Village Challenge II - 2039

[Darkiller]

Village Challenge II

Season 2039

For 2038 :
Team Performance : 100/100
Franchise Value : 100/100
Profit Loss : 100/100
Difficulty : 74/100

YEAR END SCORE : 98


No players were inducted in the Hall of Fame this year. I guess this is a first.
After Kurt Wiese being inducted last year, hopefully the next Brown to enter the Hall will be
Ben Vanderclute next year. (i'm rooting for him since I drafted him and he had a sensational career with us - 5 time All-League Guard -)

Talking about the Hall of Fame, what about former WR Robbie Jeffries (who still holds the club's records in receiving yards and TD catches) ?
Robbie didn't not make the Cleveland Browns Hall of Fame...that's too bad.
Lee Clark neither but this is more understandable.

WR Stanley Lewinsky, after 9 seasons in the NFL, is now closing the gap on Robbie Jeffries for the club's Receiving TD record. Stanley only needs 5 more TDs to pass Robbie on the list...
That could be achieved as early as this year.

Only one player retired during the offseason, CB Edwin Dulaney !!!
This guy was drafted last year by Subby, in 2038, played one season and then decides to retire...
He was a 2nd rounder out of Georgia. Crazy story.
Therefore we currently have 40 players under contract for next season with only one starter being a FA (center Burt Carlson).

We -of couse - keep the same Coaching and Scouting staff.

Center Burt Carlson gets franchised ; he has been a starter for us for the past 5 years and he's in his prime : one reason why Sammie has been so successful over these years...No way we lose him so I give him the Franchise tag.

At the start of Free Agency, we stand $71,010,000 under the cap.
We trade 10 year Vet starting FB Richard Hartman to the San Diego Chargers for their 2nd pick in the draft.
We already have young FB (3 year vet) Brett Wiggins almost at full capacity. He gives us youth and he's now an upgrade to Hartman. Wiggins was unhappy not to play but he should have his smile back now that he's assured of being the team's starter this upcoming season.

We needed some help at CB so I go back to a player I loved since I drafted him 11 years ago...
Troy Goldhammer (remember the name ? )

Drafted by myself in 2029 out of Oklahoma (13th overall pick). He spent his first two seasons with us (not starting a game since he was too raw at the time) then got traded to the Steelers where he started foe them for 3 years before going to Saint Louis and being their starting CB for the next 5 years...
Troy is now a complete CB, I remember loving his outstanding overall capacities at the time I drafted him...
two years ago, in 2037, he was nammed All-League 2nd-team CB.
I traded with the Rams to have him back in a Browns uniform, having to let go a 1st rounder next year plus backup CB Clarence Sheffer.

here are his ratings now : 71-90-96-72-92-64.
I believe he still has a few more years ahead of him and he should help our secondary a lot.
Plus with a salary of ONLY $2,730,000 for this year he is really a can't miss bargain.
Welcome back home Troy Goldhammer !

Before going into the draft, I cut 3 useless RBs that we had on the roster...Which leaves us for now with superstar Derek Ainsworth, valuable backup Jumbo Gable and 3rd stringer Mack Devine.


Draft report :

Rnd 1 (6th) - Roy Buckner, DT, Washington State (57/100 50/90 91) current 54 future 100
Rnd 1 (8th) - Kent Gietzen, G, Virginia (24/86 36/88 100) current 38 future 100
Rnd 2 - Jay Cherry, FB, Ohio State (current 37 future 57)
Rnd 5 - Allen Price, CB, Texas (current 44 future 76)
Rnd 7 - Kendrick Camilleri, QB, Michigan State (current 21 future 50)

That is a very good draft for us I believe.
with Roy Buckner we have the player we wanted and desperately needed as we only had one valuable DT on the roster prior to the draft (Lorenzo Wilkerson).
G Kent Gietzen is also a great prospect as we needed depth at the position (we only had 3 Guards) and he, also, has outstanding potential ; With Bensen and Germaine being in their 12th and 9th years Gietzen is clearly the future.

