Let It Reign | A London Monarchs Expansion Franchise (M18)

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Franchise Settings:
All-Madden
13 min quarters / 20 sec run-off
Default Sliders (For now)
Default Madden 18 Rosters

Preamble:


Woody Johnson has come under fire during recent investigations. He has been found guilty by a Grand Jury of money laundering, racketeering and embezzlement. As part of his sentencing, a Supreme Court Judge has ordered all his assets to be seized and expunged. Johnson's NFL Franchise, the New York Jets, is officially defunct despite NFL efforts to keep the franchise afloat. The NFL has never experienced anything like this in its 97 year history. League Representatives are expected to meet in NFL Head Quarters in New York later this week to discuss the future of the league.

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NFL Executives met in New York earlier today. All 31 team owners were present to hear the pitches from aspirant NFL Franchise Owners. One man stood head and shoulders above all the other according to league officials. Grant Tanner, a businessman from London, England, stated that he wanted to bring a franchise permanently overseas. After a 26-5 vote, Mr. Tanner was granted sole ownership of the NFL's 32nd franchise. Many are excited to see where the NFL will go in the coming months including us here at ESPN.

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Meet The Owner:
Grant Tanner, the owner of the NFL's new London Franchise met with NFL Network yesterday to answer a few questions and tell us why he wanted an NFL team.

Stacey Dales: Hello Mr. Tanner, let me first congratulate you on winning the vote to own the NFL's 32nd Franchise. I'm sure many people are at home wondering why you pushed so hard to get a team in London..

Grant Tanner: Hi Stacey, Thank you. I had always had an interest in the NFL. I was a teenager when the NFL had its Europe stint. I was fascinated by the product I witnessed. I knew then and there that I wanted to own an NFL Franchise, I just never thought it would be such a short time after.

SD: You're only 35 years old, making you one of the NFL's youngest owners ever. Some owners didn't vote 'yea' simply because of your age. Do you have anything to say to those owners and any others who think you're too young to own a franchise?

GT: It's going to be a difficult road, I know this. I didn't expect it to be a walk in the park. I mean we're talking about owning a stake in a multi-billion dollar business. I may not have any background in American Football, but I have been a fan for a long while and I do honestly believe I can bring a successful franchise to front in London. I don't see how my age will have any effect on running my franchise. I think it may be an advantage honestly, I know what most 27-34 year old men are interested in and what to watch out for in certain situations. 50 to 60 year old's just don't get how the world has changed from the good ol' days, whereas I understand what's going on in the world.

SD: You own a stadium in Grove Park. Can you tell us what upgrades you plan to have done by the start of next season, when your team is supposed to debut?

GT: The stadium is pretty new and state of the art but we do need more seating. We have blueprints in place to add an upper mezzanine that will seat an additional 20,000 sports fans. Its estimated to be completed by July of 2018, which is just a few weeks before the opening gun.

SD: Can you give us any insight as to your teams name or uniforms?

GT: We're hosting a vote for our fans. We will pick the most popular name and hopefully be able to get a few designs to Nike before the upcoming season's end.

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NFL Year in Review 2017
As the 2017 comes to a close here are all the important stats from the year.

NFL Awards
Award	Player	Pos	Team
Most Valuable Player	Tom Brady	QB	New England Patriots
Offensive Player of the Year	Tom Brady	QB	New England Patriots
Defensive Player of the Year	Trey Flowers	RE	New England Patriots
Offensive Rookie of the Year	Deshaun Watson	QB	Houston Texans
Defensive Rookie of the Year	Raekwon McMillon	LB	Miami Dolphins
Offensive Player of the Year	Matt Ryan	QB	Atlanta Falcons
Defensive Player of the Year	Deion Jones	LB	Atlanta Falcons
Offensive Rookie of the Year	Dalvin Cook	HB	Minnesota Vikings
Defensive Rookie of the Year	Jarrad Davis	LB	Detroit Lions
Coach of the Year	Doug Pederson	HC	Philadelphia Eagles

Play-offs:

Wild Card:
OAK 12-45 LAC
NO 35- 42 PHI
IND 21-24 HOU
CAR 31-28 GB

Divisional:
HOU 38-14 NE
CAR 14-42 ATL
LAC 21-35 PIT
PHI 13-31 SEA

Conference Championship:
HOU 24-42 PIT
SEA 42-24 ATL

Super Bowl:
SEA 50-38 PIT

2017 Key Retirements:
LB James Harrison
CB Jonathan Joseph
LT Jason Peters
HB Darren Sproles
RE Julius Peppers
HB Frank Gore
QB Drew Brees
LB Terrell Suggs
LT Andrew Whitworth
LB Tamba Hali
LB Derrick Johnson
LB Karlos Dansby
WR Larry Fitzgerald

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NFL Growing Pains in England
As the work on the Parliament stadium, where the Monarchs NFL Expansion team will play their games, nears completion, NFL free agency is in full swing. One of the most compelling stories of the recent days is how players simply won't go to London because they don't want to be a part of an expansion team overseas. With many players signing with teams, the cream of the crop absolutely refuse to give London a shot. We met with QB Teddy Bridgewater, a free agent, to get some insight on the situation.

