Post by Cincinnati Bengals (Chris) on Aug 7, 2017 1:50:04 GMT -5
KC (Brooks) 2010-2014:
Regular Season Record: 39-21 (65%)
Postseason Record: 6-2 postseason
Division Titles: 3x AFC West winner (2012, 2013, 2014)
Super Bowl Championships: 2013
Andrew (PHI): “I hated Brooks, but he built his team and made trades every year to better his team.”
Goose (BAL): “I would have to go with Brooks (KC) as he did a great job with his team in the best division in the league as each one of the teams in the AFC West has won a SB.”
Chris (CIN): “I really feel bad for those who weren’t in the league to see the back-and-forth between Brooks and Ryan (DET). They never conceded a single point, even if it was stupid, and were always at each others throats. While it was annoying at the time, the experience brought so much to our league, and the premier ‘rivalry’ was set, even though I’m not even sure Ryan and Brooks ever played each other.”
Brooks had quite a road to hoe, as mentioned above, in the AFC West, facing against the holy triumvirate of teams, Ryan’s Chargers (Super Bowl Champs in 2011), Mike’s Raiders (Or were they Mindy’s Raiders? An MFL inside joke as Mike, the MFL Commissioner, ran two teams under the guise that his wife was running one. His Oakland team were Super Bowl Champs in 2012, and he would probably be in consideration for the Hall of Fame himself if not for a only once-matched display of mental instability and douchebaggery), and Gramps’ Broncos (Super Bowl Champs in 2009).
Brooks’ first two years were somewhat rocky, putting him at 10-14. But after those two introductory seasons, he ran off a period of dominance perhaps unmatched in league history, going 29-7 over the ensuing three seasons. If for nothing else, he would probably be Hall of Fame-worthy on that alone. But then there’s the matter of his three division crowns, all coming during that time, and his Super Bowl win in 2013. All of these serve as merit for why Brooks was chosen as one of the two inaugural Hall of Fame members for the Canton Dynasty Football League.
In 2010, Brooks’ Chiefs were 6-6, but the numbers suggest he profiled more like a 5-7 or 4-8 team, as he was outscored by over 50 points, while only scoring 106.92 PPG himself. His 2011 squad by comparison, didn’t do much better, as the Chiefs actually scored fewer points 102.03 PPG, but this time, so did their opponents (101.7 PPG), meaning Kansas City profiled as better than 4-8, at 5-7 or perhaps as well as 6-6. While the Chiefs’ output fell, the nucleus for an offensive juggernaut was starting to be put in place. Omitting Sam Bradford, Brooks’ QB that year (Who threw for 6 touchdowns with 13 turnovers in 10, yes, 10 games!), the Chiefs turned in solid performances from LeSean McCoy (19.33 PPG), DeSean Jackson (9.24 PPG) and Aaron Hernandez (10.81 PPG). No one else of KC’s overloaded offensive unit (Numbers-wise, the offense comprised 16 players on the roster) made appreciable offensive contributions, as only two others topped 6 PPG (Other than Bradford at 9.32 PPG), no one else topped 5 PPG.
At first glance, it would appear that the offense was not as powerful as teased above, but waiting in the wings, however, were Jamaal Charles (Who missed the season due to injury) and rookie Julius Thomas, both of whom Brooks had the foresight to hang on to. The Chiefs’ defensive unit only consisted of nine players, but among there were present (At the time) and future stars Jason Pierre-Paul, Brandon Flowers and Troy Polamalu. That explains how KC went from 22nd in scoring in 2011 (20th in offense at 47.27 PPG and 22nd in defense at 46.1 PPG), and jumped 500+ points to 4th with 144.15 PPG (No. 1 in offense with 78.67 PPG and 15th in defense with 57.23 PPG) on the way to posting 10 wins (A 6-win improvement) and winning the ultra-competitive AFC West (Which again placed four teams at .500 or above) in 2012. Key to that, in addition to the players listed above, was acquiring Matt Ryan, A.J. Green, Calvin Johnson, Marshawn Lynch, Jeremy Maclin AND Jimmy Graham in ONE offseason (While keeping Charles and Thomas, though he clearly offloaded McCoy in one of those deals). He also had a penchant for picking future talent, as future dynasty community darlings Cole Beasley and Ladarius Green were added that offseason as well.
