[div align=\\\"center\\\"]![[Image: usatsi_13218449.jpg?w=1000&h=600&crop=1]](https://usatraiderswire.files.wordpress.com/2019/08/usatsi_13218449.jpg?w=1000&h=600&crop=1)
The 20th season of the NSFL has been something of a rollercoaster for Jamie Nkiah. It seems like no time ago that he was a bench player on the Myrtle Beach Buccaneers and about as unpopular a draft prospect as you could get, being passed over by a team and left to be drafted in the 4th round after seemingly all other options had been taken. Things have changed a little bit since then. He managed to secure a starting spot as a safety on one of the all time great defenses seen in the NSFL or DSFL. He also managed to make a good enough impression with the team that drafted him, the Arizona Outlaws, to receive confirmation shortly before the season end that he would be making the trip to play in the big league next season.
News like this comes with mixed emotions attached. It's obviously a huge personal win for Jamie to have gone from the bottom of the pile to someone who has a role to play on an ambitious young NSFL team in the space of a season, and something that few would have expected going into this season. However as is often the case in life, when one door is opened another is closed; Jamie's impending call up to Arizona means his time with the Buccaneers will have drawn to a close after this week. It was an inevitability that one day he would have to call an end to his time with the team, but coming off this kind of a season makes it harder. The situation does however give Jamie the opportunity to get the perfect high note to end his DSFL career on - a chance to win an Ultimini when the Buccaneers take on the Grey Ducks tomorrow night.
This season's DSFL has been dominated by Myrtle Beach and Minnesota. Both teams are well built, sporting identical 12-2 records going into the biggest game of the season. Minnesota's offence has been electric all season, leading the league in points scored by a margin of 100, while Myrtle Beach's defense has been rock solid, allowing nearly 70 points less than the team above them. It's the classic irresistible force meets the immovable object scenario, and it will all come down to whether or not Minnesota can find a way to break through the Buccaneers' dominating defensive game. Jamie knows he has a role to play in securing the victory here. He's not a player with the flash of his fellow defensive back Prince Vegeta, but he's been solid all season in playing the role of a roaming free safety, making big hits on the ball carrier and threatening interceptions or pass disruptions when the play comes into his area. If Nkiah can lock up his zone well enough that the Grey Ducks are forced to take their chances and try and make plays that the all star Vegeta can get his hands on.
While winning on Wednesday night would be the dream ending to a DSFL career, Jamie knows that it's far from a disaster if that doesn't come to pass. The success of the season just completed has made up for the mediocrity of his rookie year and then some. It finally feels for Jamie that he's on the path to reaching his potential and achieving what he's always believed he's capable of in the NSFL, and a great deal of that is down to the way the Myrtle Beach organisation has allowed him to grow within the system. The management there has been second to none when it comes to nurturing and encouraging young talent, and it's a testament to them that they've not only been able to develop some of the best talents in this upcoming draft, but also turn around one of the worst ones from last season. With a record size DSFL draft class on the horizon, those entering could do a lot worse than join the ranks of the Buccaneers.
Next season will present a real challenge for Jamie, with a big step up in the level of competition as he goes up against the NSFL's finest. Although he may not be the biggest name in the rookie class, he's hoping that the lessons he's learnt in the past season will stand him in good stead for what lies ahead.
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The 20th season of the NSFL has been something of a rollercoaster for Jamie Nkiah. It seems like no time ago that he was a bench player on the Myrtle Beach Buccaneers and about as unpopular a draft prospect as you could get, being passed over by a team and left to be drafted in the 4th round after seemingly all other options had been taken. Things have changed a little bit since then. He managed to secure a starting spot as a safety on one of the all time great defenses seen in the NSFL or DSFL. He also managed to make a good enough impression with the team that drafted him, the Arizona Outlaws, to receive confirmation shortly before the season end that he would be making the trip to play in the big league next season.
News like this comes with mixed emotions attached. It's obviously a huge personal win for Jamie to have gone from the bottom of the pile to someone who has a role to play on an ambitious young NSFL team in the space of a season, and something that few would have expected going into this season. However as is often the case in life, when one door is opened another is closed; Jamie's impending call up to Arizona means his time with the Buccaneers will have drawn to a close after this week. It was an inevitability that one day he would have to call an end to his time with the team, but coming off this kind of a season makes it harder. The situation does however give Jamie the opportunity to get the perfect high note to end his DSFL career on - a chance to win an Ultimini when the Buccaneers take on the Grey Ducks tomorrow night.
This season's DSFL has been dominated by Myrtle Beach and Minnesota. Both teams are well built, sporting identical 12-2 records going into the biggest game of the season. Minnesota's offence has been electric all season, leading the league in points scored by a margin of 100, while Myrtle Beach's defense has been rock solid, allowing nearly 70 points less than the team above them. It's the classic irresistible force meets the immovable object scenario, and it will all come down to whether or not Minnesota can find a way to break through the Buccaneers' dominating defensive game. Jamie knows he has a role to play in securing the victory here. He's not a player with the flash of his fellow defensive back Prince Vegeta, but he's been solid all season in playing the role of a roaming free safety, making big hits on the ball carrier and threatening interceptions or pass disruptions when the play comes into his area. If Nkiah can lock up his zone well enough that the Grey Ducks are forced to take their chances and try and make plays that the all star Vegeta can get his hands on.
While winning on Wednesday night would be the dream ending to a DSFL career, Jamie knows that it's far from a disaster if that doesn't come to pass. The success of the season just completed has made up for the mediocrity of his rookie year and then some. It finally feels for Jamie that he's on the path to reaching his potential and achieving what he's always believed he's capable of in the NSFL, and a great deal of that is down to the way the Myrtle Beach organisation has allowed him to grow within the system. The management there has been second to none when it comes to nurturing and encouraging young talent, and it's a testament to them that they've not only been able to develop some of the best talents in this upcoming draft, but also turn around one of the worst ones from last season. With a record size DSFL draft class on the horizon, those entering could do a lot worse than join the ranks of the Buccaneers.
Next season will present a real challenge for Jamie, with a big step up in the level of competition as he goes up against the NSFL's finest. Although he may not be the biggest name in the rookie class, he's hoping that the lessons he's learnt in the past season will stand him in good stead for what lies ahead.
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