Second round FB Jay Cherry is not exceptional at all but he is a capable backup to new starter Brett Wiggins. We needed a backup FB badly and he's the answer.
5th rounder Allen Price will provide depth to the Cornerback position (we only had 3 good players before), he is a great kick returner as well.

7th round QB Kendrick Camilleri is really a nice pickup. He is Mr Irrelevant.
He will give us an upgrade as the 3rd QB on the roster, we will then be able to release current 3rd stringer Herb Miller who simply has no future in this league.
Camilleri should be a career backup...but a real good one.

his future ratings : 42-67-39-43-80-43-40-45-66-81
not bad for a 7th round guy, 252nd & very last pick of the draft !

All draftees will be signed.

Trade Offers :
The Bengals are interested in Kelvin Ward and the Bears in Lorenzo Wilkerson.
both offers are rejected.

We then renegociate a bunch of contracts of high paid players who could eventually become FAs as early as next year (like CB Steven Blair who is currently the 2nd highest paid player on the team after Sammie with almost a $17M cap figure for this year).

We do contract extensions (and get some cap relief) with superstars such as :
QB Sammie McNight (now signed until 2042)
RB Derek Ainsworth (2042)
WR Stanley Lewinsky (2041)

As for now we have 49 players signed with $40,890,000 under the cap.
We receive 4 trade offers after training camp for Lorenzo Wilkerson, Jerry Bensen, Kelvin Ward and Gene Woodson but all are rejected.

The Browns sell all 99,900 season tickets for the season once again

A look at the FA pool after training camp brings us good things, we sign to provide depth :

G Joe Burke, 4 year vet
CB Craig Magazine, 3 year vet (love his name lol)
WR Dwayne Weber, 5 year vet
DE Winfred Marsh, 4 year vet

...and bargain of the offseason :
WR J.J Anthony (rookie first rounder 35th overall pick that didn't sign with his team !)

We now have our 53 man roster completed with $25,700,000 left under the cap. we're in good shape obviously.

The Browns are "worth" $2,727,210,000 (1st NFL)
Stadium (65) 9th
Roster (100) 1st
Support (99) 1st
Economy (48) 19th

Pre-season :

Injury Report:

Byron Armour, WR - Hyperextended Elbow, full strength in 0-2 Weeks
Steven Blair, CB - Hyperextended Elbow, full strength in 3-5 Weeks
Jeffrey Maugh, CB - Sprained Neck, full strength in 3-5 Weeks

Two of our top 3 Corners our in a bad shape early in the season.
thank God we have Goldhammer back with us.

We go 1-3 in the pre-season winning our only game when the starters were in.
With the backups and Parrish as QB (games 2, 3, 4) we lost.
Anyway it's only pre-season and i'm not worried a all. This team has proven since McNight is its QB that they were absolute winners and I believe that as long as he is around we will be contenders (not to say Champions).

sorry to say that ( lol) but this situation reminds me of the 49ers when as long as they has Montana or Young at QB, no mattered what the rest of the roster was, we knew the 49ers would be in for title contention...

Also, before starting the regular season, i'd like to show you the worst QB sheet i've ever seen in a long time :
In his first appearance in the NFL, rookie QB Camilleri did this :

13/29 for 83yards 0 TD 6 INTs ! (Vs Cardinals in W2)
:- .
He settled in the games afterwards and i'm sure he'll be fine but that one first game was as bad as it gets.

Roster Cohesion :

passing (90)
Off Line (75)
Deff front (86)
secondary (52)

Regular season to come...

[Darkiller]

regular season 2039 :

Week 1 Browns Vs Cowboys (were 10-6 last year, NFC East Champions) - 10pt fav : W 38-3

No problems at all. We roll past the Cowgirls with a vintage Sammie performance. Good first appearance from 1st round rookie DT Buckner.

McNight 22/31 238 yards 2 TDs 1 INT
Ainsworth 16 for 87 yards 1 TD
Lewinsky 5 catches for 77 yards 1 TD
Wayne 1 interception and 7 tackles
Ward had 1.5 sacks and Jacoby had one.

