I don't know how, I don't know why, but somehow, for the entirety of my tenure at Orange County, the San Jose Sabercats have absolutely had our number. Sure we've definitely come up on top a couple of times, but there is something so scary about those Sabercats games when I see them coming up. This definitely dates back to the way that SJS, in week 4 of S22 (my first season in the ISFL), took over the game in our home stadium and gave me my big "welcome to the big leagues" moment. I was fresh off of a decent season in the DSFL and a really nice stretch of wins to open the season, performing well against Honolulu, New Orleans, and Austin. Especially after taking 18 carries for 90 yards and a touchdown on the road in Austin, I was ready to keep building momentum against a team I thought we would run all over. However, despite what I might have thought would have been an easy game on paper, San Jose's defense definitely came to play, especially when it came to shutting down Nakamura. In a brutal 24-17 loss at home, Nakamura ended with a truly terrible 2.7 yards per carry on just 7 rushes. Being so absolutely shut out of the game and helpless to help try and keep the team stay in the game was probably the most accurate introduction to the kind of games that we all experience with this sim and in this league.
In his time with Oregon he was doing great. Not too bad but not one of the best either. But when his final year with Oregon came up, he finally figured out what he wanted to be. He wanted to be a football legend. After the old WR1 left he took over and god damn did he preform well. 81 receptions, 1305 yards, 9 touchdowns and 1 Punt return touchdown. After the season he was a legitimate prospect and got entered into the actual NFL draft. The thing is though, is that he completely bombed the combine. He couldn't preform like himself causing his draft stock to fall down. In the sixth round however, Snyder was drafted to the Detroit Lions. If you thought the combine was bad for him, this was way worse. He was THAT bad in training camp to the point where he was cut from the Lions and into the suburbs he went. Living in his moms basement, he was actually thinking of going to the AFL, but he found a better league as a replacement. The NSFL. Sure it had a bad name but he just decided to give it a chance for once. It was late in the season and I would be sent down to the DSFL to play with one of the developmental teams. No problem, he probably needed it anyways. Once he got into that field...he started to feel like himself again. Thats when he knew, this was the league where I want to be a football legend. LETS GO PYTHONSSSSSS!
Bruce Buckley’s welcome to the league moment was bigger then a welcome to the league moment, it was a welcome to football moment. Bruce Buckley had never experienced American football as it didn’t have a real footprint in Western Sydney. Bruce had never experienced playing sports in pads so his first practice session for the Myrtle Beach Buccaneers when he got in the first drill was the true welcome to the league moment.
Let’s set the scene:
1v1 drills, the padding doesn’t fit right as Bruce Buckley doesn’t know his size, the helmet is uncomfortable and he is sweating to death in the summer heat of the South Carolinian sun. He was getting beat constantly as Bruce Buckley did not understand the techniques and training required to play on the offensive line.
It was time for the final drill of the day, where everyone was watching the defensive line and offensive have a series of one on one challenges and drills with the whole team around celebrating and cheering them on.
It was time for the final battle, rookie defensive tackle Octavio Clemente and rookie Offensive lineman Bruce Buckley. The whistle went and they engaged as the crowd roared but the battle was over quickly. Clemente had blitzed by Buckley and got a ‘sack’. He turned around and said “welcome to the league”.
In week 1 of S23, Brendan Lanier had a pretty good debut that made it seem like he could be a huge steal for the Sabercats. He had 8 tackles and two sacks, one of which resulted in a safety in a victory of the New Orleans SecondLine, though there were still some standout games, most notably week 5 against the Austin Copperheads where he had 5 tackles, an interception, and a punt block, it's obvious at this point that those two games were probably just outliers. Now that's not to say he's a terrible player, just that he's not the huge surprise steal that his debut potentially made him out to be. Safety's stats don't really jump off of the box score as anything special, unless they play in the nickel, and Lanier's no exception. He's carved his role as the last line of defense for one of the best defenses in the ISFL currently. He's also able to get decent pressure on the QB and pick up a few sacks over the course of the season and may still have those surprise games up his sleeve. Overall, not too shabby for a seventh round pick who most probably didn't even know swapped positions prior to the draft.
Quote:Written Option: Reflect on our player’s career, from their first football game to their current career in the ISFL or DSFL, and expound upon one particular story where your player faced their “welcome to the league” moment. How did the change in competition between college and the league, or between the DSFL and ISFL, initially challenge your player? Did they suffer a drop in stats or an ugly debut game? How did they rebound from it?
Lavigne came to his 'welcome to the league' moment very quickly. Coming off a great college career, Davriel knew the pro would be a differnt slice of cake, but had high hopes coming into the DSFL. First he came in as a waiver pick up and played a decent game, but clearly found out that the competition would be tough. Davriel only recorded 14 tackles in 4 games, while also getting a sack, interception and pass deflection. So while Lavigne did record some good defensive stats, his tackling was lacking. However now in his first full year, Lavigne now has 48 tackles, together with 2 interceptions and 4 deflected passes. Just 2 tackles behind the tackling leading strong safety. Lavigne will be looking to chase his college stats in the last strech of the year.
