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620 wordsAt the beginning of this fall, it was a safe bet that defensive tackle Godfrey King was imagining playing out his senior year of college football at his school of choice, Temple University. A legend of the school in his own right as a player, imagine the surprise King got when he received a call from the management of the S1 champions the Arizona Outlaws about the possibility of him joining their team for the coming season.
“I had never even thought it was a possibility for me to play NSFL ball in S2, so when the Outlaws called—I mean you can imagine the kind of surprise I felt. I knew I had a really important decision to make though, so I had to consult everybody. Friends, family, teammates--everybody.”
King personally knew that he wanted to give the NSFL a try, and for good reason. The season would give him a chance to get him in a league where the talent level was a big step up from that he was used to. Additionally, it would give him the opportunity to learn what it was like practicing and working out for a real professional football team, it of course didn’t hurt that said team were the defending champions of the league. He felt that all of these factors could make him a more valuable prospect and give him an edge in his upcoming draft.
That being said, King also knew that he had teammates at Temple who relied on him as the team’s defensive anchor and as a leader in the locker room. He knew they wouldn’t stop him from going, but would they understand his justification for doing so if that was his choice?
“It basically got to the point where I was like, ‘If I’m gonna stop worrying about this, I’m just gonna have to sit them down and tell them, get their honest opinions.’”
And that’s exactly what King did. Informing his coaches and then calling a team meeting during summer practice, Godfrey told his teammates about the offer he had received from the Outlaws. For a few moments the locker room was tense, you could almost see the shockwaves resonating throughout the room from that bomb of information. Some guys perked up their heads in disbelief while others visibly slouched and were overcome with a frown. In a room which is so often full of cheerful and passionate young men, it felt extremely out of place to have such extreme silence. King looked like he might just break down in sadness until one of his teammates cracked a joke to great success, asking: “So when are we all getting’ our Rolls Royces courtesy of the King?”
A few other team leaders spoke (including the coaches), pretty much all having the same core message albeit in different tangles of words: “Godfrey King is destined for great things in the NSFL, why let anything get in the way of his legacy?”
With that newfound team approval, Godfrey knew exactly what needed to be done. Not 24 hours later, King decided to call the Outlaw management team and let them know that he was interested in being on their team for the season. Not too long after, a contract was signed, and King flew out to Arizona to meet and practice with his new teammates on his first ever NSFL team.
Four weeks into the season, King has been visibly developing his skills as he finds success (team-wise) with the Arizona Outlaws, now 3-1. While King has not seen any playing time yet this season, he has been giving it his all in practice, and hopes to make an on field appearance by the season’s midway point.
GRADED
![[Image: RIqovqB.png]](https://imgur.com/RIqovqB.png)
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