We trade 12 year vet LB Duane Lies to the Houston Texans for a 1st round pick next year.
We already had way too many LBs on the roster, all being highly paid.
In the FA pool we then picked DE Clifton Evans (4 year vet) who will be a backup for the season.

W2 Browns (1-0) Vs Generals (1-0) - 10pt fav: L 10-12
The offense did not click a single second in that contest. not much to say, the defense was fine though.

McNight 19/34 253 yards 1 TD 1 INT (also 55 yards rushing)
Ainsworth left the game injured after 8 yards on 10 carries.
Gable 13 for 28 yards
Vance 7 catches for 87 yards 1 TD
Bellamy had 13 tackles
Ward had 2 sacks, Jacoby and Woodson each had one

after just 2 games, the injury list is already quite impressive

Dale Still, LB - Torn Rotator Cuff, full strength in 2040
Derek Ainsworth, RB - Sprained Neck, full strength in 3-5 Weeks
Steven Blair, CB - Hyperextended Elbow, full strength in 3-5 Weeks
Jeffrey Maugh, CB - Sprained Neck, full strength in 3-5 Weeks
Roy Buckner, DT - Broken Foot, full strength in 3-5 Weeks

W3 Browns (1-1) @ Ravens (2-0) -2pt underdog : W 42-14
a great pounding of the undefeated Ravens on their own yards...The offense went back to business
with a GREAT GREAT Sammie McNight (NFL Offensive player of the week, has to be an All-time
great performance) !!!; the defense was great as its been all year long so far.

McNight 21/40 374 yards 3 TDs 0 INT ( + 113 yards rushing and 2 TDs !!!)
who needs a RB when your QB does it all ???
Sammie looks a lot like Steve Young isn't it...
Gable 6 for 4 yards
Lewinsky 7 catches for 117 yards 1 TD
Magazine returned an INT for a TD and Watson also had his own Interception
Woodson had 1.5 sacks

Dale Still is placed on injured reserve and we sign FA LB Daryl Horn who had started 8 games
over the last two seasons.

W3 Browns (2-1) Vs Steelers (2-1) -6pt fav : W 38-16
Sammie goes out early in the 1st quarter and Parrish does his own show leading the team to a
big win with a great game !

Parrish 16/26 233 yards 3 TDs 0 INT
Gable 17 for 42 yards
Lewinsky 5 catches for 94 yards
Maugh and Goldhammer each had an interception returned for a TD !
Wilkerson, woodson and Ward each had 1 sack

W4 Browns (3-1) @ Titans (1-3) -8pt fav : L 24-26
down by 9 with 3 minutes to go, McNight throws a 41 yard TD to Vance to bring the game back. On
the next series the Titans QB is intercepted and we have our chance from midfiled. Sammie is
sacked twice and on 4th and 17 throws a bomb...intercepted in the end-zone.
The titans run the ball with 1 minute 30 secs left but have to punt on 4th down with 15 seconds
remaining...we have the ball and just a FG can win the game, McNight throws another bomb...caught
at the 15 yard line !...no time left. we lose.

McNight 16/30 318 yards 2 TDs 3 INTs
Gable 12 for 66 yards 1 TD
Lewinsky 4 catches for 85 yards 1 TD
Stiehl had 10 tackles
Norton had 1 INT
Wodson had 2 sacks and Ward had one.

W5 Browns (3-2) @ Bengals (1-4) -7pt fav : W 37-27
Wasn't as close as it looks. The game went on to be a shoutout in the 4th quarter.

McNight 20/31 283 yards 2 TDs 0 INT
Gable 14 for 101 yards 2 TDs (at last a respectable performance from Ainsworth's backup)
Lewinsky 6 catches for 114 yards
Wayne had one interception
Woodson had 4.5 sacks !!! Wilkerson had 2 and Ward had 1.5, Rookie Buckner had his 1st QB sack as well

Gilbert Reedy, T - Hip Pointer, full strength in 3-5 Weeks
Herman Vance, WR - Broken Hand, full strength in 2-3 Months

W6 OPEN

RB Derek Ainsworth comes back in the starting lineup, healthy.

