Blast from the Past - FOF 2001 Dynasty!!! (With a New Team)
 

Hello folks and welcome to my newest dynasty. I found a member here who still had the old FOF 2k1 and I grabbed it. My old code still worked and so I am replaying one of my fav FOF titles, not because it is perfect (far from it) but because of one thing - Expansion!

I began a game as the St. Louis Rams GM and piloted them to a Super Bowl and NFC Championship appearances in the first two seasons. Now, the brand new San Antonio Lone Stars have been announced, and I have successfully applied to be their GM. It is 2002. I have a head coach and a head scout already hired by my owner. The expansion draft is about to begin.

A review of FOF 2001 - This is the EA/Solecismic combined game. It is infamous for having players where they were then, and not a realistic picture of where the would be today. A classic example is Charlie Batch, who is really good in this game, and fairly cheap.

There were several issues with FOF2k1, famously the bug where older players would demand significantly more money than was their due, especially for backups. Another issue was trades, where you could rape the computer AI with unrealistic trades.

FOF2k1 was claimed to be nothing more than an update of FOF2 with newer graphics, but it was harder and the AI was better. Not massively so, and it would continue in later games, but it was a better game in many of these aspects, making it an interesting selection for another dynasty.

Some think using the Franchise tag is cheesy, but I like it. It’s realistic and useful. However, I am not allowed to abuse the tag. Key uses are to keep disgruntled players on your team or force someone to stay on your team when you are having a contract issue. Other than that, don’t use it just to use it.

Another thing I like about FOF2k1 over FOF2 is that the perfect players are not here. You know, the TE that is absolute nuts at both received and blocking, or the RB that is a top pounder and dasher and receiver, the LB who is both a house in coverage and against the run while also nuts rushing the passer, etc. These are no realistic, and FOF2k1 significantly reduces them.

Our Dynasty Rules:

1. We begin on the hardest level of difficulty.

2. Only 1 year deals for most UFA of rookie status, but you can offer the occasional two or three year contract to players of a developmental nature or QBs, to represent reality.

3. I will only accept offered trades, and those I offer to the AI must be ones I would agree to if I were on the other side.

4. GM may be fired for poor performance.

5. Signing of Draft Picks is automatic.

6. I will never add more than one year to the initial demand of length made by an agent.

7. Franchise tag restrictions as listed above.

8. Post Training Camp cut players can only be signed to one year if they are expected to be a starter. (Backups can get paid over several years).

9. Backloading can never be more than 2x the previous salary

10. Do not reduce salary cap requested by an agent during negotiations.

11. I may not renegotiate a contract unless we are at a Backloaded year, they suffered a major injury that reduced their ability significantly, they are in the final year of a 3year or less contract, or they are in the final two years of a 4+ year contract. I will allow an exception to QBs. One of those must be true.

12. I will be moving to new teams when I see a need. As such, I will not be with the San Antonio Lone Stars for the long haul.

Let’s take a look at my new franchise:

Head Coach - Oscar Frederick - Already hired when I came on board. Excellent at Discipline and Defensive Play Calling. Poor with Injuries. Very Good with Motivation and Good with Offensive Play Calling and Youth. In terms of talent, he is Excellent with D Linemen, Very Good with Kickers and Secondary, Good with QBs and Rbs, Fair with Wrs, O Line and Lbs. He is the 14th highest paid HC in the league and we have a contract with him for two years. I would have hired someone with better young players skill because we will likely have a lot of youth on our roster.

Head Scout - Stanley Glenn - We have the highest paid head scout in the league by a lot. What do we get four our money? Excellent at evaluating QBs, Rbs, Dline and Oline. Very Good at Wrs. Good at youth, Lbs, Secondary. Fair at kickers. Not bad.

Only four franchises, Buffalo, New Orleans, Cincinnati and Tampa Bay have a lower value than us.

San Antonio has 1.57 million people in the area. It is one of the most trend setting cities in the US. It also has one of the highest poverty rates in the US, so take that with a grain.

We are in the AFC West and play against the Chargers, Chiefs, Seahawks, Raiders and Broncos annually.

Our outdoor/natural grass stadium has: 19300 upper deck seats, 14,000 end zone seats, 8,100 Mezzanine seats, 12,400 sideline seats, 9,500 club seats and 140 luxury boxes.

Capacity 66,700.

The Jaguars made it to the AFC Championships in their 2nd year with youth and luck, but then began to dominate for several years. The Panthers made it to the NFC Champions in their second year with experience and veterans, and then didn’t see the deep playoffs again for years.

I want a symbiotic relationship. Both veterans and youth. That is how, I beleive I’ll be able to hit the playoffs early and keep hitting.

Ok, time to head into the 2002 Expansion Draft.


I want to keep my cap relatively light. So I will be wary of the adequate veteran with the high price tag. So, for example, I might want QB Elvis Grbac, best QB in the draft and not too shabby, but there is no way I want to spend 15 million on him this year, and 5 million each year for the next three years. Perhaps I will do so later in the expansion draft after seeing my cap.

I decide to start selecting with a few good players with adequate salaries:

1 - S Kenny Kennedy from the Broncos. With a cap cost of just 490k, has three years left, and is just in his 3rd year. He is adequate but doesn’t break the bank.
2 - TE Mike Lucky from the Cowboys. In the final year of his contract for just 610k. Best non kicker in the draft and just in his 4th year. He is disgruntled, however.
3 - P Jeff Feagles form the Seahawks. He’s old, but really good. We have him for two years with a good contract.
4 - LB Ryan Phillips from the Giants. He’s okay, but a bit expensive. We have him for two years at 2.1 million this year and 2.6 next. This is his 6th year in the league.
5 - OT Christian Jewell from the Packers. Very green and very young with a small price tag. We have him for just one year.
6 - DE Jared Tomich from the Saints. He isn’t that good, but I wanted a DE with some experience on my roster and he was the best of the bunch. 2.88 million hit this year but none next because he is in the last year of his contract, so he is not a major commitment.
7 - DT Seth Payne of the Jaguars. Just like Houston did in real life, we have taken Seth Payne. He is the best DT on the board, but acceptable at best. We have him for three years with 2.84 this year, 3.5 next, and 4.4 the following year.
8 - WR Kevin Lockett of the Chiefs. There are a lot of receivers open, but not many that are any good. Kevin could start for us easily. We have this 6 year man for two years at 3.3 this year and 4.1 next.
9 - QB Elvis Grbac of the Chiefs. I decide to bite the bullet. I don’t know what the rookie class holds but I don’t want to tie myself to having to force draft a rookie QB if there isn’t want available when we pick, and we lock up a starting caliber QB for four years, even if this year is a 15 million hit. I don’t know if the game will account for it, but bringing both a QB and a WR from a team should have some benefits for an expansion franchise.
10 - FB Rob Konrad of the Dolphins. There are a ton of Fbs in the pool ,but only 4 Rbs, which all suck. I take the one I like the best with a combination of skills, youth and cheapness. I’d rather not have to be forced to waste a draft pick on a FB if I don‘t have too. We have the 4 year man for two years at 610k.
11 - K Brett Conway from the Redskins. Using that logic, I grab the best K on the board but we have him for just one year at 60k, so I can cut him easily if a good K is a free agent or a great kicker falls in my lap during the draft.
12 - WR Tai Streets from the 49ers. We have this young developmental WR for three years at 610k each year.
13 - LB Phil Clarke from the Saints. 1.2 mill this year, 1.5 next. 4th year, still needs development but could be good.
14 - CB Kevin Smith from the Cowboys. There were a lot of corners in the expansion draft, but most were lousy. Kevin is an okay emergency starter and we have him for three years at 1.9 million each year. He’s older though - 11th year is beginning.
15 - S Scott Shields from the Steelers. He’s a solid young player who we have for two years.
16 - LB Brett Cox from Buffalo. Very green. We have this 2nd year player for two years at minsal, but probably just a backup.
17- TE Daniel Campbell from the Giants. Young, cheap and we have him for just one year. A very good backup. You draft where the strength is on the board.
18 - C Derek Engler from the Giants. The top rated C on the board. Not that good. This 6 year man has one year left on his contract for 2.1 million and then he is gone.
19 - G Jeremy Jacobs of the Falcons. The worst G in the group and very, very raw, but has some solid skills once this 2nd year man develops into them. We have this 3rd round pick from last year for two more years at minsal.
20 - RB Britt Weber from 49ers. Last year’s 5th overall pick from Boise State, Britt busted hard. Because his compensation is so bonus heavy, we get him for four years, with 690k this year, then 900, 1.1, 1.4 and 1.8 over the next years. Still, I needed a RB on my roster, and he was the cheapest of the 4.


The final five picks are all meant to be cheap, young players for backups. DT Adam Hill from the Titans, OT Bryan Booty from the Bengals, CB Howard Toler of the Jets, OG Frank Beede of the Seahawks and DE Steve White from the Bucs.

We have 39 million under the cap.

Free Agency:

I can definitely go shopping for a few quality FAs. I take a look over my roster before I do so. What sort of FAs do I want? I also take a quick look at the draft class. Is there an obvious top overall selection for me to grab? There is a stud DE, really good QB, and a pretty good RB. All could go near the top if I needed.

For Free Agency, I have a starting QB, TE and adequate WR, FB, C.

S I need O-Line, Defense, and perhaps a stud RB. What does free agency have for me?

A handful of good Rbs. Eddie George and Michael Pittman head the list.

I make an offer to Eddie George.

There are a ton of good OGs. I make two offers. One to Matt O’Dwyer and one to Everett McIver. Both are older. I decide to put a poker in the Willie Anderson sweepstakes.

I also make offers to DE Tony Brackens, LB Dwayne Rudd, and I enter the Samari Rolle sweepstakes. I also make a token offer to Lawyer Malloy.

At the end of week 1, we have signed Eddie George and Dwayne Rudd. We lost Lawyer Milloy which I expected. The Eagles are the top bidders to Brackens. 49ers for McIvers. Atlanta for Willie Anderson. We are tops for Samari Rolle and O’Dwyer. I increase our bids for Anderson, Brackens, but not McIvers. The bids have increased significantly. I submit an offer to OG Will Shields. I also make an offer to S Reggie Tongue.

The next week, G Matt O’Dwyer signs with us. We have the highest contracts for Rolle, Tongue, Shields and Brackens. I increase my bid for Anderson again, and increase mine for Rolle a bit.

DE Brackens signs with us. We are tops in the other candidates.

Will Shields signs with the Rams and Reggie Tongue with the Falcons. We are tops in the other two players - Anderson and Rolle.

No news for two weeks.

Week 8, Willie Anderson decides to sign with us.

Week 9 - Samari Rolle signs with us.

We have signed CB Samari Rolle, OT Willie Anderson, RB Eddie George, OG Matt O’Dwyer, DE Tony Brackens and LB Dwayne Rudd.

Week 19 - There are still some good players out there. Good WRs and CBs. I decide to make an offer for WR Az-Zahir Hakim for three years at a very flat and decent 2.6 million per year. He signs for it.

Time for drafting.

2002 Amateur Draft.

We have the first overall pick. Options:

DE Richard Kinney with very high stats is the top rated rookie in the draft. We have one hoss in Brackens and this would give us a second.

QB Jerome Allen with 7.8 future rating, very green and very good.

No contest. I take Jerome Allen.

In the next round I have several options, none of which are too inspiring. It’s down to a good Center and a good DT. I snag the very green but developable DT.

In the third, I hope to catch lightning in a bottle with a really good looking RB in Troy Santoro. In the 7th, I grab a great, great returner in Floyd Redman.


Draft Recap -

1st - QB Jerome Allen of Vanderbilt
2nd - DT Gerald Swayne of New Mexico
3rd - RB Troy Santoro of McNeese State
4th - OG Alvin Stokes of Bluffton
5th - DT Martin McGregor of Duke
6th - LB Malcolm Emmons of Kansas State
7th - S Floyd Redman from West Virginia



We now have 39 players under contract.

Areas of severe concern:

Safety and Safety
OT


Moderate concern:

CB
DE

I sign DE Duane Clemons to a one year deal.
I sign unsigned CB Sam Madison to a four year deal. Corners are now set for a long time.
I sign S Jerome Woods to a three year deal.

More Mountaineers, please. :)

Hehe, this isn[t my WV dynasty Swaggs. Perhaps, someday I might relocate a team to WV...

The UFAs I Sign:

OT Blaine Buckner of Michigan State
QB Mo Andrews, Colorado State
RB Norman Knight of Oklahoma State
TE Norbert Rivers of Evansville
WR Brenden Davis of Concord State
C Carlton Spain from Bowling Green
WR Lincoln Nixon of Temple
CB Johnny Henry, UTEP
DE Riddick Sherman, Louisville
QB JJ Price, Air Force
QB KC Lucas, NC State
RB Chad Way, Culver-Stockton
LB Kirk Emmons, USC


I release DE Jared Tomich. Too much money for a backup.

Let’s hit up camp.

We sold 37600 season tickets.

Post- Camp Roster Moves:

We sign LB Freddie Russ to a single year contract for 600k. He was cut off a team that drafted him and then cut him post camp. I like this rookie, so I am signing him.

I cut QB JJ Price, RB Britt Weber, LB Brett Cox. That puts us at 52 players. I then sign draft camp casualty OT Ryan Young to a one year deal and cut OT Bryan Booty.

We finish the pre-season with a 1-3 record.

Here is our starters:

QB Jerome Allard - You don‘t draft a QB with the top overall selection and then start an adequate older QB like Elvis Gerbc over him. He’s raw and will get a chance to grow under center this year.
RB Troy Santoro- He looks like the real deal and better than Eddie George. Eddie will be pissed.
FB Rob Conrad - I picked him up in the expansion draft and haven’t even touched the position since.
TE Mike Lucky - The same is true with Mike. I could have splashed the cash to upgrade this position, but Mike appears good enough and I need to fix other positions first.
WR Za-Zahir Hakim - Our best WR no question.
WR Kevin Lockett - From the expansion draft.
OT Willie Anderson - Because he is great and we now have a strong OT presence on our team.
OT Ryan Young - Not bad, but not that great either.
OG Matt O-Dwyer - He‘s pretty good and we could keep him under contract for a while.
OG Alvin Stokes - Our 4th rounder with some potential is starting.
C Derek Engler - Another starter from the expansion draft
K Brett Conway - Adequate
P Jeff Feagles - A bit better.
DE Chris Clemons - Good enough to start for a year and keep Brackens from being the sole attention getter on the Dline.
DE Tony Brackens - Obviously our best Dlinemen and a good all around player.
DT Martin McGregor - Others are better right now, but he will be better down the line.
DT Gerald Swayne - Same here. Let’s start my rookies from the 2nd and 5th rounds.
OLB Ryan Phillips - Best of the lot but not that good.
MLB Dwayne Rudd - The rock of my defense.
OLB Freddie Russ - He is hyper green but has great bars. I can see why this rookie got cut. He is the worst on my team right now, but starting him should get him some serious experience.
CB Samari Rolle - Just a great corner.
CB Sam Madison - Just a really good corner.
S Jerome Woods - Just an alright safety
S Scott Shields - Ick. A weakness this.