Defensively, he added Lance Briggs (10.54 PPG), DeMeco Ryans (9.43 PPG) and Harrison Smith (9.16 PPG), in addition to gains from Corey Liuget (5.8 PPG) and Koa Misi (6.82 PPG), and future contributors David Hawthorne and Brad Jones, all while keeping JPP and Polamalu, and losing only Flowers and Terrence Newman among contributors. If ever there were an offseason of the year award (As Chris (NE) suggested), this one would pretty much take the cake hands down. And while the Broncos would win the divisional bout in the First Round, knocking the budding powerhouse Chiefs out in Brooks’ first playoff game, it was clear that Kansas City had entered the truly elite and would be a force to be reckoned with in 2013.
That 2013 would be a special one for the Chiefs and go down as one of the most dominant in league history. Though Brooks lost JPP and Jimmy Graham that offseason, he added Jason Witten (9.23 PPG), Jordy Nelson (Who only played one game for him that year), Antrel Rolle (Whose 12.11 PPG he would trade later that season), Chris Jones (6.05 PPG) and Barry Church (11.49 PPG, and a name to remember for later). Add that to an offense that already featured Ryan (16.63 PPG), Charles (21.47 PPG), Johnson (16.26 PPG), Green (14.26 PPG) and Lynch (13.3 PPG), as well as the improvement from Brad Jones (10.43 PPG), Ryans (12.19 PPG), Smith (10.94 PPG), Briggs (15.83 PPG before injury, but it didn’t really affect the Chiefs), and Hawthorne (8.47 PPG before being traded) and it’s little secret why the Chiefs breezed through their 2013 schedule.
Kansas City smoked the league in points, outscoring the next comer (San Francisco) by over 115 points and putting up an obscene 158.6 PPG. The number was so obscene, in fact, that it still is the record for PPG over a season, and San Diego’s aforementioned (In Ryan’s (SD) Hall of Fame post) 158.15 PPG in 2011 and Cecil’s (SEA) 158.05 PPG in 2015 are the only two single-season totals that come within 50 points of it. Both the offensive totals (83.24 PPG) and the defensive totals (71.77 PPG) also ranked tops in the league that year. In fact, so dominant was the year that Kansas City had in 2013 that, only two offensive season totals have ever topped that mark (Both in 2016, though it was shattered by Jordan’s (JAX) 92.32 PPG, and Cecil’s 83.81 PPG also surpassing it, though previous to 2016, simply coming within 100 points of the offensive record was a significant, often league-leading accomplishment) and the only defensive season to best it was Cecil’s 2015 (74.83 PPG). In fact, his season was so dominant that his 45.57 PPG average margin of victory could only be fully appreciated by seeing it charted on a week-by-week basis:
Week 1: W over GB (Alex) 165.91-130.8
Week 2: W over WAS (Garrett) 152.16-108.22
Week 3: W over PHI (Andrew) 158.19-97.96
Week 4: W over DAL (Aaron) 168.14-146.29
Week 5: W over NYG 143.51-94.73
Week 6: L to CIN (Chris) 138.7-140.72
Week 7: W over PIT (Dave) 205.02-87.94
Week 8: W over CLE 151.45-68.88
Week 9: W over BAL (Goose) 130.51-100.37
Week 10: W over OAK (Mike) 177.48-123.9
Week 11: L to SD (Ryan) 151.93-147.66
Week 12: W over DEN 164.38-104.61
And as this chart illustrates, this is basically the top of the leaderboard, full of some of the best to ever play in this league, in Ryan (SB Champ), Andrew, Aaron, Goose, Garrett (SB Champ), Mike (SB Champ) Dave, Chris, and Alex (SB Champ), yet he ran roughshod over us (Well, all of us except Ryan (SD), your other 2017 CFL HOF inductee, and myself) on his way to a 12-0 record and the perfect season (But more on that later). The beating continued, as he dismantled NE in the first round by 20+ points, snuck by Ryan (SD) by .3 points in the Second Round, destroyed TEN by 25 points in the AFC Championship Game, and as if the best team that year (And quite possibly in league history) hadn’t already been decided, summarily dispatched of Aaron (DAL) for the second time in the Super Bowl, good for the one, and only (As I know) 16-0 record in the history of our league*.