W7 Browns (4-2) @ Steelers (3-3) -2pt fav : L 17-27
an inconsistent football team. We just don't seem to be able to put a winning streak together...

McNight 21/31 291 yards 2 TDs 2 INTs
Ainsworth 10 for 52 yards (not much to cheer about for his return)
Armour 7 catches for 138 yards 1 TD (a very nice game indeed)
Bellamy had 11 tackles
Ward had one sack

W8 Browns (4-3) Vs Titans (3-4) -6ptv fav : W 9-7
an ugly win as the result can show, we need a last second 33-yard FG from Chandler to nail this stinker.

McNight 11/17 15O yards 0 TD 0 INT
Ainsworth 28 for 96 yards
Armour 4 catches for 75 yards
Maugh and Norton each had an interception
Woodson had one sack

W9 Browns (5-3) @ Spangles (3-5) -2pt fav : L 20-26
the offense is still not there yet and we give up lot's of passing yardage. We now have two critical games coming up
against Cincy and Baltimore and we should better win them both if we want to make the playoffs this year...

McNight 16/25 187 yards 2 TDs 1 INT
Ainsworth 15 for 69 yards
Armour 5 catches for 95 yards
Goldhammer, Norton and Blair each had an interception
Wayne had 8 tackles

W10 Browns (5-4) Vs Bengals (2-7) -4pt fav : L 22-28
Things are not doing so great...at 5-5 the Playoffs seem unreachable, at least for now.
This football team is making me crazy so far. we just don't seem to be able to WIN, crazy...

McNight 13/23 246 yards 2 TDs 1 INT
Ainsworth 8 for 69 yards
Armour 6 catches for 124 yards 1 TD (has been Sammie's go to guy over the last few weeks...)
Watson had an interception
Wilkersin had 1.5 sacks with a safety
Nelson had 10 tackles

W11 Browns (5-5) Vs Ravens (5-5) -E : W 34-10
some relief finally. McNight has a fine game and the result is positive.

McNight 21/33 328 yards 2 TDs O INT
Ainsworth 15 for 62 yards 1 TD (still not playing up to his level)
Armour 8 catches for 100 yards
Goldhammer and James each had an interception
Bellamy had 11 tackles

W12 Browns (6-5) @ Cardinals (7-4) -5pt underdog : W 37-17
For the first time in weeks we manage to win two games in a row ! WR Stanley Lewinsky is the player of the game as he sets
the new Cleveland Browns Receiving TD records with 80 (surpassing Jeffries' 79 career TDs).
Two more TDs and Stanley Lewinsky will become the All-Time NFL leader !
current record is 82 TDs by Justin Boston set in 2024

McNight 16/29 347 yards 4 TDs 1 INT (a GREAT Sammie today !)
Ainsworth 10 for 61 yards (he doesn't help much this year unfortunately)
Lewinsky 7 catches for 180 yards 2 TDs (whaoo)
Wilkerson had 1.5 sacks and Buckner and Woodson each had one too.

At 7-5 we stand 3rd in the division behing Jacksonville (9-3) and Pittsburgh (8-4) ; Now come the important game versus
the Jaguars. With 4 games left on the schedule we are NOT currently one the 6 playoff teams and a loss next weekend to
Jacksonville would put us in terrible position.

W13 Browns (7-5) Vs Jaguars (9-3) -E : W 24-21
We jump to a 17-0 lead but the Jags catch up early in the second half and the game becomes tight. We are lucky to escape
their comeback..which would have been dramatic for us. we have won 3 games in a row for the 1st time this year.

McNight 14/27 214 yards 1 TD 0 INT
Gable 18 for 76 yards 1 TD
Lewinsky 6 catches for 102 yards 1 TD (comes back as the team's go to guy, and we win...)

W14 Browns (8-5) Vs Seahawks (8-5) -5pt fav : W 25-20
another tough one, but another win that enables us to record yet another winning season. The playoffs are still far
from being a lock but at least we have reversed the course of our season during this last month.