Some notes - Both of our starting corners are fan favorites. We are evaluated as have the best starting tandem in the league at the corners. 9th best starting DTs. We will be running a 4-3 defense. Our RB, taken in the third round, is rated as a 57/80 player by our scout.

Our rookie ratings:

QB Allard - 22/70
RB Santoro - 57/80
LB Malcolm Emmons - 16/56
DT Gerald Swayne - 15/56
DT Martin McGregor - 14/56
G Alvin Stokes - 29/52
S Floyd Redman - 12/38

Floyd is our best punt and kickoff return man.

The 2002 Schedule for the San Antonio Lone Stars

1. Miami
2. At Cleveland
3. San Diego
4. At Seattle
5. At Minnesota
6. At Kansas City
7. At Oakland
8. At San Diego
9. BYE
10. Seattle
11. Tampa Bay
12. Denver
13. Oakland
14. At Denver
15. Chicago
16. At Jacksonville
17. Kansas City

(No NFL schedule would ever give a team five consecutive away games. Especially not an expansion team in its first season).

Our goal - Hit the 7-9 mark set by the Panthers in their first season.

Week 1 - We win our debut game 20-17. Eddie George and Troy Santoro got two scores on the ground. Add two FGs by Conway. Player of the Game - DE Tony Brackens. We gave up no turnovers. They held us to under 100 yards rushing. Rookie Allard went 19 of 37 for 142 yards. No receiver has more than 50 yards. 9 receives caught a pass, so Allard really spread out his 19 completions. Dwayne Rudd had 11 solo tackles and 5 assists. Brackens notched a trio of sacks. Sam Madison grabbed a pick. It was a good, professional game with no mistakes. Az-Zahir broke his hand and will be out for a few weeks. Tai Streets will be starting in his place. C Derek Engler dislocated his should is and doubtful. I deactivate him for a game or two.

Week 2 - We defeat the Browns 21-20. Close. Santoro notched a pair of TDs on the ground and Eddie George added a 3rd. Allard threw a pick that was returned for a TD by the Browns defense. We had 170 yards on the ground. We gave up three turnovers, a fumble lost and two picks, all by Allard. Santoro had 30 rushes for 131 yards. Allard went 19 of 32 for 141 yards. Redman had a 58 yard kickoff return. Picks by Samari Rolle and LB Phillips. White had a pair of sacks. O’Dwyer had 5 KRB and Spain had 4. We won this game despite our QB.

I am moving Elvis Grbac to the starting position. Let’s see what the old man can do.

Week 3 - We defeat San Diego 10-7. Kevin Lockett caught a pass for our only TD. Player of the Game? Tony Brackens again. Santoro had 76 yards. Grbac was 14 of 31 for 110 yards, a TD and a pick. Not any better than Allard. Brackens notched two sacks, while Sherman also grabbed a pair. White, Swayne and Rudd all added a sack. Grbac is questionable. I’ll go back to Allard permanently.

Week 4 - We lose to Seattle 19-20. All of our games are close. LB Ryan Phillips go at pick and ran it back for 47 yards. Kevin Lockett caught a TD pass from 3rd string QB KC Lucas. That may be bad news. MVP is Ryan Phillips. Santoro had 99 yards on 18 carries. Lucas went 15 of 25 for 96 yards, a TD and a pick. Phillips grabbed two picks on the day. Samari Rolle got a sack. Allard looks banged but fine. I jack up our willingness to use injured players. Perhaps we could have ended up with a win today had the injured Grbac stepped up. Willie Anderson is questionable but will start. LB Dwayne Rudd is questionable and we will be strating him as well. Az is back.

Week 5 - We defeat Minnesota 24-8. Out first game that was not close at all. Kevin Lockett caught a 66 yard pass from Allard for a TD. Eddie George rushed for a score. Tai Streets caught an Elvis Grbac pass. Why are my QBs keep getting subbed? Eddie George rushed for 129 yards on 31 carries. No carries by our starter. Grbac went 18 of 30 for 136 and a TD. Allard went 3 of 4 for 77 and a TD. Redman had 48 yards punt returning on two returns. Rolle and Madison each grabbed picks, Brackens got a sack and a half. Game MVP was Eddie George. Jerome Woods has 3 passes defensed. QB Jerome Allard is probable wit ha bruised shoulder.

RB Troy Santoro is out, long term, with a severe hamstring pull, and his stats have dropped as a result. I place him on IR and move Eddie George to the starting position. I sign Chris Fuamatu-Ma’afala to a one year deal to salve my roster. I had this bright, great RB and is sucks that he was injured this badly this soon.

Week 6 - We crush the Chiefs 23-3. Our defense is looking good. Sam Madison notched a 73 yard interception return and was the game MVP. 4th string WR Nixon caught a TD pass. The rest were Fgs. George has 107 yards on 11 carries. Allard went 12 of 24 for 120 yards, 1 TD and 1 pick. Brackens came away with another pair of sacks. DT McGregor recovered one of their fumbles. WR Tai Streets is out for a few weeks.

At the 6th week mark, we are 5-1 without any major offensive players. On defense, however, Brackens is second in the league with 8.5 sacks. Our defense is allowing the 2nd fewest rushing yards per game at 79/game. We allow the fewest yards per completion, 5.1, of any team. We are tied with the most sacks in the NFL at 20. We have a +3 turnover margin despite starting a rookie QB.

I approach a couple of my starters from the expansion draft with one year left to see if they want to sing for next year, but none have a decent contract expectation.

Week 7 - We lose to the 1-5 Raiders 3-10. An ugly game. George had 92 yards on 23 carries. Allard was 9 yards. 2 of 14? That is not a veteran presence. Brackens got another pair of sacks. LB Phillips and S Scott Shields grabbed picks. Az is questionable for next week (but will play). G Alvin Stokes is doubtful and I am pulling him. Willie Anderson has been knocked down to doubtful, and I am pulling him as well.


Week 8 - We defeat San Diego 17-7. We are now in first place in the AFC West and heading into our bye. Eddie George was the Player of the game with a 2 yard td run and a 74 yard catch and run for a score. He had 101 yards on 19 carries and 125 yards catching on 6 catches. Allard was 20 of 34 for 220 yards, 1 TD and 1 pick and lost a fumble. S Shields with another pick, Brackens with another sack. C Engler had 5 KRB. Our defense grabbed a fumbles by DE Clemons.

OT Ryan Young was knocked into doubtful from an injury. I hope this week will ge tus som erest. Our players need it.


Week 9 - Bye

Injuries we still have of significance:

G Alvin Stokes is doubtful with a hip pointer
T Willie Anderson is questionable with a bruised ribcage
T Ryan Young is questionable with a sprained neck
WR Tai Streets is doubtful with a hyper extended knee


My starting O-line is hemorrhaging players right now.

I decide to rest Stokes and Anderson and Streets but start Young.

Week 10 - We lose 17-28. Eddie George was MVP. He has a score on the ground and 4th string WR Brenden Davis caught a TD pass from Grbac. George had 126 yards on 28 carries. Grbac had his first good passing day where he is 21 of 35 for 297 yards, and a TD, but two picks. Eddie George caught 134 yards on 7 passes. Samari Rolle grabbed a pick. Eddie George was also the league’s Offensive Player of the Week.

Jerome Allard is questionable with a broken nose. I will be starting Grbac. Wrs Lincoln Nixon and Brenden Davis both got injuries at questionable, and Tai Streets is still doubtful and Az has a niggling injury at probable. Four of my 5 WRs have an injury right now.

Week 11 - We crush Tampa Bay 33-3. Our highest scoring game of the year by far. Eddie George player of the game with an 67 yard catch and run for a TD, 18 yard run for a score, 143 yards on 29 carries, 124 yards on 4 passes and a good day. Chris Fu also hammered it in from 4 yards away, and O-Lineman Blaine Buckner got a fumble recovery for a TD. Grbac was 20 of 28 for 243 yards and a TD - no turnovers. Tony Brackens notched an incredible 4 sacks on the day. C Engler had 4 KRB. Clemons and McGregor both recovered fumbles from the other side. Eddie George is again league Offensive Player of the Week.

G O’Dwyer is doubtful with a broken foot. Willie Anderson is healed and back in the saddle.

Week 12 - We lose to Denver 17-30. Ouch. Our scores came from a George run and a Lockett catch. They held us to 23 rushing yards on the day. Grbac went 16 of 42 for 238, a TD and 3 picks. Hakim had 105 yards on 4 catches. S Shields grabbed a pick. S Woods had three passes defensed.

Jerome Allard is healed and will be starting again next week. It is true that Grbac had two of our best performances, but last week was just a nightmare.

Week 13 - We lose 11-30 to the Raiders. Lincoln Nixon caught a 2 yard pass for our only TD. In his return, Allard went 15 of 29 for 169 yards, 1 TD and 1 pick. Pick by Shields, sack by Brackens.

If the playoffs were held today, our 7-5 record would lose to Buffalo’s and we would not make it in as a wild card. However, Denver is also 7-5 and has the tiebreaker, so we could leapfrog over them for the division victory. We play Denver this week.

S Jerome Woods is questionable with turf toe, but I’m starting him anyway.

Week 14 - We edge Denver 13-9. Kevin Lockett caught a 35 yard pass for the game’s lone TD. Dimeback Johnny Henry is the Game Mvp. George was kept to just 55 yards on the ground. Allard was 14-28, 147, 1 TD. Henry has two picks. Lincoln Nixon is doubtful so I activate probable Tai Streets to take his place.

We are now leading the AFC West again, 8-5.


Week 15 - We crucify the Bears 27-7. Both Sam Madison and Samari Rolle return picks for scores. Samari Rolle is the game MVP. Tai Streets got a two point conversion. FB Rob Konrad got a 24 yard catch and run for a score. George was knocked out and Chris Fu got us 82 yards on 27 carries. Allard went 21 of 31 for 216 yards, a td and no picks for his best passing day of the season. Rolle had two picks, Brackens got a sack and a half, Rolle had three passes defensed. Willie Anderson had 4 KRB. DT McGregor got us a fumble recovery. We were +4 in turnover differential. Samari Rolle was League Defensive Player of the Week.

Jerome Allard is questionable with a hyper extended elbow so Grbac is moved to starter. George is questionable with a hip pointer and will sit out this week.


Week 16 - We travel to and lose in Jacksonville 13-20. Carnell Lake go at 43 yard interception return off Grbac. Kevin Lockett caught a 47 yarder. Chris Fu had 4 yards on 17 carries. Without any ground game, our team lost it. Grbac went 19 of 32 for 226 yards, 1:2 ratio.

We are 9-6, as is Denver. We play KC this week. We need to win, so I am activating a few players that have injuries to get us this win.


Week 17 - We edge KC 16-10. But Denver wins the division so we are a wild card at 10-6. Backup RB Norman Knight rushed for our only score of the game. Dwayne Rudd was game MVP. Rudd had 1.5 sacks, Rolle had a pick, Brackens had a sack. Three of our D Line recovered fumbles.

Wild Card Round - San Antonio Lone Stars at the Denver Broncos. We split the regular season series. Jerome Allard will be starting, as will Eddie George.


We lose 17-21.

Eddie George and Chris Fu rushed for two tds. George had 157 yards on the ground on 19 carries.

Allard was 7 of 16 for 122 yards, no tds or picks.

S Redman, starting after a backup safety went down with a tie injury and the starting S Shield was out for a few quarters, led the team in tackles with 12 solos and 2 assists. Jerome Woods had a pick. Stokes and Konrad each had 3 KRB.



Denver lost in the AFC Championships 10-41 to Cincinnati. The Super Bowl was Cincinnati vs. Dallas, which the Cowboys won 38-25.

Awards:

All-Pro 1st Team DE Tony Brackens, CB Samari Rolle.
All Pro 2nd Team RB Eddie George, LB Dwayne Rudd


Four of my free agency signings.

Seems like you've got a great looking defense already. A great running back and a developing QB. Put together some receivers and a solid O-line and you could be there quick.

Fun read.

Thanks!

Let’s look at stats:

Jerome Allard started 11 games and only passed for 1375 yards, 6:6 ratio. 69.3 rating.

Eddie George had 9 starts and played in 14 games for 994 yards on the ground, and 7 Tds, plus 479 yards in the air and 2 more Tds.

Kevin Lockett led the team with 771 yards and 6 Tds. Az-Zahir had 541 yards on 13 starts.

Redman had the 5th best punt return average in the league and 10th best KR.

Jeff Feagles had a very poor punting season, and I will be looking to replace him next year.

Tony Brackens led the league in sacks with 19.5. Second was Kevin Carter at 19.

Dwayne Rudd was 5th in the league in tackles. Add 4.5 sacks.

Rod Woodson, btw, had an unbelievable 19 picks in the season. Looks like a broken stat. Two other players had 10 each. Pretty unbelievable. Rolle had 6. He was also one of the best in passes defensed with 14 (4th best). DT Martin McGregor led the league in fumble recoveries with 4.

Not a bad year, all in all.

Team Awards:

My personal awards to my players. I give out annual awards for OPotY, DPotY, RotY, STPotY and Heart Award.


Offensive Player of the Year - RB Eddie George - After stepping up once Troy was injured and getting us yards after yards and scores after scores, George shows that we made the right choice when we signed him.
Defensive Player of the Year - DE Tony Brackens- Obviously, having the most sacks in a year is going to get you DPotY virtually every time. Good job!
Rookie of the Year - QB Jerome Allard - We started rookies at DT, DT, G, and QB plus RB for a few games, and QB was one of four weakest places, but as far as rookie starting level stats go, having just 6 picks is a good place to start. Allard shows himself to be a good caretaker of the ball. He may not light up the board with thousands of yards, but he gets the job done.
Special Teams Player of the Year - S Redmon - He had good PR and KR returns and gave great field position on a regular basis. Good job Redmon!
Heart Award - WR Kevin Lockett -I really didn’t expect much from what I thought was an overpriced receiver, but I was happy with Lockett’s contributions, all thing considering.

Next year we are going to have to make some decisions and put out some money.

I have a lot of players leaving my roster, (23) and this time, I may not have as much money for good free agents, since all of my free agents form last year now have higher cap numbers. The patches that I signed will be mostly gone. I have no expansion draft to help me build my roster. I kept 21 of my 25 expansion draftees last year and they really helped.

Score: Team Performance - 66, Franchise Value 61, Profit/Loss - 39, Difficulty - 79 - Total Score 56.

CB Kevin Smith retired.

I don’t touch ticket prices.

The salary cap rose 9 million.

I will not be franchising any players.

I keep my staff in place.

We are now the 14th rated franchise in the league. Our stadium is tied for 6th best, Support is 5th worst, roster is 14th worst, economy 12th best. We had the second lowest attendance in the league last year either by raw numbers or by percentage of butts in seats.

I get two trade offers when we enter free agency, but I don’t want to trade my good players. The only player I might shop is RB Troy Santoro. We draft 24th, which truly sucks for us, because we need good youth. As such, I may try to move Troy.

