(S4) - PT #2 - Dual Sport Stars

[Squeeze]

Sydney Spinelli excelled in a couple of sports other than Football during High School including, Basketball, Track and Field, and Baseball. The former two were just a hobby and, he never planned to pursue either after High School, but Baseball was a different story and, it was a tough decision for him to no longer focus on this sport. He played shortstop, and his speed helped him greatly out in the field and of course running the baselines. Spinelli was the lead of hitter, and mostly focused on getting on bases, which almost looked like it came second nature to the young kid who averaged .502 through out the 4 seasons he played and an OBP of .630. It safe to say he could have continued this into college but, after graduating and talking to schools he would play for. He decided it would be best to make a choice and stick with it. It was by no means easy, but Spinelli felt he really made the best difference running the ball rather than running for it. He liked to make people miss and, the only people who make folks miss in Baseball are pitchers. Thus he decided to become a Hall of Fame NSFL player.

[JBLAZE_THE_BOSS]

[Darnellthebeast]

Darnell Turner has always been a football player at heart. At a young age, his parents attempted to interest him in other sports like basketball and soccer but he just wasn't interested. Both of the games were too easy for him. His extreme athleticism and speed allowed him to play anywhere on the soccer field easily, whether it be attacker or defender or goalie; he could just zoom by the defenders then use his absurd leg strength in order to score goals. In basketball, he was a shooter like no other. He could pull up and shoot from anywhere on the court and easily make it. His skills in basketball weren't limited to shooting though: he also used his incredible vertical in order to job insane heights even at a young age. He first dunked a basketball on a 10 foot hoop at the young age of 8, something done by no other child of that age. Both the sports of soccer and basketball were far too boring for an athlete of Turner's caliber so he moved on to football, where the competition is much stiffer. He now battles the best athletes on the planet while in the National Simulation Football League.

[jordan327]

Football isn't the true sport of Jordan Yates. Instead, it is basketball, however his career was a tragic story, which I will now detail in as few words over 200 as possible. It started with rec league. His father put him in to a recreational basketball league where Yates was already showing signs of being a great athlete. Despite being overweight by at least 40 pounds already at seven years old, yates still was the fastest player on the court and played the point guard position. His father recognized his talent and encouraged him to pursue basketball further. Eventually, Yates made it to high school where he started on Varsity as a freshmen. Initially, he didn't get many looks for college offers as teams took one look at his body size and immediately scoffed. How could a 350 pound man possibly be fast enough to play the point guard position. Anyways, eventually, with enough hard work and talent, he proved all the scouts wrong after a fantastic career at university of south dakota. Unfortunately, his career was cut short because he was caught stealing crab and the punishment inflicted was quitting the basketball team. Luckily though this allowed him to play football.

[Silver Fox]

Though football has been his only professional sport, Fox North has always enjoyed participation in various other sporting activities. He also played tennis in high school, but his real love then was none other than…bowling! At first, he was self-taught, throwing with a goofy style – right handed, with a left to right spin. Eventually though, he taught himself to throw with the proper right to left, and still loves to go out every once in a while to take down the pins. While it’s difficult to find the time during the season, Fox always picks it up again in the offseason. Not a particularly high scorer, maybe mid 100’s, but something about the game is just enticing.

In college, Fox also played on the ultimate frisbee team, having first started playing in high school at lunch period after eating. With an above average arm at the time, nothing was more satisfying than throwing it the length of the field, except perhaps catching such throws in coverage – this skill probably helps Fox to this day when he goes up for the football with a defender – not very many interceptions occur when the QB trusts Fox with those throws. Still, at the end of the day, it’s all football nowadays – gotta be at the top of your game to keep up with the pros. Fox fondly recalls the old days, though.

[jparks98]

[NUCK]

Bubba Nuck was not always " The Running Back ", in fact football is not even Nuck's favorite sport, or top 3 for that matter!

We were lucky enough to sit down and get an exclusive interview with Bubba himself. We were shocked to head way off of our planned questions. When we innocently asked him, what we thought was a simple question.

" Bubba have you achieved everything in football 8 year old you could have dreamed of? "

His response shook all of us!

" No, to be honest! 8 year old me would have been dreaming of winning the Stanley Cup. Or maybe winning a World Championship for Canada in Rugby. Or playing for the Vancouver Stealth Lacrosse team. Truth be told I like Football, I just dont love it! I was a hockey fan, above and beyond everything. Unfortunately my on ice skills were never as great as my grid iron skills.

Football was my paycheck, my way in to University and my way to pay my family back for all their sacrifices. It was a pretty easy choice to make. Go play hockey, Lacrosse or Rugby for fun while I struggled to make ends meet working in the local mill. Or follow the carrot and enjoy my golden ticket as a Football player "

There you go folks, you heard it here first!

