VRYLLIONJoin Date: 2014-12-22
Post Count: 191 |
Today marks my final day as the official CEO of the Old Football League. On the very day that Victory Bowl X was played. That means my era as being the face of the OFL is now coming to a close. For the past few seasons I technically haven’t been directly in charge of the league. I was more of an overseer after I resigned from the Commissioner position and created the CEO position. I didn’t have enough time nor the motivation to really keep the league rolling under my command as I was entering my senior year of high school. So I decided to hire a new Commissioner to train over the course of my senior year so that he may some day be able to take the reins to the league. I want to honor my past 10 seasons as the OFL CEO and the first 7 seasons as the Commissioner by telling the story of its creation one last time. Skip Part I. if you want to get to the resignation stuff. But do consider reading:
I. [ MY HISTORY & FOUNDING OF THE OFL ]
I created this league in November of 2013. It was the fall semester of my sophomore year and to this day still very clearly remember its founding. At the time I was semi-inactive on Roblox and also very busy with high school football. One day I had noticed a game I never saw before. “Old Football Legends” by BJJScrambler (now known as SDuke_524). This one game is the sole reason the OFL came to exist today. After playing it nearly everyday and getting pretty good, I decided to go look around for some organized groups of Ro-Football. I had never been apart of ANY sort of Ro-Sports before and I found one league which was somewhat popular and used the same mechanics that Old Football Legends did. This league was deshea9’s National Football League. I tried to get signed to one of their teams but was unable to when they said their season had already started. I didn’t have the patience to wait, so I went ahead and started small by creating my own football team to get into travel ball. My goal though was to someday create a successful league of my own. But meanwhile I had created a team that became known as the Roblox Warriors. I quickly went ahead to find a really good public model stadium and customized it for the team. I made use of the same auto-tackle and power ball that was used by Old Football Legends. A few days in I hosted a series of three consecutive tryouts with a turnout of about 30 people. From those tryouts, I formed the team that would go on to play in the very first OFL Victory Bowl.
The Roblox Warriors only existed as a travel team for about two weeks. The team’s first two scrimmages were against the Florida FireCats. At the time, they were head coached by Ahijah299 and QB’d by several people (MrMackHD being one of them). Our team had plenty of faces that exist today or retired in previous seasons such as LarryFitzgeraId, ARFCinator, Vito3000, jwojwo12, planecool79, lordblackfire1, and FlamingMushi. Very soon, the Warriors reached a member count of over 120 people which is when I realized the team had become too large. That is when I decided to finally make the league I had envisioned when I first created Warriors. The name “Old Football League” naturally came to mind. I wanted to honor the game it was based on by giving the league the same name. In 2013, there were no quality leagues at all. Everyone played on baseplate fields with tools and poor organization. Deshea9’s NFL was the only one that was respectable. But even then I didn’t see it to be of high standards. I wanted to create a league that absolutely crushed everyone else’s. I decided that instead of having team ranks like every other league, ours should be legit and have their own separate groups. So the first 5 teams came to be the Roblox Warriors, Roblox Panthers, Corinth Spartans, Pemberley Punishers, and Barton Bruisers. All of them had their own team groups. I also noticed every league basically had a Game Day Stadium. I saw this being very lame. What made travel fun was the idea of having to go over to an opponent’s stadium or hosting the game in your own turf. So I gave every team a UNIQUE stadium as well. The sixth team to join the OFL before the first season was the Florida FireCats. They are the only team not originally made for the league. They were the Warriors’ rival travel team that I had convinced to join the league. Soon the first season had begun. I put in so much effort to make the league feel as realistic and immersive as I possibly could. Our league quickly became the best in terms of quality and football tech (scripts, GUIs, tools, etc) which was our selling point. I also credit my amazing referee’ing skills at the time lol. I referee’d all the games in Season 1, 2, & 3. Anyways, we eventually surpassed deshea9’s NFL in member count before the first season even ended. The rest after Season 1 is very well-known and another story to tell.