I trade Troy Santoro and our 6th rounder to the Bears for their 1/18 selection. Good. Now I have more 1st rounders.

I will not be resigning any of my UFAs, at least not right now. Time to see what is available. We are currently 26 million under the cap with 28 players under contract.

I make offers to K Mike Vanderjagt, P Josh Miller. Josh is alright, but better than Feagles. Vanderjagt is awesome and I’d love to sign him.

I make offers to:

C John Wade - Best C in free agency. I need to improve my O Line.
TE David LaFleur - I lose my starter, so let’s bring in a solid player
S Lethon Flowers - Older, but the best of poor crop.
LB Wali Rainer - Best of the group

I needs OT and DT, but the players don’t match the money right now. Same with OG.


Week 1 - David LeFleur signs with us. P Josh Miller does too. We are the highest offers to the others. I cut Jeff Feagles.

Week 4 - Mike Vanderjagt signs with us.

Week 6 - Still no movement on the final 3 guys.

Week 7 - Lethon Flowers signs with us

Week 8 - John Wade signs with us

Week 9 - Wali Rainer signs too.


We got all of our targets. K, P, LB, S, C and TE. Not really a bunch of name positions - no DT or DE, no OT or CB, no RB or WR or QB.

I'm disappointed you traded Troy away. I was looking forward to watching his career.

Now you are moving in the right direction. :)

Heh. John Wade is from Marshall too.

Well, his injury knocked his skills down, and I was able to get a really good WR from the pick we traded, and I need WR more than I need RB with Eddie George coming off an All Pro season. That was my thinking there.

Troy was good, but not as good as he was.

As I alluded to earlier, here is our draft, including WR pick from the Troy trade:

The Draft:

The Dolphins take a DE with the top pick. There are several players I’d be happy with at 18. Let’s see what falls my way.

Suck. The best C in the draft is still on the board and I just signed John Wade. JJ Turman would be a great starting corner, but I already have two. S Roderick Hammonds would be a great starting S down the road, and Woods disappointed me last year. That might be doable.

However, none are as useful to me at Marvin Graham, WR. This guy looks to have a lot of potential, and I need more quality receivers.

I then take a need pick. Gary Conley is the best OT on the board, and I need a starter. I grab him. Same in the second, I need a DE starter and Bertsch is good enough. Grabbing Andre in the 3rd can allow me to drop Elvis.





Draft Recap:

1/18 - WR Marvin Graham, Nevada
1/24 - OT Gary Conley, Fairmont State
2 - DE Harvey Bertsch, Colorado
3 - QB Andre Geiger, Washington
4 - LB Leland Finkes, Sienna
5 - C CJ Luciano, Mississippi State
7 - QB Floyd Swayda, Vanderbilt

This draft was light on talent.

I now have 40 players under contract. I release Elvis to go to 39.

I make offers to some UFAs:

LB Albert Veland, Hampton
QB Dave Bidwell, Boston College
FB Neal Goulet, Furman
TE Daryl Goble, San Diego State
OG Ron Reeves, Texas A&M
OT Michael George, Virginia Tech
CB Vince Lacina, Northern Iowa
CB Lionel Sousa, Stanford (great return man)
DE Lance Wooden, Oregon State
DE Mo Matich, Akron
WR Brett McKnight, Robert Morris



I sign two year FA OT Melvin Gadsden to a four year deal.


I cut LB Phil Clarke

Let’s go to camp!

Post Camp, I make some signings: RB Gary Cattell for 1 year, 300k. RB Bert Davison, Georgia Tech, 1 year at 300k, TE Jay Tant, 1 year, 600k.


That finishes up patching my roster so it works. Let’s do some final massaging


OT Gary Conley busted badly. I release LB Ryan Phillips. I sign Ryan Young to another one year contract. I suck it up and cut Gary Conley. I cut CB Howard Toler. I need a true nickelback and I pay Paul Ford 1.3 million for a one year deal to be it.

I extend Matt O’Dwyer’s contract by two years.

I release Rob Konrad. I sign RB Rodney baroque to a one year 1.5 million deal to spell Eddie George.

There are a ton of great players in free agency. Great DEs, a starting caliber QB, and more. These are players that were drafted four years ago, and they demanded too much in RFA negotiations, so the computer held on to them until is was forced to drop them in the FA pool. I did the same, frankly. Best player in the FA pool - QB Joe Hamilton. If I had not drafted Allard and I was going with Grbac, I would have just gotten saved. Other examples include DE Renaldo Francis, OG Antonio Sederth, and DE Morris Lattimore.

I sign one of them right now. P Blaine Baldridge. I cut Josh for him, and I can only sign him to on year, but next year I can make him some nice offers to stick around permanently. Perhaps a good target for franchise tag. Would I franchise a Punter? Well, if its one with 81/81/74 stats and just 4 years experience I might.

My Starters:

QB Jerome Allard - He had a tendency to get injured last season so I had to take the 3rd round QB who was already partly developed as insurance in case that happens again. He developed well last year, but we have to do better than he did in order to do as well record wise as we did last year.
RB Eddie George - I tried Troy Santoro last year, injury, trade, Eddie did very well for us. He fits us.
FB Neal Goulet - Undrafted FA Neal is just a chump.
WR Az Hakim - His stats last year were unfortunate, but I hope this year, with a real offense, he steps it up.
WR Marvin Graham - The first round rookie steps into the starting role early.
TE David LeFleur - He is pretty solid
OT Willie Anderson - You know him, you love him.
OT Ryan Young - Reprising a second year on a 1 year contract.
OG Matt O’Dwyer - With a new contract in hand.
OG Alvin Stokes - 4th rounder last year, got a lot better and starting again for us this year.
C John Wade - The rock of our offensive line.
K Mike Vanderjagt - Say hello to a good kicker
P Blaine Baldridge - And a good Punter.
DE Tony Brackens - Proved his worth last year.
DE Harvey Bertsch - 2nd round pick rookie, very developed already so he’s a good start but will never be anything special.
DT Gerald Swayne - 2nd rnd pick form a year ago, started then, now developing nicely.
DT Martin McGregor - 5th rounder from last year starting again
LB Dwayne Rudd - Had an All-Pro season a year ago.
LB Wali Rainer - Ready to get a nice start for us.
LB Malcolm Emmons - The weak point in our defense, no question
CB Samari Rolle - He returns
CB Sam Madison - With his mate
S Jerome Woods - Adequate, not massive or anything
S Lethon Flowers - A sufficiently decent starter and hopefully a long term fixture.

CB Redmon and CB Sousa are our returners.

We sell 38,900 tickets

Draft Eval (remember we cut out busted OT)

WR Marvin Graham 58/72
DE Harvey Bertsch 41/41
C CJ Luciano 16/51
QB Andre Geiger 27/51
LB Leland Finkes 9/44
QB Floyd Swayda 14/55


We are ranked with the 6th worst starting QB in the league, worst starting FB, 7th best TE, 11th best WR tandem, 10th best C, 9th best starting G tandem, 11th OT, Best Punter, 2nd best kicker, 10th best DE tandem, 4th worst DTs, best corner tag team, 7th best safety crew. This means our starters have moved into some power. Obviously, the strength in our roster is our starting corners and we now have good special teams with two returners and a top K and P. Our O Line is strong but not top echelon. Our receivers are solid. Our only real weaknesses are QB and DT, and those will hopefully keep improving.

We have the lowest cohesion in every area except secondary, where we are second lowest.

Our major losses at the end of this upcoming season will be Kevin Lockett, P Blaine Baldridge and both of my returners.

Coming out of our 2-2 preseason, FB Neal Goulet has a massive injury and will be out for several months. I toss him on IR. I sign DJ Edmonson to be our starting FB from free agency.

I also have a doubtful backup DE and Lionel Sousa, one of my returners is out. LB Emmons is questionable and I deactivate him for a week or two.


The 2003 San Antonio Lone Star Schedule

1. At Denver
2. At San Diego
3. Indianapolis
4. At San Francisco
5. Seattle
6. Oakland
7. Kansas City
8. At New England
9. At St. Louis
10. BYE
11. At Seattle
12. San Diego
13. At Kansas City
14. New Orleans
15. Denver
16. At Oakland
17. Atlanta

Week 1 - We crush Denver 26-6. Vanderjagt got four FGs including a 57 yarder. Jerome Allard gets his first Game MVP. George gets a short run and new TE David LeFleur gets a TD catch in his first game as a Lone Star. P Baldridge had a punting average of 54.6 on three punts. S Shields gets a pick and a sack. Brackens was with a sack too. Anderson had a manly 6 KRB. Dwayne Rudd recovered a fumble.

Allard - 24 of 28, 294 yards, 1 TD, 1 pick. That’s a professionally done statline. 24 of 28? Awesome. His best passing day yet.

Week 2 - We edge out the Chargers 16-7. Deep dimeback CB Vince Lachina is the Game MVP with a sack and a pick. Kevin Lockett caught a 56 yard TD. 13 of 31 for 200 yards, 1 TD, 1 Int. That’s the Allard we all know and love. Brackens adds a sack. OT Ryan Young is questionable with a broken nose. I’ll pull him for a few weeks.

Week 3 - We get thumped by the Colts 35-6. Their defense scored two Tds, a pick and a fumble recovery, each for a score. Allard was 20 of 34 for 179 and a pick. Flowers gets a pick and Brackens get a pair of sacks. Brackens is knocked to questionable with a bruised shoulder but I will start him anyway. Jerome Woods is doubtful and I pull him. Samari Rolle is questionable and I pull him and start our nickel back.

Week 4 - We lose to the 49ers 14-20. Marvin Graham and Kevin Lockett caught TD passes. Allard was 26 of 49 for 211 2TDs and no picks. Sam Madison got a pick. Kevin Lockett is questionable with a sprained ankle. OG Matt O’Dwyer is doubtful with a hip pointer.

Time to make some executive decisions. I trade WR Az-Zahir Hakim to the 49ers for their 3rd rounder net round. I sign WR Todd Pinkston to a one year deal to patch the hole Az left. He never did anything and I want to try to get the right mix for my QB.

Week 5 - We defeat the Seahawks 27-13. MVP is Lethon Flowers with 2 picks. Eddie George rushed for one TD and FB Davison rushed for another. George also caught one in the air. Still hasn’t had a100 yard game though. Pinkston had 9 catches for 119 yards in his first game, and that’s good stuff. His stats aren’t that great when you look at him, but that is production on the pitch. Too bad I only have him for one year. He keeps breaking this open, and he may get himself a permanent job. S Shields nabbed a pick.

Allard 24 of 37, 277 yards, 1:0 ratio.

Knowing the team is in good hands with Pinkston, I deactivate Lockett for a few weeks to heal up. DT Martin McGregor is out for a few months with a dislocated knee. I put him on IR. Seth Payne will start in his place. I sign DT Emmitt Burton for a one year deal in his place.

Week 6 - We lose 23-20 in the Raiders. Eddie George gets a 46 yard run for a score. Kenny Kennedy is the Game MVP and returns a pick 76 yards for a TD and has another pick. S Shields also notched a pick. Nothing else of significance occurred.

Week 7 - We lose to the Chiefs 17-44. Ouch. Our two Tds are catches by Brett McKnight and Tai Streets. Shields grabbed a pick and Brackens grabbed a pair of sacks. John Wade got 4 KRB.

Kevin Lockett is back from injury as is Jerome Woods.

Week 8 - We lose to New England to go to 3-5. The final score was 20-28. Todd Pinkston caught an 83 yard TD. Unfortunately, the pick was returned for a score. Marvin Graham also catches a TD. George had his first 100 yard rushing day of the season with 128 yards on 15 carries. Allard was 23 of 41 for 338 yards, 2 TDs an a pick. Pinkston had 123 yards on 5 catches. Samari Rolle and Sam Madison each got a pick. Brackens got the only sack on the day.

We need something we didn’t have last year. We have a better team this year and now are 3-5. Let’s see what the second half brings.

Week 9 - We defaet the Rams 27-13 and get off the loser wagon. Rookie first rounder Marvin Graham gets his first Game MVP with two TD catches of 43 and 9 yards, 9 catches for 119 yards. Backup RB Marroquin rushes for a score. Allard went 21 of 31 for 237 yards, 2:0 ratio. Brackens got a sack. Both Wade and Anderson got 4 KRB.

Week 10 - BYE

Week 11 - We defeat the Seahawks 19-10. Our only TD was a TD rush by backup RB Marroquin. Brackens was Game MVP with 3 sacks on the day.

Bad news - Wali Rainer had torn knee cartilege and is out long term. I place him on IR. His stats dropped. I sign Roderick Corbin as a patch for the end of the season.

DT Seth Payne is out with a torn calf muscle. I place him on IR and sign DT Norbert McSwain as a patch.

Week 12 - We defeat San Diego 41-13. Our best performance yet. Samari Rolle is Game MVP with a pair of picks. Madison and Flowers also have a pick each. Allard went 25 of 42 for 255, 3:0. Pinkston, Marroquin and Graham all caught Tds. Anderson had 4 KRB.

Our FB is out, so I toss another on IR and sign FB Deon Dyer to get through the year. Madison and Rudd are both knocked to Questionable but I will start them next week. After all, we are 6-5 and one a three game winning streak, so while we still have realistic shot at the playoffs, I want ot take it.

Week 13 - 24-16 Us over KC> Eddie George is Game MVP with two rush TDs and 139 yards on 24 carries. Allard hit Pinkston for a score. C Wade had 5 KRB.

I am hemorrhaging players. I have a bunch that are questionable, doubtful and in problems. If the season were to end today, we would be the 6th WC so we need to keep pushing.

Week 14 37-28 over Saints. Allard hits McKnight, Graham and backup TE Tant for scores. Jerome Woods get an 84 yard INT return and is Game MVP. Marvin Graham had 183 yards on the day. Lethon Flowers had 3 picks and Sam Madison had 2. Lethon Flowers in the League Defensive Player of the Week.

Week 15 - 38-14 over the Broncos. Sam Madison with an 89 yard INT return. Redmon with a 97 yard KO return. George caught a 2 pt conversion and rushed for a score. Lethon Flowers with a 93 yard Int score. Flowers was Game MVP. Brackens had 2.5 sacks. Madison had 2 picks on the day. That is just a crazy box score.

Week 16 - We are blanked by Oakland 16-0. Brackens get a sack, Shields gets a pick. it’s our first loss since week 8. We are 9-6 and poised to get a wild card berth. If we win next week, we are in. If we lose, we could still be in.

Week 17 - We edge Atlanta 16-10 to go to a second consecutive 10-6 season and a second consecutive WC berth with the 4th seed. Eddie George caught our only TD> Lethon Flowers was Game MVP again with a pick. Brackens added 2 sacks. Graham had over 100 yards receiving.

Wow, that's some off the charts defensive play. I'll be interested to see the defensive stats this season.

WC Week - We host WC team Indianapolis.

We win 28-7 Our scorers are Todd Pinkston, Eddie George, Marroquin and David LeFleur. Pinkston was Game MVP with 117 yards on 6 catches. Allard had 26 of 37 for 352, 1:2 ratio. George added 105 on the ground. Brackens had a sack and a half.

