Beginner's Career

First off I want to let everyone know that this is my first career post, and I am still a rookie in regards to FOF 2001 and Football knowledge in general. Although I've been watching football for about 5 years now I never really understood the roles of each position. FOF 2001, I hope, will help me better understand the game of football.

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Because I am a rookie at FOF 2001 I will use the Scout to pick my draft picks in the rounds after Round 4 and he will advise me of how to let go in Expansion Drafts. I will try my best to manage my rosters, and depth charts, even though I'm not an expert. My team will be the Arizona Cardinals. I choose Arizona for two reasons… 1) I have yet to play a career in the NFC ; 2) I like the challenge of brining up a team in a city where the fan loyalty is low(12). I won't use the current Arizona rosters I will go through a fantasy draft selection with all markers in the middle. Also, I won't use any house rules at all!!

COACH: Aaron Norton (Age - 51)
Excellent - QB, DL, SEC, YT, INJ
Very Good - RB, REC
Good - OL, LB, K, OPC
Fair - MOT, DPC

SCOUT: Toby Doran (Age - 55)
Excellent - QB, OL, DL
Very Good - K, LB, SEC
Good - YT
Fair - RB, REC


Here are the results of the fantasy draft, and yes everything was in the middle!!

Roster for the Arizona Cardinals

Name # Pos OnTm Ctrc Exp Stat Cap Cost
Warner, Kurt 5 QB 1999 2002 3 ----- $3,250,000
Moreno, Moses 9 QB 1999 2001 3 ----- $440,000
Fiedler, Jay 19 QB 1999 2001 5 ----- $440,000
Stith, Shyrone 28 RB 1999 2001 R ----- $230,000
Howard, Chris 29 RB 1999 2001 3 ----- $440,000
George, Eddie 31 RB 1999 2005 5 ----- $3,850,000
Green, Ahman 46 RB 1999 2002 3 ----- $440,000
Neufeld, Ryan 20 FB 1999 2000 2 ----- $440,000
Craver, Aaron 43 FB 1999 2001 10 ----- $440,000
Campbell, Mark 81 TE 1999 2002 2 ----- $440,000
Jackson, Sheldon 84 TE 1999 2000 2 ----- $280,000
Cleeland, Cameron 88 TE 1999 2002 3 ----- $700,000
Yeast, Craig 80 WR 1999 2001 2 ----- $440,000
Pickens, Carl 82 WR 1999 2002 9 ----- $1,400,000
Pritchard, Mike 83 WR 1999 2002 10 ----- $440,000
Powell, Ronnie 85 WR 1999 2002 2 ----- $440,000
Poole, Keith 87 WR 1999 2003 4 ----- $1,200,000
Long, Kevin 54 C 1999 2001 3 ----- $700,000
Beverly, Eric 59 C 1999 2002 4 ----- $440,000
Thomas, Randy 68 G 1999 2003 2 ----- $1,500,000
Brown, Ray 70 G 1999 2002 15 ----- $3,670,000
Bobo, Orlando 72 G 1999 2001 4 ----- $440,000
Rehberg, Scott 78 G 1999 2002 4 ----- $520,000
Thompson, Michael 65 T 1999 2001 R ----- $440,000
Tait, John 69 T 1999 2002 2 ----- $1,900,000
Collins, Mo 71 T 1999 2003 3 ----- $2,750,000
Clement, Anthony 76 T 1999 2002 3 ----- $440,000
Bennett, Darren 6 P 1999 2001 6 ----- $440,000
Longwell, Ryan 12 K 1999 2001 4 ----- $440,000
Doleman, Chris 90 DE 1999 2004 16 ----- $3,000,000
Wiley, Chuck 93 DE 1999 2001 3 ----- $440,000
Hicks, Eric 94 DE 1999 2001 3 ----- $440,000
McCrary, Michael 99 DE 1999 2003 8 ----- $4,610,000
Parrella, John 91 DT 1999 2002 8 ----- $3,300,000
Randle, John 92 DT 1999 2005 11 ----- $5,420,000
Staat, Jeremy 95 DT 1999 2002 3 ----- $440,000
McKinley, Alvin 98 DT 1999 2002 R ----- $230,000
Rutledge, Johnny 50 LB 1999 2002 2 ----- $550,000
Phillips, Jon 51 LB 1999 2002 R ----- $230,000
Nickerson, Hardy 52 LB 1999 2002 14 ----- $1,400,000
Wilson, Al 55 LB 1999 2003 2 ----- $1,000,000
Bulluck, Keith 56 LB 1999 2001 R ----- $550,000
Trotter, Jeremiah 57 LB 1999 2001 3 ----- $1,750,000
Schilling, Rex 58 LB 1999 2001 R ----- $230,000
Fisher, Charles 26 CB 1999 2002 2 ----- $1,000,000
Scott, Chad 35 CB 1999 2001 4 ----- $1,200,000
Dimry, Charles 41 CB 1999 2000 13 ----- $440,000
Knight, Tom 44 CB 1999 2002 5 ----- $440,000
Montgomery, Monty 45 CB 1999 2002 4 ----- $440,000
Marion, Brock 22 S 1999 2001 8 ----- $800,000
Moore, Jason 23 S 1999 2000 2 ----- $280,000
Ellsworth, Percy 37 S 1999 2001 5 ----- $440,000
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Trades:

