With my second season coming to a close and my time in the developmental league concluding, I thought I’d take a look back to where everything started. While my NSFL career hasn’t even begun, it has already been a long journey for me up to this point. While this is only the second season in my DSFL career, it is my 10th season playing football overall. As such, it seemed like a good time to go back and see how much things have changed.
Obviously, the biggest change right off the bat is my position switch from receiver to cornerback, which happened in college. Throughout high school, I lined up as a wideout, thinking that I could outsmart or outplay any corner. Early in high school, this couldn’t be farther from the truth. Throughout my first year in high school, I wasn’t even a starter on the team. There is no film to evaluate, as I barely played 10 minutes total that entire year.
However, as my competition graduated and as I improved as a player, I was able to get a starting position in my second year. Since I was a fresh face with no film to study early on, most defenses weren’t ready for a WR2 or WR3 to make big plays and contest the ball well. However, that is exactly what I did.
Because defenses didn’t expect a high school team to have a lot of depth, I was able to feast on the unprepared defensive units. I didn’t have the explosive speed to be a deep threat, but as a slot receiver, I was able to thrive. I was able to make cuts across the field and if I got my hand on the ball, there was no way it wasn’t coming down with me.
However, if my route involved racing a defensive back down the sideline, I always had trouble creating separation. In addition, because I was not particularly tall or huge, when balls were contested, I struggled to force corners out of my way to ensure a clean catch could be made. There were a few times where I saw an opening to the end zone forming, but I simply didn’t have the explosiveness to get there before the secondary closed the gap.
By my junior year, I had outcompeted the rest of the receiving corps and become the WR1 for the team. While I had already greatly improved as a player compared to my benchwarmer first year, I still didn’t have the speed necessary to truly threaten a defense downfield. Instead, my head coach used many unconventional plays with receivers crossing over each other all over the field to trick backfields into breaking coverages or losing their man.
With an offensive scheme built around misdirection and nimbleness, I was able to thrive and work my way around defenders instead of past them. With this perfect situation around me, I was able to break out and help the team win the California State Championship.
However, it wasn’t all good for me. I still struggled on the deep ball when we ran conventional plays and I tried my hand at kick returns and had trouble bursting to the speed necessary to weave through the kicking team. I even had some issues fumbling the ball in crucial moments during kick returns and I wasn’t sure if I’d ever be able to quite figure them out.
In my last year of high school, it was honestly more of the same for me as a player. A lot of the offensive unit had been retained between my junior and senior years, as few students graduated out of the team.
I kept my position as WR1 and I mainly improved in the areas that I was already fairly competent at. My speed did not drastically improve and my ability as a kick returner was not extremely impressive. Even when I did have enough time to get my stride going on returns, I didn’t quite have the instinct to find holes in the opposing teams’ formations.
However, a new challenge was introduced since opposing teams now had a full season of film to study up on. Many of the unconventional plays that my coach drew out for me were well-scouted and came down to the difference in talent between me and the corners rather than pure out-scheming.
My high school was able to win the California State Championship again, which led me to believe that I was going to be a huge star receiver in college. Haha, I’m sure you can guess how that turned out.
Anyways, I once again find myself heading to the DSFL playoffs representing Portland and (this time for sure) it seems that I won’t be playing another snap for the team once it is all over. I’ve already thanked every single person in the Portland locker room and front office, but no amount of thank you’s could represent the gratitude that I truly have for the organization. I joined the team as a confused kid straight from college and I am now leaving as a grown man with the passion and talent to make an immediate impact in the NSFL. With the Pythons, I was able to make history, break records, and build relationships with people that I will take with me throughout the rest of my life.
So for one last time: Portland proud, thank you.
X
Obviously, the biggest change right off the bat is my position switch from receiver to cornerback, which happened in college. Throughout high school, I lined up as a wideout, thinking that I could outsmart or outplay any corner. Early in high school, this couldn’t be farther from the truth. Throughout my first year in high school, I wasn’t even a starter on the team. There is no film to evaluate, as I barely played 10 minutes total that entire year.
However, as my competition graduated and as I improved as a player, I was able to get a starting position in my second year. Since I was a fresh face with no film to study early on, most defenses weren’t ready for a WR2 or WR3 to make big plays and contest the ball well. However, that is exactly what I did.
Because defenses didn’t expect a high school team to have a lot of depth, I was able to feast on the unprepared defensive units. I didn’t have the explosive speed to be a deep threat, but as a slot receiver, I was able to thrive. I was able to make cuts across the field and if I got my hand on the ball, there was no way it wasn’t coming down with me.
However, if my route involved racing a defensive back down the sideline, I always had trouble creating separation. In addition, because I was not particularly tall or huge, when balls were contested, I struggled to force corners out of my way to ensure a clean catch could be made. There were a few times where I saw an opening to the end zone forming, but I simply didn’t have the explosiveness to get there before the secondary closed the gap.
By my junior year, I had outcompeted the rest of the receiving corps and become the WR1 for the team. While I had already greatly improved as a player compared to my benchwarmer first year, I still didn’t have the speed necessary to truly threaten a defense downfield. Instead, my head coach used many unconventional plays with receivers crossing over each other all over the field to trick backfields into breaking coverages or losing their man.
With an offensive scheme built around misdirection and nimbleness, I was able to thrive and work my way around defenders instead of past them. With this perfect situation around me, I was able to break out and help the team win the California State Championship.
However, it wasn’t all good for me. I still struggled on the deep ball when we ran conventional plays and I tried my hand at kick returns and had trouble bursting to the speed necessary to weave through the kicking team. I even had some issues fumbling the ball in crucial moments during kick returns and I wasn’t sure if I’d ever be able to quite figure them out.
In my last year of high school, it was honestly more of the same for me as a player. A lot of the offensive unit had been retained between my junior and senior years, as few students graduated out of the team.
I kept my position as WR1 and I mainly improved in the areas that I was already fairly competent at. My speed did not drastically improve and my ability as a kick returner was not extremely impressive. Even when I did have enough time to get my stride going on returns, I didn’t quite have the instinct to find holes in the opposing teams’ formations.
However, a new challenge was introduced since opposing teams now had a full season of film to study up on. Many of the unconventional plays that my coach drew out for me were well-scouted and came down to the difference in talent between me and the corners rather than pure out-scheming.
My high school was able to win the California State Championship again, which led me to believe that I was going to be a huge star receiver in college. Haha, I’m sure you can guess how that turned out.
Anyways, I once again find myself heading to the DSFL playoffs representing Portland and (this time for sure) it seems that I won’t be playing another snap for the team once it is all over. I’ve already thanked every single person in the Portland locker room and front office, but no amount of thank you’s could represent the gratitude that I truly have for the organization. I joined the team as a confused kid straight from college and I am now leaving as a grown man with the passion and talent to make an immediate impact in the NSFL. With the Pythons, I was able to make history, break records, and build relationships with people that I will take with me throughout the rest of my life.
So for one last time: Portland proud, thank you.
X
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Hiss Hiss 
![[Image: 0MdTrck.jpg]](https://i.imgur.com/0MdTrck.jpg)