We travel to Oakland next week.



We lose to Oakland 21-3. Allard was injured and our rookie Geiger had to play most of the game. He went 12 of 27 for 179 and a0:1 ratio, not bad for a rookie backup QB in a playoff game, but not near enough for a victoire. Nickelback CB Ford nabbed a pick, Brackens had a sack and a half.

However, LB Leland Finkes will be out long term with massive shoulder injury, and his stat lowering may mean he’ll never play for us again.


Oakland defeats Green bay 25-22 in the Super Bowl.



Awards - Offensive Rookie of the Year - WR Marvin Graham
All Pro 1st Team - OT Willie Anderson
All Pro 2nd Team - K Mike Vanderjagt, S Lethon Flowers

Yeah, we had some solid play. I've been building my defense around great FA and my offense partly through the draft. This may be th result of that.

Stats:

George had 976 yards on 276 carries for an anemic 3.5 ypc. That is one of the worst ypc in the league.

Allard had 3336 yards on 306 of 506. 19:8 ratio. 85.8 rating. Very respectable and definitely better. Among qualifiers, he was 9th in the league in percentage completions, 5th in QB rating, 15th in yards. Tied for second lowest # of picks tossed among those with 16 starts (Mark Brunell was the best).

Marvin Graham had 71 snags for 946 yards and 6 Tds. Todd Pinkston, with 12 starts, had 60 catches for 716 yards and 3 scores.

Floyd Redmon had the 6th best KR avg in the league plus a KR TD. No one kicked a longer ball thatn K MikeVanderjagt. P Blaine Bladridge led the league in punting average. Him not making All-Pro was a snub. The first all team put a blistering high # of balls in the 20, so I can get it, but our guy had a longer punting average than everyone, and more balls in the 20 than the #2 guy Hunter Smith, and a higher percentage of balls in the 20 than Smith, plus more than 2 yards more length. No way Smith shoul dhave gone over Bladridge.

Tony Brackens had 18 sacks, just 2 off the leader and 4th most in the league but was not rewarded with All -Pro honors this year. All three guys above him got it, and #6 got it too. 2nd rnd rookie Hervery Bertsch was second on our team with 6.5 sacks.

Lethon Flowres was second in the league with 9 picks. #1 had 11. Sam Madison was tied for 6th most with 7. You could have mad ea strong argument for Madison for All Pro honors. This is why we need Pro Bowls and not All Pros in the game. More awards means you often can reward those with excellence that lose out in numbers.

Anderson had 32 KRB on the season. John Wade had 26. Alvin Stokes had 9, and perhaps it is time we thought about replacing him.

We had the 5th stingiest passing defense in the league and 12th best against the run.

We led the league with a +15 TO margin. Amazing. We tied for 3rd best in fewest picks given, had the most picks defensively in the league (say thanks to my awesome secondary for that). You can see the difference that having Flowers + Madison + Rolle has on my team. Now if I can plus the S hole, I can turn into a lights out passing D.



Simply put, I need to improve my LB corps, perhaps find a safety to replace Jerome Woods, and a lights out DT. Especially the LB after Wali’s injury.

My Personal Awards:

Offensive Player of the Year - QB Jerome Allard. He took that next step and did so very well. As I predicted last year, he doesn’t put up a lot of numbers but the protects the ball and finds the receivers. He does what I need him too.
Defensive Player of the Year - S Lethon Flowers. Great picks with 9. All Pro honors. One of a group of great secondary and that will cause a lot of problems for any team that want so throw.
Rookie of the Year - WR Marvin Graham. To him who much is given, much is expected. Even an 18th overall WR is expected to contribute and he did. I got rid of his security blanket, Az Haki, and he responded with a good season.
Special Teams Player of the Year - P Blaine Bledridge - This could have gone to Venderjagt or Redmon, but I decided to go with the guy with the best punting average in the game. Guy has a leg.
Heart Award - WR Todd Pinkston - Seriously, if you saw his stats, you would not think he is anything special, and he didn’t do THAT much but he did a lot coming in mid-season, and he gets my Heart Award as a consequence.


Score - 60 (Team Performance), 78 (Franchise Value), 72 (Profit/Loss), 77 (Difficulty) = 71

The Offseason

K Mike Vanderjagt retired. Suck! I’m not sure why. I thought I’d be set there for years.


I want to hire a new Head Coach, with better injury avoidance. Who do I want to chase?

I make an offer to the former Bills head coach, Les Walters. We get into a bidding war but win after we drive up the salary to 7 million annually for 5 years.

Les Walters - Excellent - D Line, Young Talent, Def Play Calling. Very Good - Avoid Injury, WR, O Line, Secondary, Discipline. Good - LB, K. Fair - QB, Off Play Calling, RB, Motivation



We are valued at the 4th highest franchise in the league. That was a meteoric rise. We have the best roster, 9th best economy, 7th worst support, and tied for 6th best stadium. We were third lowest in attendance, 4th lowest by capacity.

I have 25 players under contract. Who is leaving that I care about?

P Beldridge, Wrs Todd Pinkston and Kevin Lockett, OT Ryan Young. I franchise my Punter. Not out of the question. Seahawks franchised K Josh Brown a few years ago in rl and the Broncos did it with Elam a few years before that.


I increase ticket prices a bit.

I am 23 million under the cap. Places where I can cut fat include Seth Payne. Starters in the final year of their contract include Jerome Woods, Samari Rolle, Dwayne Rudd, Eddie George, DT Gerald Swayne.

I extend Samari’s contract by two more years.

We pick 22nd in the draft. I suspect a good WR will fall because there are four goons ones on the board.

Positions of Need:

RB starter possibly, backup x3
FB
TE backup x2
WR x3
OG backup x2
OT starter, backup
K
DT Starter only, backup
DE Mega only, backupo x2
LB starter, backup
CB x3 (backups)
S better than Woods,


Trade Fodder - Perhaps OG Alvin Stokes, or LB Wali Rainer. Maybe even Eddie George. Let’s see what I can move.

I trade my 6th plus Alvin Stokes to the Colts for their 2/20 pick. No one wants Eddie’s salary. I trade my 6th next year and LB Wali Rainer to the Rams for their 2/13 pick this year.

damn I miss expansion.

Made single player......well, playable

Yeah I loved it!

Free Agency time. I make some offers:

K Olindo Mare
S Donovin Darius
LB Brian Simmons
OG Solomon Page
OT Mo Collins

Week 1 - Mo Collins and Darius have signed with us.

Week 4 - No action yet

Week 5 - Several of our former players, patches, have signed like Ryan Young and Marroquin.

Week 7 - OG Page signs with us

I release Jerome Woods now so he has a chance to find another team.

I make an offer to FB Les ball for a two year minsal contract.

Week 8 - Olindo Mare signs with us but Brian Simmons goes to Cincy.

Week 9 - FB Les Bell signs with us.

Week 19 arrives. Do I want to make offers to anyone else prior to the draft?

I sign P Blaine Baldridge to a 3 year deal.

I extend Dwayne Rudd’s contract by another 2 years.

I trade RB Eddie George to the Chiefs for their 6th rounder (7) this year. Now we can free up a lot of salary and move a guy who really fell last year. I should have kept my star that I drafted.

I’ll take my team to the draft.

Swaggs will happy with the Page signing

2004 Amateur Draft:


The Browns go WR with the top pick

We select at 22 for our picks


At pick one, there are a ton of good players but none that I need, so I go with the best LB on the board.

In the 2nd we have picks 13, 22, and 20. I take a very developed WR from Alabama who can start immediately for us and do well, I hope.

I then take a DT and a LB.

In the 3rd, the pickings are very, very slim. This is not a deep draft. I just BPA until the end.


Draft Recap:

1 - LB Richard Dunlap, Illinois
2/13 - WR Monty Swift, Alabama
2/20 - DT Neal Castillo
2/22 - LB Jessie Austin, Utah
3/22 - RB Vince McDaniel, Nebraska
3/24 - DE Ian Smith, Texas A&M - Kingsville
4 - FB Desmond Casanova, Notre Dame
5 - S Arnold Ramthun, Arkansas (returner)
6/7 - RB Thomas Halton, Florida
7 - TE Buddy Gardner, Hofstra



Post draft, our rookies are signed and we have 37 players on roster and 16 million in spending money. Time to round out the roster.

I sign UFAs:

CB John Covington, Illinois
RB Rod Seto, California
WR Tony Dunnigan, Stanford
OT Robert Preston, Vanderbilt
OG Cory Cobb, Texas A&M - Commerce


I sign OG Todd Ackerman to a two year minsal deal. I resign Floyd Redmon to a two year deal. Now I have two returned, Floyd Redmon and Arnold Ramthun. I sign FA CB Matthew Thompson to a three year deal to be our nickel back.

I resign a few of my RFAs in order to get some solid backups. They include DT Adam Hill for two years.



I head to Training Camp with some holes hoping to patch post camp.


We sell 40,800 season tickets.


Post Camp Moves:

1 year for backup TE Michael Farr
1 year for CB Travis Fisk
1 year for WR Mikael Ricks
1 year for DE Robert Merrick
1 year for LB Tommy Wiggins


I need a real RB. My 3rd round draft pick isn’t that grand. I sign the best available for the year - RB Priest Holmes. He is a fan favorite.

This puts us at 52 players on the roster. I take a quick look, as always, at my draftees:

DT Neal Castillo - 20/64
DE Ian Smith - 11/61
LB Richard Dunlap - 8/52 (He dropped a lot)
LB Jessie Austin - 1/34 (He busted massively)
WR Monty Swift - 47/47
RB Thomas Halton - 20/45
TE Buddy Gardner - 25/42
RB Vince McDaniel - 36/36
FB Desmond Casanova - 13/23 (Another bust)
S Arnold Rathrun - 22/22

I thought my draft was so good. I had permanent fixtures at my LB positions and a long term FB solutions. Even my WR dropped a bit from 53/53 to 47/47. A shame.

Well, as you know, I don’t like to through good money after bad. I drop LB Jessie Austin and FB Casanova immediately. I sign LB Roderick Corbin and Greg Hildreth off waivers for one year each. They will each start for me while I wait yet another year to try and fix my LB situation.

I get a trade offer that intrigues me. Someone has offered their 2nd rounder and an adequate DE for DT Gerald Swayne. I need to take a closer look at this. This might be a good deal. It’s an offer from the Browns, who drafted first overall this past year. That could end up being close to a first. Two years ago they were pick 14, and three years ago pick 5. Draft picks from them might be worth pursuing. Gerald Swayne is in the last year of his contract, and as a DT, he will be demanding mammoth money to keep, and he isn’t that good. He’s good mind you, but not amazingly so. I doubt I’ll be keeping him next year. AS such, I am just trading one year of Gerald Swayne for a 2nd rounder from the Browns.

I can sign a decent enough patch for the year in Norbert McSwain. Is this worth doing? Looks like a good deal. Hmm. Perhaps other teams would be interested, or might be willing to offer me more? I don’t want the expensive DE they are trying to unload on me. No one else is jumping, because most of the league is too close to the cap. All right Cleveland. You get your trade. We get DE Derrick Alexander and their 2nd, and they get Gerald Swayne. I sign Norbert McSwain for a one year deal.

I cut DE Robert Merrick to bring me back to 52 players.

In cohesion, I have the second worst in the league in everything except for Defensive Front, which is the worst.

We are considered to have the 9th worst starting RB, 20th best QB, worst FB, 6th best TE, 9th best WR, 4th best C, 4th best starting Gs, 5th best starting OTs, best P, 2nd best K, 9th best starting DEs, 4th worst DT, 3rd best LBs starting, best corners and best safeties in the league. That’s a strong roster. Holes are in the are of DT, FB, and RB. We have a strong special teams, defense, and Oline. We have the best starting four in th secondary in the league.

Let’s take a look at our strong, strong starting roster.


QB Justin Allard - Now in his third year and developing nicely. He is currently rated 51/71. Started all 16 games last year.
RB Priest Holmes - One of several FA one year patches after I failed to find a quality starter, Priest is a 50/50 rated guy who will never be that good for us. Hopefully, with a great Oline, he will be good enough.
FB Les Ball - He’s not that good, and after our highly touted draft FB busted, he is all we are getting.
TE David LeFleur - One of the better TEs in the league, but we use our FB less so we need him more for blocking. 9 yards per catch, but nothing spectacular catching wise.
WR Marvin Graham - 74/74 rated 2nd year WR and picked with the trade of our good RB. Very good.
WR Monty Swift - Just a solid producer we hope, in his rookie year. Very well developed already.
C John Wade - He’s very good.
OG Matt O’Dwyer - As is he.
OG Solon Page - Adds a WVU player to my roster, and he’s a pretty good guard.
OT Willie Anderson - Getting a bit older but a rock for our team.
OT Mo Collins - One of the new signees, and the final piece to a strong Oline. I hope.
K Olindo Mare - We were lucky to get him after Vanderjagt retired.
P Blaine Baldridge - Just a top flight punter.
DE Tony Brackens - He is our stud.
DE Ian Smith - I am starting the rookie over Derrick Alexander or Bertsch, because he has a lot of potential.
DT Nerbert McSwain - We have to do something about DT next year.
DT Neal Castillo - Starting the rookie here as well to give him devo time. Develop him and sign a hoss next year, that’s my plan to have a good DT section next year.
LB Dwayne Rudd - Back again in the middle.
LB Greg Hildreth - A patch signed for one year to be sufficient
LB Roderick Corbin - Another patch
CB Samari Rolle - He is one fourth of the best secondary in the NFL.
CB Sam Madison - Another fourth.
S Donovin Darius - Another quarter
S Lethon Flowers - The final piece.


I expect to see the passing game just shut down this year, much like it was last.

Our kick and punt returners are safeties Floyd Redmon and Arnold Ramthun.

Our Schedule:

1. OAKLAND RAIDERS
2. DENVER BRONCOS
3. Colts
4. COWBOYS
5. Chiefs
6. Seahawks
7. Chargers
8. BILLS
9. CARDINALS
10. BYE
11. CHIEFS
12. Broncos
13. CHARGERS
14. Redskins
15. Raiders
16. SEAHAWKS
17. Giants


Caps is a home game.


I am feeling very comfortable about my starters, but I don’t have massive depth in many places. CB, DT and DE, WR, a few players on the Oline, and that’s it for my depth. If the injury bug bites, then we may fall, which is why I picked up a Head Coach that might help us here.


We finish the preseason 3-1.

Returner Arnold Ramthun is out for several months with a torn thumb ligament. I toss him on IR. I sign undrafted rookie FA James Luckett, a safety, for the same role. Also injured to questionable is WR Monty Swift and OG O’Dwyer. I deactivate both for a week or two to help them heal. WR Dunnigan and OG Ackerman will be starting in their places for the first week.