In his lastest DSFL game Lavigne was quiet in the tackle department, but with 2 deflected passes and an interception. It was a good day for the young player. Davriel will be looking to rebound in the tackle department to try and catch up and become the tackliest safety in the DSFL and continue these ways into the NSFL, which Lavigne will be coming to that very soon to show off what he can do.
Having just been picked up on waiver in the DSFL, I (Ernest Lover) don’t yet have much of a league career to speak of. So as I prepare for my debut game in the league, I will reflect here on what has helped me get to where I am today: the people in my life.
While, physical training, technique, and strategizing have been important to my improvement as a player throughout my college career, their importance pales in comparison to the impact of the support of my family throughout my high school and college football career. I have been truly blessed with a courageous mother who imparted on me the importance of hard work and the pleasure of a job well done. She always encouraged me to commit fully to what I undertake and to accept that progress often comes incrementally. These lessons were key to my continuing improvement throughout my four years at Longwood.
In my first college season, I didn't perform as well as I had expected; never starting a single game and ending the year with only 7 tackles. Despite this disappointing season, my mom’s voice inside my head told me to keep working hard and that my efforts would eventually accumulate into meaningful impact on the field. My sophomore season was not what you would call a “breakout” season, but I started to see the results of my efforts. In the following years, I continued on this forward momentum, making steady progress towards the DE that I am today. I am also blessed with a wife who defies stereotypes everyday as a career woman in STEM. My wife inspires me to improve my own knowledge, so I continue to invest in my own mind as well as my body. This is reflected in my lack of penalties throughout my college career—a stat very few track, but I know is important for team success. I hope to continue my smart play on the DSFL field.
Matt Cross is a unique player and actually hit the ground running at the start off his career both in the DSFL and the ISFL. His first DSFL game with the Norfolk Seawolves, was easily the best from the entire season, recording 4 tackles, a sack, a pass deflection and a pick six! Cross wasn't phased starting out in the DSFL and had great production on the season. Consistent with medium to high tackle numbers each week, Cross recorded another pass deflection and pick in week four, a forced fumble in week 10, and then his final pick and pass deflection of the season in week 12 in an important game against Tijuana. While Cross didn't light up the DSFL in his single season there, he definitely wasn't extremely challenged either, putting up stats that he was certainly proud of.
After being drafted by the Philadelphia Liberty, Cross was immediately called up to start at free safety for the team. This wasn't daunting to him though, and he was extremely excited to start his ISFL career off as soon as possible. In his first game of the season, Cross recorded 4 pass deflections and 2 interceptions, once again showing his insane ability to transition seamlessly to the next level. However, Cross didn't record another interception or pass deflection the whole year. He had a few sacks and forced fumbles, but his explosive game week one once again stands out as his best of the year. The main point of all this is that Cross starts out hot but rapidly cools down and looses steam throughout the season. If he played each week like he did in week 1, he'd be the uncontested safety of the year, but he just can't hold up through the year and breaks down in his play. It's not a lack of effort or skill necessarily though, just his endurance isn't enough to carry him through the season. While Cross never had a "welcome to the league moment" his main challenge was this lack of year-long stamina. He's mainly worked to overcome this by his continued training and working with his teammates closely to follow some of their out of practice habits to see if a change in his personal life could help him improve.
Julio Tirtawidjaja was able to dominate in high school and college, despite his late start in the game of american football. Even when he started as a walk-on college football player at Nebraska, he was able to show his talent on the field and rack up stats and achievements quickly. It was a slap in the face when his draft stock dropped significantly in the DSFL draft because he was back home in Indonesia and teams were not able to contact him. Thought to be walking away from football, he responded in time to Luchadores’ then-GMs for them to draft him super late. But being the 3rd running back on the roster, he barely got any playing time with Ed Baker and Richard Gilbert in front of him in the depth chart. Despite his lack of production, Tirtawidjaja was still able to get picked quite high with the Butchers taking him with their second pick of the draft in the 6th round. Determined to prove his doubters wrong, Tirtawidjaja was expecting himself to perform well as the other half of Chicago’s backfield duo alongside Farley Hank. But in reality, the rebuilding team only won one game that season and Tirtawidjaja only racked up yards but touchdowns were hard to come by. His second season with the Butchers was also the same, although he had some great games, he barely cracked 1,000 yards and only scored 4 touchdowns. With the arrival of Baby Yoda in the S24 off-season, Tirtawidjaja once again has to share the backfield and with Yoda being higher in TPE, Tirtawidjaja was slated to be second on the depth chart. Although not dominating like his peers, Tirtawidjaja is slowly improving his performance, at least stats-wise, this season. He’s already broken his season-record for rushing touchdowns and still trying to reach at least 1,000 rushing yards. Whatever it is, his ultimate goal is to help the Butchers win and get back into the playoffs. As someone who has yet to be in a playoff game, both in the DSFL and ISFL, since he entered the league, at the end of the day making the playoffs will be far more important than his personal stats.