Well, the Prospect Bowl has wrapped up and man I just want to say what an experience it was. Before I dig into my time at the Bowl I think I should congratulate the Brooklyn Atlantics. People were counting you after your first two games but you really bonded as a team, faced that adversity, and became Prospect Bowl Champions.
After practices for the week concluded, we were finally assigned our teams for the actual games of the Prospect Bowl. I was placed on the Amarillo Tumbleweeds with a group of guys I was extremely excited to work with. The first name my eyes landed on was my new quarterback, Bill Brasky. I had not worked much with Brasky during practices but the other receivers were raving about his accuracy and how he fit that ball into tight windows and gave his guys chances to make a play. Next, I looked at my fellow wide receivers and saw one big name, Brandon Kirwin. He has been amazing all week in drills so I knew our receiver tandem was going to be a force. Finally, I saw our offensive line that was going to be anchored by some big boys including Show and Stallworth. With this level of talent, I predicted our team would dominate through the air.
My prediction held true for the first two games of our season. Both games we won by double digits over Brooklyn and at that time we were feeling like kings. I personally was leading the league in both receptions and receiving yards and was on top on the world. I was receiving calls from family and friends telling me they always knew I would succeed and that I was going to be the next big receiver at the DSFL level, and then a star in the ISFL. The rest of my Tumbleweed teammates were hearing the same things from their agents and loved ones. We thought we were going to destroy the Prospect Bowl and there was no way a team as talented as us could lose to anyone here.
Oh boy did we buy into our hype a little bit too much. Our next two games went poorly with our offense only scoring a combined 9 points. I personally had less yards in my last two games than I did in just my first game with the team. As a whole the Tumbleweeds stuttered and dropped our games to both the Tiburon Landsharks and Calgary Cavalry. It was a disappointment but just the wake up call we needed heading into the playoffs for a rematch against Brooklyn. We felt confident that we could right the ship and pick up our third win against the Atlantics.
Our playoff game was the first of the night. Our team came out ready to go with an early punt return touchdown and strong defensive stops. We kept the pressure up with solid offensive play and suffocating defense and took a 20 – 3 lead over the Atlantics. This is where the wheels began to fall off the Tumbleweed wagon. Our offense sputtered causing our defense to have to spend way too much time on the field. This let Brooklyn climb back in the game and eventually take a 23 – 20 lead. Our last-ditch offensive effort was not enough and we could not get into field goal range to try and tie the game. While I put together an ok stat line in the game, I am most disappointed in my inability to finish one of the plays. I allowed myself to be tackled inside the 5-yard line on a big pass play. Had I just fought for those extra yards and got in the endzone our team would have advanced. Given Brooklyn went on to win the whole thing I have no doubt in my mind that could have been the Tumbleweeds.
Overall, this process has taught me that I need to remember to be humble. You can go from top of the world to the bottom very quickly in pro football. I need to do my best to make sure I remember this and not let myself get to big of a head if I do find some success at the next level.
Finally, I just want to give a huge shout out to the coaching staff and GM of the Amarillo Tumbleweeds. You guys put together a great game plan and gave us all the tools to succeed. Having two of the top four receivers in terms of yards during the regular season is a testament to that. Thank you so much for helping boost my draft stock and sorry we couldn’t bring home the trophy. But as you said once a family, always a family, Weeds forever!!!
After practices for the week concluded, we were finally assigned our teams for the actual games of the Prospect Bowl. I was placed on the Amarillo Tumbleweeds with a group of guys I was extremely excited to work with. The first name my eyes landed on was my new quarterback, Bill Brasky. I had not worked much with Brasky during practices but the other receivers were raving about his accuracy and how he fit that ball into tight windows and gave his guys chances to make a play. Next, I looked at my fellow wide receivers and saw one big name, Brandon Kirwin. He has been amazing all week in drills so I knew our receiver tandem was going to be a force. Finally, I saw our offensive line that was going to be anchored by some big boys including Show and Stallworth. With this level of talent, I predicted our team would dominate through the air.
My prediction held true for the first two games of our season. Both games we won by double digits over Brooklyn and at that time we were feeling like kings. I personally was leading the league in both receptions and receiving yards and was on top on the world. I was receiving calls from family and friends telling me they always knew I would succeed and that I was going to be the next big receiver at the DSFL level, and then a star in the ISFL. The rest of my Tumbleweed teammates were hearing the same things from their agents and loved ones. We thought we were going to destroy the Prospect Bowl and there was no way a team as talented as us could lose to anyone here.
Oh boy did we buy into our hype a little bit too much. Our next two games went poorly with our offense only scoring a combined 9 points. I personally had less yards in my last two games than I did in just my first game with the team. As a whole the Tumbleweeds stuttered and dropped our games to both the Tiburon Landsharks and Calgary Cavalry. It was a disappointment but just the wake up call we needed heading into the playoffs for a rematch against Brooklyn. We felt confident that we could right the ship and pick up our third win against the Atlantics.
Our playoff game was the first of the night. Our team came out ready to go with an early punt return touchdown and strong defensive stops. We kept the pressure up with solid offensive play and suffocating defense and took a 20 – 3 lead over the Atlantics. This is where the wheels began to fall off the Tumbleweed wagon. Our offense sputtered causing our defense to have to spend way too much time on the field. This let Brooklyn climb back in the game and eventually take a 23 – 20 lead. Our last-ditch offensive effort was not enough and we could not get into field goal range to try and tie the game. While I put together an ok stat line in the game, I am most disappointed in my inability to finish one of the plays. I allowed myself to be tackled inside the 5-yard line on a big pass play. Had I just fought for those extra yards and got in the endzone our team would have advanced. Given Brooklyn went on to win the whole thing I have no doubt in my mind that could have been the Tumbleweeds.
Overall, this process has taught me that I need to remember to be humble. You can go from top of the world to the bottom very quickly in pro football. I need to do my best to make sure I remember this and not let myself get to big of a head if I do find some success at the next level.
Finally, I just want to give a huge shout out to the coaching staff and GM of the Amarillo Tumbleweeds. You guys put together a great game plan and gave us all the tools to succeed. Having two of the top four receivers in terms of yards during the regular season is a testament to that. Thank you so much for helping boost my draft stock and sorry we couldn’t bring home the trophy. But as you said once a family, always a family, Weeds forever!!!