Week 1 - 30-3 over Oakland, and we are the 30. Tai Streets caught a 7 yards for a score . Both Greg Hildreth and Lethon Flowers returned picks for Tds. Lethon Flowers was the Game MVP with two picks on the day. Sam Madison added a four INT on the day. Smith and Brackens had sacks. Priest Holmes had 125 yards on 20 carries, a very workman like day. QB Allard was…rusty. 13 of 27 for 113 yards, a TD and 2 picks. Baldridge averaged over 50 yards per punt on 6 punts. Darius, Rudd and Madison all had multiple passes defensed. Both Wade and Anderson notched 4 KRB. Everything hummed today, and if our QB had done better, the score would have been astronomical. I will hold out Swift and O’Dwyer for another week.

Week 2 - 36-3 over Denver. We didn’t score 3. Olindo Mare had 5 FGs. Tony Dunnigan had a 75 yard receiving play for a score, and David LeFleur caught a short pass for a score. Backup RB McDaniel had the third TD of the day on a 2 yard run. Game MVP was Jerome Allard, with 25 of 35 for 306, 2 Tds and no picks. Much better Allard! That’s what I want from a top overall selection. The Broncos were held to 71 yards passing on the day. Holmes had 87 yards on 19 carries. Dunnigan had 123 yards receiving on 6 catches, a solid substitute for Monty Swift, plus he’s an undrafted free agent rookie, so that’s something. Darius and Rolle had picks. McSwain and Hildreth had sacks. Even backup G Ackerman led the team with 3 KRB on the day out of 4 KBO. O’Dwyer is healthy again and will start next week, but I’ll hold out Swift for one more week probably, especially since Dunnigan is doing so well.

Week 3 - We lose to the Colts 17-23. Marvin Graham caught two passes for scores. Holmes had 77 yards on 15 carries, which is still a respectable 5.1 yards per carry. Allard was 23 of 37 for 241 yards, 2 TDs and a pick. Darius got a pick but we were held sackless for the first time ever in our franchise’s history. Yuck. Allard fumbled three times and recovered two of them. FB Bell recovered the other, so we didn’t give the ball up, but we need to get Allard more protection (5 sacks allowed, 3 fumbles, while not getting any sacks ourselves ,sis simply unacceptable).

WR Monty Swift will start next week. Dunnigan has impressed with 14 catches so far, but I want to give Swift a try and see how he does. DT McSwain and LB Corbin are questionable. I drop McSwain to the inactive roster but keep Corbin up. DT Adam Hill will be starting in his place.

Week 4 - 32-29 over Dallas. We kicked a FG to win in overtime. With 12:50 left in the game, Dallas scored to make it 29-14. They had a safety in the end zone on Priest Holmes in the 2nd to make it an odd score. Then, Jerome Allard took over. In a possession that took 6:14, he marched our offense down the field and hit 3rd WR Tony Dunnigan for a 15 yard strike. Then we punted, and our awesome defense began to melt on one first down then another. Until Samari Rolle picked them off and returned it for a TD. Allard hit Monty Swift, in his first game, for the 2 point conversion to send us to overtime. Our other scores were Monty Swift and Marvin Graham each with 10 yards catches. Game MVP goes to Samari Rolle, with his game changing pick and TD. Holmes had 60 yards on 20 carries. Allard went 27 of 47 for 451 yards, 3 TDs and a pick. Graham had 9 catches for 160 yards and a TD. Swift had 8 catches with 130 yards for a TD and a 2 pt conversion. Dunnigan had another 5 catches in the 3rd WR spot and 62 yards and a TD. Brackens had a pair of sacks. It was a good game, and Allard went crazy. Arguably his best performance. LB Corbin exacerbated his injury and will have to be inactivated. Tommy Wiggins will be starting.

I need to remember at the end of the season to look at resigning Dunnigan, if his value continues.

Week 5 - 23-20 over KC. Tony Dunnigan opened the game with a 12 yard TD catch. Tommy Wiggins picked up a blocked punt and ran it in for a score. Tai Streets added a 4 yard TD catch for a score. Mare missed an extra point (yuck!). Game MVP was Dwayne Rudd with 14 tackles. Holmes had just 46 yards on 12 carries. Allard went 14 of 26 for 199 yards, 2 Tds and no picks. WR Graham caught 5 balls for 112 yards, one of the few games where Allard did not spray the ball around a lot. We need to start running the ball more, I suspect.

Injuries - DT McSwain is healed and will start for us again. DT Adam Hill was knocked doubtful and goes on. Tony Brackens is questionable and too valuable to risk, so he goes on too. The same is true of Sam Madison, and he gets pulled. CB Matthew Thompson and DE Derrick Alexander will be starting for us.

Week 6 - We lose 21-24 in OT to the Seahawks. Lethon Flowers had a pick and return for a score. Monty Swift caught a 31 yard pass from Jason Gieger for a score and McDaniel scampered for a 2pt conversion. Flowers was Game MVP with 11 tackles too. WR Graham had 11 catches for 131 yards. Holmes had 84 yards on 16 carries. Geiger and Allard had virtually mirrored stats. Redmon fumbled twice on returns. Ick.

Week 7 - We win 30-20 over the then one loss Chargers. McDaniel with 30 and 4 yard runs for 2 TDs. McSwain recovered a blocked punt in the end zone for a score. Game MVP was Dwayne Rudd with a pack and a sack. Castillo also had a pick. Allard was 21 of 38 for 205 and a pick. Holmes was stymied with 32 yards on 18 carries. Dwayne Rudd is knocked out for a few months with a pulled tendon injury. Sigh. I put Dwayne Rudd on IR, and that’s a major pain. I go and sign LB Jude Waddy from free agency for a year. Sam Madison is back next week.

Week 8 - We win 33-20 over Buffalo. LB Greg Hildreth is the Game MVP with an Int returned for a score. Anderson had 4 KRB. Three of my starting Dlinemen had more than one sack - Alexander, Smith and McSwain. Holmes had 86 yards on 25 carries. Allard was an effective 17 of 26 for 2 TDs and a pick. He hit Graham and Swift for scores. Graham had 107 yards on the day from 6 catches. Redmon had another fumble. I will not be returning him next season and a KR/PR guy.

My Punter is probable so I will start him.

Week 9 - We defeat the Cardinals 33-7. Back to the beginning of season form? Marvin Graham caught a 10 yard TD, Tai Streets and 8 yards one form the Game MVP Jerome Allard. 31 of 50 for 279, 2 Tds and a pick. Samari Rolle recovered a fumble and returned it for a score. Graham had 109 yards on 11 catches. Redmon had two punt returns for 60 total yards, and average of 30 yards per punt return. I wish I’d get that more, without the fumbles. Darius and Madison had picks. Alexander had the only sack on the day. Holmes had 25 yards on 26 carries.




Week 10 - BYE WEEK. A week of rest. Adam Hill, Roderick Corbin and Tony Brackens are now rested and Brackens and Corbin will start again.

Week 11 - 36-30 over the Chiefs in OT when priest Holmes rushes for a 6 yard TD for the win. He also had 1 yarder in the first quarter. Marvin Graham caught a 31 yard pass, David LeFleur a 10 yard one. Holmes still had just 32 yards on 16 carries though. Jerome Allard was Game MVP with 26 of 40 for 316 yards, 2 scores and no picks. Graham had 145 yards on 7 catches. McSwain had a sack and a half. Redmon fumbled again on a return. Luckett, our other returner, also fumbled. I had three players knocked into questionable - Sam Madison, Richard Dunlap (LB) and Greg Hildreth. I deactivate Hildreth and Madison. We are now a win and a tie at 8-2 over 6-3-1 Denver, who we host next week. The division may be ours, and I want to have my best players in shape for the playoffs.

Week 12 - 20-12 over Denver. Game MVP LB Jude Waddy, with a sack and 9 tackles. Brackens got his first sack since coming back from injury. Darius added a pick. Solomon Page had 4 KRB. Homes rushed for 67 yards on 12 carries and a TD. Allard tossed 41 balls for 25 completions and 235 yards, for a 1:1 ratio. Tai Streets caught the TD pass. David LeFleur led the day with 7 catches.

Injuries - Priest Holmes is questionable with a broken finger. I deactivate him. Starting in his place will be Vince McDaniel. Can Vince take us to the promised land? Monty Swift is probable and will continue to start. DT Adam Hill is questionable and I toss him on the inactive list. Madison and Hildreth are still questionable so will sit out next week as well.

At 9-2, we are currently in first in the AFC. We currently have the best record in the NFL.

Week 13 - 31-0 over the Chargers. We spanked them good! Vince McDaniel had two runs for scores, a 1 yarder and a 10 yarder. Marvin Graham and Tai Streets caught passes for scores. Game MVP was Donovin Darius with 2 picks. Smith recorded a sack and a half. Allard was restless and completed just 15 of 33 for 169, 2 TDs but no picks. Smart tossing, but not great stats. McDaniel had 55 yards on 15 carries. Holmes, Madison and Hildreth will sit out next week as well.

Week 14 - We lose 17-21 to the Redskins. Backup RB Rod Seto pounded in the ball for a TD, and David Lefluer caught our other score. McDaniel had 108 yards on 18 carries. Allard went 20 of 33 for 186, 1 TD and no picks. McSwain continues to have these one sack games, and today was another. O’Dwyer had 4 KRB. Hildreth and Madison are back next week.

Week 15 - We defeat the Raiders 20-6. Monty Swift had a 75 yard receiving play for a score, and McDaniel plunged it in from 2 yards out. MVP was Darius with a pick. Madison, in his return from injury, got another. Bertsch and Brackens each had a pair of sacks. CJ Luciano, my backup C had four KRB. McDaniel had 78 yards on 22 carries. Allard tossed the ball 26 times, completed it 16, 212 yard and a 1:1 ratio. Hildreth is injured again and again I toss him on the inactive list. Sigh.

Week 16 - 36-14 over Seattle. LB Jude Waddy picked up a blocked punt and ran it in for a score. Three times this season we’ve scored after a blocked punt. David LeFleur got a 16 yard TD. Lethon Flowers got a pick and returned it 47 yards for a score. Mare had 5 Fgs. That means we had three scores, on one offense, one on defense, and one on special teams. That’s nice. Flowers was Game MVP with his pick, 7 tackles and two passes defensed. Brackens notched another pair of sacks. Warming up for the playoffs, I see. Sam Madison had a pick as well. McDaniel had 53 yards on 11 carries. Allard was knocked out early and Geiger came on. He had 14 of 36 for 213 and a 1:1 ration. LeFleur had 97 yards on 6 catches, Swift had 97 yards on 6 catches, and Graham had 106 yards on 5 catches.

We are guaranteed the top spot in the playoffs.

Week 17 - We win 37-24 over the NFC East champion Giants. David LeFleur caught two TDs. Marvin Graham also caught two passes for scores. McDaneil was 56 for 16. Allard was 26 of 41 for 247 and a 4:1 ratio. Flowers and Madison had picks. Corbin the LB had a sack and a half. Page had 4 KRB. Unfortunately, Monty Swift went down with a torn thumb ligament, it drops his stats a bit. I toss him on IR. I sign Bart Lyons to be my 5th receiver for the playoffs. Dunnigan will be starting. I hope he can take us home.

Wild Card Weekend - Cincy edges Denver 10-7, and the Patriots rough handle the Steelers 31-20.


Divisional Weekend - We host the Patriots, the hot team over the least few years. Over the past four years, the Patriots have won two Super Bowls, prior to me taking over the Lone Stars. They have been the consistent power in the AFC. If we can beat them in our place, we will have gotten a major victory. Here we go.

Greg Hildreth will be starting today, as will Priest Holmes.

San Antonio 35
New England 3


We spanked them.

Our scores -

Marvin Graham 7 yard pass from MVP Jerome Allard
Marvin Graham 25 yard pass from MVP Jerome Allard
Marvin Graham 21 yard pass from MVP Jerome Allard
David LeFleur 1 yard pass from MVP Jerome Allard
Priest Holmes, 1 yard run

Priest Holmes was 49 yards on 15 carries for the day.
Jerome Allard tossed the ball 25 times, connected on 19, for 333 yards and a 4:0 ratio.
Graham had 170 yards and 10 catches along with his 3 Tds (He would have been my choice for game MVP). He caught every ball thrown his way. That’s amazing.
Dunnigan had 9 catches for 131 yards
Madison, Hildreth and Timpson made picks.
Brackens had 3 sacks on the day


A pretty solid day, I’d say.


In other news, the Colts also win dominatingly, 34-14 over the Bengals. We host the Colts next week.

Tony Brackens is slightly injured but I will be starting him.

The 2004 AFC Championship:

The 11-5 Indianapolis Colts travel to Texas to take on the

13-3 San Antonio Lone Stars


Here we go:

This is a score recap, in order:

1st Quarter, Mare 43 yd FG,
1st Quarter, Graham caught 4 yard pass for TD. Extra pt good.
2nd Quarter, Indy FG
2nd Quarter, Indy FG
Halftime 10-6.
3rd Q, Mare hits 37 yards to put us up 13-6.
4th Q, Tony Dunnigan gets 36 yard pass for TD. 20-6 after XP good
4th Q, Mare hits 31 yard FG
4th Q, McDaniel gets 2 yard run for TD. XP good.

30-6, final score.

Game MVP - Backup S Kenny Kennedy - 2 picks and 8 tackles.

Priest Holmes had 102 yards on 20 rushes.
Jerome Allard went 21 for 27 for 247 and 2:0 ratio
We were held sackless
Willie Anderson notched 4 KRB.

A nice day.

Ian Smith is questionable but will start in the Super Bowl.

Super Bowl - 13-3 San Antonio Lone Stars vs. 10-6 St. Louis Rams (My old team if you’ll recall).

Can undrafted rookie free agent Dunnigan continue to give good performances? Will we be held sackless again? Can Holmes get another good running day? Will Allard have a typically good day or one of his off days? Will our returners keep fumbling? Can we get another punt blocked and returned for a score? Will we continue a strong streak of defensive TDs?

If we win, which of our players will be the Super Bowl MVP?

Final Score 35-17. We scored the 35.

We won the Super Bowl!

Who scored?

Super Bowl MVP Jerome Allard

Tai Streets 13 yard pass TD from Allard
Priest Holmes 10 yard run
Tony Dunnigan 1 yard catch for TD.
Tony Dunnigan 3 yard catch for TD
Backup TE Michael Farr for 4 yard catch for TD.

Jerome Allard - 24 for 34, 266, 4:0 ratio. Nicely done Jerome!

Holmes had 89 yards on 19 carries.
Graham had 120 yards on 9 catches.
Thompson and Redmon, both nickel and dime backs, got picks.
Alexander and Payne each had a sack

Awards:

Super Bowl MVP - Jerome Allard
All Pro 1st Team - WR Marvin Graham, P Blaine Baldridge, K Olindo Mare, S Lethon Flowers
All Pro 2nd Team - S Donovin Darius


Not a bad year.

Some team stats:

We didn’t have a particularly good or bad offense or defense in the stats. Our rushing defense was 16th best by yards allowed, and 20th in rushing average against, passing defense was 13th by yards and 5th best by average yards per completion (6.3).

