11-08-2021, 02:21 AM
(This post was last modified: 11-20-2021, 01:32 AM by allbetsonjames. Edited 2 times in total.)
The Baltimore Hawks are a founding member of the ISFL and has a long storied history. From Ultimus wins to Hall of Fame inductees, the black and gold birds of Baltimore have done it all.
In the Season 32 draft the Hawks made history again selecting Lenard Graf who became the first Tight End selected first overall since Carlito Crush in the Season 5 draft.
This draft decision caused me to start looking into the history of the Tight End position specifically in the Hawks history. Graf was selected with hopes of becoming a hall of fame Tight End much like Crush was and like former Hawk Verso L'Alto.
Unlike L'Alto, Graf will be joining a Hawk team that already has a star Tight End in Makoa Mahi'ai. Mahi'ai has been a staple of the Hawk offense for four seasons now and is hitting his prime in stride.
If you're unsure of how great Mahi'ai is then this article should help prove his dominance through the beginning of his career.
The Baltimore Hawks have had ten different Tight Ends wear the black and gold in their 32 years of existence. This sounds pretty good until you take into account that the team didn't employ a Tight End from Season 4 to Season 7 as well as using 4 different Tight Ends in their first 2 seasons. Those 4 Tight ends (Tenzini, Gibson, Sanderson, and Piper) combined for 185 receptions, 1202 yards and 10 touchdowns in the Hawks first 2 seasons.
After struggles to find a franchise Tight End with only Sanderson playing more than one seasons with the team, the Hawks schemed away from Tight Ends and didn't roster one for 3 seasons.
Everything changed for the Hawks in Season 7 when they drafted future Hall of Famer Verso L'Alto 2nd overall in the season 7 draft. L'Alto brought a dynamic to the Hawk offense that hadn't been seen before and was a long term face of the franchise. L'Alto played from Season 7 to Seasom 19 (he skipped Season 13 however for a reason I'm not aware of) and shattered every Hawk record for a Tight End before finally hanging up the cleats and watching his jersey rise up to the rafters.
Baltimore was prepared for the retirement when they drafted Earl Sauce in the 3rd round of the Season 18 draft. Sauce would have a pro bowl seasom his rookie year and was primed to be the Tight End of the Future but decided to walk in free agency leaving the Hawks without a Tight End for Season 21.
The Hawks did have a young star developing in the DSFL in James Lewandowski. Baltimore grabbed an absolute steal drafting Lewandowski in the 7th round of the Season 21 draft. Once he was called up in Season 22, Lew would go on to play 5.5 dominant seasons with the Hawks before being traded to San Jose during the Seasom 27 ownership change. Lew was the only other Tight End to put up numbers that made older Hawks fans smile in awe. Many fans in Baltimore are left wondering what Lew could've done if he was on the prime Baltimore offenses like L'Alto and the numbers he could've put up.
With Lewandowski traded away, Baltimore was once again in search of a Tight End. The season 28 draft came around and the Hawks drafted Makoa Mahi'ai in the 2nd and he has been the starting Tight End since. Makoa brings a grittier game to the franchise as he prefers to get his hands dirty in the running game just as much as he likes making catches. When most Tight Ends check the receiving leader board, Makoa is checking the pancakes leader board.
After 4 great seasons from Mahi'ai, the Hawks have decided to build a dangerous duo by bringing in Graf. The two Tight ends look to take the ISFL world by storm and dig the Hawks out of the basement of the NSFC.
Below is a timeline of every Tight End to play for the Hawks:
S1: G. Tenzini & Piper, W.
S2: Piper, W. (2 Games) & Sanderson, J. & Gibson, C.
S3: Sanderson, J
S4: NONE (Whats...)
S5: NONE (...A...)
S6: NONE (...TE?)
S7: L'Alto, V.
S8: L'Alto, V.
S9: L'Alto, V.
S10: L'Alto, V.
S11: L'Alto, V. & Harp, D.
S12: L'Alto, V. & Harp, D.
S13: Harp, D. (L'Alto retired to play Baseball or something)
S14: L'Alto, V. (He made a Space Jam Movie) & Harp, D.
S15: L'Alto, V. & Harp, D.
S16: L'Alto, V.
S17: L'Alto, V.
S18: L'Alto, V. (Pancakes, P. was a Guard that caught 6 passes as a TE)
S19: L'Alto, V. & Sauce, E.
S20: Sauce, E.
S21: NONE (FA amirite?)
S22: Lewandowski, J.
S23: Lewandowski, J.
S24: Lewandowski, J.
S25: Lewandowski, J.
S26: Lewandowski, J.
S27: Lewandowski, J. (10 Games) & Arrabiata, D. (6 Games)
S28: Mahi'ai, M.
