Avon Blocksdale
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 Avon Blocksdale | |||||||||||||||
| No. 6 – Baltimore Hawks | |||||||||||||||
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| Position: | Quarterback | ||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
| Born: | June 6, 1996 (aged 69) Brooklyn, New York | ||||||||||||||
| Height: | 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) | ||||||||||||||
| Weight: | 260 lb (118 kg) | ||||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||||
| High school: | Boys and Girls School | ||||||||||||||
| College: | Penn State | ||||||||||||||
| ISFL Draft: | 2017 / Round: 4th Round / Pick: 28 | ||||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||||
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| Roster status: | Active | ||||||||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||||||
| Career NSFL statistics as of Week 15, 2023 | |||||||||||||||
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| ISFL coaching record | |||||||||||||||
| Regular season: | 53-46 | ||||||||||||||
| Postseason: | 2-4 | ||||||||||||||
| Career: | 55-50 | ||||||||||||||
Player stats at ISFL.net | |||||||||||||||
Avon Blocksdale (born June 06, 1996) is an American football Quarterback for the Baltimore Hawks of the National Simulation Football League (NSFL). He played college football for Penn State before entering the professional ranks in 2017 (S2).
Contents
Early years
Avon Blocksdale was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. He grew up in the Bedford Stuyvesant area of Brooklyn. From a young age Avon was a natural football talent. Initially playing flag football in Brooklyn, he was a stand out at two usually unrelated positions; Offensive Line and Quarterback. He was initially scouted by teams as a Quarterback, but a freak injury in high school led doctors to say he will likely never throw a football again. In spite of that, Avon was listed as a 4 star recruit heading into his senior year, and received numerous offers.
College career
After being ranked a 4 star offensive line prospect Avon accepted a full scholarship to Penn State. He started as a freshman right away for the team at right guard and was pretty good. He was known for being an excellent pass blocker, but had some work to do in the run game.
In his Sophomore year Avon was slated yet again to start at right Guard, and had a moderately disappointing season. The Penn State offensive line was considered a relative disaster as their Quarterback was sacked several times. Due to the line's lack of overall talent Avon often had to take on the top interior rusher on the opposing team by himself. Because of this Avon played three positions, Left Guard, Center and Right Guard during the season. Penn State had modest success, but made a bowl game - this Pin Stripe Bowl. In the Pin Stripe Bowl the line coalesced and the Penn State Offense dominated.
Heading in to his Junior Year Avon Blocksdale was named the starter at Left Tackle. Avon was the only Upper Classman on a talented, but young offensive line. During this season Avon was pretty solid, he avoided penalties (committing only 4 all year), and allowed 5 sacks. During this season, Penn State had a lot of success, missing the college football playoffs, but qualifying for the Rose Bowl.
After this successful Junior Year, Avon decided to declare for the 2017 ISFL Draft (S2).
Professional career
| Ht | Wt | 40‑yd dash | 20‑ss | 3‑cone | Vert jump | Broad | BP | Wonderlic |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) |
320 lb (145 kg) |
5.67 s | 5.26 s | 8.00 s | 20.7 in (0.53 m) |
5 ft 11.3 in (1.81 m) |
42 reps | 30 |
Avon Blocksdale was invited to the scouting combine for the 2017 season. His athletic traits were relatively unimpressive as he was not as fast or quick as most of his classmates. However Avon showed two skills that showed promise. He was strong and he was smart, scoring slightly above average on the wonderlic and bench pressing more than any underclass player. Avon, a true junior, was one of the younger more raw players in the draft. Heading in to the NSFL draft, he was most frequently mocked to be a 5th round value.
During the pre-draft process Avon was linked to numerous teams from the expansion Liberty, to the defending champion Arizona Outlaws. On draft day as the NSFL Draft was in the fourth round, rumors were circulating that the Arizona Outlaws were going to trade up to draft Avon. However before that could happen the Baltimore Hawkws made an unprecedent and stunning draft move. With three consecutive picks the Hawks chose three offensive linemen in a row, Dieter Koch, Alonzo Charles, and Avon Blocksdale.
In his Rookie Year of 2017 Avon was a day one starter, playing the Center position right away. At the start of the season, teammates praised Avon on his leadership in the locker room. Half way through the season, Avon was moved from Center to the Left Tackle position, a position he maintained during the rest of the season and the playoffs. Avon and the Hawks were a surprising playoff team who wound up beating the Colorado Yeti in the NSFC Championship game before heading to Ultimus Bowl II, where the Hawks fell to the Arizona Outlaws. Avon was 6th amongst Offensive Linemen in Pro Bowl voting, and missed the Pro Bowl by a single vote.