We were third in the league with a +14 TO margin.

We were, however, tied for 9th in most sacks allowed. We need to watch that, and a better FB could help there. Maybe. We were tied for 4th worst in the league in sacks. This is something I intend to address in the off season.

Individual Stats:

Rushing:

Priest Holmes had 722 yards on 197 carries for 4 Tds and a 3.6 average
Vince McDaniel has 6 Tds, 517 yards on 128 carries for a 4.0 average

Passing:

Allard - 59.6%, 3663 yards, 25:11 ratio. 87.4 QB rating. I’ve seen better.

Receiving:

Marvin Graham, 111 catches for 1503 yards, 9 Tds. Led the league in yards receiving and catches.
Monty Swift, 13 starts, 51 for 744, 4 Tds.
Tony Dunnigan, 46 catches for 535 yards, 3 Tds
David LeFleur, 55 catches for 525 yard, 6 Tds - This is where I want my TE to be.
Tai Streets, 26 catches for 216 yards and 5 Tds


Returns:

Floyd Redmon had 5th highest PR average in league, fumbled 5 times
James Luckett had 9th highest KR in league, fumbled once

Kicking:

Mare had most FGs made by 9 over competition
Baldridge had 2nd highest kick average, put 42 of 86 punts inside the 20.

Defense:

Brackens led our team with 10.5 sacks but was out 4 games.
DT McSwain was second with 6.5 sacks.
Rookie Ian Smith had 5.5
Darius had 7 picks
Flowers and Madison had 5 each. Flowers returned three for scores.
Hildreth returned both of his picks for scores.
Rolle returned both a pick and a fumble recovery for a score.

Blocking:

Solomon Page led the team with 28 KRB, but this was not a good blocking year.


We did not return a kick or a punt of ra score, but we still had a massive non-offense 10 TDs. Three were punts blocked and returns, and 7 were defensive scores.

Team Awards (Given out by Me)


Offensive Player of the Year: WR Marvin Graham - He had a marvelous record setting year, and you have to account for that in the awards. No offensive layer shined as brightly. No one else on our team led the league statistically in two major categories (although our punter came close, being 1st in one and 2nd in another).
Defensive Player of the Year: S Donovin Darius - He led the team in picks with 7, and was second on the team in tackles with 79 solo tackles and 26 assists, just one less than leader Lethon Flowers. He also was second on the team for the most passes defensed. He got picks, he made tackles, and he defended passes. That’s a nice slate of contributions he made.
Special Teams Player of the Year: P Blaine Baldridge - Olindo Mare led the league in Fgs made, but he attempted 7 more than the next guy, so that is to be expected, plus Mare missed a PAT. On the other hand, Baldridge dominated the punter stats, with the 2nd highest average and the most punts in the 20. And that is not a function of how many punts he had. He had four more than the next guy, but punted 86 times to that guy’s 124 times. He had a high percentage as well as a high kick average. The result was a powerful weapon.
Rookie of the Year: DE Ian Smith - With 5.5 sacks, the hope is that this 3rd rounder will develop into a perfect complement for Brackens.
Heart Award: WR Tony Dunnigan - He’ll never be an amazing receiver, but this undrafted FA started several times when 2nd round rookie Marty Swift went down, and he even managed two TDs in the Super Bowl. He had a strong number of yards, catches and TDs considering his relative lack of ability. Excellent!



Players leaving next year of import:

Whose contracts are up and we aren’t bringing back:

DT Seth Payne
Patches like RB Priest Holmes and several of my LBs.
DT Norbert McSwain - signed as a patch, but he was not bad. Got a lot of sacks from the DT position, which is hard to do.

What were Allard's postseason stats? Seems like he really turned it on there.

???

I included his statline in every single game. Whatcha looking for? Math?

Sure

Super Bowl - Jerome Allard - 24 for 34, 266, 4:0 ratio
AFC Championship - Jerome Allard went 21 for 27 for 247 and 2:0 ratio
Divisional Round - Jerome Allard tossed the ball 25 times, connected on 19, for 333 yards and a 4:0 ratio.

Copied and pasted for your viewing pleasure! ;)

Two of those games were at home.

I just meant his cumulative postseason stats. Yes, I suppose I could figure it out myself. I'm sure his rating must have been much higher than his season rating, hopefully that's an indicator for next year. Thanks for humoring me.

Heh, no prob ;)

The Off Season


Here we go:


Score: Team Performance - 100, Franchise Value - 88, Profit/Loss - 56, Difficulty - 76, Score - 80.


We now have more continuity. 38 players are under contract. This is starting to look like real team instead of a patchwork one.

Franchise:

We moved up to the #2 most valuable franchise in the NFL, behind the 49ers. 6th best stadium, best roster, 11th worst support, 9th best economy.

Our tickets sold at a higher rate.

Four players are inducted in the Hall of Fame - Jerry Rice, Warren Moon, Darrell Green and Bruce Matthews.

I choose not to franchise or anything like that. I bump tickets prices up a buck each.

I move to free agency and I get offered a very, very tempting trade. The Chiefs are offering me their 1(2) pick and a strong WR Derrick Alexander for OT Willie Anderson. Anderson is in his 10th year and Alexander is also quite old, but tossing in the 1(2) is just terribly enticing. I take a look at the draft. Is there a player I need or could really, really use there?

QB Jermaine Grant will be going first overall, an 8.2 rated hoss of a QB, like Peyton Manning. That means we could take anyone left on the board. I could get a permanent stud at DT, LB, or OG. There is a strong RB, but he’s down a ways on the RB board, and probably would be a reach and a half at 2 - Harry Whiting.

However, there is no replacement for Anderson in the draft. What about free agency? There are several options, but only a couple of good ones.

Alright, I’ll make the trade, but I try and trade for LB Donnie Edwards instead, plus the 1(2) pick. No doing - Donnie is a star player. I go with the original plan.

We extend Tony Bracken’s contract by a year. I resign WR Tony Dunnigan for two years. I extend John Wade by a year and S Lethon Flowers’ as well. Sam Madison and Matt O’Dwyer are in their final years, but I decide to hold off making an offer right now. Both are getting older and both would be more expensive than I am will to pay right now.

I trade DE Harvey Beitsch to Oakland for their 1st pick in the 2nd and 6th rounds.

Yay freeing up money!

I then cut DE Derrick Alexander, because he is costing me too much money to chase free agents. Okay, I don’t have too much money after all of these changes. I’m 19 million under the cap right now, so let’s make just a few offers in free agency this year.

There are no good DTs in free agency.

I make an offer to Fred Taylor, Brain Urlacher and Jon Jansen.

Week 2 - Jon Janson signs with the Eagles.

Week 3 - Fred Taylor signs with us.

The cap is catching up with us. I choose not to pursue any more OTs, because they are not as good. I decide to make a cap friendly contract offer to LJ Shelton but I expect him to reject it.

Week 6 - Urlacher signs with Tampa Bay.

Week 8 - LJ Shelton signs with us. He had a high Play for Winner score. We only take 2.9 million in hit this year, so it was very cap friendly.


Week 19 - I release DT Adam Hill to free up some cap space.

Draft Time:

I have needs at FB, DE backups, DT starter, 2 LB starters at least, CB starter to replace Sam Madison soon, backup QB, TE, OG, OT, 2x DT, CB.

Just for fun, I trade Allard to the Raiders for their 7th rounder this year and then simmed their draft, to see if super QB hoss of amazingness Jermaine Grant would fall to me, but he did not. Even with Allard and two other Qbs on their roster, they picked Grant. Then I reloaded and now here I am. I tried to make a trade by exchanging picks that was in the Raiders’ favor by 80 points on the Draft Value Chart, but they still weren‘t interested. I even offered my 1st(2), 2(11_ and 2,3,4 next year jus to move up one and no deal. Well then.

2005 NFL Amateur Draft

The Raiders take Jermaine Grant, QB, with the top selection.

We have 1(2).

Options:

DT Tracy Mahoney - Already solid, will be a hoss at the position, area of need, starter quality.
DT Alfred Warren - Backup choice, not as good but still high caliber quality nice.
LB Rodney McWilliams - Looks like a studly stud of studs, but my scout has been wrong here before.
RB Morris Johnston - A strong running back
LB Austin Johnson - Looks good enough.
RB Harry Whiting - Looks even better but rated worse, but looks better.
LB Chris Glenn -Looks like another star, but again, my scout is suspect in this area.
CB Stephen Crownheart - Looks like a player we could develop into Sam Madison;s spot.
QB Joel Pennington - Down on the list, but looks fantastic.


I try to trade down but I can’t. The game thinks me trading my pick will cause me to lose too much money under the cap. Ick. Alright, who do I take then?

I narrow this down quickly - DT Mahoney or LB McWilliams. Each fixes a hole.

I draft McWilliams. I need a good backer, but I have adequate DTs if I need them.

The last pick of the 1st round arrives. Who do I want? Whiting went 5, Pennington went 3, McWilliams went 10. All of my players are gone, so I take the best FB in the draft, Terry Tripodi.

In the 2nd, I have the 1,11, and 32 picks. I take a backup CB for now, and hopefully a start someday. I grab a starting quality but very green DT next. I then shotgun two more LBs in case one doesn’t work.

It’s BAP after that.


Draft Recap:

1(2) - LB Rodney McWilliams
1(32) - FB Terry Tripodi, Baylor
2(1) - CB Clarence Hudson, UCLA
2(11) - DT Mike Rodgers, Fresno State.
2(32) - LB Malcolm Medina, Florida
3 - LB Neil Huntley, Arizona State
4 - C Lorenzo Maxwell, Minnesota
5 - DE Reggie Collier, Michigan
6(1) - DT Dennis King, Wyoming
7 - QB Reuben Newsome, Georgia Tech

All players re signed and we now have 47 players under contract. Massage time.

I cut fumbler McGee, Floyd Redmon

I sign UFAs:

TE Frankie Black, Illinois
OG Earl McWhirter, Washington State
OT Donald Rollins, USC
DE Karl Jeffries, Kentucky
DT Teddy Torkleson, Illinois
S Donovan Newman, East Carolina

52 players on the roster.

Let’s move to Training Camp!



We sold 48,600 season tickets after a Super Bowl win? We went down? Ouch.

Let me look at my drafted rookies, post-camp:

CB Hudson - 42/75. Looks very nice.
DE Collier - 15/71. Could grow into a nice player
LB Neil Huntley - 8/69 - 3rd round pick looks like a future starter.
DT Mike Rodgers - 24/68. Yet another strong future player.
C Maxwell - 11/48 - The solid backup I thought he was.
DT Dennis King 17/47 - As is King
QB Newsom - 11/42 - Just a backup body
LB Rodney McWilliams - 18/38 - Why do my LBs keep bustin?
FB Terry Tripodi 13/28 - And my FBs?
LB Malcolm Medina - 10/28.

So, I came out of the draft with TWO first round busts. My second round LB was another crappy one. I managed to find a starter caliber one out of sheer luck. Another FB bust. However, I came out with a strong CB, LB, DT and DE, and all are starting caliber, so it wasn‘t the worst draft ever.

I release Malcolm Medina. I sign Ray Lewis to a one year deal as a patch. I may just franchise him next year in order to insure my team has three LBs.

I now literally, literally, have 0$ under the cap. Let me make another change or two to help my financial situation. I cut LB Richard Dunlap, my 1st rounder from last year. I sign OG Sammie Mascorella, a 4th year starting caliber guy to a one year deal. I then get on the horn. Would someone like Matt O’Dwyer whose age is getting higher?

I trade OG Matt O’Dwyer to the Cardinals for their 3rd and 6th next year. Now I still have an OG in his last year of a contract, but not an 11 year veteran. O’Dwyer was better skill wise, but he never gave me great stats. Hopefully, Mascorella can. Mascorella is an adequate run blocker but a great pass blocker. In 35 starts, O’Dwyer had just 42 KRB and allowed 7 sacks. That was not worth top flight money.

Before he came to us, he had been All Pro one year, and had 37 KRB and 27KRb in the previous two years, so its not like I signed a lump, and expected it not to smell, you know?

I sign FB Fred Beasley to a one year deal. I cut FB Les Ball. Another one year guy patching us up. No more drafting FBs. I then sign RB Sherman Cook to a 1 year deal to round out my roster.

I trade QB Andre Geiger to the Raiders for their 2nd rounder next year. I sign to a one year deal QB Colin Duran, a 5th year vet out of Arizona State.

Oh, Jermaine Grant busted a bit, but in realistic ways. Here are his potentials:

Screens - 98
Short - 100
Medium - 78
Long - 56
Deep - 48


Where he once was all in the 90s and 80s, even in the long balls. Realistic adjustments. Now that he has busted sorta, I actually like Allard better.

Allard’s potentials (almost there in most cases)

Screens: 49 (his weakness)
Short: 99
Medium: 90
Long: 63
Deep: 96 (my favorite stat of his)
3rd Down - 48
Accuracy - 87
Power - 59
Scramble Freq - 43
Carrying - 44

That is not a bad QB. He’s realistic, with some weaknesses, but if you wondered how he can sometimes get a small number of completions for a bunch of yards, that’s how. Deep and accurate is his game, plus he’s money at the short and medium stuff.

Oh, btw, I have really good corners. All three backups are strong. Just saying this might be one of the best secondaries I’ve ever had bar none.

We supposedly have the 6th best QB, and 5th best QB backup in the league. 13th best RB. 3rd best FB. 7th best TE. 3rd best WR and 11th best WR backups. 4th best C starter and 5th best reserves. 7th best G. 3rd best OT and 6th best reserves. Best P, 2nd best K. 10th best DEs, best reserves. 2nd worst Dts but 4th best reserves. 13th best Lbs. Best corners and reserves in NFL. Best S in the league.

Cohesion, worst at everything but secondary where we are just 9th worst.

We are beginning to look like a real team, with histories, players that have been here a while, and so forth.

Our Starting Roster:


QB Jerome Allard - He is almost fully developed
RB Fred Taylor - Let’s see what we can do with him in our backfield.
FB Fred Beasley - Can he make a difference in the backfield?
WR Marvin Graham - Can he repeat last year’s performance?
WR Derrick Alexander - Will he get in the way or be a valid target for Allard?
TE David LeFleur - He is in the final year of his contract and not looking to resign.
C John Wade - Still good
OG Solomon Page - I want to see if he has what it takes to really star in this league.
OG Sammie Mascorella - Can he be a true starter at the upper levels of the game?
OT LJ Shelton - New signee, can he play in Anderson‘s shoes?
OT Mo Collins - He was lost last year, with few major stats. Let’s get a bit more from him.
P Blaine Baldridge - Best punter in the league
K Olindo Mare - Absolutely gobsmacked to have him on our team.
DE Tony Brackens - The hoss
DE Ian Smith - Returning from last year
DT Neal Castillo - Also returned from last year
DT Mike Rodgers - We will also be starting this rookie as well
LB Dwayne Rudd - He dropped a bit in ability post-injury, so he is being moved to the outside.
LB Ray Lewis - A one year patch or a new player on the team?
LB Neil Huntley - Of the many rookie LBs I have drafted, the only one that is any good.
CB Sam Madison - Great CB, final year of contract and it costs too much to resign him. (8+ mill)
CB Samari Rolle - Part of the greatest secondary of our time, but also one of the highest priced players.
S Donovin Darius - Strong player returning from All Pro year last year.
S Lethon Flowers - The final piece in the secondary players.