S29: Mahi'ai, M.
S30: Mahi'ai, M.
S31: Mahi'ai, M.
To give you a look at just how good these Tight Ends have been, here are the Hawks career TE leaders in various stats.
Mahi'ai again in 4th all time averaging 8.36 YPC and should be in 3rd at the end of the season as he averages 536 yards a year. He has gone up in yards each season and could see himself eclipsing the 700 yards mark and thrust himself into 2nd all time.
Mahi'ai has already cracked the top 3 for touchdowns which could show how dominant he's been but also how bad some of the offenses Lew played on in his years with Baltimore. Makoa's best TD season had him hitting paydirt 7 times so a repeat season would put him all alone in 2nd. L'Alto shows just how dominant he was with his staggering 49 touchdowns which blows away the rest of the board. Mahi'ai averages 3.5 TDs a year which means he'd have to play another 10 seasons at his current pace just to tie him.
Mahi'ai has really shown his Blocking prowess in his first 4 years as he bulldozes ahead to 2nd all time. Makoa averages 3 pancakes a game which means he still needs another 60 games at this pace to catch L'Alto who averaged just 2.74 pancakes a game. If Mahi'ai can keep up that pace he'd reach first in just 124 games compared to L'Alto's 164.
Makoa who's known for his blocking has shown his explosiveness over the years as he has 3 of the top 5 longest catches by TEs in Hawks history. To top it off, Makoa's 81 yards touchdown catch is the longest in Hawks history by any pass catcher in the new rules era. (86 yards is the all time record)
In the Season 32 draft the Hawks made history again selecting Lenard Graf who became the first Tight End selected first overall since Carlito Crush in the Season 5 draft.
This draft decision caused me to start looking into the history of the Tight End position specifically in the Hawks history. Graf was selected with hopes of becoming a hall of fame Tight End much like Crush was and like former Hawk Verso L'Alto.
Unlike L'Alto, Graf will be joining a Hawk team that already has a star Tight End in Makoa Mahi'ai. Mahi'ai has been a staple of the Hawk offense for four seasons now and is hitting his prime in stride.
If you're unsure of how great Mahi'ai is then this article should help prove his dominance through the beginning of his career.
The Baltimore Hawks have had ten different Tight Ends wear the black and gold in their 32 years of existence. This sounds pretty good until you take into account that the team didn't employ a Tight End from Season 4 to Season 7 as well as using 4 different Tight Ends in their first 2 seasons. Those 4 Tight ends (Tenzini, Gibson, Sanderson, and Piper) combined for 185 receptions, 1202 yards and 10 touchdowns in the Hawks first 2 seasons.
After struggles to find a franchise Tight End with only Sanderson playing more than one seasons with the team, the Hawks schemed away from Tight Ends and didn't roster one for 3 seasons.
Everything changed for the Hawks in Season 7 when they drafted future Hall of Famer Verso L'Alto 2nd overall in the season 7 draft. L'Alto brought a dynamic to the Hawk offense that hadn't been seen before and was a long term face of the franchise. L'Alto played from Season 7 to Seasom 19 (he skipped Season 13 however for a reason I'm not aware of) and shattered every Hawk record for a Tight End before finally hanging up the cleats and watching his jersey rise up to the rafters.
Baltimore was prepared for the retirement when they drafted Earl Sauce in the 3rd round of the Season 18 draft. Sauce would have a pro bowl seasom his rookie year and was primed to be the Tight End of the Future but decided to walk in free agency leaving the Hawks without a Tight End for Season 21.
The Hawks did have a young star developing in the DSFL in James Lewandowski. Baltimore grabbed an absolute steal drafting Lewandowski in the 7th round of the Season 21 draft. Once he was called up in Season 22, Lew would go on to play 5.5 dominant seasons with the Hawks before being traded to San Jose during the Seasom 27 ownership change. Lew was the only other Tight End to put up numbers that made older Hawks fans smile in awe. Many fans in Baltimore are left wondering what Lew could've done if he was on the prime Baltimore offenses like L'Alto and the numbers he could've put up.
With Lewandowski traded away, Baltimore was once again in search of a Tight End. The season 28 draft came around and the Hawks drafted Makoa Mahi'ai in the 2nd and he has been the starting Tight End since. Makoa brings a grittier game to the franchise as he prefers to get his hands dirty in the running game just as much as he likes making catches. When most Tight Ends check the receiving leader board, Makoa is checking the pancakes leader board.
After 4 great seasons from Mahi'ai, the Hawks have decided to build a dangerous duo by bringing in Graf. The two Tight ends look to take the ISFL world by storm and dig the Hawks out of the basement of the NSFC.
Below is a timeline of every Tight End to play for the Hawks:
S1: G. Tenzini & Piper, W.