Brooks also stayed around for one last rodeo (Though he didn’t announce his decision to leave the league until the 2015 offseason), playing well, en route to a 9-3 record, a third (And third-straight) AFC West title, and a deep playoff run, where he disembodied teams until reaching the AFC Championship Game, where eventual champion Garrett waylaid him, getting revenge for his lopsided 2012 regular season defeat. It’s hard to say that a team that made the conference championship game didn’t fulfill expectations, but Brooks set those so unattainably high in 2013, that 2014 felt like a letting of air out of the balloon. The Chiefs still finished 5th in points (135.76 PPG), 3rd in offense and 9th in defense, but salary cap constraints, aging and contract years put in some doubt the Chiefs’ future contention as one of the elites. Therefore, Brooks stepped away, despite still having the performances of Ryan (19.52 PPG), Charles (Who came back to Earth with 14.56 PPG), Green (11.55 PPG), Fred Jackson (A nice veteran pick up at 9.71 PPG), Kenny Stills Jr (8.23 PPG) and Witten (7.07 PPG) offensively, and Brandon Marshall (12.13 PPG), Smith (11.42 PPG), Church (9.21 PPG), Ron Parker (8.89 PPG), Manti Te’o (8.69 PPG), Liuget (7.12 PPG), rookies (Yes, obviously he drafted well too) Christian Kirksey and Aaron Donald (7.09 and 6.45 PPG respectively, Joplo Bartu (6.71 PPG) and improved play from Mychal Kendricks (10.74 PPG).
What about the asterisk? Well, let me provide to you a second personal account re: Brooks.
Chris (CIN): “In Brooks’ ‘undefeated’ 2013 season, I was playing him in Week 6 (Myself 2-3, he was 5-0 at the time), and I was winning near the end of the Monday Night game. The only guy he had going was Barry Church, who was putting on a show with 10+ tackles. Then I realized the scoring system had given him double credit for a tackle, and I was pissed. Before too long (I want to say the next play), Church received a late hit penalty, pushing a player out of bounds. Fantrax scored this as a tackle, and the combination of those two illicit, ill-gotten tackles lost me the game. I was inconsolable. I finished the season 5-7, Brooks went undefeated, and the stat correction never came. Fast-forward to the offseason, and all the sudden I see that I was in fact 6-6. It turns out, Fantrax made a stat correction to those Church tackles, and after all of the games had been played, I was the victor, the only person (At that time) to have knocked off Brooks’ previously undefeated team). I can’t say what happened with the SD result, though I have to suspect that it fell under similar circumstances.”
So there you have it folks, the undefeated season with the asterisk was actually a 10-2 year. But for all intents and purposes, Brooks could have just as easily gone 12-0 and the spirit of what he did would’ve been preserved in the same way. Therefore, based on his numerous accomplishments, all of the savvy moves he made, the 29-7 stretch, the three (And three-straight) division crowns, the record-breaking season, and Super Bowl, I am happy to induct Brooks, a very deserving member, into the Canton Dynasty League Hall of Fame for the 2017 class.
Regular Season Record: 39-21 (65%)
Postseason Record: 6-2 postseason
Division Titles: 3x AFC West winner (2012, 2013, 2014)
Super Bowl Championships: 2013
Andrew (PHI): “I hated Brooks, but he built his team and made trades every year to better his team.”
Goose (BAL): “I would have to go with Brooks (KC) as he did a great job with his team in the best division in the league as each one of the teams in the AFC West has won a SB.”
Chris (CIN): “I really feel bad for those who weren’t in the league to see the back-and-forth between Brooks and Ryan (DET). They never conceded a single point, even if it was stupid, and were always at each others throats. While it was annoying at the time, the experience brought so much to our league, and the premier ‘rivalry’ was set, even though I’m not even sure Ryan and Brooks ever played each other.”
Brooks had quite a road to hoe, as mentioned above, in the AFC West, facing against the holy triumvirate of teams, Ryan’s Chargers (Super Bowl Champs in 2011), Mike’s Raiders (Or were they Mindy’s Raiders? An MFL inside joke as Mike, the MFL Commissioner, ran two teams under the guise that his wife was running one. His Oakland team were Super Bowl Champs in 2012, and he would probably be in consideration for the Hall of Fame himself if not for a only once-matched display of mental instability and douchebaggery), and Gramps’ Broncos (Super Bowl Champs in 2009).
Brooks’ first two years were somewhat rocky, putting him at 10-14. But after those two introductory seasons, he ran off a period of dominance perhaps unmatched in league history, going 29-7 over the ensuing three seasons. If for nothing else, he would probably be Hall of Fame-worthy on that alone. But then there’s the matter of his three division crowns, all coming during that time, and his Super Bowl win in 2013. All of these serve as merit for why Brooks was chosen as one of the two inaugural Hall of Fame members for the Canton Dynasty Football League.