Everyone will think I'm nuts for giving up my 1st and 5th RD picks in my first season's draft but I figured I would draft pretty late and I needed a starting CB so… I traded the picks to PHI for CB, Donnie Abraham.


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2000 Opening Day Roster:

EA.com Front Office Football 2001
From the desk of Toby Doran of the Arizona Cardinals

Position/Player Current Est Future Est Exp Sgnd
QB Kurt Warner 15 15 3 2002
QB Moses Moreno 6 9 3 2001
QB Jay Fiedler 6 6 5 2001
RB Eddie George 13 13 5 2005
RB Chris Howard 7 11 3 2001
RB Ahman Green 7 13 3 2002
RB Shyrone Stith 6 13 1 2001
FB Ryan Neufeld 6 7 2 2000
FB Aaron Craver 6 6 10 2001
TE Cameron Cleeland 12 12 3 2002
TE Mark Campbell 8 10 2 2002
TE Sheldon Jackson 5 9 2 2000
WR Keith Poole 12 12 4 2003
WR Carl Pickens 12 12 9 2002
WR Mike Pritchard 9 10 10 2002
WR Ronnie Powell 8 8 2 2002
WR Craig Yeast 6 9 2 2001
C Kevin Long 9 10 3 2001
C Eric Beverly 8 8 4 2002
G Ray Brown 17 17 15 2002
G Randy Thomas 9 12 2 2003
G Scott Rehberg 6 7 4 2002
G Orlando Bobo 4 6 4 2001
T Mo Collins 10 14 3 2003
T John Tait 8 15 2 2002
T Anthony Clement 4 7 3 2002
T Michael Thompson 3 10 1 2001
P Darren Bennett 13 13 6 2001
K Ryan Longwell 11 11 4 2001
DE Michael McCrary 16 16 8 2003
DE Chris Doleman 12 12 16 2004
DE Eric Hicks 6 10 3 2001
DE Chuck Wiley 5 7 3 2001
DT John Randle 18 18 11 2005
DT John Parrella 14 14 8 2002
DT Jeremy Staat 6 12 3 2002
DT Alvin McKinley 5 7 1 2002
LB Hardy Nickerson 11 12 14 2002
LB Jeremiah Trotter 11 15 3 2001
LB Keith Bulluck 9 9 1 2001
LB Rex Schilling 9 9 1 2001
LB Johnny Rutledge 7 12 2 2002
LB Al Wilson 7 12 2 2003
LB Jon Phillips 6 11 1 2002
CB Donnie Abraham 14 14 5 2003
CB Chad Scott 8 9 4 2001
CB Tom Knight 7 7 5 2002
CB Charles Fisher 5 9 2 2002
CB Monty Montgomery 5 6 4 2002
CB Charles Dimry 4 5 13 2000
S Mark Carrier 12 12 11 2002
S Brock Marion 11 12 8 2001
S Percy Ellsworth 10 12 5 2001
S Jason Moore 4 4 2 2000

Key: Current Est - Current Estimate of skills,
Future Est - Estimate of future skills,
Exp - Years of experience, Sgnd - Last year of contract
(UFA - free agent, ---- - no contract)

[Passacaglia]

Warner and George...nice. Good luck! And I hope that you do make that 1st pick worth less! Maybe with your 2nd pick, you can see about improving your LB corps.

