(S25) - PT 3 - Early Decisions

[thevoicelesscreator]

Mo Magic only played one season of his four eligible years on the Collegiate track, but what a journey it was to get there. Coming out of high school, Magic was easily one of the highest recruited Canadian athletes. His performances and freakish build got him offers for most five-star colleges, such as Notre Damme, LSU, UCLA, and Tennessee all in the contest for his signature. But in the end, it was the home town that won out. 

Magic surprised all with his decision to remain at home in Vancouver, British Columbia, and play for his local university (or College to the American readers) – the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds. What went into the decision is still speculated about today. Some close to the Magic family say that Mo’s decision was made to stay closer to his family. Various reports say that Magic, although given a full-ride scholarship, still maintained a part-time job to assist his family with income.

Others claim that Magic had always intended to do a single year before declaring for the DSFL Draft, and used his Student Athlete status to gain access to high level coaching to take him to the next level. Regardless of his intentions, Magic ended up being one of the most dominant defensive linemen in the history of Collegiate football, breaking all of UBC’s single season defensive records.

[Mojojojo]

High school was a difficult time for Ernest Lover, who after struggling with family financial distress, depression, and weight gain made the difficult transition from linebacker to defensive end in junior year. When college recruiting rolled around, Lover had less than a full season starting as a defensive end, putting him at a disadvantage in terms of stats and highlight reels compared to top prospects. Without much attention from the scouts and still unsure whether he would be able to make football his career, Lover made the decision to follow his high school sweetheart, Goode, to college.

Goode received a scholarship to study Mining and Minerals Engineering at Virginia Tech, which was out of reach for Lover in terms of his grades and football record. So he concentrated his outreach to division II schools in Virginia to try to stay as close to Goode as possible. Top contenders were the Virginia State University Trojans of the CIAA and the Virginia-Wise Cavaliers of the South Atlantic Conference. That is, until Lover’s high school coach stepped in and convinced Lover to aim higher. Coach Cares used his connections to get Lover a tryout at Longwood University, a division I school that had recently added a football team to the Big South. Lover’s willingness to learn and hard work impressed the Longwood coaches, who offered him a slot if he were willing to develop behind a starting senior in his first year. With Longwood only a 2 hour drive from Virginia Tech along US-460E in his beat-up Nissan Rogue, Lover jumped at the chance to play division I football with an up-and-coming team not far from his sweetheart.

[huck24]

Vincent Jones Jr did not have the typical path the the DSFL.  Jones did not start playing football until his late teenage years.  Growing up, living half of the time in England and the other in the United States, Vincent had a great appreciation for both types of football (American and soccer).  His father played soccer in England, so as a young boy, it was just assumed that he would follow in his footsteps.  He did that, in more ways than one.  The elder Jones was known for his rough style of play, and his son played with that same intensity.  So much so that he was asked many times to tone it down on the pitch.  Having spent a lot of time in America, watching a learning the American version of football, Jones' soccer coaches kindly suggested given that I try.  Telling him that his high intensity might come in handy.  He took their advice and got set up with a team in the States to give the game he knew a lot about but never played, a chance.  The football team he first played with was shocked at Vincent's athletic ability and overall toughness and strength.  Right then and there they recommend he hung up the soccer cleats for football cleats.  He agreed whole heartedly, and decided to peruse a career in it.  Having decided this later in his teens, he didn't want to try and play college ball, instead he trained with the same team every chance he could and was able to get to a point where he was comfortable declaring for the DSFL draft and that is where he is now.

