pythons he will be ready to help lead them to a playoff appearance and hopefully an Ultimini championship.
Season Stats
Games Played: 14
Rushing Yards: 1188 ...... Receiving Yards: 54
Rushing Attempts: 251 ... Receptions: 11
Yards Per Carry: 4.7 ....... Yards Per Catch: 4.9
Yards Per Game: 84.9 .... Yards Per Game: 3.9
Longest Rush: 56 ........... Longest Reception: 14
Rush Touchdowns: 5 ...... Receiving Touchdowns: 0
Fumbles Lost: 5
In the prospect bowl leading up to the 2037 Developmental Simulation Football League draft, Petrongolo played for the Carolina Bridges. In the first game of the prospect bowl, vs the Atlanta Ice, Joseph had 5 receptions for 40 yards in their 13-10 win. He also won a bet on this game that he had with Tychondrius Hood, a wide receiver on the Ice, where the winner was whoever's team won. He received 500 thousand dollars for this, his first big pay day. In the Bridges' second game of the prospect bowl, vs the Tampa Bay Goats, he caught the ball 4 times for 32 yards in the Bridges' 14-0 victory.
Late in his senior year of college, Petrongolo elected to declare for the 2037 DSFL draft rather than the NFL's 2037 draft, siting a more competitive atmosphere and greater opportunities to be on the playing field. Joseph watched the DSFL draft from his home in Atlantic City, New Jersey with his mother and siblings. There he saw many other, less promising prospects go before him, including more than one at his own position, tight end. During these nervous moments, he joked "Bex (the commissioner of the league) is def gonna call me a steal no cap". After much waiting, in the 5th round, with the 37th overall pick, the Portland Pythons selected Petrongolo to be their newest rookie. With a celebratory yell, Joseph Petrongolo got on the phone and booked tickets for his entire family to fly to Portland International Airport and get used to their new life on the west coast.
The preseason on the DSFL came with some challenges. The team had a .500 win percentage, 2 wins and 2 losses, which was not bad, but Joseph Petrongolo failed to record a single catch in the whole stretch. It was at some point between the final preseason game and the first game of the regular season that Petrongolo was approached by a member of the coaching staff of the Portland Pythons and was asked to switch positions to running back. Although Joe found this odd, given that he hadn't recorded a carry since he played in high school, he agreed because he hoped to be able to make a bigger impact on the team than what he had previously, nothing, and thus his career in the DSFL as a running back started then.
Now running back Joseph Petrongolo got off to a very slow start in DSFL weeks one and two, carrying the ball a combined 16 times and having just 9 yards. That's right, 9. He averaged less than 0.6 yards per carry and clearly looked sluggish on the field. Additionally, his team got bashed in their first two games, 34-0 and 34-13 vs the Myrtle Beach Buccaneers and the Minnesota Grey Ducks respectively, putting them at the bottom of the NFC North conference to start the season. People speculated that Joseph was either injured or hadn't done enough training since becoming a running back, or under the influence of drugs or alcohol when he played. Skeptics called him "trash" and "slow". But Petrongolo had never really been one to pay attention to his critics, and he had a small group of supporters as well as his teammates pushing him on to be better, stronger, and most importantly, faster. Petrongolo still looked better as a tight end, catching the ball 3 times for 8 yards, averaging a whopping two and two-thirds yards per reception.
By the time weeks 3 and 4 rolled around in the DSFL, Joseph Petrongolo clearly looked like a stronger, more complete back before walking on the field. The entire team as a whole looked fresh and ready to compete, and they came ready to play, winning both of their games vs the Dallas Birddogs in week three and the London Royals in week four. Petrongolo absolutely popped off in the game against the Royals, running for over 150 yards and nearly setting a team record for rush yards in a game. His performance was capped off by a stunning 62 yard rush touchdown. However, due to unknown and unlucky circumstances, the validity of those two weeks was called into question, and eventually the decision was made to re-play weeks three and four, to the dismay of the entire Portland Pythons organization, who were already quite happy with how the weeks turned out, as they had won both games and were now back at .500 on the season.
Despite objections from players and other members of the Pythons organization, weeks 3 and 4 had to be replayed and the snakes had to travel back to Dallas to face the Birddogs in week 3. Portland easily won this game again, with a final score of 20-3 thanks to a great defensive showing. In this game, Petrongolo averaged 4.6 yards per carry on 18 attempts. In the next week's game at home vs the London Royals, Portland had another defense dominating win, finishing the game 27-6. Petrongolo had 20 rushes for 87 yards and one catch for 14 yards, however he failed to run the ball longer than 10 yards on any single carry. In all honesty however, Joseph was just glad his team was able to win both games again, otherwise, there would've been rioting in the streets all across Oregon and the players would've been screaming "rigged" for the entire rest of the season.
Finally getting to weeks 5 and 6, the Pythons traveled to Kansas City to face their division rivals, the Coyotes, in a very important in conference game. Unfortunately, the Portland Pythons were unable to come up with a win, thanks to a fourth-quarter 11 yard touchdown pass from Coyotes quarterback Reginald Covington III to wide receiver Deonte Washington. The heartbreaking game was decided by just one point, with the final score being 10-9. Although his offense struggled to get going and failed to score a single touchdown in the game, Petrongolo ran for another 84 yards, including his (not including the one that was taken back) longest run yet, a 29 yard banger which set his team up to kick a field goal. When week 6 came around, the Pythons welcomed a new opponent to Portland, playing the Norfolk Seawolves for the first time of the season. In yet another close game, decided by just one point yet again, the Pythons lost 21-20 thanks to another 4th quarter touchdown, this time a 3 yard pass from Norfolk QB Suleiman Ramza to wide receiver Griff Oberwald. In this matchup, Joseph Petrongolo managed to crack the 100 yard barrier, running the ball 24 times for 104 yards, however he still hadn't found the end zone and scored for his team, and the season was nearly half way through.
