*Blake Faux - A New Beginning

[AlexF]

Blake Faux: A New Beginning

Looking towards the DSFL Draft on Monday, everyone is excited for how it’s going to go. I decided to sit down with Blake Faux, a prospect who plays the linebacker position, in order to talk about what led him to professional football and where he would prefer to end up in the draft, among other things.

Blake Faux was born and raised in a small city around 30 minutes outside of Nashville, Tennessee. As with every person on the planet, Faux had his share of trials and tribulations to deal with. His father left at an early age, leaving his single mother to raise him alone. Luckily for Faux, however, he also always lived in close proximity to his grandparents who both had a strong hand in raising him as well.

Even though Faux ended up where he is now, awaiting the results on Monday’s DSFL Draft, football was not his favorite sport growing up. Even to this day his favorite sport remains baseball. I asked if he thought that information might scare some prospective teams if they thought he might get burned out playing a sport that wasn’t his favorite, but he assured me that even though his favorite sport is baseball, he loves football just as much, and doesn’t see the sport as just a job. He also mentioned that teams should take into account that his spot was never given to him, and he had multiple chances to phone it in and give up on his dream, but he persevered. Having said all that, Faux played both football and baseball all through high school, where he ultimately succeeded in football more than he did in baseball.

One thing that Faux always prided himself on growing up was his grades. His mom told me that the only thing she required of Blake was good grades. As long as he kept A’s and B’s he was basically allowed to roam free. And he did just that, with a 3.9 GPA through his high school academic career. He paired that with a 33 on the ACT.

Faux’s high school, Sycamore High School, was the smallest in the region and it showed in every area. Sycamore ranked last in sports and academics due to its low population and extremely rural location. Faux’s graduating class actually was the largest in Sycamore’s history with only 143 students. Prior to his joining of the football team, Sycamore High School had never made it past the first round of the state championship tournament. Because of this the word “booster” was not in a dictionary within 100 miles. The field was dangerous to play on, barely being flat, and the stands were nonexistent. If you wanted to watch them play you had to bring your own chair. It would be a miracle if you could clearly see the hash marks on the field by game 5 of the season. Now, you might think why anyone would even want to play football in those conditions, and you would be right for the most part. Faux even agreed that he was lucky not to sustain any injuries during his high school football career. He saw quite a few of his teammates go down because of the atrocious field conditions. Ultimately, Faux was lucky that he decided to stick it out and continue playing.

During his first season as a Sycamore High School War Eagle, there was little fanfare. Due to lack of tryouts, Faux was required to play both ways. He played inside linebacker on the defensive side, and tight end on the offensive side. Because of his abilities on both sides of the ball Faux was an immediate starter on the varsity squad on both sides of the ball. Unfortunately for him, however, his team went without a win in his freshman season. Faux did manage to take an interception to the house for his first defensive touchdown of his high school career. He also ended the season with 80 tackles. He was the lone bright spot on the defensive side of the ball, even with his barely developed freshman body.

Faux’s sophomore season didn’t go much better for the War Eagles. They did manage to steal a win from their heated rivals, the Cheatham County Central Cubs, thanks to an outstanding game from Faux where he was forced to play every snap of the game on both sides due to injuries. His stat line was like something out a video game. In their only win he ended with 22 receptions (a school record) for 189 yards (also a school record) and 3 touchdowns. He also dominated on the defensive side to the tune of 21 tackles, 2 interceptions, and 3 sacks. You would expect a game like that to put someone on the map, even coming from a small school, but it did not. There weren’t even any highlights of the game because it wasn’t being recorded. Had anyone been recording this game, Faux might have been forced himself onto the map two years before any college programs knew his name. As mentioned before, the War Eagles managed only one win, thanks to Blake Faux, in his sophomore season. He ended the season with 121 tackles, 4 interceptions, and 6 sacks. Faux attributes this increased productivity to his self-imposed workout program he found online. He had no help from his coaches, so he took the initiative to make himself as good as he possibly could by himself. Faux did manage to be an honorable mention for the Class 3A all-state teams. I managed to find the numbers for the votes, and the only people who voted for Faux were every single opposing head coach that he played against during the season.