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"If we can put a man on the moon, we can grow grass indoors."

Here's a hint with posting your files:
type <"pre"> before and after your rosters. Just take out the quotation marks and it'll be alot more readable.

Good luck.

[QuikSand]

TO amend TRO's comment, use this before your print dumps:

{pre}

and use this afterwards:

{/pre}

(just change the ornate brackets to the "less than" and "greater than" signs)

I think that wil increase readability a bit. Good luck with your career.

2000 Preseason


I choose to make Jay Fielder my backup, so he will start 1 game while Kurt Warner will start 1 and Moreno will start the two others.

Denver 10 @ ARIZONA 24 (Warner started)
Seattle 17 @ ARIZONA 27 (Fielder started)
ARIZONA 9 @ Minnesota 7 (Moreno started)
ARIZONA 6 @ San Diego 38 (Moreno started)

I was fairly happy with the Preseason results, although our teams lack of defense really showed in our last game versus San Diego. But what worries me is that every team we won against finished under .500 and San Diego went 3-1 and we lost against them. Anyway we'll see how it goes.


2000 Regular Season (1st Half)

WEEK 1

ARIZONA CARDINALS(0-0) @ New York Giants(0-0) - ARIZONA wins 37-31

The Cards start the 2000 Season with a win over divisional rival New York. Not a very decisive win, but S Mark Carrier(MVP) was the difference getting an INT and returning it for our final TD. Kurt Warner threw 63% for 339 yards and 3 TD's. Defense was extremely weak giving up FOUR sacks. I don't like the defense on our team much but I'll see how the first season goes before making any decisions.


WEEK 2

Dallas Cowboys(1-0) @ ARIZONA CARDINALS(1-0) - ARIZONA wins 41-10

Once again another win over a division rival, this time a little more decisive. I guess Coach Norton's talk with the defensive squad made a difference, but they still gave up TWO sacks. Warner got a little better in his completion %, going 20-26, for 1 TD. This gave Kurt Warner a 108.6 QB rating, 2nd in the NFL behind Trent Green of Green Bay. Eddie George(MVP) stepped up and gave an outstanding performance throwing in 3 TD's.


WEEK 3

The almighty BYE week.


WEEK 4

Green Bay Packers(1-2) @ ARIZONA CARDINALS(2-0) - ARIZONA wins 34-14

Battle of the top two QB's, even though GB is 1-2. But this loss for Green Bay drops Green from #1 to #8. So now Warner(MVP), who went 27-38 for 400+ yards and 3 TD's, has a firm hold on top QB spot. I also like our Defense in this game a bit more, but they still gave up two sacks. And surprisingly we own the second best D in the NFC.


WEEK 5

ARIZONA CARDINALS(3-0) @ San Francisco 49er's(2-2) - ARIZONA wins 38-7

Surprised is a major understatement!! I never thought that my weak D could stand up 4 weeks in a row, even though we've had a somewhat weak schedule. Kurt Warner(MVP) continued his winning ways going 29-40 and throwing 2 TD's. With the most potent offence in the NFL I'll head into week 6 facing a hard challenge versus Cleveland(3-2).


WEEK 6

Cleveland Browns(3-2) @ ARIZONA CARDINALS(4-0) - ARIZONA wins 23-17

Fifth in a row! We now get a win over a good team. Mike McCrary has a great game getting MVP honors. An average game from both Offensive and Defensive teams and we gave up another sack. Overall it was a decent game, no big plays or notes.


WEEK 7

Philadelphia Eagles(2-4) @ ARIZONA CARDINALS(5-0) - ARIZONA wins 36-9

Big game for our defense, finally a game with no sacks!! Kurt Warner threw 2 TD's. And our avg. kicker Ryan Longwell had 5 field goals one from 51 yards out. MVP honors went to Safety Marion with 5 tackles, 1 sac, and 2 int. Again next week should be an easy victory over the struggling Cowboys of Dallas.


