(S22) - Ultimus Week

[Memento Mori]

Tier 1: Long Form Tasks (800+ words)
Choose ONE for 10 TPE.

1) The league has a rich and fascinating history, and our perspectives on it differ from person to person. In 800 words or more, describe any significant non-playoffs moment in NSFL or DSFL history, whether you were around for it or not. Describe the context, the significant members, and the events. What exactly made this event so famous (or infamous) and why does it deserve to be remembered?

The Season 22 draft class will change the NSFL forever, and is already having a huge impact on the league as the players finish their first NSFL season. The first reason why this was so significant is obvious. The Season 22 draft class was by far the biggest ever, with 284 players selected in the NSFL draft. But this class was and is more than just a huge number of talented players. At the time of writing this, Season 22 users have already taken on key management roles within the league. S22 has a member of Head Office, the head banker, an NSFL GM job, five DSFL GM jobs, sim team members, a member of the events committee, another member of the banking team, casino workers, graders, members of the social media team, members of the rookie mentor team and members of the fantasy team. This draft class has taken the league by storm, and I expect its influence on the league to increase further. With so much of the draft class’ story left to write, it’s certain that it will be remembered. And, unquestionably, it deserves to be.

I’ll begin by talking about the players and their on-field accomplishments. 54 players from the S22 draft class played in the NSFL in their rookie season – which works out as 4.5 players per team. Seven S22 players will play in the Ultimus on Wednesday between Orange County and Colorado. Tatsu Nakamura, Jeffrey Phillips, Big Edd and Deshun Jones will suit up for the Otters, while William Lim, Mo “Mamba” Magic and William Lim will take to the field for the Yeti.

S22 players haven’t just been part of great teams, they’ve also had great individual seasons. Acura Skyline of the Yellowknife Wraiths, Heath Evans, Bruce Buckley and Zamir Kehla of the Arizona Outlaws, Jeffrey Phillips of the Orange County Otters, Byron Dolls of the Baltimore Hawks, Lawrence Bass and Matt McDairmid of the San Jose Sabercats and Ragnar Rok of the Sarasota Sailfish have all been nominated for individual awards at their positions, but it’s off the field where the Season 22 class has really shone.

Exilizer is the first user from the class I’d like to draw particular attention to. Exilizer has been doing great behind the scenes work since joining the league, and was rewarded for their efforts with a promotion from HO intern to a full member of Head Office going into S23. Exilizer did key work on the wiki, scraping DSFL sim files for DSFL stats and awards, before helping to update the TPE tracker. The TPE tracker was the project of Eco, a user who has since left the league, and so Exilizer familiarised himself with the workings of the tracker, added the expansion teams, and moved it over to its new home on the sim-football website. As a member of HO, I’m sure Exilizer has plenty more that he’s working on that we’ll reap the benefits of in due time.

The second user I’d like to draw attention to is Skyline. Skyline’s player, Acura Skyline, has been nominated for running back of the year and offensive rookie of the year, but what really deserves credit is Skyline’s off-field contributions. Skyline was an HO intern along with Exi in S22, and will be taking over as Head Banker for S23. The banking team is another team that does great work that often isn’t noticed or appreciated enough – it goes without saying that training, equipment, contracts and more are hugely important to the league - and that Skyline has been entrusted with this role is a credit to them as a user.

The third user I’d like to mention specifically is iStegosauruz. Steg was the number one pick in the NSFL draft, but that’s not even his biggest achievement. He was also the first of the five members of the S22 draft class to become a GM, but that’s not his biggest achievement either. Steg is the Saviour of OL, who brought respect to an entire position group. The days and nights of arguing about the value of offensive linemen in NSFL general chat are over. Steg simulated 25,000 games so we wouldn’t have to, and since that article we’ve seen a top earner switch to the position, we’ve seen offensive linemen in the Pro Bowl, and a new golden age of offensive line. They asked us to give them a fair rub, and thanks to Steg, we did.

It’d be remiss of me not to mention the four others who have become DSFL GMs and the S22
user who is an NSFL GM. Highhaschdi is now the co-GM of the London Royals, Matty7478 is now the co-GM of the Kansas City Coyotes and J0EB and Blasoon are the new Norfolk SeaWolves GMs. Finally, Isidore94 is now Arizona Outlaws co-GM. The five of them all deserve to be congratulated on this, and it speaks to their character that they’ve been entrusted with these positions and will have a key role in welcoming and embedding new users to the league.

But every one of us has added something to the league, and as a draft class we’ve breathed new life into the NSFL. The S22 draft class looks like it will be the best draft class in history, and if it isn’t then that will mean the league has reached new heights in terms of growth and league health. If one day we have an even bigger draft class, we may have the members of the S22 draft class in Head Office, as GMs, as bankers, as graders, as players, and most importantly, as people to thank for it.

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941 words