[bigbluex02]

PBE AFFLIATE

[Vainknight13]

Jameson Vermillion made a very calculated decision to go to the United States Naval Academy. Literally with a calculator, at a crossroads in life between enlisting in the Navy or going into massive debt to go to a decent college a recruiter helped him get into the academy after talking about his high school football career. It turned out free was way better than not free and he chose free college for a potential commission and continuation of his football career. He was still a relative unknown and had to work his way onto the team but after the coaches discovered that in Vermillions own words "I'm fass as fucc boi" he took the starting spot very early into his freshman year. He started breaking Navy records immediately including season and game rushing records. His elite speed led to him occasionally moonlighting as a receiver and a defensive back, playing safety and corner in high school in college in certain obvious deep pass situations, with the ability to get involved all over the field with his quickness he found himself occasionally breaking up and stopping big plays just with raw athletic ability. He may have had an easier time breaking out if he had been recruited in high school but his unorthodox path to stardom took him on an interesting path that helped develop his attitude and he personally wouldn't change a thing.
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[ForSucksFake]

Daymond Brooks went to college at Washington State University mainly because he wanted to honor the legacy his father couldn't have. His father was a highly-recruited quarterback in high school and was set to become an all-time great college signal-caller. This never happened, however, as he nearly died from an aneurysm during the spring leading up to his freshman year. Daymond had accepted a scholarship to play quarterback for the Cougars but was so far down the depth chart that he decided his athletism would make a transition to wide receiver pretty seamless. This decision would end up paying off tremendously for Daymond and he excelled at running routes and hauling in difficult passes. He was a Heisman finalist and set numerous records not only for the conference but all of Division I college football. Daymond's ability to be flexible at a young age paved a path for him in the ISFL when he once again switched positions; this time from wide receiver to defensive tackle. Looking back, Daymond isn't always quite sure he would have enrolled at Washington State had he known he wouldn't able to play quarterback. But if the goal was to honor his father's legacy, he most certainly accomplished it and made his family very proud.

Code:

210

[Memento Mori]

Like all good cornerbacks, Brandon Booker is blazing fast. Booker was a track star in high school, setting a school record in the 100-meter dash when he competed in the state championships. As is often the case with high school players who're faster than everyone else on the field, Booker played running back in high school and was considered a four-star recruit by Rivals.com. Booker went to college in his home state of Arizona, attending Arizona State University and playing for the Sun Devils.

Recruited as a running back, Booker found success harder to come by at the position when he reached the college level. He was still one of the fastest players on the field, but no longer had the breakaway speed required to outrun the entire defence on a reverse or an outside handoff. Booker touched the ball just twenty times on offence for the Sun Devils, finishing the season with fewer than 150 scrimmage yards. It became apparent to the ASU coaching staff that running back was not the position best-suited to Booker or where he'd reach his potential, and the following offseason he transitioned to defensive back. Here, he finally found success at the college level and became a starter on the defensive side of the ball. Having made the switch, he'd start all 26 of his remaining college games and record 10 interceptions during this time period. The initial lack of success at the college level was challenging, but Booker rebounded and became an excellent college player who eventually turned pro. (256 words)

[TheRocheLimit]

It wasn't a big surprise that Jack Banks ended up as an athlete, but he did have other options. And where he chose to play college football no doubt surprised his parents at least a little.

Jack's mother, Sharon Edwards, was a prominent astrophysics professor at the University of California Berkeley. She was a major figure in her field and someone that Jack looked up to greatly. Jack's father, David Banks, was a highly-regarded college basketball player at the University of Kansas. Jack would often go with his dad across the country to take in high-profile sporting events.

Jack parents wanted to give him a well-rounded upbringing, so he would spend time listening to his mother's lectures as well as playing basketball, football, and baseball with his father. Jack was leaning toward pursuing a career in science, but his love of football blossomed while playing at Oakland Tech. Jack was a natural athlete and ended up playing both running back and linebacker in high school. He wanted to follow in the footsteps of former Oakland Tech alumni Marshawn Lynch and be a running back full time, but something just "clicked" when he played linebacker. He was also the head of the science club and a member of the debate team. Banks was recruited to play football at a number of high-profile colleges and ultimately decided to play at his mother's alma mater.

Jack Banks decided to pursue athletics like his father, but at his mother's school. It was a decision that has served him well and he wouldn't change any part of it.

[KamiCommie]

PBE PT

[ToastCharger]

SHL Affiliation