McNight 20/33 304 yards 1 TD 1 INT
Ainsworth 22 for 95 yards 1 TD (his best performance in weeks)
Vance 6 for 95 yards
Goldhammer had an interception (what a fine season he's having..i'm glad)
Woodson had one sack

W15 Browns (9-5) @ Colts (7-7) -2pt fav : W 21-11
the defense held and Lewinsky caught his record breaking 83rd TD pass to become the All-time leader. A nice day for
Browns fans. With 5 consecutive wins we have now clinched a playoff berth but we will have to beat Jacksonville again
next week -in the season finale- to win the AFC Central title.

McNight 16/27 197 yards 1 TD A INT
Ainsworth 18 for 104 yards 1 TD (a fine game at last !)
Vance 5 catches for 78 yards
Norton had 10 tackles along with 2 interceptions, one returned for a TD ! (NFL Defensive player of the week)
Watson had one interception as well

W16 Browns (10-5) @ Jaguars (11-4) -E : W 40-21
YES !
after going 5-5 after 10 games, we manage to win 6 in a row and end-up 11-5 AFC Central Champions.
We are on a roll right now, probably the hottest team to enter the post-season. We have a well deserved 1st round bye.

McNight 18/32 239 yards 2 TDs 0 INT
Ainsworth 22 for 60 yards 1 TD
Lewinsky 6 catches for 84 yards 1 TD
Norton and Maugh each had an interception
Jacoby had 1.5 sacks
Norton had 12 tackles

Injury Report heading into the Playoffs

Dale Still, LB - Torn Rotator Cuff, full strength in 2040
Jerry Bensen, G - Hyperextended Knee, full strength in 2040
Billy McWilliams, TE - Broken Finger, full strength in 2040
Byron Armour, WR - Bruised Shoulder, full strength in 2040
Herman Vance, WR - Bruised Shoulder, full strength in 2040
Kelvin Ward, DE - Concussion, full strength in 0-2 Weeks
Brent Nelson, LB - Concussion, full strength in 0-2 Weeks
A.J. Stiehl, LB - Bruised Ribcage, full strength in 0-2 Weeks

Playoffs to come...

[Darkiller]

PLAYOFFS :

Wildcard Games
Eagles @ Cardinals : 45-13
Steelers @ Jaguars : 16-21
Jets @ Seahawks : 12-10
Generals @ Rams : 24-45

Divisional Playoffs :

Rams @ Falcons : 13-23
Jets @ Mission : 30-24
Eagles @ Buccaneers : 38-13

Cleveland Browns (11-5) Vs Jacksonville Jaguars (12-5) -6pt fav : W 34-6
We beat the Jaguars for the third time this year. Sammie was his usual unstoppable self, throwing precise passes to
the receivers who made the fine catches. We weren't worried at all during the game.
The 6 game winning streak that we ended with in the regular season obviously carried us in this first post-season game.

McNight 20/27 267 yards 3 TDs O INT (whaoo) NFL Offensive Player of the week
Ainsworth 11 for 81 yards 1 TD
Armour 7 catches for 74 yards 2 TDs
Jacoby had 4.0 sacks !! and Rookie Buckner had another one for himself


Conference Championship Games :

NFC title game
Eagles @ Falcons : 9-38

AFC title game
Cleveland Browns (12-5) Vs New York Jets (12-6) -10 pt fav (I have no idea why Vegas put us in such favor) : W 37-22
After taking a 13-O lead thanks to a Goldhammer interception on the first play of the game that clearly set the tone, we watch
the Jets rally and score two unanswered TDs that makes them lead 14-13..but with 5 minutes left in the 3rd quarter, a huge
Derek Ainsworth takes things into control and kills the game scoring on a 50 yard rushing play. Ainsworth has not only
the best game of his season by far but also the 4th highest rushing performance in post-season history (233 yards).
The Browns will play in a SuperBowl for the 9th time since Sammie McNight era !