In his junior season, Faux forced himself onto the map in the state of Tennessee, at least in Class 3A. The War Eagles did only end up winning 4 games, but Faux and the rest of school saw their season as a success. It had been 12 years since they won more than 2 games in a single season, and the big man on campus was none other than Blake Faux. His work on the defensive side was a sight to behold. He broke the school record for tackles, interceptions, sacks, and defensive touchdowns in a season. Faux ended the season with 154 tackles, 10 interceptions, 12 sacks, and 3 defensive touchdowns. He was awarded for his insane record breaking season with a spot on the Class 3A All-State Team as a linebacker. For some reason, even with his insane junior season, Faux wasn’t contacted by any colleges asking if he was interested in playing college football. Zero scouts showed up to his games. Eventually he learned that scouts ignored him because of his competition. Due to his location and low level competition, scouts didn’t believe what they saw would stand up against stronger competition in high school, much less college.

Faux continued his tear on the defensive side of the ball through his fourth and final season of high school football. Over the summer, Faux hit a growth spurt and grew from 5’11” to 6’3”. He also managed to put on more muscle, and ended up going from 223 lb to 234 lb. The War Eagles managed to win 6 games and make the playoffs for the first time in over 20 years. Ultimately it didn’t amount to anything, as they were eliminated in the first round. Faux sees this as the ultimate failure. He did everything he could to carry his team on his shoulders, but it wasn’t enough. Even though the season was eventually considered a failure by Faux, the school and town as a whole believed the exact opposite. For the first time in his high school football career, Faux actually got to see a crowd of more than 20 people show up to a game. After his final season Blake Faux became a legend in Pleasant View, Tennessee. He managed to re break every record he broke in the previous season except defensive touchdowns. He ended the season with 166 tackles (school record), 12 interceptions (school record), 15 sacks (school record), and 3 defensive touchdowns. Additionally, Faux broke his Sycamore’s record for career tackles with 521. He also broke the school record for career defensive touchdowns with 7. Once again Faux made the Class 3A All-State Team. He did manage to obtain the highest award for a high school football player in the state of Tennessee, at least in Class 3A. Faux won the award of Mr. Football in the state of Tennessee.

Faux wasn't rated very highly out of high school. He was rated as a zero-star recruit going into his senior year, but with his award winning final season his draft stock did jump a little bit, and he was rated as a two-star recruit after his final game of high school football. His biggest knock was the competition he was playing against, and the only D1 scholarship offer he received was from his hometown team, the Vanderbilt Commodores. He did get promises that if he were to walk on to Tennessee and Memphis he would make the team, but Faux decided it would be his best bet to commit to Vanderbilt, which would also help his professional prospects in the future if football didn't pan out.

After only getting an offer from Vandy and deciding to take it, Faux told me that he was planning on playing football, but not having it be his primary focus. Obviously he gave his all, just like he had every single game and practice of his life, but with it being college, and especially Vanderbilt, the Ivy League of the South, he knew he had to focus on his schoolwork. Having a degree from Vanderbilt is almost as good as a degree from an actual Ivy League school. Faux knew that as good as anyone. Had he not had the option to accept a football scholarship, he learned that his entire college career would have paid for via scholarships thanks to his great grades, great test scores, and upbringing after being raised by a single mother from a tiny town. He could have accepted any number of scholarships, but we all know that that would have been unnecessary given how his college career turned out. I mean, this whole article is being written because Blake Faux is projected to be drafted in the DSFL Draft this coming Monday.

