2022 IFL Champion Curtis
3-Peat Pick em champ
(13-4) 115 PPG
Top 50 Players: Derrick Henry, DK Metcalf
Scrolling the through our hall of champions you may have noticed that the 2022 IFL Champion Curtis’s Top 50 players seems little light, and you’d be right. Through 9 seasons, the average IFL champion has 4 rostered players in the top 50 in scoring. Curtis’s 2 is an IFL record, and it makes his championship in 2022 all the more impressive. But more than that, it’s thematic. That's exactly what Curtis has done his entire IFL career: win. Doesn't matter if the win is ugly or low-scoring, in fact he seems to prefer that it's ugly and low-scoring. If you look at his overall win-loss record (if you were to play every team every week), he's just above .500, 977-945, 7th best in the league, but amazingly, where it matters, his head-to-head record is 79-61 (.564), and that’s 2nd best all-time. You’re probably wondering right now - “how?”. Good question. But it’s one that doesn’t really have a great answer. In 2022, the 3-Peat Pick Em Champ began the season just 5-4, averaging a middling 113 PPG (8th best). But as the great ones so often do, they can just turn it on, and beginning in Week 10, Curtis turned it on, earning 5 consecutive wins to finish the season and posting a 10-4 record and a Cul-de-Sack divisional title. As the #2 seed, Curtis cruised through the Scallon Express and Rodger’s LSDream Team on his way to the IFL Superbowl, where he would meet the storied Des Moines Football Team and their fateful coach Qualley. The gentleman scholar Qualley’s 2022 campaign was equally compelling, as he had all the good vibes of in-season wedding and world tour honeymoon going for him, but alas, this was to be more of a Friday Night Lights ending than a Hoosiers one, as Qualley would come up JUST short, 84.60-85.38. Once again, Curtis, found a way, with his QB Russell Wilson turning in just his 2nd 20-point game of the season, and his traded DJ Moore posting 24 to put Qualley’s storied season to rest and earn his first ever championship title, and finally getting the hardware to match all of the winning he has done. What might Curtis do next? Why not surpass the Commish, and become the all-time win leader? Good luck, buddy.
2021 IFL Champion tc
blasters
(11-6) 130 PPG
Top 50 Players: Joe Burrow, Deebo Samuel, Stefon Diggs, Diontae Johnson, DJ Moore, Andrew Gibson
Tanner “TC” Campbell is probably my favorite person on the planet. It is an extreme understatement to say that TC is absolutely delusional about Lebron James, Kirk Ferentz and the Iowa Hawkeyes in general. I mean, to the point where psychologists and sociologists want to study him. To not even be able to consider any argument or facts to their detriment is what makes his brain so fascinating. It may also be the key to understanding the depth of his fantasy football prowess. His first ring was, in large part, won due to his personal high regard of Lamar Jackson, despite little expert fanfare. Despite starting the season 2-6, TC’s continued belief in Joe Burrow & Deebo Samuel helped spur his team on to winning out, finishing the regular season 8-6, and just nabbing the final wildcard spot. The Blasters would then go on to make IFL history, by becoming the first wildcard team to ever make it to the Superbowl (in the 16-team era), knocking off 3-seed TC Being So Weird About It and 2-seed The Real Slim Brady. He would then face possibly the greatest juggernaut in IFL history, Hunt’s GROOVERS, whose team will be etched into IFL history for generations after winning an IFL record 14 consecutive games, and having only lost one on the season, back in Week 1. This would not be Friday Night Lights; however, as TC did not only not lose, he won handily 144-106. The giant was slain, by a man stuck in his convictions. You have to respect it. TC became the second coach to wear two rings, and twice in three seasons, no less. In 2021, TC got weird with it, and in 2022, he’s looking to get even weirder.
