MIAMI KILLER WHALES [GM JUSTIN]

[GM Gates]

Excellent. Glad we are on the same page.

I will make sure to get those packages in to you before our game this week. For now I will let you head back to practice.

———————

Selina, can you get me in touch with the commissioner of the FemFL please?

——————

Good afternoon, this is GM Gates of the HIFL Miami Killer Whales.

I wanted to talk to you about sponsoring a combine or a showcase in the off season for any FemFL players who might be interested in moving to the HIFL. I want to give them the opportunity to show what they can do to interested GMs with the hope being that we see more women in the HIFL playing the game.

I would still need to make sure it is okay with our league, I just wanted to see if the interest was there.

[Talon]

Hello GM Gates, I'm Tomi Brandy. Commissioner of the Female Football League or the FemFL as it's grown to be known. 

I've got to tell you, I tried hard to recruit Maria Crews to the FemFL when I was still playing for the Tampa Babydolls, but she was dead set on the HIFL draft, and rightfully so.   Since I retired a few seasons ago and became commissioner of the league I've pushed hard to grow the awareness about our league and transition from it being a TNA league to being about good football and showcasing the talent.

Tampa is no longer the Babydolls, they are the Tampa Bay Bobcats.   The Vegas Vixens are now the Reno Rouges, the Hartford Hotties became the Connecticut Crews.   It was a big success and continues to grow and improve.  I am very proud of my girls.   

I would love to form a partnership with your league especially considering you have your first female commissioner, but if the best option we have right now is to partner with one HIFL Club for a chance to build our brand and develop a working relationship, I am happy to do that too!  We have a great talented roster and while I appreciate the starting left tackle on our championship team is not going to be able to block the 320 pound monsters you have rushing the passer, I do believe some of our skills players and maybe even a DB or Quarterback could translate.

[GM Gates]

Commissioner Brandy, it's great to speak with you.

The changes you have made and the growth of the league are definitely things to be proud of. Maria spoke highly about the league and its players last week when her and I spoke. And you are right, there is definitely room for other women on HIFL rosters. I think Maria has shown that women are capable of holding their own here. Maybe not , like you said, at tackle, but definitely in other areas.

Have there been any talks with the league about a partnership? As I said, I hadn't spoken to Commissioner Wilkinson about anything as of yet, because I wanted to get your interest level first. But I could always speak with her about a bigger partnership with the league instead of just one team. I mean, I'm more than happy to partner with you and your league, I just don't want to close the door on more possible opportunities for your players to find their way to the HIFL.

[Talon]

We have never spoke to anyone in an official capacity at the HIFL league office, typically we are stonewalled and relegated to "we could squeeze you in for a half-time recognition thing during a game."

[GM Gates]

I will try and have a word with Commissioner Wilkinson about making it a partnership between leagues, but in the interim I would definitely like to set something up to help, like a showcase or a small combine, something that will allow your players to showcase their football skills. I'm hopeful that this will just be the first step to more recognition for your league and your players.

[Talon]

 

That would be great! Anything you can do would be appreciated and I can promise my girls will come to play!

[GM Gates]

Fantastic.

Do you need anything further from us at the moment or should we reconnect later on in our season for some specifics?

[Talon]

I'd love to come see a game soon we can talk more then.

[GM Gates]

For sure. If we aim for the off-season, we've got all season to fine tune the details. So whenever you have some time and we are at home, I'd be more than happy to have you come watch a game and then talk more about the partnership.

[Talon]

 

That would be wonderful.  Thank you!

[GM Gates]

You're very welcome. I will let you go and get back to your own business but I'm sure we will talk again soon.

———————

Selina, please send these down the coaching staff please.

———————

Strategy/Depth Chart Changes:

Use: 30%
QB - Mervin Patton
RB - Christopher Knox
FB - John Peyton
TE - James McClary
WR1 - Jayson Little
WR2 - Clyde Kidwell
LT - Gary Fenton
LG - William Bender
C - Fernando Marler
RG - Steven Shore
RT - David Brill

Use: 30%
QB - Mervin Patton
RB - Christopher Knox
FB - John Peyton
WR1 - Jayson Little
WR2 - Clyde Kidwell
WR3 - Hunter McDonald
LT - Gary Fenton
LG - William Bender
C - Fernando Marler
RG - Steven Shore
RT - David Brill

No other changes from last week.

Lock In

[GM Gates]

That was a good team win for us. We got off to a bit of a slow start and the score was tight heading into half time but we then pulled away and never looked back. Maria Crews had another great game and our defence once again played a pivotal role in our victory, continuing to play great football.