"I went to the Monarchs Headquarters in London, I met with Grant and Jim. They pitched their ideas to me and even though they were compelling, I'm just not interested in being part of an expansion team so far from home. It's a great market with national exposure and a great fan base but it's just crazy to move my entire family to England for a couple of 3 to 6 win seasons."

As Bridgewater mentioned, most players simply aren't willing to make the haul to England to join the NFL's newest franchise. Kevin Brooks, the Monarchs' Chief of Player Scouting told ESPN sources that other big name free agents have met and said more of the same or even refused to fly over the pond to meet with Tanner.

"We spoke with the agents of Richard Rodgers, Jeremy Hill, Donte Moncrief and a few others, they all refused to even make the flight over here do to distance and lack of talent on the roster. It's frustrating but I get it."

Things like this are the reason the NFL wanted an already established franchise to move to London, rather than expanding the league. Tanner hired well respected NFL Coach Jim Caldwell shortly after the regular season came to an end. But even with Caldwell at the helm, some players won't even bat an eye at the London team. It's a prime location, but not a prime situation. Not only do they have to build their entire team from free agents, as stated by league officials during a meeting in late December, but they also have to face Brady and the up-and-coming Bills and Dolphins twice a year. Grant Tanner certainly has his work cut out for him.

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Monarchs Make a Splash in NFL Free Agency
With many big name players simply refusing to give London a shot, Grant Tanner, Jim Caldwell and Kevin Brooks took a totally different approach during the free agency period that ended Monday at 5 AM.

"We simply went after guys we felt were under appreciated in today's NFL."
said Tanner in an exclusive interview. "We got guys that have tremendous upside and have under appreciated by their former NFL teams. We brought them over, gave them some tea and laid out our plans for the ground work of the Monarchs."

The Monarchs also made a huge trade that many consider to have swayed some free agents to sign. We met with Head Coach Jim Caldwell;
"We needed to do something, we saw that Tevin Coleman was on the Falcons trade block and we just went and got him. (Tanner) and the Atlanta front office were on the phone for about 2 hours before the trade went through.
We offered a 4th and 5th round pick in this years draft and a 5th next year and they accepted it. We gave up more than we wanted, but in hindsight it was a really great move by Grant to get things rolling."

After trading for the 24 year old running back, Monarchs officials signed multiple players in Free Agency; The first to sign was CB E.J. Gaines who agreed to a 3 year 7.8 million pound contract. Followed by TE Will Tye (3 years 10M), LB Max Bullough (3 years 4.7M) and QB Tom Savage (2 years 7.1M). The Saturday before Free Agency ended Tanner and Caldwell announced the signing of Kicker Wil Lutz and Linebacker Christian Jones.

Gaines, Tye, Bullough, Savage, Jones and Lutz were all introduced during London Free Press Conference. Fans were excited to meet the players in person, in a setting where fans were able to get pictures and autographs from the first 6 London Monarchs. With the draft approaching soon Monarchs fans will be on edge seeing how everything plays out knowing that London holds the first overall pick in the draft.


2017 Key Free Agent Signings:
LT Donald Penn - NYG, TE Antonio Gates - LAR, LB Paul Posluszny - DET
TE Cameron Brate - IND, RE Steven Tuitt - WAS, TE Zach Miller - BAL
LB Shaquill Barrett - JAX, DT Kyle Williams - HOU, C Travis Swanson - MIA
RB Jeremy Hill - WAS, SS Jamal Adams - CHI, C Corey Lindsley - ARI
RE DeMarcus Lawrence - BUF, LG James Carpenter - HOU, TE Richard Rodgers - JAX
TE Trey Burton - MIA, DT Timmy Jernigan - TEN, RE Muhammed Wilkerson - ARI
HB Eddie Lacy - IND, WR Donte Montcrief - BUF, HB Branden Oliver - NYG
HB Jerick McKinnon - DAL, TE Luke Willson - SF, QB Teddy Bridgewater - ARI
WR Quincy Enunwa - PIT, RE Dominique Easley - IND, RE Aaron Lynch - OAK
QB Jimmy Garoppolo - KC

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Monarchs Draft
The yearly annual NFL Draft happened this week. Many fans from the United Kingdom tuned in. Many were shocked when London traded the first pick of the draft to the Detroit Lions. London passed on the best Corner Back prospect in years and the best Quarterback prospect since Andrew Luck. The Monarchs moved from 1 to 3, but also gained a 2nd round pick and a first round pick in next years draft. That was the only move the Monarchs made as they went on to select the first drafted players for the franchise.