II. [ MY DEDICATION TO THIS LEAGUE ]
What drove the league to become successful in the early seasons were the dedication, vision, and passion I had at the time. I really wanted to make a successful league that felt as realistic and fun as possible. Not because I wanted to someday be recognized across the Ro-Football community, reach a certain status or gain wealth; I did this because “I” too wanted something that I would find SO much to play in. I never played in any other league for a reason. I always kept improving OFL so that it would be the most fun league I could ever play in. If another league popped up with something new to offer, I used that as a drive to make mine better. I created cool league combines, sophisticated drafts, complex rules, and the list really just goes on. And to this day, I still wish I had the time to keep playing for seasons to come but I really can’t.
III. [ NEW LEADERSHIP & SPECIAL THANKS ]
So that is why I will be handing over ownership of the league and all of its teams to Nintendo (AKA Roger_Goodell). He is a man I have watched and worked with for over a year. I trust he will do an excellent job of making the league grow (he has been doing it for the past 3-4 seasons whether you know it or not). I will only be keeping the Roblox Warriors and the Executive Board group. To clarify all speculation, I will not be going completely inactive or just vanish after this. I will still be online to help out when I can or join stadiums for some 3v3s every now and then. But I just can’t run this league anymore as the head guy. I want to ask all players to keep playing a role in making the league great. Because its success isn’t all just because of the Commissioner or CEO’s actions. It’s the contributors, referees, builders, scripters, coaches, EB members, and even the players themselves that are to be given much credit in its success as well.
I want to thank EVERYONE I have ever met and interacted with throughout my time as the leader of the OFL. I hold no grudges with anyone. There are a few special people however that have been VITAL to this league’s success and I want to thank them:
ARFCinator: This man has been helping the league out in some way or another since season 1. Whether it was from being a failed Barton Bruisers head coach or that annoying crime solver. He was there to provide anything the league needed (except playing on a team).
Lebron6dunk: I can’t thank lebron enough. Apart from being so cool, this dude made all the stadiums for almost every team from Season 3 to this very day. FOR FREE! He made other awesome things too, like the helmets. Costing him hours of labor at the price of ZERO. Just one piece of advice to everybody, never be a leb.
Processions: Although he doesn’t record games and make highlights anymore, he set the bar for future media people to come. He made the highlights for all the games in the first 4-5 seasons. They were of amazing quality and guess what, he also did this for free. Awesome dude.
MackATL: His existence wasn’t exactly vital (shade), but he really did help out with coming up with some good rules for the league since its beginning. He also showed the league what type of skill should be expected from an OFL Quarterback by dominating the scene in nearly every season. This guy is loyal and truly cares about the league, and for that I give him my respect.
Nintendo566/Roger_Goodell: The Commissioner himself. He really relieved me from the work involved in running the league. He is dedicated to the league despite the stressful situations he might encounter from time to time. I trust that he will keep the league strong in the coming seasons.
LarryFitzgeraId: He’s mainly on here for being that day one friend/advisor and still being one through the entirety of my Ro-Football experience. From being one of the first assistant coaches of the Warriors before & during season 1, to helping make OFL, to being Referee Department Manager, a head coach himself, and the first player to create the hype for the “Reel” catch… you can’t deny this dude is the GOAT.
IV. [ FINAL CONCLUSION ]
Looking back at the OFL, I still can’t believe that it actually became this big. I may sometimes forget that and take it for granted, but this is what I wanted. I met my goal and I am beyond satisfied with what I was able to accomplish. Once again, thank you to everyone out there who has made my time as the OFL CEO & Commissioner such a fun and great experience. Keep making this league great. I’ll see you guys around the stadiums.
Sincerely, Vrillion (AKA SlaylorSwift)
First CEO & Founder of the great Old Football League
P.S. I’m sorry Shaun I’m gonna let you finish, but the S1 Warriors were the greatest team of all time. Of ALL TIME!
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