WEEK 8

ARIZONA CARDINALS(6-0) @ Dallas Cowboys(2-4) - ARIZONA wins 17-13

Surprisingly it was a difficult game against the lowly Cowboys but we still got the win. Kurt Warner pulls off another miracle in the last seconds of the game with a TD pass. So we are know tied with the Redskins for top spot in the NFL.


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We happily reach mid-season without a loss. Three teams look to be the super-powers in the league, and too bad for me the other two reside in the NFC. They are ARIZONA(7-0), Redskins(8-0), and Bears(7-1). The worst team in the league is the Vikings(0-7). Kurt Warner is the top-rated Quarterback in the league with a 110.5 rating. Eddie George is #5 in the NFL in rushing, averaging 3.9 yds a play. In the Power Rating we rank 1st with an 88, but Washington is close behind with an 85. The second half will be hard with two meeting with the Redskins, including one on WEEK 17, which could decide the division champ.




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2000 Regular Season(2nd Half)


WEEK 9

New Orleans Saints(5-2) @ ARIZONA CARDINALS(7-0) - ARIZONA wins 30-13

Starting the second half on a strong note we again beat a contender, and this time by a pretty decent margin. CB Tom Knight(MVP) got an int. and returned it for a TD. And Warner threw an amazing 98% for 2 TD's. Coach Norton is doing a good job keeping the defense in check and we continue to be the best team on offence. Next week will be the biggest test of the season facing the 9-0 Redskins.

WEEK 10

Washington Redskins(9-0) @ ARIZONA CARDINALS(8-0) - ARIZONA wins 10-9

That was close one! Our defense was stellar not giving up 1 TD, although they did let them close enough for 3 FG's. Kurt Warner had a good game but ended up with a Bruised Elbow. Next week we face the winless Vikings so our backup will start.

WEEK 11

ARIZONA CARDINALS(9-0) @ Minnesota Vikings(0-9) - ARIZONA wins 27-17

Jay Fielder went 23-33, 303 yds, and 2 TD passes. While George rushed 119 yards for 1 TD. Eddie also got MVP & POW honors. Defense is becoming a little iffy giving up 17 pts to a team avg. only 9 a game. I was glad to see Fielder step up an continue our winning ways, but he will return to being a backup next week as Warner has made a full recovery.

WEEK 11

ARIZONA CARDINALS(10-0) @ Philadelphia Eagles(3-8) - ARIZONA wins 24-3

Every time a start worrying about our D, Coach Norton works a miracle and gets the Defensive squad to put up great numbers. This time besides a FG we shut the out. Kurt Warner returns from an injury to put up his usual numbers going 26-35, and throwing 2 TD's. Eddie George continues to be the go to guy when passing isn't an option. I'm blown away that a team that should be avg.(all markers in the middle for the draft) is 11-0 now with the best offensive in the entire NFL. On to week 12...

WEEK 12

New York Giants(6-5) @ ARIZONA CARDINALS(11-0) - ARIZONA wins 49-21

Rematch of WEEK 1, this time the win is a bit more definite. But consistency is not a strong point of our team, the D is good one week, bad the next. Thank god for the offence of Warner & George! Next is the Bengals who are 9-3 this season.

WEEK 13

ARIZONA CARDINALS(12-0) @ Cincinnati Bengals(9-3) - ARIZONA wins 37-35

Ouch! Defense once again was the problem giving up 4 sacks. Eddie George averaged 10+ yards a carry. Although we still get the "W" the coaching staff & I are concerned about our performance versus playoff bound teams.

WEEK 14

ARIZONA CARDINALS(13-0) @ Jacksonville Jaguars(6-7) - ARIZONA wins 14-3

Good, Bad, Good, Bad… The story of our Defensive squad. Eddie George rushed 149 yards for one TD and Warner threw at 60% for another TD. Hopefully we can carry this victory back home for our last home game of the season.

