At the end of next season I will have been in the league for a full year. I remember joining the league around the holidays last season while on an extended vacation from work. I wasn’t really looking to join a sim league, but I happened upon a post on /r/NFL that popped up around a time when I was feeling particularly bored so I figured why not give things a look. It is interesting to self-reflect on my feelings about the league a year ago vs. now. I’d never been a part of a sim league or community like this before, so this wealth of information, media, and graphics was really quite exciting to discover. I’ve always been a fan of tabletop roleplaying games and American football, so this seemed to be a perfect fit for my interests. I remember being so engrossed in trying to figure out a good name for my player, finding a render that fit the name and position, and diving into a backstory and graphics for my player. I tried to do some interesting media pieces and graphics to boost my draft stock a bit, but didn’t really post much in the Discord.
I think that sadly those initial emotions of discovery and excitement have gone away by this point. At this point I’m finding that a lot of the things I do in the league feel more like a chore than an engaging experience. The locker room I’m in is great and I wouldn’t change it for the world, but I don’t think I ever figured out a good way to carve out a role for myself in the community of the league that aligned well with my interests in a way that others have seemed to have been able to do. I’ve enjoyed my time in the league, but at this point I don’t necessarily know what the future of my involvement in it will look like.
That being said, I’ll always be grateful for the fun memories that I’ve gained as a result of my joining the league. Being drafted second overall to the Sabercats, seeing the San Jose locker room evolve over the last few seasons, and winning the Ultimus trophy as the statistical underdog, then being able to come back under even worse odds and winning a trophy back to back. Outside of the sim, being able to contribute to graphics and design conversations has been a good time as well. While a lot of this work is still in-progress, I hope that I’ve been able to be a net positive to some of these initiatives.
I think that sadly those initial emotions of discovery and excitement have gone away by this point. At this point I’m finding that a lot of the things I do in the league feel more like a chore than an engaging experience. The locker room I’m in is great and I wouldn’t change it for the world, but I don’t think I ever figured out a good way to carve out a role for myself in the community of the league that aligned well with my interests in a way that others have seemed to have been able to do. I’ve enjoyed my time in the league, but at this point I don’t necessarily know what the future of my involvement in it will look like.
That being said, I’ll always be grateful for the fun memories that I’ve gained as a result of my joining the league. Being drafted second overall to the Sabercats, seeing the San Jose locker room evolve over the last few seasons, and winning the Ultimus trophy as the statistical underdog, then being able to come back under even worse odds and winning a trophy back to back. Outside of the sim, being able to contribute to graphics and design conversations has been a good time as well. While a lot of this work is still in-progress, I hope that I’ve been able to be a net positive to some of these initiatives.
