Tier 1 Task 3:
When people hear that I’ve been around since season 1 they assume I know a ton about the league history and significant events and whatnot, which is pretty far from the truth, I was inactive for a pretty big stretch of time so in actuality I missed pretty much every significant event in league history. However, there is one event that I did happen to be around for, so naturally that’s what I’ll talk about. My first player, Omar Wright, was a RB for the Orange County Otters during the inaugural NSFL season. Despite a solid first couple seasons Omar’s career never really took off cuz I went inactive (sorry Omar) and he washed out of the league after a few seasons.
Even though he didn't hang around long in the league Omar did leave a tiny footprint in league history. It was week four of the first NSFL season, and the 2-1 Otters were visiting a 1-2 Sabercats squad, in a rematch of the same week three matchup where the Otters came out 23-10. The Otters would also go on to win this week’s matchup by an even more boring score of 17-6. All in all this was a pretty meaningless game, it was about as important as any other 23 point snooze-fest, but, at least for one play, there was a little bit of hot sauce in this overall bland performance of a game.
During the second quarter the Otters were at 2nd and 10 on their own 15 when OCO running back Omar Wright broke off for an 80 yard run (applause here). Now, on the surface this doesn’t seem like a big deal (it really isn’t), but at the time, this was a league record by a longshot- the second longest run of the season (by Bubba Nuck) was only 38 yards, not even half of Omar’s run. Only one other RB broke even 20 yards on a single run that first season (Reg Mackworthy). Somehow, in this era of low TPE offenses getting manhandled by defenses regularly, for one single play in one meaningless game Omar Wright managed to break away for what was at the time both a statistical outlier and a mind boggling number (well at least it was for me).
As the league progressed offenses became better and players started to break offensive records year after year on the offensive side of the ball. Except for one record. By season six Omar Wright’s 80 yard run was still a league record by a comfortable 14 yard gap. By this point There were only a handful of season one offensive records that even still cracked their respective top tens, (two more longest run records, a passing interceptions record, and a rushing yardage record) so the fact that this record hadn’t been touched in five whole seasons was… kinda interesting at least? As offensive records were challenged, broken, and set anew season after season, the 80 yard run sat as a yet-unbroken ceiling, having been closely challenged only a few times over this five season stretch.
This all changed in season seven when Wraith’s QB Mat Akselen tied the 80 yard run, topping his now third longest 66 yard run from a season prior. Although he tied the #1 record, and also held the #2 spot, it would not be Akselen who would finally break the record. That would be Darren Smallwood, who in the very next season (season 8 for those keeping track at home) would bust out an 89 yard run, and set history in the process. After 7 seasons of standing nearly unchallenged, the 80 yard record run record initially set in season 1 was broken.
It’s been a long time since this new record was set, and although the record has since been tied, the 89 yard run record set 14 seasons ago is yet to be broken,. Also Omar’s name is further down the list, now holding the #5 spot on the table. So, why do we care about Omar Wright? After all, he doesn’t hold the record for longest run, and hasn't held that record for 15 seasons, so why even bother to bring him up in the first place? Even though he no longer holds the record, Omar’s 80 yard run is the only would be-record in the top ten offensive season record list (applause again here). Meaning not one offensive category (except longest run) has a record in it’s top ten from the inaugural season (defensive records are another story however). Now, really, that doesn’t make it super interesting either, but that's really the only way I can make this story relevant to the league today, however arbitrary that relevancy is.
As the person who created Omar, I obviously find this much more interesting than it really is. Although It’s not a record now, it was at some point, and I remember how cool I thought it was that my player was the one who held the record. And even now when I look at the index, I still see Omar’s name and it makes me think back to the early days in the league, and the fun I had in those initial seasons. Even though this whole post was pretty much a nostalgia trip for me I hope that if anyone bothers to look it over they at least think it’s kinda neat, and I also think it goes to show that however forgettable your player may be they can still leave an impact on the league. If you bothered to read this thanks for indulging me. (You may also know Omar Wright for holding the tenth place spot for fumbles in a season, at a solid 4)
When people hear that I’ve been around since season 1 they assume I know a ton about the league history and significant events and whatnot, which is pretty far from the truth, I was inactive for a pretty big stretch of time so in actuality I missed pretty much every significant event in league history. However, there is one event that I did happen to be around for, so naturally that’s what I’ll talk about. My first player, Omar Wright, was a RB for the Orange County Otters during the inaugural NSFL season. Despite a solid first couple seasons Omar’s career never really took off cuz I went inactive (sorry Omar) and he washed out of the league after a few seasons.
