10-22-2021, 10:07 PM
(This post was last modified: 10-22-2021, 10:08 PM by SouljaBoy2007. Edited 1 time in total.)
Tier 1: Mount Rushmore
The Arizona Outlaws are one of the league's most storied franchises and despite their ups and downs, they've been one of the winningest teams and have a multitude of championships. This has come with tons of legendary players, ranging all over the field. Today I've been tasked with building the "mount rushmore" of Arizona Outlaws. Without further ado, let's look at the 4 greatest Outlaws in history.
King Bronko - The architect of the original Outlaws dynasty, Bronko was an electric talent who was one of the ISFLs first true superstars. His career followed a similar arc to Tom Brady's early career, as the wins came before the stats. As soon as he started to put up ridiculous numbers, including a 44 TD season, the Outlaws stopped winning championships. He held the single season TD record for many years, made the hall of fame, and was the first face of the league. His 13/15 HoF vote share helps to emphasize how great he was in his short time slinging it for the Outlaws. Even in just 7 seasons under center, Bronko made his mark on the league in a way few other players have. He is most definitely a lock for the Arizona Outlaws top 4.
Raymond Vans - The only defensive player on the Outlaws "mount rushmore", Raymond Vans beats out icons like Jayce Tuck (cheated) and Jaylon Lee, who played for several teams. Vans spent his entire prime with the Outlaws and helped lead them to an incredible cinderella run to win their 4th championship. Vans put up some of the most incredible defensive seasons in league history, including a 19 sack effort in the Ultimus year which he then immediately followed up with a 16 sack/23 pass defense campaign in S17. Without Vans' leadership and on field perfomances, the trajectory of the Outlaws franchise would be wildly different. He captained a team that hadn't had a winning record in 10 years to a championship, and for that he will forever be one of the most important Outlaws. While Jayce Tuck had the gaudy stats, Vans impact can never be overstated.
Dean Jackson - I spoke about how the Outlaws didn't have a winning season in 10 years. The face, and only bright spot, of that era was Dean Jackson. The Outlaws cool-handed, clutch kicker was the only thing fans had to look forward to during the toilet years of Arizona. Jackson has had not one, not two, but THREE perfect field goal kicking seasons during his 10 year career with Arizona. While his career rate stats may have suffered a little bit due to his longevity, his all-time stats are elite. Jackson sits at #1 all-time in punting yards and as such was named to the 25th anniversary team of the ISFL. The Arizona Outlaws tended to punt a lot during Jackson's career and with any other player that could be hard to watch, but with Jackson the fans were elated to watch him kick a ball to the moon or sail a 50 yarder through the uprights like it was an extra point. It takes a special kind of kicker to be the face of a franchise, but Jackson was just that.
Charlemagne Cortez - If this list was made 2 seasons ago, it would've been Andrew Reese in this spot instead of Cortez. Charlemagne Cortez was a bright young talent in this league, a great arm and a great mind at the QB position. Just that is enough to make him a fan favorite on a team that has had its fair share of QB struggles. But just being a talented young player is not enough to get onto a team's mount Rushmore. Outside of expansion teams, an active player in their prime is almost never on their teams pinnacle, but Charlemagne Cortez is that rare active player. In S30, Charlemagne Cortez led what I believe to be the best offensive season in the history of the ISFL. If Charlemagne Cortez had his S30 in his rookie season and then retired immediately after I would still be screaming that he is in the top 4. S30 Cortez didn't lead the league in yards, or TDs, and he didn't throw the least picks. What he did do is shatter, and I mean SHATTER, the passer rating record. He broke the 10 year old record from Franklin Armstrong, a legend in his own right, by 4 entire points. Cortez' 113.1 passer rating was about the same distance from 2nd place Colby Jack as Colby Jack was to 11th place. He did this based on the strength of his absurd yards per attempt numbers. 8.8 yards per attempt is beyond what should be possible in this league with the amount of defensive talent that exists. Because this season comes along with a career that has seen Cortez get the 2nd highest YPA and passer rating in ISFL history, I believe that he has done more than enough to earn a spot on the Arizona Outlaws Mt. Rushmore.