McNight 13/29 143 yards 1 TD 1 INT
Ainsworth 30 for 233 yards 3 TDs (whaoooo !!!! )
Lewinsky 3 catches for 32 yards
Goldhammer and Norton each had an interception
Wilkerson had 1 sack
Wayne had 8 tackles

2039 SUPER BOWL

AFC Champs Cleveland Browns (13-5) Vs NFC Champs Atlanta Falcons (13-5) -7pt fav : L 14-20
We never lead in the superbowl...down 0-14, we catch up and tie the game but then the Falcons went back in business and
a late drive started on our own 20 yard line with less than 3 minutes to play was not enough. facing 3rd and 8 on the Falcons
19 we have to throw to the end zone but time is running out and we have no time outs left.
We end up losing the first SuperBowl of the McNight era...

McNight 16/25 205 yards 0 TD 0 INT
Ainsworth 24 for 171 yards 2 TDs (saved his best performances for the postseason but this time wasn't enough to win)
Armour 5 catches for 70 yards
Jacoby had 2 sacks
Bellamy had 9 tackles

The season is over and we lost in the SuperBowl.
too bad but still we had a very good year, coming back from a 5-5 record after 10 wins to win 6 in a row and have
homefield advantage and then making it again to the Big one..
We'll try next season to get the title back, to make it a 10th trip to th SuperBowl with Sammie at the helm.

Season stats :

Offense
Rushing yards per game : 122,6 (14th NFL)
Passing yards per game : 266,5 (2nd NFL)

Defense
Rushing yards per game : 99,4 (4th NFL)
Passing yards per game : 225 (26th NFL)

Points scored : 438 (1st NFL)
Points outscored : 286 (7th NFL)

Individual stats

QB Sammie McNight 16/16 271/446 60.7% 4015 yards (2nd) 27 TDs (2nd) 12 INTs RATING : 99,1 (1st NFL)
RB Derek Ainsworth 11/15 185 for 797 yards 4.3/c 5 TDs
RB Jumbo Gable 4/16 123 for 532 yards 4.3/c 6 TDs
WR Stanley Lewinsky 16/16 74 catches (11th NFL) for 1241 yards (1st NFL!) 9 TDs (6th NFL) career year
WR Herman Vance 11/16 57 catches for 807 yards 7 TDs
DE Gene Woodson 13.5 sacks (tied 7th NFL)
DE Kelvin Ward 11.0 sacks
LB Todd Bellamy 92 tackles 33 assists
S Will Norton 6 interceptions 1 TD
CB Troy Goldhammer 5 interceptions 1 TD

INDIVIDUAL HONORS

QB Sammie McNight : Offensive Player of the Year - All-League 1st team QB
RB Derek Ainsworth : SuperBowl MVP (reward of a great post-season despite a losing effort in the superbowl)
WR Stanley Lewinsky : All-League 1st team WR

QB Sammie McNight is the winner of the Erik Johan Award.

The Altanta Falcons win their first ever SuperBowl.

[WebEwbank]

Tough loss in the Bowl game after building up a lot of momentum.

We need to make some decisions about the future of VC II.

[Subby]

Nice work Darkiller!

You did a great job of finishing the season.

I think we should have a conversation about VC II as well. I want to continue with it, but not in its present form. If someone is interested, please start a new thread and we can discuss it there...

[Darkiller]

That's fine with me Subby.
I'm ok to change some things in VCII to make it more challenging.

Let's create a special thread about it where everyone will be able to say what they want in order to improve and continue our nice little thing

As for me, i'll play season 2040 on that thread sometimes next week.

[Alf]

Originally posted by Darkiller:
That's fine with me Subby.
I'm ok to change some things in VCII to make it more challenging.

Let's create a special thread about it where everyone will be able to say what they want in order to improve and continue our nice little thing

As for me, i'll play season 2040 on that thread sometimes next week.

HUGE BUMP

It all started here for me (FOF, then the board, then FOF2k1, then TCY, then the Indiana TCY Village Challenge).

Just wanting to thanks those guys !

[Darkiller]

whaouuu that is so cool Alf.

Almost brought a tear to my eyes...
it's been quite a time now since Village Challenge II...
that was as great a time as I've ever had in FOF : we were a heck of a team.
here's the VCII website : http://www.villagechallenge2.fr.st

thanks for bringing back those great memories
Alf buddy