On the news front, I don't have anything further to add to the situation involving Sherwood. The investigation is on going and until we know more there's nothing more to say.

We did host FemFL commissioner Tomi Brandy this past week to discuss a crossover. We are still working on details so there is not much to report further at this time other than we are actively discussing options.

Also, just want to welcome GM Jon back to the league.

Now looking ahead to this week, we travel to Las Vegas to take on the Scorpions. This will be a tough game because the Scorpions are one of the top teams in the league this season, but it's a challenge that we relish. You always want to go up against tough competition and this is one of those weeks. We will have to play our brand of football, limit our turnovers and continue to be on point on defence for us to win this game, and I feel like we can do just that.

——————

Well coach, great win this week, keeps us atop the division and now the conference. This defence is just doing everything right this season.

Though speaking of the defence, this situation with Sherwood...I don't have much detail on it, so I'm going to talk to him about it. I was possibly going to sit him until the investigation was complete, but will have a better idea after talking to him.

[Talon]

 

Yeah, not ideal timing when we are about to face off against Vegas.  Sherwood has been a big part of us being the #1 scoring defense, but yeah.. if you need to bench him, I get it.

[GM Gates]

I don't want to, so hopefully i don't have to. Anyways coach, not much to really go over. I will probably increase some of the percents on those Knox packages a bit but other than that I don't see a reason to make any changes. I will let you get back to practice.

—————

Selina, could you send William Sherwood to see me please?

—————

William, thanks for taking the time to come see me. I'm sure you know why I've asked you to come up here. I'm just trying to understand the situation better. So what happened here? How does a handgun registered to you end up being used in a robbery?

[Talon]

 

I'd rather not say.

[GM Gates]

I get it. You don't want to say anything that might get you in trouble and I'm not going to push you on it.

Anyways, the real reason I called you in was because I wanted to let you know that we will be suspending you at least until some clarity comes out of this situation. It's not something that I wanted to have to do but I think it's what is needed given your current connection to the robbery.

[Talon]

...Do what you gotta do.

[GM Gates]

Thanks for your time William. I'll let you get to it.

——————

Selina, can you get this to the coaches please?

——————

Strategy/Depth Chart Changes:
Tyson Head to FS2

Earl Sturdivant to LB4; replace William Sherwood in depth charts.

William Sherwood to Bench/Suspended

Lock In

[GM Gates]

What a fantastic win. A nail biter against a quality team, but fantastic none the less. Vegas has a tough defence and they made us earn our points, but if there's one thing Patton has done since coming to Miami, it's lead late game drives to our points on the board and he did just that to help us take the lead in the fourth quarter. Brent Skipper was on point with his field goals, especially that overtime winner. Hitting two fifty yarders in one game is fantastic and kept us in the game.

Our defence was again a great unit and kept a Las Vegas team that was a lot of dangerous weapons from running away with the game. Turnovers definitely helped stall the Vegas attack. Was another great team win to help us stay at the top.

Then there is the situation with Orlando and the PFL. It's an unfortunate situation to be in and a disappointing one given all that we put in place to ensure this didn't happen. After the last time this sort of thing happened, and after the PFL attempted to sign star players away because of it, we went so far as to spell out which players signed with PFL teams in free agency on a spreadsheet, and it still happens. So it's frustrating and disappointing. We will work to get things back to how they were, and hopefully there is no war because of it.

As for this week, the hits keep on coming as we take on DC. They are a tough opponent but we are no strangers to facing tough opponents. If we can limit the turnovers and the hits Patton takes, we should be able to put together a nice run and take this game over. DC upgraded their receivers but they may still be trying to find that chemistry so hopefully we can expose that.

—————

Coach, big win this week. I've said it before but I'm impressed by what Merv does in those final minutes of a game, taking it over and giving us the chances to win. And the defence gave us a chance to win that game on Skippers leg...it was a great win against a tough team.

[Talon]

GM Gates.  I've spoken with Riley Wilkinson and now we need to talk.  You are the GM representative and we need to have a face to face meeting.

I want you to bring one GM from each of your divisions, I will bring one from each of mine, and my people, your people, and the HIFL Commissioner will sit down and come to a resolution; or you'll see a mass exodus from the HIFL for the PFL, one like you have never seen before.  I'm talking yuge numbers, numbers you would not believe, for dollars you will not believe.   