2020 IFL Champion jack
BARIUM BUNCH
(11-4) 166 PPG
Top 50 Players: Patrick Mahomes, Zach Cunningham, Darren Waller, Roquan Smith, Allen Robinson
Add some extra variables to the 2020 season, and why should we be surprised that the Doc comes out on top? The addition of 4 IDP players to the IFL was an experiment that lasted this single season, but Jack took advantage of the chaos, grabbing 2 of the top 6 IDP scorers on the season, grinding out a 9-4 regular season, winning his 3rd Dirty Doc & the Boys division title. The division was no cakewalk, as rivals Jord (PROFESSOR DISRESPECT) and TC (Tanos Mad Fantasy Owner) were just one and two games back respectively and grabbed both of the two available wildcard spots. They would falter in the quarterfinals; however, as the Barium Bunch sat that frenzy out, having earned a bye week. Easily blowing past Aaron’s team in the semifinals, 185-148, Jack would face 4th seed Dumped by Hollie, coached by Nick, in the championship game. The matchup offensively was tit for tat, but the difference, fittingly, was Jack’s defense, with Zach Cunningham and Roquoan Smith outscoring their matchups by a combined 24 points, leading the Doc to a 171-157 victory, and another IFL Championship. Jack’s 2020 run was a historic one, becoming the first ever coach to wear two rings. And dare I say that that power coming from such a wardrobe had something to do with prowess of the little guy pictured, holding his daddy’s ring. But who knows the science on that? The doc probably does.
2019 IFL Champion TC
Don’t mess w/ the zoquon
(11-4) 145 PPG
Top 50 Players: Lamar Jackson, Saquon Barkley, Austin Ekeler
TC’s journey in the IFL has been a fascinating one. Joining in 2017, but not drafting his team, he started off the season 0-8, and finished 3-10, narrowly missing worst team punishments. In 2018, drafting his team for the first time, he was competitive, missing the playoffs by one game, and winning the consolation bracket, giving him the best draft odds for 2019, which landed him the 2nd overall pick. He used that pick on Saquon, but it was actually his 7th pick, Lamar Jackson, that would catapult him to a 9-4 season, averaging 135 PPG (2nd highest for the season behind, who else, Drew). Lamar’s brilliance for the season was not something foreseen, and his 29.5 PPG, nearly 3 PPG higher than any player in IFL history, was rivaled only by Christian McCaffrey, who literally pulled the Scallon Express into relevancy. This rivalry manifested itself all the way into the 2019 IFL Superbowl, but TC, could not be slowed, and after setting the record for most points in a game in the semi’s against Drew with 214 points, flamed the Scallon Express with 207 points to his 133, giving TC his first ring in just his junior season. TC will be a senior this year, and let’s hope to god he doesn’t graduate.
2018 IFL Champion drew
slick rick’s firepoles
(12-3) 146 PPG
Top 50 Players: Ben Roethlisberger, David Johnson, T.Y. Hilton, Travis Kelce
Heading into the 2018 season, Drew was the Andy Reid of the IFL: 2nd most wins overall of any coach, won the Boys Scout Cyclone division 3 out of 4 years, but kept coming up short where it counted, in the playoffs, finishing 3rd, 6th, 2nd, and narrowly missing the playoffs in 2017. But that missing of the playoffs, and giving up the BSC title for the first time, served as a mental reset, and he came out RED HOT in 2018, starting off the season 4-1, averaging 147 PPG, rivaling only the Tatooine Sith Lords from 2015 in team performance. But in the Dirty Doc & the Boys division, an equal and opposite force was forged, Jord and the Momma Cat, led by Todd Gurley, Joe Mixon, Robert Woods, Adam Thielen, and George Kittle were also averaging 147 PPG through week 5, and by Week 10, had overtaken the Firepoles as the best overall team in the standings, at 8-2, with the Firepoles at 7-3. By end of season; however, Drew led his team to grab the #1 seed, at 10-3 and a bye, thanks to the tiebreaker of beating Momma Cat earlier in the season, and Jord took the #2 seed, also at 10-3, and also a bye. Both teams blew through their opponents in the semi’s, and despite coming into the championship game averaging 10 more PPG than the Firepoles, Momma Cat could not start the star of the team, Todd Gurley (the Rams sat him that week for “rest”). This cost Momma Cat just enough points, and though they put up 145, Big Ben, Damine Willliams, TY, and Sanue combined for 97 points, and led the Firepoles to a 161 - 146 victory over Momma Cat, and to Drew’s first ever IFL championship ring. Drew’s next goal? To overtake the Commish as the winningest coach in the IFL.