WEEK 15

Baltimore Ravens(5-9) @ ARIZONA CARDINALS(14-0) - ARIZONA wins 19-3

We did it, we put to good defensive games back to back! I knew that fan support was bad in Arizona, but with only 50,000 out of 70,000 people coming that is ridicules. As I said defense was the story with CB Ryan Longwell getting another MVP award. On to divisional rivals Washington.

ARIZONA CARDINALS(15-0) @ Washington Redskins(12-3) -ARIZONA wins 15-13

NEVER LOST A GAME!!! Who would of thought it? Finished the season with an avg. performance by both the D and O. And out of no where we have the best Offence(451 pts) and the best D(218 pts). Hopefully I won't face the Skins again till the Conference championship, but I'll wait and see.


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2000 Regular Season Review


We end the season undefeated, a huge surprise to say the least. When I looked at my roster at the season's start I thought I would have to do a lot in the off season to shore up a weak defense, I guess I'll stick with them. Scoring a total of 451 points and only giving up 218, I think we did allright for our "maiden voyage." Our QB, Kurt Warner finished with the second highest rating, 92.6. He also finished number one in pass completion with a 66.2%. Eddie George was 3rd in rushing yardage with 1410 yards. We were obviously a rushing team with no big standout WR, something I may look at in the off-season. Going into the playoffs we hope that the Redskins, our toughest opponent of the season, takes a loss in the Wild Card game.


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2000 Wild Card Playoffs


Buffalo Bills(10-6) @ Seattle Seahawks(10-6) - Seattle wins 31-24
Miami Dolphins(9-7) @ Cincinnati Bengals(10-6) - Miami wins 29-17
Dallas Cowboys(11-6) @ New Orleans Saints(10-7) - Dallas wins 28-21
Detroit Lions(10-7) @ Washington Redskins(13-3) - Washington wins 52-6

2000 Divisional Playoffs


Dallas Cowboys(11-6) @ ARIZONA CARDINALS(16-0) - ARIZONA wins 38 -12
Washington Redskins(13-3) @ Chicago Bears(12-4) - Chicago wins 38-7
Seattle Seahawks(10-6) @ Denver Broncos(11-5) - Denver wins 21-14
Miami Dolphins(9-7) @ Indy Colts(11-5) - Miami wins 25-10

A very pleasing win over a strong Cowboys squad. They are an offensive team so I was glad to see the D hold up. Warner plays well and throws 3 TD passes. We get some bad news and see that Kurt is a question heading into the Conference Finals, so I decide to play him less. Brining it down from 7 to 5. WASHINGTON LOST!!!!

2000 Conference Playoffs


Chicago Bears(12-4) @ ARIZONA CARDINALS(16-0) - ARIZONA wins 19-7
Miami Dolphins(9-7) @ Denver Broncos(11-5) - Denver wins 33-27

We face Da Bears in the NFC Finals and get a good game from both Fielder and Warner. Warner played up until the 3rd, and when Fielder stepped in he got a TD pass on his first play. Our Safety Brock Marion got Defensive Player of the week with 10 tackles and an interception. We held Chicago to 7 pts which is a really good confidence booster heading into the SUPER BOWL. It will be the Broncos versus my CARDINALS, it should be a Classic.

2000 Super Bowl

Denver Broncos(11-5) @ ARIZONA CARDINALS(16-0) - ARIZONA wins 31-14

A classic it was! We finished the first half behind and came back in true Kurt Warner fashion to bomb the Broncos 31-14. Eddie George was MVP with 100 yards rushing and 2 touchdowns. I'm completely blown away at my season, I figured I'd go 10-6, and Conference Champs at best but boy was I surprised.


2000 Season in Review

I'm just gonna give the Season Awards, I've told you all what I am pleased with already.