Unmatchable contracts the sizes of which you can only imagine when you play that second rate video game, McFadden.

[GM Gates]

Hello Mr Profits.

I agree that we need to have a face to face meeting about all of this. I have gathered my delegates so that we can all sit down and come to a resolution, not just for the matter at hand, but also to ensure that this doesn't happen again.

[Talon]

 

Good. We'll send you the meeting location and unlock the thread when it's time to talk.

[GM Gates]

Sounds good Mr Profits. We shall talk soon.

——————

Selina, Coach Jose please.

——————

Coach, busy week, but a big win against Vegas for us. Patton just knows how to drive late in games. It's fantastic. And Skipper seems to have a magic leg or something, he's definitely been an asset for us in these close games.

[Talon]

 

Its a thing of beauty when you get to see The General showing off his clutch play, and yeah, Skip has been pretty clutch to.  He's not perfect by any means, but he doesnt seem to crumble in the pressure.

[Talon]

 

Papi!  Herbert Peters and Elliott Williams are being offered deals from the PFL!

[GM Gates]

Thank you for letting me know, Selina.

Coach, I've got some business to tend to. I don't plan to make any changes for DC. Of course that could change with this war, but for now I'm preparing as though we will have the same team. For now head back to practice.

——————

Selina, could you have Herbert Peters come and see me in my office?

————————

Mr. Peters, I've heard the rumors and just wanted to talk to you face to face about it. I heard that a PFL team has extended a contract to you and, whether or not that's true, I just wanted to let you know that I don't plan on you leaving or letting you go. You are a big part of what we are doing here, a big part of that defence. We have a good shot to win a title not only this season, but for seasons to come, and I want you to be a part of that.

[Talon]

 

Hey boss man, I mean look... the truth is I been here what, 5 years? I was 19 when I got drafted out of Toledo and now here we are. I'm making my mark, I'm playing good football but now them boys in Philly are offering me $12MM per season for 3 years.

[GM Gates]

I can understand that. $12MM is not something I can offer you this year, unfortunately. I had always planned to sign you to a new contract this coming offseason as you would be heading into your final year, so we can still do that. Or if you'd rather, we can get your agent on the line and get something cooking that starts next season. Hell, if you wait and continue to have the season you're having, maybe we surpass the $12 million offered now. Either way I just wanted you to know that you've got a new deal coming your way from the Killer Whales. 

[Talon]

 

You promise me that I'm not going to get shorted when we come to the table, and I'll trust you and turn down that deal from Philly, but if you do my dirty man, I will never forgive you.

[GM Gates]

You have my word, Herb. When we sit down, we will make sure you get the proper deal you deserve. I'm not going to short you.

[Talon]

 

Aight..  I dont know if its the right move, but I'm going to stick around..

[GM Gates]

That's wonderful to hear Herb. I'm sure you won't regret the decision. Especially not after we win the Impact Bowl.

Thanks for coming and speaking with me. I'll let you get back to practice.

——————

Selina, can you send in Elliott Williams please?

——————

Mr. Williams, have a seat. So I've heard the rumors about you being offered a contract by the PFL. I just wanted to talk to you about the validity of that, and about where your head was in relation to that deal. Because I'll be honest, I was hoping to re-sign you beyond this season. I feel like you have grown as a player and have a lot to bring to the table here in Miami.

[Talon]

 

Well sir, they offered me 3 years at $1MM per season.  I'd be happy to extend my deal here right now at the same instead of moving to another league. I've always wanted to play in the HIFL, so I dont really want to leave so soon.

[GM Gates]

I love to hear that, Elliott. Give me a second.

—————

Selina could you please get Eli Harris on the line please?

—————

Eli, how's it going? I've got Elliott Williams here with me. He told me what the PFL offered him but mentioned he wanted to stay in the HIFL and would do so at the same that they offered, which was 3 years at $1 million a season. So I wanted to call you up so we can get that sorted.

So 3 years, $1 million a season and I can have that start right away.

[Talon]

DEAL

[GM Gates]

Fantastic. I'm glad we could keep you here in Miami, Elliott. Now I'll let you head back to practice.

Pleasure as always Eli. Take care.

—————-

Selina, here's the information for the coaching staff.

—————-

Strategy/Depth Chart Changes:
Earl Sturdivant to LB4
William Sherwood to LB 5

Lock In

[GM Gates]

1. Discuss your game and the results this week.  What stood out? 

It was a tough one to lose, especially with it being a battle at the top of the conference. Instead of a win and being 7-1, we lose and fall to 6-2 and are tied with the Cobras for the conference lead.