[RainDelay]

A professional athlete should be focused on one thing -- the sport they play. But Yellowknife Wraiths receiver Bailey Cook has not given up on his other passion, basketball.

Bailey Cook spent plenty of hours in his college days at the Rec, and he was always down for a game of pickup basketball. It didn't matter if it was 2 on 2, 3 on 3, or of course, everyone's favorite, 5 on 5, Cook was ready to play.

He also played intramural basketball. A lot of it. Despite being a Division 1 football player, he was able to circumvent the rules a little bit. The head of the league, a Mr. Sweeney-Alexander, was wise to Cook's tricks, but he was in good standing, so he allowed it. Cook's team had all the players in the Rec hitting them up to play with them, and ended up finishing one fall Intramural season with 8 wins and 0 losses en route to the championship!

Those wins were a great experience, but as long as Bailey Cook is on the court with his friends, that's all he cares about. He also likes the mid-range jumper, a lot. It helps that his friend and old teammate A.C. Hackett would always try to cover him, but, being the subpar defender that he is, Hackett just couldn't stop him. Crazier things have happened in their games though, such as Liberty OL Sammy Walters getting tossed and then yelling at the entire bench, even though he clearly committed a flagrant foul. Then there was Pythons DE Andreas Waiters, who, oddly enough, loved to pick fights (and then actually fight) freshmen in the gym. Luckily enough for the big defensive end, only ONE person in the entire rec possessed enough prowess to grab a rebound over him. In an effort to talk about Hackett again, it's worth mentioning that the only person on the team that he hasn't yelled at is Rakim Uchiha, lesser known Pythons receiver and avid floater-taker.

Bailey Cook loves basketball. When my friends read this, they're going to kill me. I'll leave it there. Y'all are awesome people and it's been nice knowing you.

[Deusolis]

First. Team. All. Defense.

Despite being nearly dismissed from his high school's open tryouts following the full-court layup drill, as soon as the team hopefuls had to get into a defensive stance, he was able to strut his stuff. Averaging slightly under a point per game in his high school career with the lowest usage rate in Maryland 4A history, he forced his way into the starting lineup solely by virtue of defensive prowess. With the length, strength and lateral quickness to guard 1 through 5 and a pre-natural gift for running a system, Hackett was the key to a switch-happy, ultra-aggressive defense.

In college, Hackett was forced to take a step-back from basketball as he began to pursue his football career, but that didn't stop him from getting a few games in with his future NSFL league-mates Sammy Walters, Andreas Waiters, Bailey Cook and, of course, Rakim Uchiha. The first three were natural match-ups for Hackett; neither Waiters nor Cook have the handle to shift him and none of the troika had the quickness or speed to take advantage of one of Hackett's few relative weaknesses. Despite being unable to dribble in an empty gym, Hackett is currently undefeated in 1v1 games against Cook. And Waiters? In the biggest game of the NSFL preseason tourney, Hackett held him to 0-2 shooting with no other positive stats. Waiters couldn't even manage a rebound against an engaged Hackett.

But Uchiha is a different story. Despite being essentially attached at the hip off the court, the two are polar opposites on the court. Rakim has never seen a shot he didn't like and has literally never passed the ball on the fast break. Their matchups are a frenetic battle of styles: post-ups and spot-ups against hanging mid-range pull-ups. An eternal struggle, Uchiha and Hackett will have ample opportunities to determine the best in their duo as they suit up for the Liberty this season

[Oles]

Written: Must include 200 words. Talk about other sports your player played earlier in his career. This could be like Jameis playing both baseball and football in college or just various sports your player played as a kid.

As has been noted in the past, Oles played baseball all throughout his childhood. Originally, football wasn’t even his first choice. Growing up he constantly was more interested in baseball, following everything Orioles and wanting to be like players such as Brian Roberts and Nick Markakis. Oles wanted to be a reliable player for whatever team he played on, getting on base over smashing balls, providing the runs in runs batted in. Growing up he was able to draw walks, hit by pitches, and singles, in an effort to get on base. Oles was also a reliable base stealer growing up, partly due to the unreliable arms of catchers who he would face, and partly due to being able to diagnose a pitcher’s motion and jump as soon as his foot springs forward, add in speed and by the time the ball is at home he was already standing on second. Oles always wanted to go pro with baseball, but something about football called to him, leading him to the NSFL career he has now. These skills in baseball have translated well into football, as he’s able to diagnose throws and turn good passes into interceptions and incomplete passes. Oles would still love to have a baseball career one day, and hopefully that time will come, but for now, NSFL is the forefront of his focus.

(226 words)