Donovan Newman and Samari Rolle are our returners.

I’m not sure about DE. Brackens is amazing. Smith was good last year and developed, but my rookie 5th rounder is very green and very high in potential. He’d be a little better than Ian Smith when both are developed.

What do I do? It’s a good problem to have.

I push the lever and trade Smith to the Titans for their 2nd rounder next year. Now I will be starting rookie DE Collier. I sign DE Barry Stratico to a one year deal.

The 2005 San Antonio Lone Star Schedule:

1. DENVER
2. Kansas City
3. DETROIT
4. Chicago
5. BYE
6. INDIANAPOLIS
7. San Diego
8. Seattle
9. New England
10. KANSAS CITY
11. GREEN BAY
12. Oakland
13. SAN DIEGO
14. OAKLAND
15. Denver
16. Minnesota
17. SEATTLE


ALL CAPS are home games



We finish the preseason 2-2.

Week 1 - We lose in OT 13-16 in the first week to Denver. Backup TE Buddy Gardner caught our lone TD. Taylor got injured so Vince McDaniel got us 68 on 16 carries. Allard was 18 of 36 for 195, 1 TD and no picks. Collier and Castillo notched sacks. A poor game, and we must and will do better.


Week 2 - We win 21-14 vs. the Chiefs. Monty Swift and Fred Taylor caught TD passes. Derrick Alexander caught a 2 pt conversion late in the 4th. Ray Lewis was Game MVP with 14 tackles, one of which was a sack. Wade had 4 KRB. Taylor had 85 yards on 17 carries. Allard was 21 of 32 for 256 and a 2:1 ratio.

Week 3 - We defeat the Lions 20-14. Marvin Graham caught a 20 yard score. Vince McDaniel had a 5 yard run for the other. Dwayne Rudd was Game MVP with 14 tackles. Allard had one of his worst days ever. A fumble and 3 picks. Taylor had 48 yards on 13 carries. Madison got a pick and Collier a sack.

Brackens is injured for a few weeks. I pull him.

Week 4 - We lose to the undefeated Bears 17-23. Dennis King got a fumble and returned it for a score, and Marvin graham had our lone offensive score. Ray Lewis was game MVP with 17 tackles and a pick. Allard had 316 yards on 19 completions for a 1:1 ratio. Graham had his first 100+ yard of the season with 111 yards.

Week 5 - BYE WEEK. It’s too early in the season though. I’d have preferred it later, like it was for the first several seasons.

Week 6 - We defeat the Colts 45-30 and that sounds like our offense at old back again. Here are our scores: Taylor 28 yard run, Taylor 13 yard run, Swift 18 yard catch, Taylor 2 yard run, Graham 4 yard catch, Swift 4 yard catch. Nicely done folks. Allard was MVP with 26 of 35, 317 yards, 3:0 ratio. Taylor had 126 yards and his three Tds on 26 carries. Alexander had 129 yards on 9 catches. Both Flowers and Darius had picks. King and McWilliams had sacks. OT Mo Collin shad 4 KRB on the day. Lethon Flowers is doubtful with a dislocated shoulder. I deactivate him. Allard is the NFL Player of the Week.

Week 7 - We crush the Chargers 40-10. Scores: Swift TD Catch, Taylor TD Run, Darius 54 yard INT RET TD, Taylor TD run. Game MVP was Darius, with 2 picks on the day. Sam Madison and rookie Hudson, starting in the S spot despite being a CB got a pick as well. Taylor added 91 yards on 21 carries, and Allard had another poor day with 19 of 37 for 215 and a 1:4 ratio. That’s very untolerable. How do you toss four picks and win 40-10? With a good defense, that’s how.

Brackens will be back but DT Neal Castillo will be out for a few weeks.

Week 8 - Seattle joins the teams we hang 40 or more on 41-26. Scores - Marvin Graham and Derrick Alexander catch TDs. Tai Streets gets a score off a reverse. Fred Taylor pops one free for a 77 yard TD run. I love it when he does that. Vince McDaniel adds a 10 yard TD run. Fred Taylor is Game MVP with 173 yards on 16 carries and a TD. Allard was 23 of 32 for 260 2:0. Madison, Covington and Newman got picks. We were again held sackless.

Week 9 - We defeat New England 34-10 to go to 6-2 for the first half of the season. Took us a while to find our groove. Jerome Allard is NFL Player of the Week and Game MVP with four TD passes to Alexander (10 yards), Swift (14), Graham (9) and Graham (23). Taylor had 85 yards on 13 carries. Allard had 26 completions out of 42 attempts for 284 yards and the 4:0 ratio. Graham had 115 yards on 7 catches. Brackens had 2.5 sacks. Madison and Darius both grabbed picks. Wade added 4 KRB. DT Mike Rodgers sprained his neck and is doubtful for next week. I reactivate Castillo and play him questionable next week but only as the backup.

Week 10 - We defeat the two win Chiefs 37-3. Monty Swift had a 80 yard receiving play for a score. Derrick Alexander and Fred Beasley caught TDs as well. Taylor broke an 80 yard run for a score. He still does it. Game MVP is Jerome Allard with 20 of 28 for 340 yards and a 3:0 ratio. Taylor added 122 yards on 17 carries. Swift had 164 yards on 7 catches. Darius had two picks, and joining him are Hudson and Madison with one each. Collier and Lewis had sacks. Solomon Page has a hyper extended knee. He will be out for several weeks. Castillo injured himself further and is now out for 6-8 weeks. I thank him for his service and place him on IR. I sign a cheap replacement, DT Hunter McNeill. Dennis King will start the rest of the season.

Week 11 - We win 33-6 over the Packers. Fred Taylor gets a TD run as does Vince McDaniel. Samari Rolle is the Game MVP with a 82 yard INT return for a TD, plus another pick. Thompson and Hudson each added a pick. King recovered a fumble. Brackens had 1.5 sacks, while King and even Newman had sacks as well. Lethon Flowers will be back next week. Rolle was NFL Defensive Player of the Week.

Week 12 - We defeat Oakland 20-13. A much more normal score. Jerome Allard got his first TD run, this of 2 yards. Taylor also had a run for a score. Geiger was the QB for the match because their highly touted QB was injured a few weeks ago, so we played against our former backup. Dwayne Rudd was Game MVP with a pick and 12 tackles. Flowers joined him with an interception in his first action back from injury. Allard had 216 yards and Taylor had 49.

Week 13 - We defeat the Chargers 34-0. Both Freds got TD runs (Fred Taylor and Fred Beasley). Marvin Graham caught a TD. Backup RB Thomas Halton even got a TD run. But the Game MVP was Donovin Darius with a pick. Dwayne Rudd had 2 sacks and Flowers had a pick while Madison had 2.

Week 14 - We crush Oakland 38-0. Wow. Two back to back shutouts. Embarassing for them. Fred Taylor was Game MVP with just 15 carries for 147 yards and 4 TDs. Vince McDaniel got the final score with a fumble return. Allard went 20 of 29 for 270 yards and a pick. Madison had 2 picks. Unfortunately, CB Clarence Hudson, my star rookie CB dislocated his knee and is out for the season. I place him on IR and sign CB James Helton to a 1 year deal. I don’t need to spend the cash on a major patch, because Hudson isn’t a starter and I have amazing CB depth anyway. He’s also a returner, so he can replace Samari Rolle in that roll.

Week 15 - We lose to Denver 17-37. David LeFleur gets his first score of the year. James Helton gets a 104 KO return for a TD. First game, and he gets a score. Allard was knocked out in the 2nd quarter. DE Barry Stratico is out for year with a hip pointer. I replace him with DE Timothy Burt, a quick patch.

We have won the AFC West and the top playoff spot despite losing. Our 11-3 is much better than the 8-6 the rest of the conference is sitting at.

Week 16 - We defeat the Vikings 20-13. Game MVP was Fred Taylor with 206 yards on 15 carries. Allard was 20 of 37 for 189 yard and a 2:0 ratio. He hit Graham for both scores. Darius had a pick. Wade notched 4 KRB.

Week 17 - The Football Gods grace us since I order us to play all personnel. We score 51 on the Seahawks. Our scores: Marvin Graham 11 yard, Graham 86 yards, TE Buddy Gardner, 1 yard catch, Graham 22 yard catch, Tony Dunnigan 9 yard catch, Lethon Flowers, 39 yard INT RET TD. Marvin Graham was Game MVP but Jerome Allard was NFL Offensive Player of the Week. Graham - 9 catches for 234 yards and 3 TDs. Taylor had 105 yards on 16 carries. Allard went 26 of 38 for 434 yards, 5:0 ratio. Flowers had that pick, Darius had 2, and Newman had a pick. Brackens had 2 sacks. We had no injuries at all (football gods smiling).

Wild Card Week in the AFC:

Colts defeat Jets 34-10. Patriots over Jaguars 35-0.


We host the Colts next week.


AFC 2005 Division Round:


13-3 San Antonio Lone Stars host

9-7 Indianapolis Colts


Who will win?

We do, 30-24.

Marvin Graham is Game MVP with 195 yards on 8 catches and 2 Tds. Swift had 146 yards on 10 catches plus a TD. Jerome Allard went for 25 of 47 for 420 yards and a 3:0 ration, out dueling Peyton Manning on the day. Taylor add 115 yards on the ground on 18 carries. OT Mo Collins had 4 KRB.


Baltimore defeated the Patriots 41-17.

2005 AFC Championships

Ray Lewis and the 13-3 San Antonio Lone Stars seek revenge and repeats against the 9-7 Baltimore Ravens.


Here we go, score recap:

1Q - Fred Taylor 20 yard run TD.
Halftime - 7-0
3Q - Martin Grammatica, 36 yard FG. 7-3.
3Q - Derrick Alexander, 5 yard catch for TD. 14-3.
4Q - Martin Grammatic, 41 yard Fg. 14-6.
4Q - Fred Taylor 75 yard TD run. 21-6. Seals the game.
4Q - Tony Banks hit’s a receiver for TD. 21-13.
Final


Game MVP _ Fred Taylor with 165 yards on 16 carries.
Allard was 21 of 29 for 228 and a 1:0 ratio. He was bumped a bit and Duran came in for a couple of series.
Jeffries had 1.5 sacks


Derrick Alexander broke his jaw and is out. Jerome Allard I probable and will play, as will probable Tony Dunnigan.

2005 year (2006) Super Bowl:


13-3 San Antonio Spurs look to repeat their title.

12-4 Philadelphia Eagles stand in their way.


Who will win and who will fall? Will the loss of Derrick Alexander hurt the Lone Stars? Will Allard continue his hot streak or recall his bad games? Does Taylor have enough gas to keep running? Will the highly vaunted pass defense stand up? Can the Eagles exploit the banged up D Line of the Lone Stars? Who will stand and who will fall?

We win 34-26.

Super Bowl MVP - Marvin Graham

They came back rough in the 4th. Donovin McNabb hit Isaac Bruce twice for scores and were pushing for a third in the quarter.
Taylor had just 51 yards on 17 carries but rushed for a TD.
Allard went 20 of 31 for 233 yards and a 3:1 ratio. He was knocked out for a series and Duran did play one series.
Graham had 141 yards on 9 catches. Lefleur was second with 7 catches.

Madison and Flowers got picks.
Brackens grabbed 3 sacks. Collier and Huntley also picked up a sack each.
DT King recovered a fumble

Season Awards:

Super Bowl MVP - WR Marvin Graham
All-Pro 1st Team - WR Marvin Graham, C John Wade, CB Sam Madison, S Donovin Darius
All-Pro 2nd Team - K Olindo Mare, LB Ray Lewis


Stats (Team) - 2nd most rushing yards in league. Highest yards per rush (4.5). 3rd most passing yards in league. 8th highest yards per completion. Defensively - allowed 4th fewest rushing yards, tied for 5th fewest yards per rush, 7th fewest passing yards, tied for 3rd fewest yards per completion. Led TO margin by +21. 5th fewest sacks in league. 8th fewest sacks allowed in league, though.

Stats (Individual) - Jerome Allard, 59.1 completion percentage for 4101 yards 27:11 ratio. 90.0 rating. Most yards passing in league, tied for most passing TDs in league. Why no honors? Most passing yards, most passing TDs. Seems like an auto choice to me. The #1 rating was 26 TD Donovin McNabb, and I can understand that. But we had a higher rating, more TDs, and more yards than the 2nd Team All Pro guy. And our guy fumbled 5 times, the 2nd Team guy fumbled 9 times. He had 14 picks, our guy had 11. The only stat where their guy was better was a 59.9% completion vs. 59.1, but he had fewer yards, fewer Tds, more fumbles, more picks, and a lower rating. Come on now. That’s just silly. Allard was robbed.

RB Fred Taylor - Another robbery. 1330 yards, 14 tds, 6.0 rushing average, which is just crazy good. He led the league in rushing TDs, had an unbelievably high rushing average, and was 2nd highest in rushing yards. Troy Santoro, the guy we traded to Chicago, had 12 rushing Tds and 200 less rushing yard.s He got 1st team despite having fewer Tds, fewer rushing yards, and a much lower average per rush, probably because he got 350 yards more receiving and 4 receiving TDs. That;s fair I suppose, but what about the #2 All Pro guy? TJ Russell of Baltimore. 100 less yards, 4 less rushing Tds. 4.6 average, 280 yard receiving and 2 receiving Tds, so he’s not even that good of a receiver. Flat out, you get 6.0 average and start 16 games, you should be getting All Pro.

Taylor was perfect, and we all know he won’t do as good next season. This was his year, and he was robbed.

WR Marvin Graham - 87 catches for 1385 yards, 12 Tds. Led league in Tds and 2nd in receiving yards.
Monty Swift 982 yards, 76 catches, 6 Tds.

Mare had a solid season, made 34 of 42 Fgs.
Baldridge had the highest punt average once again at 46.0 yards, but his # inside the 20 dropped.

Ray Lewis had 94 solo tackles and 34 assists. 3 sacks. 1 pick.
Brackens led the team with 7 sacks in 13 starts. A down year for sure.
Collier had 6.5 sacks. No one else had more than 3.

Donovin Darius led the league with 10 picks while Sam Madison was tied for second in the league with 9.

Flowers had 4 picks. Rolle and Hudson had 3. Backup S Newman had 2.

John Wade locked up 33 KRB.

