6) Next Year[235 words]
The first season as an expansion team was a roller coaster for the London Royals. Despite some incredible performances and wins that will be part of franchise and league history forever, the Royals ultimately fell short of a winning season. Finishing with a 5-9 record, which was tied worst in the league (with the Birddogs) was a bit of a disappointment for the locker room and the team that the GMs had put together. All the hard work put in didn't amount to much, at least until you dug a bit deeper. The Royals managed to close out the season having caught up in TPE to most other teams in the league. Next year they wont be at such a disadvantage early on, provided some of their stars stay down for a second year. Here is where the bad record also comes in useful, as the Royals will be drafting 1st overall, so they can put that draft capital to good use to fix the biggest holes on the team. Add to that the excellent attitudes of everyone in the locker room, and the commitment to continually strive for greatness and you have a winning formula. At the end of the season, there will be one team left standing, and it will be the London Royals with their lion's roar, bringing a historic first title by a UK team home to London. Football's coming home!
8) Revenge [215 words]
The Tijuana Luchadores handed the Royals our biggest defeat of the season, where we lost 7-40 on the road. It was a complete embarrassment. Our offense could barely hold a drive together and the otherwise great defense of the Royals simply got obliterated, letting up a whopping 40 points. We heavily lost the turnover battle too allowing three and forcing none. What a nightmare. That evening in the locker room, we all swore that we would do better and get our own back. And we did just that in Week 9 where at home, we managed to secure an incredible overtime win against the Luchadores after it looked like we were heading for another disaster. Being 21-7 behind at half time, our defense really rallied and we did not allow any more points by Tijuana for the remainder of the game. However, that by no measure means that we were able to count this as proper revenge for the humbling we experienced earlier in the season. Oh no, we will have to go into their house next season and put up at least 30 points to feel a tiny bit of satisfaction, let alone redemption. Even if I am called up to the NSFL I will cheer on the Royals on the path to revenge.
18) Awards Season [219 words]
My teammate and fellow captain on the Royals, Acura Skyline is the best running back in the DSFL right now. Period. There is simply no debate here, absolutely no other argument to be made. As a rookie, he had a great campaign and led the league with 1761 yards. Not only did he have the most yards, he also had one of the best yards per attempt ratios, rounding out at 5 YPC. On top of that, he added 10 touchdowns, one of which I will never forget:
We had made several stops in overtime, and then disaster struck on a penalty. 1st and 25, Acura took the ball nearly 75 yards to the house, for the walk-off game winning touchdown! This performance shall remain in the hearts of every Royals player and fan for a very, very long time.
At the very least, Acura, should get an award for running back of the year, but I would suggest that there is a case for offensive rookie of the year, and maybe even offensive player of the year if the votes just fall right. With Awards night only a few days away, we will have to wait and see! Good luck Acura, you deserve any award you get - and should get at least one on the night!
20) Nostalgia [233 words]
Honestly, and this may be a bit rich coming from someone who has been around the league for just over a season, I do have one stand out moment. And that is literally me excitedly proclaiming my joyous disbelief at being a Top-10 pick in the DSFL and getting to play for the London Royals. They had been one of the first teams to reach out in the scouting process and I was fairly active in their scouting discord channels and had quickly made some friends there. Add to that fact, that I am from Europe in real life, used to live in London for a while and my players background story is from London too. This meant it was absolutely magical to hear my name called and the kind words from the commentators on the draft stream. It felt good to feel to belong somewhere and being recognised for a lot of the effort that My player and I had put in prior to the draft. Joining the locker room and being welcomed with open arms, greatly helped my overall perception of the league and has motivated me to stay active for a long time. Thanks to everyone who believed in me and made the argument for me to be the second player drafted in franchise history. I hope I have made you as proud as you made me on draft night!
The first season as an expansion team was a roller coaster for the London Royals. Despite some incredible performances and wins that will be part of franchise and league history forever, the Royals ultimately fell short of a winning season. Finishing with a 5-9 record, which was tied worst in the league (with the Birddogs) was a bit of a disappointment for the locker room and the team that the GMs had put together. All the hard work put in didn't amount to much, at least until you dug a bit deeper. The Royals managed to close out the season having caught up in TPE to most other teams in the league. Next year they wont be at such a disadvantage early on, provided some of their stars stay down for a second year. Here is where the bad record also comes in useful, as the Royals will be drafting 1st overall, so they can put that draft capital to good use to fix the biggest holes on the team. Add to that the excellent attitudes of everyone in the locker room, and the commitment to continually strive for greatness and you have a winning formula. At the end of the season, there will be one team left standing, and it will be the London Royals with their lion's roar, bringing a historic first title by a UK team home to London. Football's coming home!
8) Revenge [215 words]
The Tijuana Luchadores handed the Royals our biggest defeat of the season, where we lost 7-40 on the road. It was a complete embarrassment. Our offense could barely hold a drive together and the otherwise great defense of the Royals simply got obliterated, letting up a whopping 40 points. We heavily lost the turnover battle too allowing three and forcing none. What a nightmare. That evening in the locker room, we all swore that we would do better and get our own back. And we did just that in Week 9 where at home, we managed to secure an incredible overtime win against the Luchadores after it looked like we were heading for another disaster. Being 21-7 behind at half time, our defense really rallied and we did not allow any more points by Tijuana for the remainder of the game. However, that by no measure means that we were able to count this as proper revenge for the humbling we experienced earlier in the season. Oh no, we will have to go into their house next season and put up at least 30 points to feel a tiny bit of satisfaction, let alone redemption. Even if I am called up to the NSFL I will cheer on the Royals on the path to revenge.
18) Awards Season [219 words]
My teammate and fellow captain on the Royals, Acura Skyline is the best running back in the DSFL right now. Period. There is simply no debate here, absolutely no other argument to be made. As a rookie, he had a great campaign and led the league with 1761 yards. Not only did he have the most yards, he also had one of the best yards per attempt ratios, rounding out at 5 YPC. On top of that, he added 10 touchdowns, one of which I will never forget:
We had made several stops in overtime, and then disaster struck on a penalty. 1st and 25, Acura took the ball nearly 75 yards to the house, for the walk-off game winning touchdown! This performance shall remain in the hearts of every Royals player and fan for a very, very long time.
At the very least, Acura, should get an award for running back of the year, but I would suggest that there is a case for offensive rookie of the year, and maybe even offensive player of the year if the votes just fall right. With Awards night only a few days away, we will have to wait and see! Good luck Acura, you deserve any award you get - and should get at least one on the night!
20) Nostalgia [233 words]
Honestly, and this may be a bit rich coming from someone who has been around the league for just over a season, I do have one stand out moment. And that is literally me excitedly proclaiming my joyous disbelief at being a Top-10 pick in the DSFL and getting to play for the London Royals. They had been one of the first teams to reach out in the scouting process and I was fairly active in their scouting discord channels and had quickly made some friends there. Add to that fact, that I am from Europe in real life, used to live in London for a while and my players background story is from London too. This meant it was absolutely magical to hear my name called and the kind words from the commentators on the draft stream. It felt good to feel to belong somewhere and being recognised for a lot of the effort that My player and I had put in prior to the draft. Joining the locker room and being welcomed with open arms, greatly helped my overall perception of the league and has motivated me to stay active for a long time. Thanks to everyone who believed in me and made the argument for me to be the second player drafted in franchise history. I hope I have made you as proud as you made me on draft night!
![[Image: unknown.png]](https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/738567885815021628/1009981440815013949/unknown.png)
![[Image: 61210_s.png]](https://signavatar.com/61210_s.png)
