(S24) - PT 4 - Trial by Fire

[BenDover]

After having a very rough second season in the DSFL for the Grey Ducks, failing to pick up the Ultimini that the team deserved, falling to the Royals in the conference championship game, 13-10 in Overtime, this cut into Lackson, deeply, as this was supposed to be his year to shine and dominate the league, and the pain became even worse for Lackson as he went 0-3 on awards the very next week after choking in a playoff game, while many of his teammates walked home with Honors. This was the lowest point for Lackson in his career, in a world of 5+ YPC in the DSFL, Lackson had a measly 4.4, which had cost him the award over BirdDogs RB Kichwa Jones, who had less yards and Touchdowns but took the award just because of his 5.3 YPC. Although this was the low point for Lackson, he didn't give up, after being called up by the Sabercats, Lackson wanted to show off to the league that he wasn't a failed prospect, in his first game against NOLA, Lackson both outran and outscored both of NOLA's elite RBs in Gump and Toriki, leading to a win for the Sabercats, and the start to Lackson's first award in the league, the OROTY award, and hopefully many more in the future.

219 words

[jzajenius36]

It’s definitely been night and day then comparing what my player did in the DSFL preseason as compared to his tangible impact, at least statistically, in the regular season thus far. I know that, with a defensive lineman build, I’m not going to be seeing heavy numbers from game to game, but the prospect bowl/preseason gave me some higher expectations even despite that. Honky-Tonk Haywood came away with something like 8 tackles and a sack in one prospect bowl game. I was ecstatic while watching the stream. Even while his impact lessened during the preseason, I was still seeing multiple tackles. Good enough.
Finally, as the season began in earnest, I started to look around on team rosters and take in the level of players I was up against. It finally hit me that my guy just wasn’t that good…yet. Even as Haywood totaled a sack early in the season, the realization that I was largely outclassed at the line begged me to reevaluate my expectations. And now here we sit, 7 games into the season, with my player averaging 2.5 tackles per game with one sack total and no other statistical impact. I now know what’s important is learning to understand the league and growing my player, and that the stats will come later down the line.

While it’s a bit discouraging, I’m going to continue grinding TPE knowing that, come next season, Honky-Tonk Haywood will be in a position to take advantage of the new players like me now, who think they’re hot ish with their clever made up name and 50 initial TPE to spend. They’ll be in a rude awakening from the big boy in S25.

(280 words)

[Eldorian]

PBE PT

[Brane_Chyld]

PBE PT 20-3

[Yeenoghu]

Juan Domine has had a successful career so far in the DSFL, so I would say that his "welcome to the league" moment came at the end of his first season. In his rookie season, Domine was a tackling machine for the Royals. Always able to track down the ball carrier, he finished the season with 166 tackles--21 more than the player in second place. As a result of his emphasis on stopping the run, Domine's totals for sacks and forced fumbles took a corresponding dip. During the DSFL awards ceremony, Domine's lack of splashy plays was laid bare, as he lost out on Defensive Player of the Year and Linebacker of the Year to fellow linebacker Alejandro Chainbreaker. Since finishing as a runner-up in these categories, Domine has attempted to retool himself on the field. As of this writing, he currently leads the entire DSFL in sacks, leads all DSFL linebackers in tackles for loss, and is tied for 5th in pass deflections among DSFL linebackers while still accruing 7 to 8 tackles per game. As this will likely be Domine's final year in the DSFL, the 2039 season represents his final chance to convince voters of his place at the top of his position and perhaps the entire defensive class before he moves to Chicago in 2040.

[3lewsers]

PBE Affiliate PT

[charlit]

After Killian Chambers had a monster junior year for New Mexico, his draft stock skyrocketed. He was shocked on draft night when he was the first WR off the board. Expectations for him were high, as he would be Minnesota’s WR1 the moment he stepped on the field. This would be a new experience for Chambers since he had to work himself up the depth chart in college and high school.  

Things started great for Chambers in the preseason. He had at least 50 yards in three of the four preseason games and even scored a touchdown against London. When the Grey Ducks faced London in week 1 of the regular season, Chambers was excited to continue his high play. In this game, he would struggle to get open and even dropped a ball on third down. He eventually caught his first reception, gaining 9 yards on the play. The moment he caught the ball he got clobbered by CB Harrison Andrews, which prevented a first down.

After the play, Chambers found himself wheezing from the hit. He stumbled back to the huddle and failed to catch a single pass the rest of the game. This was his “welcome to the league” moment, as he realized that other players were both stronger and faster than him. While this may be discouraging to some, Chambers vowed to train even harder. He was going to do everything he could to be a WR1 in this league.

(244 words)

[teddyoojo]

Well Teddy Utterstruzens career has certainly been a standout one.. Id imagine its the same for most DSFL/ISFL players in the fact that theyve always been the biggest, strongest and fastest players on the field all the way until college and therefore had no problem dominating the early years of their respective football careers.. Switching positions, playing both sides of the ball, Utterstruzen has been through alot of change in his football career but he has never once had a problem adapting to new situations, and it was the exact same with joining the DSFL.

Coming into the first game as the 99th pick (once again pointing out the ridiculously low drafting position) he showed absolutely no signs of nerves or anything of the likes. First game against Kansas City Coyotes, Teddy recorded 7 Tackles and 1 interception and 2 PDs, immediately earning the defensive gameball of the buccs. Talk about a good debut into the DSFL. In summation there is to note that there has never been any signs of drop in stats or production from Utterstruzen and approaching the ISFL draft, theres absolutely no reason to believe that there will be any problem adapting to the Big League either.


202 words

[LancedJack]

Look no further than Rusty Ruckers performance in the Prospect Bowl for his welcome to the league moment. Neither the DSFL nor ISFL but simply the prospect bowl. A pick? Oh yes. A pick six? That as well. Tackles all over the shop, passes defended and picks. With a couple sacks into the bag there was nothing that Rusty wasn't capable of achieving and this has continued into the DSFL. Was it a welcome to the pro's moment? Undoubtedly, but not the way that people typically intend. This was Rusty declaring he had arrived. His ability was untethered and he would continue to flaunt this high level of achievement into his first DSFL season. Currently he's biding his time, getting his numbers up, like a dormant kaiju. He may end up with a bigger wake up later in his career but for now he's taken to it with ripples rather than a splash. An effortless coalition of talent and ability.

[Leafs4ever]

My welcome to the league moment happened against a team I've grown to hate. We were facing off against the Arizona Outlaws and I was getting ready. The day didn't feel any different than usual and my team was ready to take the field. Things started out fine, going through the motions, until the whole game turned upside down.

Now, I'd been working on my accuracy and decision making, which makes this game that much worse. I don't know what was happening, but every throw I made seemed to be the wrong decision. You throw to what looks like an open receiver, but boom a defender comes out of no where. I couldn't explain it, but it's like the Outlaw defense had a speed hack on and I couldn't keep up. Being a young quarterback you expect to have some growing pain, but this game showed me that I had a long way to go still. I finished the game with an embarrassing 6 interceptions. They just killed my spirit in this game.

I never forgot about this game as my career went along, but I think it still has some affects on me. I haven't had the career I was expecting. I seem to throw a ton of short passes, almost like I'm scared to throw it deep. I don't know if it's just the yips from this game, but I'm sure my career would be different if I didn't throw 6 interceptions against the Outlaws on that fateful day.

(251 words)