It’s a beautiful day today for the inaugural home opener of the newly formed NSFL expansion team, the Philadelphia Liberty. Ah, they’ve still got that new franchise smell, it’s wonderful! Of course, with the start of the new franchise also comes the opening of their new stadium, Taco Bell Stadium. Due to the final stages of construction continuing into the preseason, Taco Bell Stadium remained closed while the team played their home preseason games at Vidas Field at nearby Drexel University. But now that the regular season is finally here, the stadium is ready to officially open as the home of the Liberty. While the stadium being named after the Taco Bell brand is none too flattering and seems to suggest an otherwise low quality stadium compared to say perhaps a stadium named after the higher tier Mexican food chain Chipotle, it is actually quite a nice venue. It features seating for over 40,000 fans and all the amenities including free wi-fi, box seats and suites, as well as a plethora of vendors providing food, drink and even the world renowned “ice cream of the future”, Dippin’ Dots. Of course, one of the major food vendors located at the stadium will be Taco Bell itself, which will be featuring a new item, the Philly Cheesesteak Crunchwrap, as a promotion for the beginning of the season. Depending on the popularity of this new selection, it may become a permanent staple at the stadium and possibly Taco Bell locations in Philadelphia in the near future. It certainly seems like the partnership between the Philadelphia Liberty and Taco Bell will be a winning combination.
![[Image: AQL5sPP.png]](http://i.imgur.com/AQL5sPP.png)
As this is the first regular season home opener in team history, you can bet that the fans are going to be going crazy for some football. The team reports that they have sold out every available seat and over 1000 standing room only tickets as well for this important day in team history. You can tell the fans have been excited about the season as there is a lot of buzz for the team going around the city. Fans have swarmed local retail outlets to purchase hats, shirts and other gear sporting the Phildelphia Liberty logo. And, with player numbers officially announced following the draft, jersey sales spiked in the past month. The most popular jersey in terms of sales has been that of the first draft selection in franchise history, wide receiver Fox North, who has been lights out in the first two games thus far this season.
While the team has no official mascot, fans are embracing legendary Philadelphia historical figure and ladies’ man Benjamin Franklin as the honorary mascot. One particularly excited Philadelphia Liberty fan club has dubbed themselves “Ben’s Brigade”; they all plan to dress as Benjamin Franklin for every Philadelphia home game. I reached out to them to hear what they had to say about the team: “Us and a lot of fans are extremely excited to have an NSFL team here in Philadelphia such a short time after the league was formed. We really like what we have seen so far and the moves that the team made in the draft. Can’t wait for this season to start. Ring the Bell!” A lot of other fans plan to bring their own bells to the game to ring, hoping to add to the crowd noise at the stadium. However, the incessant clanging could become an issue for broadcasters, referees and fans alike which may lead to the team needing to limit what props can be brought into the stadium, similar to when vuvuzelas were banned after their use in the 2010 World Cup. Regardless, the amount of excitement surrounding the upcoming season is promising for the young franchise who will certainly have to work hard to gain fans on the national level as well.
There’s been a lot of news regarding events in store for fans during the season. Each game one lucky fan will be chosen to “Ring the Bell”. This fan will literally get to ring the large Liberty Bell replica that overlooks the stadium from on high as the team runs out on to the field. You can bet diehard new fans will be clamoring to be the one to do this in the first ever regular season home opener. As announced in the opening press conference for the team, one of the first promotions will be to give fans miniature replicas of the Liberty Bell replica at the stadium. After some debate, the team opted to go with bells that would be powered by a rechargeable battery rather than replaceable batteries. This decision was made in order to avoid having fans bring their own batteries to the game which has caused some issues in the past with sports fans of the city of Philadelphia. Luckily, in the very modern Taco Bell stadium, all fans should have easy access to the many outlets that will be located near every seat. The team also plans to do another bell themed giveaway with bobble Bells instead of the classic sports giveaway bobbleheads. Whether or not the historically rowdy Philadelphia sports fans intend to use these bell related items more for throwing at referees and opposing players than for their intended purpose remains to be seen. The team front office hopes that early success by the franchise will help to get fans more interested in channeling their energy toward rooting for the team than for rage and violence.
In terms of the roster, The Liberty seem to be in much better shape than they did after the expansion draft, thanks in large part to an excellent job by their GMs in the S2 draft. There has also been a thorough reworking of the depth chart to maximize the potential of players, most of all moving standout veteran wide receiver Lincoln Jefferson to defense after his tragic injury. Today’s matchup against the Baltimore Hawks looks like it could be a favorable matchup after a brutal road trip for the Liberty against the Sabrecats, Outlaws and Otters to start the season. The Baltimore front seven on defense and running game has looked great so far this season, so this will definitely be a battle that is won in the trenches. The Liberty will lean on playmakers Fox North and Omar Wright to help get them out to an early lead that their defense can maintain with strong play from their talented secondary. The Hawks come in hoping to prove that they’re not just the ‘Same Old Hawks’, that fizzled out in the regular season last year after a promising start. After a week 1 loss this season on the road to the other expansion team in Las Vegas, this game will go a long way to showing how much Baltimore has improved for this season. With the two teams being so close geographically and various rivalries between Maryland/DC and Pennsylvania teams in other professional leagues, we could be looking at the start of a strong rivalry for years to come between the Hawks and the Liberty.