EA.com Front Office Football 2001 

Player Awards for 2000

   

  Award                                 Player                  Team  

**NFL MVP                               Eddie George            ARI     

**Offensive Player of the Year          Eddie George            ARI     

Defensive Player of the Year            Rod Woodson             CIN     

Offensive Rookie of the Year            Ron Dayne               OAK     

Defensive Rookie of the Year            Marcus Bell             TEN     

**Super Bowl MVP                        Eddie George            ARI     

All-Pro 1st Team Quarterback            Ty Detmer               SEA     

**All-Pro 1st Team Running Back         Eddie George            ARI     

All-Pro 1st Team Fullback               Stacey Mack             TBY     

All-Pro 1st Team Tight End              Greg Clark              CIN     

All-Pro 1st Team Wide Receiver          Sean Dawkins            SEA     

All-Pro 1st Team Wide Receiver          Germane Crowell         STL     

All-Pro 1st Team Center                 Tim Grunhard            JAX     

All-Pro 1st Team Guard                  David Szott             BAL     

**All-Pro 1st Team Guard                Ray Brown               ARI     

All-Pro 1st Team Tackle                 Adam Meadows            SEA     

All-Pro 1st Team Tackle                 Tony Boselli            SDO     

**All-Pro 1st Team Punter               Darren Bennett          ARI     

**All-Pro 1st Team Kicker               Ryan Longwell           ARI     

All-Pro 1st Team Defensive End          Rob Burnett             GBY     

All-Pro 1st Team Defensive End          Rich Owens              KCY     

All-Pro 1st Team Defensive Tackle       Darrell Russell         SFO     

All-Pro 1st Team Defensive Tackle       Warren Sapp             DAL     

All-Pro 1st Team Linebacker             Mo Lewis                NYJ     

All-Pro 1st Team Linebacker             Chad Brown              ATL     

All-Pro 1st Team Linebacker             Keith Mitchell          ATL     

All-Pro 1st Team Linebacker             Derrick Brooks          CLE     

All-Pro 1st Team Cornerback             Aaron Beasley           CHI     

All-Pro 1st Team Cornerback             Paul Ford               WAS     

All-Pro 1st Team Safety                 Rod Woodson             CIN     

All-Pro 1st Team Safety                 Victor Green            NOS     

All-Pro 2nd Team Quarterback            Chris Chandler          DET     

All-Pro 2nd Team Running Back           Edgerrin James          WAS     

All-Pro 2nd Team Fullback               Daimon Shelton          DAL     

All-Pro 2nd Team Tight End              Shannon Sharpe          DET     

All-Pro 2nd Team Wide Receiver          Albert Connell          GBY     

All-Pro 2nd Team Wide Receiver          Ed McCaffrey            OAK     

All-Pro 2nd Team Center                 Jeff Christy            ATL     

All-Pro 2nd Team Guard                  Ruben Brown             CHI     

All-Pro 2nd Team Guard                  Kevin Gogan             BUF     

All-Pro 2nd Team Tackle                 Willie Anderson         CHI     

All-Pro 2nd Team Tackle                 Willie Roaf             STL     

All-Pro 2nd Team Punter                 Will Brice              CLE     

All-Pro 2nd Team Kicker                 Mike Vanderjagt         CHI     

**All-Pro 2nd Team Defensive End        Michael McCrary         ARI     

All-Pro 2nd Team Defensive End          Willie McGinest         DEN     

All-Pro 2nd Team Defensive Tackle       Leon Lett               TBY     

All-Pro 2nd Team Defensive Tackle       Hollis Thomas           OAK     

All-Pro 2nd Team Linebacker             Donnie Edwards          NYJ     

All-Pro 2nd Team Linebacker             Brant Boyer             JAX     

All-Pro 2nd Team Linebacker             Patrick Sapp            CAR     

All-Pro 2nd Team Linebacker             Mike Peterson           PHI     

All-Pro 2nd Team Cornerback             Darryl Pounds           DAL     

All-Pro 2nd Team Cornerback             Sam Madison             BAL     

All-Pro 2nd Team Safety                 Sammy Knight            MIA     

All-Pro 2nd Team Safety                 Eugene Robinson         DEN     

EIGHT AWARDS, not half bad.


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[Passacaglia]

You can always tell who the beginners are, playing FOF. They're the guys who only win the Super Bowl by 17 points in their first season.

Maybe in a few years, you'll start winning those games by more points.

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"If we can put a man on the moon, we can grow grass indoors."

[This message has been edited by Passacaglia (edited 12-31-2000).]