S2: Piper, W. (2 Games) & Sanderson, J. & Gibson, C.
S3: Sanderson, J
S4: NONE (Whats...)
S5: NONE (...A...)
S6: NONE (...TE?)
S7: L'Alto, V.
S8: L'Alto, V.
S9: L'Alto, V.
S10: L'Alto, V.
S11: L'Alto, V. & Harp, D.
S12: L'Alto, V. & Harp, D.
S13: Harp, D. (L'Alto retired to play Baseball or something)
S14: L'Alto, V. (He made a Space Jam Movie) & Harp, D.
S15: L'Alto, V. & Harp, D.
S16: L'Alto, V.
S17: L'Alto, V.
S18: L'Alto, V. (Pancakes, P. was a Guard that caught 6 passes as a TE)
S19: L'Alto, V. & Sauce, E.
S20: Sauce, E.
S21: NONE (FA amirite?)
S22: Lewandowski, J.
S23: Lewandowski, J.
S24: Lewandowski, J.
S25: Lewandowski, J.
S26: Lewandowski, J.
S27: Lewandowski, J. (10 Games) & Arrabiata, D. (6 Games)
S28: Mahi'ai, M.
S29: Mahi'ai, M.
S30: Mahi'ai, M.
S31: Mahi'ai, M.
To give you a look at just how good these Tight Ends have been, here are the Hawks career TE leaders in various stats.
RECEPTIONS
L'Alto, V. --- 871
Lewandowski, J. --- 344
Harp, D. --- 292
Mahi'ai, M. --- 276
Sauce, E. --- 112
Mahi'ai in his 4 seasons is averaging roughly 4.3 catches a game (69 a season) which means that if he keeps up his pace he will be 2nd in receptions on the Hawks all time TE list with 245. Since the league has seen many rule changes about the length of the season, Lew averaged 4.1 catches a game and L'Alto 5.3 catches a game.
YARDS
L'Alto, V. --- 7575
Lewandowski, J. --- 3166
Harp, D. --- 2480
Mahi'ai, M. --- 2306
Sauce, E. --- 873
L'Alto, V. --- 7575
Lewandowski, J. --- 3166
Harp, D. --- 2480
Mahi'ai, M. --- 2306
Sauce, E. --- 873
Mahi'ai again in 4th all time averaging 8.36 YPC and should be in 3rd at the end of the season as he averages 536 yards a year. He has gone up in yards each season and could see himself eclipsing the 700 yards mark and thrust himself into 2nd all time.
TOUCHDOWNS
L'Alto, V. --- 49
Harp, D. --- 20
Mahi'ai, M. --- 14
Lewandowski, J. --- 9
Sauce, E. --- 9
L'Alto, V. --- 49
Harp, D. --- 20
Mahi'ai, M. --- 14
Lewandowski, J. --- 9
Sauce, E. --- 9
Mahi'ai has already cracked the top 3 for touchdowns which could show how dominant he's been but also how bad some of the offenses Lew played on in his years with Baltimore. Makoa's best TD season had him hitting paydirt 7 times so a repeat season would put him all alone in 2nd. L'Alto shows just how dominant he was with his staggering 49 touchdowns which blows away the rest of the board. Mahi'ai averages 3.5 TDs a year which means he'd have to play another 10 seasons at his current pace just to tie him.
PANCAKES
L'Alto, V. --- 373
Mahi'ai, M. --- 194
Harp, D. --- 158
Lewandowski, J. --- 138
Sauce, E. --- 34
L'Alto, V. --- 373
Mahi'ai, M. --- 194
Harp, D. --- 158
Lewandowski, J. --- 138
Sauce, E. --- 34
Mahi'ai has really shown his Blocking prowess in his first 4 years as he bulldozes ahead to 2nd all time. Makoa averages 3 pancakes a game which means he still needs another 60 games at this pace to catch L'Alto who averaged just 2.74 pancakes a game. If Mahi'ai can keep up that pace he'd reach first in just 124 games compared to L'Alto's 164.
LONGEST CATCH
Mahi'ai, M. --- 81 yards
Mahi'ai, M. --- 57 yards
L'Alto, V. --- 48 yards
Mahi'ai, M. --- 47 yards
Harp, D. --- 47 yards
Mahi'ai, M. --- 81 yards
Mahi'ai, M. --- 57 yards
L'Alto, V. --- 48 yards
Mahi'ai, M. --- 47 yards
Harp, D. --- 47 yards
Makoa who's known for his blocking has shown his explosiveness over the years as he has 3 of the top 5 longest catches by TEs in Hawks history. To top it off, Makoa's 81 yards touchdown catch is the longest in Hawks history by any pass catcher in the new rules era. (86 yards is the all time record)
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