In 2010, Brooks’ Chiefs were 6-6, but the numbers suggest he profiled more like a 5-7 or 4-8 team, as he was outscored by over 50 points, while only scoring 106.92 PPG himself. His 2011 squad by comparison, didn’t do much better, as the Chiefs actually scored fewer points 102.03 PPG, but this time, so did their opponents (101.7 PPG), meaning Kansas City profiled as better than 4-8, at 5-7 or perhaps as well as 6-6. While the Chiefs’ output fell, the nucleus for an offensive juggernaut was starting to be put in place. Omitting Sam Bradford, Brooks’ QB that year (Who threw for 6 touchdowns with 13 turnovers in 10, yes, 10 games!), the Chiefs turned in solid performances from LeSean McCoy (19.33 PPG), DeSean Jackson (9.24 PPG) and Aaron Hernandez (10.81 PPG). No one else of KC’s overloaded offensive unit (Numbers-wise, the offense comprised 16 players on the roster) made appreciable offensive contributions, as only two others topped 6 PPG (Other than Bradford at 9.32 PPG), no one else topped 5 PPG.
At first glance, it would appear that the offense was not as powerful as teased above, but waiting in the wings, however, were Jamaal Charles (Who missed the season due to injury) and rookie Julius Thomas, both of whom Brooks had the foresight to hang on to. The Chiefs’ defensive unit only consisted of nine players, but among there were present (At the time) and future stars Jason Pierre-Paul, Brandon Flowers and Troy Polamalu. That explains how KC went from 22nd in scoring in 2011 (20th in offense at 47.27 PPG and 22nd in defense at 46.1 PPG), and jumped 500+ points to 4th with 144.15 PPG (No. 1 in offense with 78.67 PPG and 15th in defense with 57.23 PPG) on the way to posting 10 wins (A 6-win improvement) and winning the ultra-competitive AFC West (Which again placed four teams at .500 or above) in 2012. Key to that, in addition to the players listed above, was acquiring Matt Ryan, A.J. Green, Calvin Johnson, Marshawn Lynch, Jeremy Maclin AND Jimmy Graham in ONE offseason (While keeping Charles and Thomas, though he clearly offloaded McCoy in one of those deals). He also had a penchant for picking future talent, as future dynasty community darlings Cole Beasley and Ladarius Green were added that offseason as well.
Defensively, he added Lance Briggs (10.54 PPG), DeMeco Ryans (9.43 PPG) and Harrison Smith (9.16 PPG), in addition to gains from Corey Liuget (5.8 PPG) and Koa Misi (6.82 PPG), and future contributors David Hawthorne and Brad Jones, all while keeping JPP and Polamalu, and losing only Flowers and Terrence Newman among contributors. If ever there were an offseason of the year award (As Chris (NE) suggested), this one would pretty much take the cake hands down. And while the Broncos would win the divisional bout in the First Round, knocking the budding powerhouse Chiefs out in Brooks’ first playoff game, it was clear that Kansas City had entered the truly elite and would be a force to be reckoned with in 2013.
That 2013 would be a special one for the Chiefs and go down as one of the most dominant in league history. Though Brooks lost JPP and Jimmy Graham that offseason, he added Jason Witten (9.23 PPG), Jordy Nelson (Who only played one game for him that year), Antrel Rolle (Whose 12.11 PPG he would trade later that season), Chris Jones (6.05 PPG) and Barry Church (11.49 PPG, and a name to remember for later). Add that to an offense that already featured Ryan (16.63 PPG), Charles (21.47 PPG), Johnson (16.26 PPG), Green (14.26 PPG) and Lynch (13.3 PPG), as well as the improvement from Brad Jones (10.43 PPG), Ryans (12.19 PPG), Smith (10.94 PPG), Briggs (15.83 PPG before injury, but it didn’t really affect the Chiefs), and Hawthorne (8.47 PPG before being traded) and it’s little secret why the Chiefs breezed through their 2013 schedule.