Even though he didn't hang around long in the league Omar did leave a tiny footprint in league history. It was week four of the first NSFL season, and the 2-1 Otters were visiting a 1-2 Sabercats squad, in a rematch of the same week three matchup where the Otters came out 23-10. The Otters would also go on to win this week’s matchup by an even more boring score of 17-6. All in all this was a pretty meaningless game, it was about as important as any other 23 point snooze-fest, but, at least for one play, there was a little bit of hot sauce in this overall bland performance of a game.
During the second quarter the Otters were at 2nd and 10 on their own 15 when OCO running back Omar Wright broke off for an 80 yard run (applause here). Now, on the surface this doesn’t seem like a big deal (it really isn’t), but at the time, this was a league record by a longshot- the second longest run of the season (by Bubba Nuck) was only 38 yards, not even half of Omar’s run. Only one other RB broke even 20 yards on a single run that first season (Reg Mackworthy). Somehow, in this era of low TPE offenses getting manhandled by defenses regularly, for one single play in one meaningless game Omar Wright managed to break away for what was at the time both a statistical outlier and a mind boggling number (well at least it was for me).
As the league progressed offenses became better and players started to break offensive records year after year on the offensive side of the ball. Except for one record. By season six Omar Wright’s 80 yard run was still a league record by a comfortable 14 yard gap. By this point There were only a handful of season one offensive records that even still cracked their respective top tens, (two more longest run records, a passing interceptions record, and a rushing yardage record) so the fact that this record hadn’t been touched in five whole seasons was… kinda interesting at least? As offensive records were challenged, broken, and set anew season after season, the 80 yard run sat as a yet-unbroken ceiling, having been closely challenged only a few times over this five season stretch.
This all changed in season seven when Wraith’s QB Mat Akselen tied the 80 yard run, topping his now third longest 66 yard run from a season prior. Although he tied the #1 record, and also held the #2 spot, it would not be Akselen who would finally break the record. That would be Darren Smallwood, who in the very next season (season 8 for those keeping track at home) would bust out an 89 yard run, and set history in the process. After 7 seasons of standing nearly unchallenged, the 80 yard record run record initially set in season 1 was broken.
It’s been a long time since this new record was set, and although the record has since been tied, the 89 yard run record set 14 seasons ago is yet to be broken,. Also Omar’s name is further down the list, now holding the #5 spot on the table. So, why do we care about Omar Wright? After all, he doesn’t hold the record for longest run, and hasn't held that record for 15 seasons, so why even bother to bring him up in the first place? Even though he no longer holds the record, Omar’s 80 yard run is the only would be-record in the top ten offensive season record list (applause again here). Meaning not one offensive category (except longest run) has a record in it’s top ten from the inaugural season (defensive records are another story however). Now, really, that doesn’t make it super interesting either, but that's really the only way I can make this story relevant to the league today, however arbitrary that relevancy is.
As the person who created Omar, I obviously find this much more interesting than it really is. Although It’s not a record now, it was at some point, and I remember how cool I thought it was that my player was the one who held the record. And even now when I look at the index, I still see Omar’s name and it makes me think back to the early days in the league, and the fun I had in those initial seasons. Even though this whole post was pretty much a nostalgia trip for me I hope that if anyone bothers to look it over they at least think it’s kinda neat, and I also think it goes to show that however forgettable your player may be they can still leave an impact on the league. If you bothered to read this thanks for indulging me. (You may also know Omar Wright for holding the tenth place spot for fumbles in a season, at a solid 4)
The user formerly known as xdave2456
