Go Fyrebeanz! Ep 5. THIS IS SPARTA
2This week, we’re playing against the Michigan State Spartans, who are the Wolverines arch-nemesis… es? Anyway, I’m not so afraid of the Spartans, as I was of the Wolverines, but as always, I should be careful when I get out there this week, as any team could blindside me.
As I do every episode, I’m gonna provide you guys with some history about my opponents this week – let me know if you’re liking this format, in the comments. And if you don’t mind, hit that Like button while you’re at it. Thanks, dawg.
The Michigan State Spartans are a pretty reputable team in college football but are made more relevant by their inherent rivalry with the Wolverines in Ann Arbor. Despite being the little brother of the Wolverines, and only slightly less hated by Ohio State fans like me, they have produced several popular NFL players in more recent years.
Some former Spartans that you’re sure to recognize are:
QB: Kirk Cousins
Former QB for Redskins and Vikings
Current QB of the Atlanta Falcons
Love him or hate him, Kirk Cousins is a stud of an NFL quarterback. From his days in Washington, coming in as a solid backup, to his amazing performances in Minesota with the Vikings, it’s impossible to pretend he’s not a top 10 or even top 5 quarterback every season.
He is a 4-time pro bowler, has completed almost 67% of his passes in his 12 seasons as a pro QB, and has thrown 270 touchdowns to only 110 interceptions
QB: Brian Hoyer
Former QB for the Browns, Patriots, and many others – but mostly the Browns and Patriots
You may remember him from his time competing with Johnny Manziel for the starting job in Cleveland
RB: Kenneth Walker
Current RB for the Seattle Seahawks
Kenneth Walker’s career is off to a hot start in Seattle. He ran for more than 1000 yards as a rookie, and scored 9 touchdowns in both of his seasons as a professional thus far. It’s safe to say, he’s going nowhere soon.
RB: LeVeon Bell
Former Star Runningback for the Pittsburgh Steelers
Had other stints in the NFL, but they really aren’t worth mentioning
Leveon Bell had such a unique and powerful running style that I have never seen before or since his time in Pittsburgh. His time with the Steelers was unbelievably impressive, and for that, his less successful years deserve to be forgotten.
In 5 seasons with the Steelers, LeVeon Bell accumulated a total of 7996 Yds and 42 touchdowns. He ran for more than 1200 yards in 3 different seasons with the Steelers. Those were the good old days, especially if you owned him in your fantasy football leagues.
WR: Andre Rison
In Andre Rison’s NFL career, he had over 10000 receiving yards and 84 touchdowns total.
In 4 of his NFL seasons, he had more than 10 touchdowns scored
And FIVE TIMES he had more than 1000 receiving yards in a season
The MSU Spartans also have three Pro Football Hall of Famers of their own:
DB: Herb Adderly
K: Morten Anderson
OL: Joe Delamielleure
As for the Michigan State roster I will be playing against, they do have at least one recognizable player at Quarterback:
QB: Drew Stanton (64% completions, 1601 Yds, 8 TDs, 6INTs)
Rushing: 7.2 YPC, 687 Yds, 5 TDs)
And the rest of the team, I personally don’t recognize, but I can see they are all about equal in their output, which I found interesting. So the other guys leading the Spartans offense are:
RB1: Jehuu Caulcrick (5.5 YPC, 619Yds, 5TDs)
RB2: Deandre Cobb (7.6 YPC, 728 Yds, 4 TDs)
WR1: Jarramy Scott (444 Yds, 3TDs)
WR2: Matt Trannon (405 Yds, 2TDs)
WR3: Eric Knott (318 Yds, 5TDs)
This Michigan Spartans team put up a record of 5 wins and 7 losses, which is none too impressive. However, as is almost always the case, you can’t use that as your criteria to judge a team. This Spartans team had a total of five players who were good enough for NFL Teams to spend draft picks on:
QB: Drew Stanton (Detroit Lions, Arizona Cardinals)
4059 Yds, 20 TDs, 24 INTs
14 Seasons in the NFL
RB: Jehuu Caulcrick (Buffalo Bills)
2 Kick Returns for 28 yards
1 Season in the NFL
TE: Kellen Davis (Chicago Bears, New York Jets, Detroit Lions, Seattle Seahawks)
579 Yds, 13TDs
9 Seasons in the NFL
RB: Deandra Cobb (Atlanta Falcons)
1 Punt Return for 8 Yds, 16 Kick Returns for 359 Yds (22.4 Yds per return)
1 Season in the NFL
P: Brandon Fields (Miami Dolphins, New Orleans Saints)
8 seasons in the NFL
So there you have it – another great matchup. I have a lot of respect for the Spartans, but mostly because they are the enemy of my enemy, and because they produced one of football’s greatest runningbacks of all time in LeVeon Bell. I was never too impressed with Drew Stanton as an NFL quarterback, however, his college stats suggest he was a decent dual threat back in the day, so I’m curious to see where that takes us.
Hopefully we can go home with another win before we face an onslaught of tougher opponents on the remaining slots on our schedule. Still undefeated. Will the Spartans put an end to that?
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