When weeks 7 and 8 rolled around the Pythons were sitting at the bottom of the league with 2 wins and 4 losses, on the outside of the playoffs looking in. Thankfully, the rest of their division wasn't doing much better and Petrongolo and company still had plenty of opportunity to make it to the playoffs. in week 7 the Pythons welcomed the DSFL-leading Tijuana Luchadores north of the border and handed them the L, winning the game as under-snakes 26-21 although Joseph Petrongolo saw a decrease in volume behind fellow running back Kenyel McZeal, he finally found the end zone on a 2 yard run in the middle of the second quarter and additionally caught the ball one time for a gain of to yards. His touchdown in this game was the only time Petrongolo would find the end zone in the first half of his first season in the Developmental Simulation Football League. In week 8 Petrongolo and the Pythons traveled down south to Myrtle Beach to face a strong Buccaneers team who had won the Ultimini last season and were looking to repeat. Portland quickly got down to a 16-3 deficit, and this proved too much to come back from, despite efforts from the entire team. The game ended in another close loss for Portland, with the final score being 16-13. Although Kenyel McZeal saw more ball touches this week, Petrongolo still managed to run the ball for more yards, and was eager to get back to a greater workload and help his team be more competitive in the league.
The Pythons managed to win their week 9 matchup at home vs the conference-leading Minnesota Grey Ducks, with the final score being Portland 21 to Minnesota 16. Running back Joseph Petrongolo managed to break the 100-yard mark once again as well as set a new personal best for yards on a game, 106. However, he was not able to reach the end zone, as his team elected to hand the ball to fellow RB Kenyel McZeal when they got close, and he scored twice in the affair. In his next game with the Pythons, against the Dallas Birddogs for the second time of the season, Joseph Petrongolo scored his second touchdown on the season, coming later in the second quarter on a carry from the 5 yard line. Petrongolo ran for 97 yards total on 22 attempts in the Pythons' loss to Dallas, thanks to a game-winning 53-yard field goal by their kicker, Bobby Boomski. Portland's 1-1 record in these two games was enough to move them up to third place in the NFC North conference, with 4 games yet to be played.
In the Pythons' week 11 matchup vs their rivals, across the pond in London to face the London Royals, Joseph Petrongolo ran the ball 17 times for 127 yards, averaging 7.5 yards per carry thanks to a 50-yard bomb about midway through the second quarter. Despite Petrongolo putting p his best numbers in the DSFL yet, Portland was unable to win the game, and a late touchdown by London put it out of reach, winning the game for them, London 29, Portland 20. In week 12's game, the Pythons welcomed the Kansas City Coyotes for an important matchup which could have major implications on the playoff picture in the North conference. A win would put the Pythons at second in the division, which would be enough to make the playoffs, and a loss would mean dropping back down to last in the league, where a playoff finish would look unlikely. The Coyotes got off to a hot start, scoring very early in the first quarter, but Joseph Petrongolo's best performance, a 156 yard game, kept the offense on the field and allowed them to win the game, 21-16, putting the Pythons in playoff position for the first time of the season. Additionally, Joseph Petrongolo reached 1000 yards on the season, specifically 1002, with two games still remaining on the regular-season schedule.
With a record of 5 wins and 7 losses, the Pythons really needed to get at least one win in order to extend their season. They had a week 13 matchup vs. the Norfolk Seawolves, a team who was 6-6 and hoping for two wins in order to get past the Dallas Birddogs and make their own playoff run. Unfortunately for Joseph Petrongolo and the Pythons, the Seawolves would get lucky, winning the game with the help of a pick-six as the second half expired and a long kick return as the 4th quarter was ending, setting them up for a game-winning field goal. Petrongolo carried the ball 22 times and broke 100 yards again, this time racking up 101 yards. The Pythons' only hope now was a win in week 14 against the DSFL best 9-4 Tijuana Luchadores, in Mexico. If they won that game, playoffs were a possibility. Lose it, and they would have a long flight back to Portland. Joseph Petrongolo opened the game up with a 56-yard rush touchdown on Portland's first offensive play. However, things quickly went downhill from there and the Luchadores pulled ahead 17-7. The Portland Pythons certainly weren't giving up though, and in the beginning of the fourth quarter Petrongolo made it to the house again, this time on a much shorter carry of just one yard, giving him the first multi-score game of his career.
Tijuana proved to be too great a challenge for the Pythons however, and they would lose the game 24-14 and fail to make the playoffs. Petrongolo rushed for 85 yards on just 13 attempts, had one reception for four yards, and found the endzone twice.
Now that his season is over, Joseph Petrongolo is looking forward to the season 23 NSFL draft and to getting an opportunity to show his next team that he is worth a higher spot than wherever they pick him. In the meantime, Joseph will continue to practice and get better so that if he returns to the Pythons he will be ready to help lead them to a playoff appearance and hopefully an Ultimini championship.
Season Stats
Games Played: 14
Rushing Yards: 1188 ...... Receiving Yards: 54
Rushing Attempts: 251 ... Receptions: 11
Yards Per Carry: 4.7 ....... Yards Per Catch: 4.9
Yards Per Game: 84.9 .... Yards Per Game: 3.9
Longest Rush: 56 ........... Longest Reception: 14
Rush Touchdowns: 5 ...... Receiving Touchdowns: 0
Fumbles Lost: 5
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