The Arizona Outlaws are one of the league's most storied franchises and despite their ups and downs, they've been one of the winningest teams and have a multitude of championships. This has come with tons of legendary players, ranging all over the field. Today I've been tasked with building the "mount rushmore" of Arizona Outlaws. Without further ado, let's look at the 4 greatest Outlaws in history.
King Bronko - The architect of the original Outlaws dynasty, Bronko was an electric talent who was one of the ISFLs first true superstars. His career followed a similar arc to Tom Brady's early career, as the wins came before the stats. As soon as he started to put up ridiculous numbers, including a 44 TD season, the Outlaws stopped winning championships. He held the single season TD record for many years, made the hall of fame, and was the first face of the league. His 13/15 HoF vote share helps to emphasize how great he was in his short time slinging it for the Outlaws. Even in just 7 seasons under center, Bronko made his mark on the league in a way few other players have. He is most definitely a lock for the Arizona Outlaws top 4.
Raymond Vans - The only defensive player on the Outlaws "mount rushmore", Raymond Vans beats out icons like Jayce Tuck (cheated) and Jaylon Lee, who played for several teams. Vans spent his entire prime with the Outlaws and helped lead them to an incredible cinderella run to win their 4th championship. Vans put up some of the most incredible defensive seasons in league history, including a 19 sack effort in the Ultimus year which he then immediately followed up with a 16 sack/23 pass defense campaign in S17. Without Vans' leadership and on field perfomances, the trajectory of the Outlaws franchise would be wildly different. He captained a team that hadn't had a winning record in 10 years to a championship, and for that he will forever be one of the most important Outlaws. While Jayce Tuck had the gaudy stats, Vans impact can never be overstated.
Dean Jackson - I spoke about how the Outlaws didn't have a winning season in 10 years. The face, and only bright spot, of that era was Dean Jackson. The Outlaws cool-handed, clutch kicker was the only thing fans had to look forward to during the toilet years of Arizona. Jackson has had not one, not two, but THREE perfect field goal kicking seasons during his 10 year career with Arizona. While his career rate stats may have suffered a little bit due to his longevity, his all-time stats are elite. Jackson sits at #1 all-time in punting yards and as such was named to the 25th anniversary team of the ISFL. The Arizona Outlaws tended to punt a lot during Jackson's career and with any other player that could be hard to watch, but with Jackson the fans were elated to watch him kick a ball to the moon or sail a 50 yarder through the uprights like it was an extra point. It takes a special kind of kicker to be the face of a franchise, but Jackson was just that.
Charlemagne Cortez - If this list was made 2 seasons ago, it would've been Andrew Reese in this spot instead of Cortez. Charlemagne Cortez was a bright young talent in this league, a great arm and a great mind at the QB position. Just that is enough to make him a fan favorite on a team that has had its fair share of QB struggles. But just being a talented young player is not enough to get onto a team's mount Rushmore. Outside of expansion teams, an active player in their prime is almost never on their teams pinnacle, but Charlemagne Cortez is that rare active player. In S30, Charlemagne Cortez led what I believe to be the best offensive season in the history of the ISFL. If Charlemagne Cortez had his S30 in his rookie season and then retired immediately after I would still be screaming that he is in the top 4. S30 Cortez didn't lead the league in yards, or TDs, and he didn't throw the least picks. What he did do is shatter, and I mean SHATTER, the passer rating record. He broke the 10 year old record from Franklin Armstrong, a legend in his own right, by 4 entire points. Cortez' 113.1 passer rating was about the same distance from 2nd place Colby Jack as Colby Jack was to 11th place. He did this based on the strength of his absurd yards per attempt numbers. 8.8 yards per attempt is beyond what should be possible in this league with the amount of defensive talent that exists. Because this season comes along with a career that has seen Cortez get the 2nd highest YPA and passer rating in ISFL history, I believe that he has done more than enough to earn a spot on the Arizona Outlaws Mt. Rushmore.
![[Image: Harper_2.png]](https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/612864475883896852/914101862691663932/Harper_2.png)