Kansas City smoked the league in points, outscoring the next comer (San Francisco) by over 115 points and putting up an obscene 158.6 PPG. The number was so obscene, in fact, that it still is the record for PPG over a season, and San Diego’s aforementioned (In Ryan’s (SD) Hall of Fame post) 158.15 PPG in 2011 and Cecil’s (SEA) 158.05 PPG in 2015 are the only two single-season totals that come within 50 points of it. Both the offensive totals (83.24 PPG) and the defensive totals (71.77 PPG) also ranked tops in the league that year. In fact, so dominant was the year that Kansas City had in 2013 that, only two offensive season totals have ever topped that mark (Both in 2016, though it was shattered by Jordan’s (JAX) 92.32 PPG, and Cecil’s 83.81 PPG also surpassing it, though previous to 2016, simply coming within 100 points of the offensive record was a significant, often league-leading accomplishment) and the only defensive season to best it was Cecil’s 2015 (74.83 PPG). In fact, his season was so dominant that his 45.57 PPG average margin of victory could only be fully appreciated by seeing it charted on a week-by-week basis:
Week 1: W over GB (Alex) 165.91-130.8
Week 2: W over WAS (Garrett) 152.16-108.22
Week 3: W over PHI (Andrew) 158.19-97.96
Week 4: W over DAL (Aaron) 168.14-146.29
Week 5: W over NYG 143.51-94.73
Week 6: L to CIN (Chris) 138.7-140.72
Week 7: W over PIT (Dave) 205.02-87.94
Week 8: W over CLE 151.45-68.88
Week 9: W over BAL (Goose) 130.51-100.37
Week 10: W over OAK (Mike) 177.48-123.9
Week 11: L to SD (Ryan) 151.93-147.66
Week 12: W over DEN 164.38-104.61
And as this chart illustrates, this is basically the top of the leaderboard, full of some of the best to ever play in this league, in Ryan (SB Champ), Andrew, Aaron, Goose, Garrett (SB Champ), Mike (SB Champ) Dave, Chris, and Alex (SB Champ), yet he ran roughshod over us (Well, all of us except Ryan (SD), your other 2017 CFL HOF inductee, and myself) on his way to a 12-0 record and the perfect season (But more on that later). The beating continued, as he dismantled NE in the first round by 20+ points, snuck by Ryan (SD) by .3 points in the Second Round, destroyed TEN by 25 points in the AFC Championship Game, and as if the best team that year (And quite possibly in league history) hadn’t already been decided, summarily dispatched of Aaron (DAL) for the second time in the Super Bowl, good for the one, and only (As I know) 16-0 record in the history of our league*.
Brooks also stayed around for one last rodeo (Though he didn’t announce his decision to leave the league until the 2015 offseason), playing well, en route to a 9-3 record, a third (And third-straight) AFC West title, and a deep playoff run, where he disembodied teams until reaching the AFC Championship Game, where eventual champion Garrett waylaid him, getting revenge for his lopsided 2012 regular season defeat. It’s hard to say that a team that made the conference championship game didn’t fulfill expectations, but Brooks set those so unattainably high in 2013, that 2014 felt like a letting of air out of the balloon. The Chiefs still finished 5th in points (135.76 PPG), 3rd in offense and 9th in defense, but salary cap constraints, aging and contract years put in some doubt the Chiefs’ future contention as one of the elites. Therefore, Brooks stepped away, despite still having the performances of Ryan (19.52 PPG), Charles (Who came back to Earth with 14.56 PPG), Green (11.55 PPG), Fred Jackson (A nice veteran pick up at 9.71 PPG), Kenny Stills Jr (8.23 PPG) and Witten (7.07 PPG) offensively, and Brandon Marshall (12.13 PPG), Smith (11.42 PPG), Church (9.21 PPG), Ron Parker (8.89 PPG), Manti Te’o (8.69 PPG), Liuget (7.12 PPG), rookies (Yes, obviously he drafted well too) Christian Kirksey and Aaron Donald (7.09 and 6.45 PPG respectively, Joplo Bartu (6.71 PPG) and improved play from Mychal Kendricks (10.74 PPG).
What about the asterisk? Well, let me provide to you a second personal account re: Brooks.
Chris (CIN): “In Brooks’ ‘undefeated’ 2013 season, I was playing him in Week 6 (Myself 2-3, he was 5-0 at the time), and I was winning near the end of the Monday Night game. The only guy he had going was Barry Church, who was putting on a show with 10+ tackles. Then I realized the scoring system had given him double credit for a tackle, and I was pissed. Before too long (I want to say the next play), Church received a late hit penalty, pushing a player out of bounds. Fantrax scored this as a tackle, and the combination of those two illicit, ill-gotten tackles lost me the game. I was inconsolable. I finished the season 5-7, Brooks went undefeated, and the stat correction never came. Fast-forward to the offseason, and all the sudden I see that I was in fact 6-6. It turns out, Fantrax made a stat correction to those Church tackles, and after all of the games had been played, I was the victor, the only person (At that time) to have knocked off Brooks’ previously undefeated team). I can’t say what happened with the SD result, though I have to suspect that it fell under similar circumstances.”
So there you have it folks, the undefeated season with the asterisk was actually a 10-2 year. But for all intents and purposes, Brooks could have just as easily gone 12-0 and the spirit of what he did would’ve been preserved in the same way. Therefore, based on his numerous accomplishments, all of the savvy moves he made, the 29-7 stretch, the three (And three-straight) division crowns, the record-breaking season, and Super Bowl, I am happy to induct Brooks, a very deserving member, into the Canton Dynasty League Hall of Fame for the 2017 class.