It just came down to not executing when given the chance to do so. We weren't able to move the ball as well as we might have hoped. Hats off to the Cobras defence for stopping us from getting into scoring position a lot of the game. Our defence did all they could to make sure that game didn't get too out of reach as well but in the end we couldn't contain their air strike and that is ultimately what proved to be the difference.

2. What is your take on the PFL/HIFL war?

Hopefully the GM collective lets new GM Rep Pancho do his job and end this, just like they should have just let me do my job. Stay out of it until we have a resolution and then they can argue about what we didn't do right this time. Because this war was avoidable. And now we are deeper in because there are some GMs who think they are above the league. But that's what happens when too many people think they can reinvent the wheel and can't just do what needs to be done.

3.Why didn't you sign your own treaty?

I had every intention to. I mean, I wouldn't put it into place if I didn't. But I was letting all the other GMs sign it first and then I was going to. However before that could happen, information from inside the summit was leaked and I had a number of other GMs blowing up my phone, telling me my idea was crazy, that we were paying too much, that we need more assurance, that I was lousy at doing my job. And every time I tried to open my mouth to speak at the summit, another one of the HIFL GMs was putting their two cents in which was only provoking the PFL...and by the time the shit got the fan, I felt like we didn't deserve the peace that we were signing for. And by we I mean the HIFL as a whole. Myself included. We didn't deserve it because we couldn't come together for one day. Even though no one would have lost anything, even though I was going to spend my own draft picks to make it all work out, we couldn't make it happen. GM Black Death had agreed to help out, but outside of him and GM Rebel, no other GM would have been asked to pay a cent towards this. But we couldn't come together for one day to solve a problem the obvious way. A lot of GMs were talking  about letting the PFL poach players from Orlando, even after one of the PFL GMs said he only wanted money. Not many wanted to actually stop and take a look at the position we were in. So unfortunately this is the result. Do I regret it? Maybe. But I also feel like the PFL had us in their crosshairs for awhile based on the way their GMs were talking. It was only a matter of time.

And I will answer the question that is likely to follow. Why did I resign?

Simple answer is that I had reached my breaking point with the other GMs in the league. As the rep I've had GMs attempt to strong arm me into resigning, tell me to let innocent hostages die, tell me to let the Wilkinson's perish, blame me for every small thing that goes wrong, blame me for their salary cap problems, blame me because their teams don't make the playoffs...I could go on. Point is with the way that summit was going and with all the outside noise about the proposed resolution, I had enough. And like I said, I felt like we as a league didn't deserve the peace.

I think somewhere in my mind I felt like we almost needed this type of collapse to actually come together. Maybe it was the wrong move but hindsight is always 20/20.

4.Why did you select the GMs that you did for the summit?

I picked the GMs I thought would work best together to come to a resolution. The ones I thought I could trust to get the job done and, in specific cases, GMs who had good relationships with Ace Profits. But I was wrong there. Maybe I should have denied Ace Profits request and not picked a representative from each division but at the time I thought not doing so would make us look weaker to the PFL. Never did I think that picking a representative from each division would be the weaker representation.

The majority of the people I chose, I spoke to beforehand about what the end goal was - peace. It seemed like some people expected us to walk into that summit and get everything we wanted with little given up but that was never going to be the case. Add in that I wasn't able to lead off the meeting for our contingent and it was kind of off the rails from the start.

I've heard a lot of people saying who I should have taken if I were to still do one from each division, and I feel like in a lot of cases, the outcome would have been worse. I mean we will probably get a lot of people answering your questions saying that they would sign the treaty, but if you put them in that room I don't think those same people would be as willing to do it.

People just needed to let me do my job and we could have had it wrapped up. We could have dealt with GM Rebel after. But alas, here we are.

5. What do you think of GM Pancho being voted in as interim GM Rep?

I won't make it a secret - I voted for GM Pancho. In talks with him he and I always thought similar on league issues so it made sense to vote him. Out of the candidates, for me, it was between GM Eli and GM Pancho, but I think Pancho seemed the most likely to make the tough choices without crippling the league or being too lenient. It will be nice for the GM Collective to get a different voice, especially one who knows the ins and outs of the HIFL like Pancho. Even if this is just interim, it might be what's needed for now.

6. Discuss the news this week, anything that stood out, especially if it related to your team.

Im glad Crews is getting the recognition she deserves for her play this year. She has had a great season and is one of the main reasons we are where we are in the standings. She has definitely earned that recognition.

