*Saleem Spence Drafted 31st Overall In ISFL Draft

[StadiumGambler]

The Season 28 ISFL Draft is in the books, with a raft of high quality talent taken in the first few rounds to set teams up for either future success or major disappointment. One of the teams hoping for major success was the defending Ultimus champion Sarasota Sailfish, who made what some are calling the steal of the draft, taking Portland Pythons Wide Receiver Saleem Spence with the 31st overall pick.

"Stoked to be with Sarasota!" said an exuberant Spence, dressed to the nines along with his fellow rookies in the Anaheim Convention Center. "It's awesome to end up on a title winner thats done it before, and hopefully I can come up to the pro leagues soon and give Sarasota another trophy for their mantlepiece."

"So this player..... I have absolutely no idea how he fell this far, and when I saw he was still available, I was ringing up every team too see if we could try to trade up for him." said Sarasota Sailfish General Manager Baxter Frost Sr. on Spence. "Honestly, the fact that he fell this far is...... insane to me, and we're happy to have two of the most talented rookies available in this draft." [Other rookie presumably being Stumpy Jones]

It seemed that Sarasota's internal draft board rated Spence highly, alongside his teammate Stumpy Jones, the offensive line stalwart that helped pave the way for Portland success. Some rogue mock drafts had Spence going in the 1st round, however more realistic assessments felt that Spence was more suited to around where he ended up, low 2nd round / high 3rd round.

The tri-national Wide Receiver coming out of the University of Manitoba impressed some viewers with a unexpectedly strong rookie season, racking up 80 receptions for 1241 yards for the 11-3 Pythons, overall finishing tied for 5th in receptions and 3rd in yards. However, Spence disappointed (along with the majority of his teammates) in the Ultimini semifinals, catching only 1 pass for 11 yards as the Pythons fell 31-21 to the Kansas City Coyotes.

Spence's subpar performance in a big game, coupled with lingering worries over his past indiscretions at the University of Manitoba (where he walked out on his college team after a dispute with recently fired Manitoba Head Coach Drake Letterman over playcalling) led to his draft stock sinking relative to other wideouts. However, a strong pre-draft Combine boosted Spence's stock again, where Spence ran a shocking 4.3 40 yard dash and impressed watching scouts with his raw athleticism, also showing high quality performance in the broad jump and various agility drills.

Ultimately, Spence was the 5th Wide Receiver taken off the board, following the 1st overall pick Luke Quick, 14th overall pick Chunt The Badger (both of whom went to Baltimore, with Chunt's fall to 14th being a total shock to some draft analysts that had Chunt pegged as a generational talent and a surefire 1st overall pick.), 16th overall pick Bayley Cowabunga (staying in Texas with the Austin Copperheads), and 23rd overall pick Sam the Onion Man, now under the thumb of the Orange County Otters. Sam's drafting ahead of Spence came as a mild surprise to some, considering Sam's rough season on a rough Norfolk team, catching only 45 passes for 572 yards in a 14 game season. However, Sam is seen by scouts as being the steadier presence with the higher floor, while Spence's explosive athleticism makes him the high-risk, high-reward type player.

Sarasota however was confident enough in Spence's abilities to make the trade up to pick him 31st before other enterprising franchises looking for a later round gamble, as Sarasota got pick 31 from Orange County in exchange for pick 42 (used to take Kicker Dallas Dole), and their 2nd round selection in the future Season 29 Draft. There are hopes for Sarasota that Spence can at least be a useful tertiary receiving option that can catch the occasional first down and help Sarasota win another Ultimus, and at most be a livewire prodigy and physical specimen the likes of which the ISFL has rarely seen before.

Spence is expected to join fellow Sarasota draftees Stumpy Jones and safety Kelvin Harris within days for the first round of the Sailfish's mini-camps.

[Frostbite]

Still am shocked you fell to the third, happy to have you in Sarastota!

[tMuse]

we're super excited to have you on the team!

[Drizzy]

congrats on going to a great destination