2017 IFL Champion dr. jack
bellhops
(12-3) 137 PPG
Top 50 Players: Le'Veon Bell, DeAndre Hopkins, Mark Ingram, Marcus Mariota, LA Rams
Though med school is widely considered a cakewalk compared to the IFL, the process of becoming a doctor does also weirdly prepare you for IFL greatness: the long hours, the experimentation, the intense studying and research, that feeling that you're stretched to thin and not capable of pulling it off, the morally questionable things you'll do to stay sane and on top of your game. It was this fiery crucible that sharpened and readied Jack for IFL glory, and after a disappointing first season in the league following an excellent draft, the doctor came out heavy in 2017, winning his first 5 out of 6 games, and finishing the regular season 10-3 while the trio of Bell, Hopkins, and Ingram propelled the Bellhops to garnering the 3rd most PPG in IFL history. The playoffs were won with ease by the Bellhops, felling Aaron in the semi's by 27 pts and destroying the 2015 champ in the 2017 IFL Superbowl by 53 pts. Now the question is: can the Doc be stopped before he becomes too powerful?
2016 IFL Champion Brady
The Twenty Deuce
(12-3) 125 PPG
Top 50 Players: Derek Carr, LeGarrette Blount, Michael Crabtree, Melvin Gordon, Andy Dalton
The self-proclaimed "Godfather" of fantasy football, Brady swept the pre-season coaches' poll for the third straight year, and as if he needed the proverbial third time's the charm, Brady came out rolling in 2016, winning his first 8 games with an astounding 143.5 PPG. Injuries to studs A.J. Green and Melvin Gordon put his dream season in jeopardy, losing 3 out of the last 5 games of the season. Nevertheless, his hot start earned him the X-Iowa division and a crucial first round bye. He persevered in a nailbiter against the original title holder, Nick Hansen, in the semifinals, and then stomped on Drew's Free Prison Mike in the championship 114.76 - 78.66, earning his first ring and beginning his saga. According to Brady, "Godfather: Part II" begins rolling on IFL Draft Day 2022.
2015 IFL Champion zach
tatooine sith lords
(11-4) 147 PPG
Top 50 Players: Cam Newton, Julio Jones, Allen Robinson, Greg Olsen
The Force was woke in 2015, and while that created ridiculous box office sales, it also brought certain a dark, powerful presence to the IFL in the form of the Tatooine Sith Lords, who averaged an all-time league record 147 PPG, destroying everyone in their path, and not just the men, but the women and children too. After clenching the always tough Cul-de-Sack division, and a first-round bye, the Sith Lords turned it up to 13, averaging 154.5 PPG in the playoffs, and easily laying waste to Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory, coached by Anton Reiter in the championship. Throughout sports, there's a few player-coaches out there, but there's only one commissioner-coach. And in 2022, his thumb has room for a 2nd ring.
2014 IFL Champion NIck
NO ROMO
(11-5) 133 PPG
Top 50 Players: Drew Brees, Arian Foster, Randall Cobb, Rob Gronkowski, Joe Flacco, T.Y. Hilton. *12-team league
IFL Superbowl I was fought on a cold as steel, blustery day. But first, let's start at the beginning. Now, you have to remember, in the founding season of the IFL, things were different. Less amendments, less refinement, heck, coaches didn't wear helmets back then. There were also less teams. This was pre-expansion era IFL. And it was in this setting, a young Nick, drafted a lineup that was drool-worthy. With 6 players that averaged 16+ PPG, and very consistently, No Romo was a team to be reckoned with. The Cul-de-Sack division was extremely competive; however, and No Romo lost the division to Joe's Backstreet Boys, edging out the Liverpool Death Eaters and Redbull INF by just one game to grab the then single wildcard spot. No Romo made it to the championship game and faced none other than division rival Joe, who on that snowy December Day goosed it, as Nick came out ahead 128.46 - 87.00, and became our founding season Champion. Naysayers claim he's living in the past, but to that Nick says, "the past is yesterday."