Freeman, who made headlines earlier this year, for moving to Oklahoma from Ireland, to play American Football instead of Rugby was the Monarchs first ever draft pick, 3rd overall. He lead the NCAA in sacks with 13 and also played a great game at the senior bowl, raking in another 3 sacks and a forced fumble. Although some say he is undersized to play Defensive Line,
he has a great motor and never gives up on a play. (Draft Grade: B)



Crosby Darkwa led Penn State to a National Championship game where they lost to Auburn. He played decently during all 4 years at Penn State, including setting a record for total touchdowns in a season this year. He had a poor day at the Senior Bowl, getting sacked by now team mate Tevin Freeman twice and fumbling late in the 4th that would lead to the game changing touchdown. He's a solid Quarterback and it seems as though he will be the figurehead of this franchise moving forward. (Draft Grade: B+)



Shaman Purvis was an All-American Center twice during his time at Nebraska. He suffered an early season injury that many attribute to his fall in the draft. With decent ability at blocking for both the pass and the run,
it should be interesting to see how Purvis and Darkwa can jell in the ever important C/QB relationship. (Draft Grade: A)



Spitz was one of the NCAA's best run blocking Tight Ends in the America.
He was the lead blocker on multiple run plays that went on to score long Touchdowns. He had an incident following a post Bowl Game celebration that led to him getting arrested and missing his pro day, which experts believe is why he fell out of his top 20 predicted pick spot. Will he be able to stay on the straight and narrow in London as a pro? (Draft Grade: B)



Halfback Lewis Goode had a decent season for the Texas Tech Red Raiders. While in a time share with Halfbacks Devondre Holmes (drafted round 2 by the Dolphins) and Donta Waters (returned for senior season) he only ran for 431 yards and 3 touchdowns his senior season. Many NCAA experts blame his lack of carries on his downfall as he was expected to be a top 10 pick had he declared last year. (Draft Grade: C)



Defensive End Tyler Davie, who the Monarchs selected at pick 161, showed decent ability to get off blocks and disrupt the backfield. Although he didn't play superior talent during his time at Wake Forest, he managed to put a stamp on a percentage of plays. NFL experts believe he may be brought in on run situations in key game moments but do not believe he would excel as a full time player at this moment. (Draft Grade: C+)



Andre Atogwe had a brilliant season at North Carolina State. He lead all players in tackles until week 6 when he injured his shoulder. The same injury kept him out the rest of the season and severely impaired his ability to perform at the NFL Combine. He didn't show the same explosiveness he had earlier in the season and even seemed 'afraid' to tackle when leading with his left shoulder. The coaches are hoping they can turn him around and put the fearlessness back in him. At a 7th round pick, Atogwe could be the steal of the draft. (Draft Grade: B)

(Overall Draft Grade: B-)

The London Monarchs certainly had a decent draft, selecting a few players that are expected to lead this team for years to come. With 2 first round picks next year, many fans are excited to see what this group of rookies can accomplish in the NFL during year 1. Hopes are high for the Monarchs who don't even have a full roster yet. The NFL has given them a deadline of May 22nd to field a full 53-man roster.

[IcjerkStudios]

Hopefully it is safe to post. If not feel free to delete. Definitely giving this a follow. Love that you you are using the Monarchs name, I am a sucker for NFL history and love you used the NFLE name. Anyway since in this universe the Jets folded and not necessarily moved, are you keeping their base roster or did you release the players you thought wouldn't want to make the move like how you have ruled out some Free Agents because you didn't think they would want to?

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Quote: Originally Posted by IcjerkStudios

Hopefully it is safe to post. If not feel free to delete. Definitely giving this a follow. Love that you you are using the Monarchs name, I am a sucker for NFL history and love you used the NFLE name. Anyway since in this universe the Jets folded and not necessarily moved, are you keeping their base roster or did you release the players you thought wouldn't want to make the move like how you have ruled out some Free Agents because you didn't think they would want to?

You're alright. Thanks for the follow man! I appreciate it. I removed everyone from the Jets roster that was above 75 overall before the start of the franchise mode, then I either didn't resign or cut everyone else, so I'm starting with a legitimate blank slate. The entire roster will be of left over free agents that didnt get signed, my 4-5-6 free agents i allow myself every offseason and my draft picks. So essentially an 'expansion draft' just easier for me. The Depth Chart will be dropped soon.