[MIJB#19]

General Manager Notes: The end if the line

To avoid confusion, with the "end of the line" I'm referring to the retirement of a couple of former Merchantmen players that didn't play their final season in orange white and blue, but will go out regarded as Merchantmen.

G Nickolas Toler filled out his retirement papers after 11 season in the IHOF. A first round pick for us in 2096, he came into the starting lineup mid-way into that rookie campaign and remained to be an undisputed starter for us. Touted as a very good run blocker, on top of being an excellent pass protector, somehow the running game never really got going with Toler and the talented foursome around him (more on that later). In an attempt to get under the salary cap, Toler and his fellow starting linemen were all released in the 2102 off-season. Toler found his new home with the Paris Musketeers right before training camp 2102 and hung around for 2 regular season campaigns, until being released shortly before training camp 2104. The Moontown Darksiders picked Toler up just in time for camp, but over there he rode the bench for 4 seasons, seeing most of his action on special teams. He was out of contract going into this off-season and decided it was enough at the age of 35.


G Roger Staigvil steps away from playing football after 10 seasons in the IHOF. As a high second round pick for the Merchantmen in 2097, he became a starter late in his rookie season. Despite regarded as an excellent run blocker, Staigvil and his fellow linemen failed to impress the league with their talent. In the 2102 off-season, as salary cap woes haunted the Merchantmen locker room, Staigvil was amongst the five starting linemen that were sent the door. Mid-way into the 2102 season, the Outer Banks Ospreys gave him a second chance. In the 2103 off-season he signed a 4-year deal with the Hanalei Dragons, where he was an undisputed starter and finally showed his run blocking skills with 47 key run blocks and All-IHOF second team honors in 2105. In 2107 he initially signed with the Chesapeake Chitterlings, but he didn't survive the post-training camp cuts there and didn't find a new team afterwards.


The retirement of Toler and Staigvil completes the retirement of the entire offensive line that was cut in the 2102 off-season. C Robbie Zinn retired as a free agent in the 2107 off-season after post-Maassluis stints in Harlem and Bordeaux. LT Isaac Delgado retired in the 2107 off-season after an injury plagued 2106 season, ending his career in Fairbanks after a stint in Atlanta. LT Johnny Houston retired much earlier in the 2103 off-season after no team offered him a second chance. All five were initially drafted by the Maassluis (Zinn in 2093, Houston and Delgado in 2094) Merchantmen and played together since Staigvil's emergence during the 2097 season.


RB Ken Torphy's retirement can't go by unnoticed either. Selected 6th overall in the 2099 draft as we mortgaged our 2100 and 2101 drafts to get there, we thought we had the offense to blow everybody in the league away. From behind aforementioned offensive linemen and with QB Earnest Ashley throwing the ball to WR Vinny Buysse and WR Calvin Maxwell - the most talented WR duo in the league and in Merchantmen history -, we thought Torphy was the missing piece to get this team really going. After 8-8, 6-10 and 5-11 campaigns, not only had the best Merchantmen offense ever assembled completely failed, the window of opportunity was about to close due to a serious cap hell situation. We decided to sacrifice the offensive line and stick with our quarterback and running back, but in retrospect the other way around would have been wiser. Ashley never lived up to top10 level hype and Torphy's top5 talent awesomeness never became truly visible.

In his first three seasons here, Torphy ran for 1,178, 1,312 and 1,388 yards, with his best per carry average at 4.3. He was a guarantee for 500 yards receiving as well, making him a top10 yards from scrimmage work horse in those season. Torphy also combined for 36 touchdowns in those seasons, even finishing 2nd in touchdowns scored in the league in 2100 with 18 scores. In the 2102 off-season, contract negotiations consistently failed as Torphy didn't want as much money as we offered, he kept insisting on being paid less, yet at the same time demanded us to release basically everybody else on the team. We decided to let him play out his contract, which turned into an abysmal 2102 season: 848 yard rushing with 2.77 per carry, 410 yards receiving, 6 total touchdowns. I dubbed him "The Lost Cause" after this season where he proved incapable of doing anything without a strong line.

In the 2103 off-season we were outbid by the Paris Musketeers in the 2103 off-season as they were willing to offer him $134M over 3 years. Still less than we offered in the 2102 off-season, but "c'est la vie". Over in Paris, Torphy had a fine first season (1,384 yards rushing with 4.64 per carry), but right after his decline set in as he got caught in a change of pace role. In 2106 he got a career extension with the Texas Sharks, where he signed a 3-year deal. He played a backup rol there and that stint got cut short to just 1 season: right after training camp 2107, the Sharks cut Torphy. No other team showed any interest in him and this off-season Torphy decided to give up. Torphy retires with 8,202 rushing yards (3.85 per carry), 2,987 receiving yards and 61 total touchdowns. At the moment of his retirement, Torphy ranks 17th in career rushing yards for the Merchantmen and ties for 25th with 42 total touchdowns, being in good company with RB Walt Blair and WR George Stuckey.