The other news that catches an eye is the PFL making offers to a lot of the leagues wide receivers. Our own James Van Driver is amongst them. It's not shocking given the PFL stance and their displeasure that more teams have been poaching from them. Hopefully GM Pancho can squash it before it gets out of hand.

7. It is mid-season, who has been your teams MVP?  Who needs to step up and show you more in the final half of the season?

Maria Crews is getting league MVP buzz and she has definitely been a big driving force of our offense. Our defense has been amazing all season, but it's tough to just pick one player there. Where on offense, we've run the ball a lot and Maria has done a great job to help us pace games and out up points.

8. The trade deadline is fast approaching, what should fans expect from your office?

I think by now, Miami fans should know I'm willing to make the moves needed to win. That might pose tougher this time out since I'm sure there are some GMs who don't want to deal with me after my resignation as GM Rep. I will still be doing all that I can to put the best team out on the field, but I am also quite confident in the current group we have if no more moves are made.

9.  Discuss this weeks game (if you have one)

We welcome in San Antonio this week and they are a team who has already caused an upset this season and a team we can't look past. We've got to keep playing our brand of football. They might even be on their third string quarterback but that's no reason to laugh the game off. We need to make sure we are executing when given the chances to come out of this game with the win.

[Talon]

 

We're taking a lot of heat for how you walked away from the Union rep job, but I don't think the noise will effect our team too badly.

[GM Gates]

I assumed there would be heat for it. Hopefully you're right and it won't effect them too badly. Probably a lot of unneeded questions coming their way since then.

How is the mood in the locker room? Any heat from our own players about it or are they all trying to go along business as usual?

[Talon]

 

SIR!!! There are large numbers of angry fans in weird masks outside the stadium, they have a loud speaker and and demanding you surrender yourself!   I just talked to Security Bob and Security Carl and they are trying to maintain order, but they also said that they heard some of the mob saying they had your address from some dark-internet website?!

[GM Gates]

Have we contacted the Miami police to get down here and help keep the peace? If not let's start there to help keep the angry fans out. My family isn't at home this week so they are safe. Right now it's about keeping the players and people in this building safe, so let's start there.

Is there a leader if this mob who wants to speak? I'm not about to walk out there.

[Talon]

 

The police have arrived and working on keeping things peaceful, not much we can do other than that right now, but it is definitely audible from the practice fields. Our full security detail is making sure practice is safe right now.

[GM Gates]

Thank you for that Selina.

Coach, apologies for the interruption. I'm going to try and take care of that but wanted to talk quickly about this weeks game. Obviously with Shore out, Moya is going to get a chance to start and show what he can do.

I don't plan to change too much, maybe a tweak to some run/pass percents but nothing crazy.

[Talon]

 

and what are we thinking with JVD?

[GM Gates]

I'd love to have him stay here as I think he provides good depth for us and a nice option in the return game. At the same time, I'm not going to make drastic changes to his contract or promise him more playing time, so if those are the reasons he wants to move on, then I'm not going to stop him. But I am going to speak with James right after we are done and see where he's at.

[Talon]

 

Alright, sounds good boss.

[GM Gates]

While I have you here Coach, with the trade deadline looming, what's one position you think we need to upgrade? Obviously if JVD leaves we will need to fill in a WR spot, but outside of that is there a spot you think we need to beef up?

[Talon]

 

Ahh the question as old as time itself.

...Guard or Tackle, we could use a dominant pass blocker to fortify the line.

[GM Gates]

Thanks for that coach. I'll let you get back to practice.

——————

Selina, can you send James Van Driver to see me?

——————

James, how's it going? I saw in the news that the PFL has potentially approached you with a contract offer. I assume it's more than a report and that you actually have a contract offer and just wanted to see what way you were leaning regarding it?

Truth be told, we want you here in Miami. Your impact and value are more than just yards and numbers. You are our main return man and the next man up if there were to be an injury. But I also know the PFL can offer more playing time and money and frankly, I likely can't match what they're able to give you. When I drafted you and converted you to wide receiver I knew you had a good career ahead of you. Hopefully that career continues in the HIFL but ultimately it's what you choose to do.

[Talon]

Truth be told man, the only thing that makes me want to leave is I'm not getting but like half a catch per game.  3 catches, 5 targets all season.  Get me some plays, get me in a package that gets me on the field, just give me a chance and I'm here; but if not Im gonna have to bounce.