((1181 words, ready for grading))
@Silver Fox @adam2552
Graded
As this is the first regular season home opener in team history, you can bet that the fans are going to be going crazy for some football. The team reports that they have sold out every available seat and over 1000 standing room only tickets as well for this important day in team history. You can tell the fans have been excited about the season as there is a lot of buzz for the team going around the city. Fans have swarmed local retail outlets to purchase hats, shirts and other gear sporting the Phildelphia Liberty logo. And, with player numbers officially announced following the draft, jersey sales spiked in the past month. The most popular jersey in terms of sales has been that of the first draft selection in franchise history, wide receiver Fox North, who has been lights out in the first two games thus far this season.
While the team has no official mascot, fans are embracing legendary Philadelphia historical figure and ladies’ man Benjamin Franklin as the honorary mascot. One particularly excited Philadelphia Liberty fan club has dubbed themselves “Ben’s Brigade”; they all plan to dress as Benjamin Franklin for every Philadelphia home game. I reached out to them to hear what they had to say about the team: “Us and a lot of fans are extremely excited to have an NSFL team here in Philadelphia such a short time after the league was formed. We really like what we have seen so far and the moves that the team made in the draft. Can’t wait for this season to start. Ring the Bell!” A lot of other fans plan to bring their own bells to the game to ring, hoping to add to the crowd noise at the stadium. However, the incessant clanging could become an issue for broadcasters, referees and fans alike which may lead to the team needing to limit what props can be brought into the stadium, similar to when vuvuzelas were banned after their use in the 2010 World Cup. Regardless, the amount of excitement surrounding the upcoming season is promising for the young franchise who will certainly have to work hard to gain fans on the national level as well.
There’s been a lot of news regarding events in store for fans during the season. Each game one lucky fan will be chosen to “Ring the Bell”. This fan will literally get to ring the large Liberty Bell replica that overlooks the stadium from on high as the team runs out on to the field. You can bet diehard new fans will be clamoring to be the one to do this in the first ever regular season home opener. As announced in the opening press conference for the team, one of the first promotions will be to give fans miniature replicas of the Liberty Bell replica at the stadium. After some debate, the team opted to go with bells that would be powered by a rechargeable battery rather than replaceable batteries. This decision was made in order to avoid having fans bring their own batteries to the game which has caused some issues in the past with sports fans of the city of Philadelphia. Luckily, in the very modern Taco Bell stadium, all fans should have easy access to the many outlets that will be located near every seat. The team also plans to do another bell themed giveaway with bobble Bells instead of the classic sports giveaway bobbleheads. Whether or not the historically rowdy Philadelphia sports fans intend to use these bell related items more for throwing at referees and opposing players than for their intended purpose remains to be seen. The team front office hopes that early success by the franchise will help to get fans more interested in channeling their energy toward rooting for the team than for rage and violence.
In terms of the roster, The Liberty seem to be in much better shape than they did after the expansion draft, thanks in large part to an excellent job by their GMs in the S2 draft. There has also been a thorough reworking of the depth chart to maximize the potential of players, most of all moving standout veteran wide receiver Lincoln Jefferson to defense after his tragic injury. Today’s matchup against the Baltimore Hawks looks like it could be a favorable matchup after a brutal road trip for the Liberty against the Sabrecats, Outlaws and Otters to start the season. The Baltimore front seven on defense and running game has looked great so far this season, so this will definitely be a battle that is won in the trenches. The Liberty will lean on playmakers Fox North and Omar Wright to help get them out to an early lead that their defense can maintain with strong play from their talented secondary. The Hawks come in hoping to prove that they’re not just the ‘Same Old Hawks’, that fizzled out in the regular season last year after a promising start. After a week 1 loss this season on the road to the other expansion team in Las Vegas, this game will go a long way to showing how much Baltimore has improved for this season. With the two teams being so close geographically and various rivalries between Maryland/DC and Pennsylvania teams in other professional leagues, we could be looking at the start of a strong rivalry for years to come between the Hawks and the Liberty.
((1181 words, ready for grading))
@Silver Fox @adam2552
Graded
![[Image: 018p.png]](https://i.postimg.cc/WbJGDCCK/018p.png)
[OPTION]===========================================
[OPTION]Regular Season Stats
[OPTION](S2) 14 Games Played
[OPTION](S3) 14 Games Played
[OPTION](S4) 14 Games Played
[OPTION](S5) 14 Games Played
[OPTION](S6) 14 Games Played
[OPTION](S7) 14 Games Played
[OPTION](S8) 14 Games Played
[OPTION]===========================================
[OPTION]Playoff Stats
[OPTION] 27839
[OPTION]===========================================
[OPTION]Trophy Case/Achievements:
[OPTION]Most Likely to Break the Team Bench When Sitting Down
[OPTION]Pumpkin Chuckin' Rally 2017 Semifinalist
[OPTION]Most Likely to Get Traded in S8 (T-1st)
[OPTION]Ultimus Champion S7, S8
Jurisprudence Jones, OL ![[Image: cYhSwFY.png]](https://i.imgur.com/cYhSwFY.png)
![[Image: BC5HKor.png]](https://i.imgur.com/BC5HKor.png)
![[Image: HzftG7t.gif]](https://i.imgur.com/HzftG7t.gif)
![[Image: YltEe9n.png]](https://i.imgur.com/YltEe9n.png)
![[Image: azXTXbj.png]](https://i.imgur.com/azXTXbj.png)