In Faux's first year with the Vanderbilt Commodores he played in 10 games and amassed 7 tackles (2 solo). Even though he knew that he wouldn't be a starter from day one, he told me that it was rough riding the bench and only seeing game time sparingly. He actually considered quitting football after his freshman year to focus on school. At the time he was considering picking up a double major. The first tackle of his college career came against the Alabama Crimson Tide. Continuing into his sophomore year, Faux played in all 14 games and had 28 tackles (11 solo). He had something of a breakout game against the Tennessee Volunteers with 7 tackles (2 for a loss), 1 forced fumble and recovery, and an interception. For his efforts in his sophomore year, Faux was named as an Academic All-SEC honorable mention. After his sophomore year, after playing in every game, he finally started to really believe he could turn this all into a career. His coaches told him around half way through the season that it was the plan for him to be the starting middle linebacker going into his junior year and that he just needed to keep it up for the rest of the season, which he did. Faux's junior year was where he made his name known. He started all 14 games of the season, and had more than 10 tackles in 9 of them. In Faux's best game of the season, and his college career, he amassed 21 tackles, and 2 interceptions, with one returned for a touchdown. He finished the season with a team high 123 tackles, and was named to the All-SEC Second Team. This was the first time in Blake Faux's football career where more people than just the ones he played against or with believe in his abilities. He was named captain during the first practice session during the summer leading into his senior season. In his final season as a Commodore, Faux ended the year with an SEC leading 152 tackles (91 solo), 3 sacks, and 3 interceptions. His huge senior season earned him a spot on the All-SEC First Team, and he was runner-up for the NCAA Best LB. Faux’s career stats as a linebacker for the Vanderbilt Commodores were: 313 tackles (174 solo), 6 sacks, 1 safety, 23 pass deflections, 7 interceptions for 90 yards (1 returned for a touchdown), 6 forced fumbles, and 6 fumbles recovered. He had a very solid career, headlined by his amazing senior season. Faux managed to turn his mind-boggling high school career into an absolutely solid college career. Vanderbilt ended up winning both bowl games they attended during Faux's tenure there, both coming in the seasons he started all 14 games.

Faux mentioned that his time at Vanderbilt was a blur. According to him it all happened so fast, and he’s barely had any time to reflect on it. He said multiple times that he did all he could to make it possible for him to play professional football, and he also believes this article will help with that. After we talked about his high school and college days, we turned to the future. Faux has stated officially and reiterated to me that he wants to play as an inside linebacker, and he’s always been able to read offenses and run the defense. He was forced to do so during high school, and his football IQ is apparent because of it. Faux did acquiesce in saying that he would be fine playing out of position as long as he got assurances that it would be only temporary. He also said that he doesn’t plan to play on the offensive side of the ball ever again. Especially given how demanding professional football is, and how high the level of competition is, Faux doesn’t see it as feasible for two way players to play at an elite level.

I asked him if he had any preferences about where he ended up in the DSFL draft come Monday, and he had a few interesting responses. He said the most important thing for him when it comes to where he wants to end up is the style of play. Faux mentioned that even while growing up he loved watching teams that rammed the ball down the throats of the opposing defenses, and he eventually learned that by doing this it helps the defense too, because they can control the pace of play. He did also mention that he would love to go to a team that was already a defensive juggernaut. Although he hasn’t been over an hour away from home for more than 2 weeks at a time, Faux said that he wouldn’t mind playing in any city, no matter the weather or distance away from home.

The last thing Faux said to me before we wrapped up was that his favorite color was purple, so he would already have a wardrobe to match if he were taken by the Kansas City Coyotes come Monday and by the New Orleans Second Line come next year.

That wraps up this mini-biography on the first two plus decades of Blake Faux’s life. He revitalized a tiny town in the middle of nowhere Tennessee, went to his favorite college to play football, and is now expected to get drafted this Monday to play professional football in the DSFL. Everything is looking up for Mr. Blake Faux. Here’s to a new beginning.

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[Baron1898]

Awesome article! Excited to see how your career plays out! (And I think you’d look pretty good in green, just saying)

[dizzyDC]

Look at the incoming rookies making bank