Team Awards:


Offensive Player of the Year: RB Fred Taylor. He broke open some long plays and was simply the perfect back for my system. My backs get less than 20 carries per game, and he was dangerous with just that. Perfect, perfect year for my RB.
Defensive Player of the Year - CB Sam Madison. I am not opposed to giving this to Darius again, but this is like a nice going away present for Madison. He was 2nd on our team in passes defensed as well, and had All Pro honors just like Darius. Good job Sam!
Special Teams Player of the Year: CB James Helton - He was with us for three regular season games and had great return numbers plus a return TD. He also did very well for us in the playoffs too.
Rookie of the Year: DE Reggie Collier - 6.5 sacks, 39 solo tackles and 8 assists, and he id a good job stepping up.
Heart Award: S Donovan Newman - Signed as a backup S good at special teams, he had several shining moments including a pair picks when pressed into playing defense, and a sack. The guy playing in about 70 pass plays all year long, and came away with 3 major game changing plays. Good job Donovan.

Major players at the end of their contracts:

Patch players like Ray Lewis and Colin Duran and Fred Beasley

TE David LeFleur
CB Sam Madison


WR Tai Street

Off-Season



Score - Team Performance - 100, Franchise Value - 94, Profit/Loss - 53, Difficulty - 74 - Total 81

Hall of Fame Inductees - Bruce Smith, Emmitt Smith, Randall Cunningham.

We have 31 players under contract. Ray Lewis, despite good numbers last year, has entered his 11th year. He skills are not great, outside of run stopping. In other words, I will not franchise him. David LeFluer is in his 10th year, and two of his seasons have not been where I want my TEs to be, so he’s not getting franchises. I can’t afford to enfranchise Madison.

I need a new scout. My old one was very expensive and sucked at LBs. Our drafts were the result. I make an offer to the Titans Lead Scout. We had to offer him a bunch but we got him.

Wes Place - 5 yeas, 960k. Excellent - Kickers, LB, Young Talent, Secondary. Very Good - QB, O Line. Good - D Line, RB, WR.


We are the 3rd highest franchise in the league, 49ers and Skins above us. 4th best stadium, 5th best roster, 15th best support, 9th best economy.

We were the 15th most full stadium by percentage.

Uh oh. Our new scout sees our team a bit differently than our old one.

QB Jerome Allard, still good, but as much so. CB Hudson not as good, but still good. LB Rodney McWilliams not as much of a bust because really good at coverage. Not where I want him, but not as bad. Neil Huntley not as good as we thought he was. DE Reggie Collier is not as good as we thought he was. He dropped to 15/44 from 15/71. That’s a big drop.

We will likely have to make some changes to our roster based on our new scout’s views.

I have four extra picks in the draft to help us out. Let’s look at our roster, once we are into free agency.

I extend Jerome Allard’s contract by three years. His cap number jumps significantly, but will lower next year.

I extend Tony Brackens’s deal by two years. Perhaps he had a down year because we thought we had a better DE on the other side than we actually did. Also extended, Donovin Darius by two years. Olindo Mare extended by one. I release backup CB Matthew Thompson, whose value dropped a lot and was in the last year of a FA contract making about 2.2 mill as our main nickel back. Perhaps his value really was less - he had 1 pick in two seasons including 5 starts for injury and constant nickelbacking.

I extend Solomon Page’s contract by two years.

Players of importance entering final season - C John Wade, CB Samari Rolle, S Lethon Flowers, LB Dwayne Rudd, P Baldridge.

Positions I need:

Backup QB, RBx2, WR, OGx2, OT, DE, LB, CBx2, Sx2

Starting FB, OG, DE, DTx2, LB, TE

For next year? S, CB, LB, C



I make an offer for G Alvin Stokes. The irony is that I drafted Alvin in my first year, traded him after two years of starts, but my changing scout eval make him much better than what I gave up. Let’s see if I can bring him back home.

I also make offers to TE Bubba Franks and DE Shaun Ellis.

Week 1 - Sam Madison signed with Miami and Alvin Stokes resigns with us.

Week 2 -Bubba Franks and Shaun Ellis resign with their previous teams. Ikc, lost them both. I make an offer to Ray Lewis for a permanent gig. He is not as expensive as I would have thought. I also make an offer to DE Ebenezer Ekuban.

Week 4 - FB Fred Beasley signs with the Jets. Ray Lewis signs with us.

Week 6 - TE David Lefleur signs with Cincy. Ekuban signed with Dallas.

I trade C John Wade to the Vikings for their 4(1) pick. Wade was not interested is resigning with us, and now I can use the cleared salary to chase a starter.

I make an offer to C JC Poole.

Week 7 - JC Poole signs with us.

Week 18 - I find a good LB in the crop, he was a free agent last year, dropped after being a 3rd rounder as a rookie. I offer LB Bart Zambrano a 2 year deal.

I cut OT Melvin Gadsen and make an offer to OT Bob Turney for a 3 year deal as a backup with green future potential.

Week 19 - They both sign.

Draft Time - I get an intriguing offer from the Bucs. They offer both a solid DT - Rashod Swinger, and their 7th overall pick in round one for my QB. There are two studs in the draft of QB ness. Would one fall to 7? I doubt it, but I at least considered it before I said no.

What is still on the board at 32? Not much. Best players are a WR and CB. I take CB and the WR in picks that are virtually back to back. Then I just BAP the draft.



Draft Recap:

1 - CB Jack Huntley, Temple
2(2) - WR Herman Swinger, Rutgers
2(11) - DE Lee Wilkins, Appalachian State
2(32) - TE Al Hatcher, Virginia Tech
3(5) - RB Chris Evans, UCLA
3(32) - QB Marlon Strickland, SW Missouri State
4(1) - OG Orlando Wells, Georgia Tech
4(32) - DT Pat Bradley, Tennessee Tech
5 - FB Billy Joe Blackwell, Charleston Southern
6(5) - CB Don Fitzgerald, Texas Christian, listed at 100/100 in each return category.
6(32) - DT Chuck Small, USC
7 - OG Danny Miller, Tennessee

Rookies are signed. We have 45 players under contracts and no money. Time to start trimming some fat.:


I cut:

FB Terry Tripodi



I make offers to UFAs:

TE Stan Baez, Clemson
WR Daniel Shelton, Notre Dame
TE Shawn Lane, Wisconsin
LB Tom Jamieson, Ohio State
RB Wendell Reese, San Jose State
OT Broderick West, Ouachita
DE Devin Bates, Washington State
S Johnny Banks, Duke


I trade WR Derrick Alexander to the Raiders for their 6th pick.


Let’s go camping.

We sold 54,400 season tickets.

Overview of Rookies Drafted:

RB Chris Evans 42/70 - Not bad, but bars do not appear to back this.
WR Herman Swinger 57/66 - Pretty good
CB Jack Huntley - 43/66. A Samari Rolle replacement in the future?
DE Lee Wilkins - 19/61. Looks like he is higher than 19 at the moment.
OG Orlando Wells -26/54 - Solid
DT Pat Bradley - 16/48
TE Al Hatcher 31/44 -Not as good as I’d hoped
FB Billy Joe Blackwell 30/44. Finally got a FB from the draft.
DT Cheuck Smll 16/53 - Another adequate performer.
OG Danny Millner 16/50 - Yet more sufficiency.
CB Don Fitzgerald 24/31 - Grabbed for his return skills.

QB Marlon Strickland 23/55 - His future bars look downright amazing, not 55 overall. Very serious gap between the bars and the overall number. Here are his potentials

Screen - 68
Short - 67
Medium - 80
Long - 92
Deep - 49
3rd Down - 64
Accuracy - 53
Power -55
Scramble Freq - 58
Carrying - 62

That’s a pretty good QB.

CB Clarence Hudson, my supposed replacement for Sam Madison who was amazing, has busted in his second year severely. I will be starting Jack Huntley as a result. LB Rodney McWilliams busted a bit again.

I’m fine this year, but I thought I had found replacements for both Rolle and Madison on my roster, and now I find out that is not the case. Disappointing.

I trade Dwayne Rudd to the Bills for their 6th rounder this year. Rudd was in his final year and his stats kept decreasing. I have Ray Lewis as a starter in the middle or strong side. I also have Bart Zambrano as a really strong looking weak side LB, with great coverage skills. I sign LB Joey Albert, a one year guy who can start for me as well.

With the extra cap money cleared off, I resign Samari Rolle for three more years. I also extend S Lethon Flowers’s deal for a year into next year.

I sign UFA S Donovan Darien to a one year deal and now I have a full 52.

I trade RB Vince McDaniel to the Bengals for their 5th. I then sign RB Mark Vallejo to a one year deal at minsal for a 2nd year player

Our Starters:

QB Jerome Allard - With a fancy new contract and a great year behind him.
RB Fred Taylor - Our staff want to start Wendell Reese but I prefer Fred Taylor.
FB Billy Joe Blackwell - Green but he has potential
WR Marvin Graham - A stud among studs
WR Herman Swinger - A great adjunct to our team
TE Al Hatcher - A weakness - not as good as we had hoped
C JC Poole - He appears to be adequate, but not special.
OG Solomon Page - Solid
OG Alvin Stokes - Welcome home
OT LJ Shelton - Strong but not a stud
OT Mo Collins - Also string, but also not studly
P Blaine Baldridge - In the last year of his contract. More franchising coming?
K Olindo Mare - Two All Pro years with us and he’s a good player.
DE Tony Brackens -Was last year’s sack drop temporary or permanent?
DE Lee Wilkins - He looks like starting quality but has to grow into it.
DT Neal Castillo - Returning, but this position is all a mess
DT Mike Rodgers - Both have dropped a bit after our new scout took over.
LB Ray Lewis - Moved to SLB from MLB, but that suits his strong run stopping ness.
LB Joey Albert - As the most well rounded, a perfect match for the MLB position
LB Bart Zambrano - With such a strong inclination to coverage, a natural for WLB.
CB Samari Rolle - I screwed up. I’d have preferred to have kept Madison over Rolle, but since I thought I had a starter, then they left, so now I am stuck with the lesser of the two stars.
CB Jack Huntley - The rookie, 1(32) pick, please be a great corner. Please.
S Lethon Flowers - Strong
S Donovin Darius - Very strong

Fitzgerald is our returner, with Swinger and contributing as a KR as well.

2006 San Antonio Lone Stars Schedule:

1. Broncos
2. CHARGERS
3. Panthers
4. 49ERS
5. BYE
6. Patriots
7. SEAHAWKS
8. CHIEFS
9. COLTS
10. Chargers
11. Saints
12. RAIDERS
13. Seahawks
14. Raiders
15. BRONCOS
16. FALCONS
17. Chiefs


CAPS are home games.

We have the 6th overall QB, 10th best RB and 4th best reserves, 10th worst FB, 3rd worst TE, 3rd best WR and 7th bets reserves, 10th best C, 3rd best OG and 7th best backups, 5th best OT and 4th best reserves, Best Punter, 3rd best kicker, 11th best DE, 11th worst DT, 3rd best LB and reserves, 7th best CB and 4th best reserves, best S and 7th best reserves.


We go 2-2 in the preseason, but Billy Joe has broken his jaw and is out for 2-3 months. I toss him on IR and sign FB Brent Fitzpatrick as our new FB. We have now spent all of our $$.

Week 1 - We lose 17-23 to the Broncos. Tony Dunnigan and Monty Swift caught our two TDs on the day. Taylor had 47 yards on 12 carries, Allard was 24 of 35 for 287 and a 2:1 ratio, and Graham had 153 yards on 7 catches. No sacks, no picks. No pressure, therefore we lost.

Week 2 - The Chargers are no opposing as we win 45-20. Our scores - Al Hatcher, Monty Swift and Monty Swift caught TDs. Wendell Reese ran for a 33 yard score and a 4 yard score. Herman Swinger recovered a Fred Taylor fumble and ran it in for our 5th TD on the day. Jerome Allard was Game MVP with 18 of 31 for 211, 3:0 ratio. Taylor had 79 yards on 20 carries. Swift had 112 yards on 7 catches. Samari Rolle had a pick and half a sack. Collier recovered a fumble.

We have several injuries coming out of that game. Swinger will be out for a while and I deactivate him. Graham is questionable. I move Graham to 4th on the depth chart. Dunnigan and Swift will be starting next week. Our new TE caught a TD in his 2nd game, so that’s a good sign.

Week 3 - We lose 23-31 to Carolina. Allard hits Swift, Dunnigan and 3rd WR Daniel Shelton for scores. Taylor had 26 yards on 10 attempts. Allard had 19 of 40 for 305, and a 3:2 ratio. Swift had 106 yards on 6 catches. Flowers got a pick. Albert and Wilkins notched sacks. Rolle fumbled on a return but recovered it. Nickelback Hudson got a fumble recovery, but returner Fitzgerald fumbled it away once. CB Huntley is injured and will be out for a few weeks. Hudson will start.

We’re going to give RB Chris Evans a start and see what he can do.

Week 4 - We defeat the 49ers 34-10. Tony Dunnigan gets a TD from Allard. Wendell Reese gets two short yards runs for scores. Darius, Game MVP, gets a pick and returns it for a score. C Poole had 5 KRB. Brackens and Collier had sacks. Evans had 91 yards on 25 carries, Allard was 22 of 27, 205, 1:1.

We have several injuries. DE Collier will be out for a while. WR Daniel Shelton is out. OG Page is Questionable.

I make a major, major move. I trade Tony Brackens to the Bengals for their 2nd and 4th rounders next year. Brackens was simply not contributing in any meaningful way. Anyway, no what tI have some money, I can afford to put WR Swinger on IR and I sign UFA WR Nick Creemur to a one year minsal deal. I then sign UFA DE Irv Fulcher to fill up a roster spot.

Week 5 - BYE

Week 6 - We scrape by the Patriots 23-20. Our scores are Marvin Graham TD pass and Mike Rodgers with a 23 yards fumble return. Game MVP was Samari Rolle with a pick. Flowers had a sack. Evans had 69 yards on 20 carries. Allard was 18 of 33 for 1:0 and 216 yards. LB Neil Huntley will be out for a few weeks. Jack Huntley will be back, however. I’m going back to Taylor as my RB.

Week 7 - We defeat Seattle 20-13. Wendell Reese scored from 13 yards out and Monty Swift caught our other score on a 58 yard receiving play. DE Irv Fulcher was Game MVP with 2.5 sacks and a fumble recovery, he is starting in Bracken‘s spot. Rolle and Jack Huntley got picks. Covington and Bates added a sack each. Taylor had 50 yards on 17 carries, Allard was 19 of 30 for 286 and 1:0. LB Joey Albert is questionable. I deactivate him.

Week 8 - We crush the Chiefs 44-10. Monty Swift caught a TD. Allard ran in for another. Fred Taylor added two more on the ground, one of 45 yards. Samari Rolle had a 66 INT RET TD 66 yards and was Game MVP. Covington and Hudson added picks. Castillo had our lone sack of the day. Allard was 19 of 37 for 286 and 1:1. Taylor had 131 yards with 21 carries and Graham had 168 yards on the day. DE Collier will be back next week.

Week 9 - We lose to the Colts 17-13. Fred Taylor had a 73 yard run for a TD and that was our lone TD. He had 15 runs for 184 yards on the day. Allard had one of his Jeckyl and Hyde performances with 26 of 45 for 0:4. Rodgers had a sack and a half and King added a sack. OG Page is knocked to doubtful and therefore is pulled.