Heading in to his second year (2018) Avon was the undisputed starter at Left Tackle for the Hawks. Avon and the Hawks had a very strong regular season, finishing with the best record in the conference and the second best record in the league. Avon set career highs in Pancakes and Sacks allowed and was a unanimous 2018 ISFL Pro Bowl (S3) selection. The Hawks faced the Philadelphia Liberty in the NSFC Championship and destroyed them by a score of 34-3. In the Ultimus Bowl III the Hawks again faced the Arizona Outlaws and lost in yet another blow out, 49-12. The game was not a total wash for Avon however, as he set a record that is still held today for most pancakse in a playoff game. Going against Jayce Tuck and the mighty Arizona Defense, Avon Blocksdale got 10 pancakes.
During the offseason between the 2018 (S3) and 2019 (S4) seasons the NSFL Head Office began conducting medical tests on Offensive Linemen after a request from numerous prominent offensive linemen in the league, including Angus Winchester, Mat Akselsen and Avon Blocksdale. The study concluded that Offensive Line play severely damaged players to the point where the league needed to interfere. Avon was brought in, and the NSFL's top notch medical team was able to repair his arm and help Avon make the transition back to playing quarterback.
With Avon at quarterback in 2019 and coming off of back to back Ultimus game appearances, the Hawks had high expectations. Avon was a relative disappoint that season, as he threw for more interceptions than touchdowns and the Hawks had a devastating loss in Colorado to the then win less Colorado Yeti to miss the playoffs. In spite of his mediocre season Avon was yet again a unanimous 2019 ISFL Pro Bowl (S4) selection.
Avon and the Hawks had a bounce back year in 2020. The team rebounded to a winning record and made the playoffs for the third time in four seasons. Avon had a great season at Quarterback, finishing with the second most passing touchdowns in NSFL history as well as the second highest passer rating in NSFL history. For the first time the Hawks faced the Yellowknife Wraiths in the NSFC championship game, where they fell by 14 points. For the third consecutive year, Avon was a unanimous 2020 ISFL Pro Bowl (S5) selection.
2021 and 2022 were both disappointing team years in spite of being personal successes for Avon. In both seasons Avon made the Pro Bowl unanimously yet again, making it 5 straight unanimous pro bowl births. 2022 specifically was Avon's most successful year as a pro. He lead the NSFL in passer rating, Touch Down to interception Ratio, and was the only quarterback to throw for single digit interceptions. Both of these years however the Hawks sputtered to a record of around .500 and they missed the playoffs in both seasons.
2023 marked a coaching change for the Hawks and the team had some struggles but was able to make it to the playoffs. Avon made his astounding 6th straight unanimous 2023 ISFL Pro Bowl (S8) appearance. The Hawks made the playoffs as Avon yet again lead the NSFL in TD to INT ratio. The Hawks started out up 21-0 against the Yellowknife Wraiths in the NSFC championship game, but the Wraiths were able to come back and win the game sending the Hawks home early.
Professional career statistics
| Career statistics | Offensive Line | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | Games | Pancakes | Sacks Allowed |
| 2017 (S2) | BAL | 14 | 37 | 3 |
| 2018 (S3) | BAL | 14 | 54 | 2 |
| Career statistics | Passing | Rushing | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | Games | Cmp | Att | Pct | Yds | Y/A | TD | Int | Rtg | Att | Yds | Avg | TD |
| 2019 (S4) | BAL | 14 | 308 | 517 | 59.6% | 3817 | 7.4 | 18 | 19 | 78.8 | 14 | 8 | 0.6 | 0 |
| 2020 (S5) | BAL | 14 | 360 | 597 | 60.3% | 4858 | 8.1 | 42 | 16 | 98.5 | 10 | 18 | 1.8 | 0 |
| 2021 (S6) | BAL | 14 | 319 | 547 | 58.3% | 4215 | 7.7 | 37 | 10 | 97.7 | 20 | 144 | 7.2 | 1 |
| 2022 (S7) | BAL | 14 | 365 | 615 | 59.3% | 4437 | 7.2 | 38 | 9 | 96.1 | 15 | 48 | 3.2 | 1 |
| 2023 (S8) | BAL | 14 | 342 | 571 | 59.9% | 4381 | 7.7 | 33 | 6 | 98.9 | 16 | 65 | 4.1 | 0 |
Achievements and Records
Awards
- Team
- NSFC Champion (2): 2017 (S2), 2018 (S3)
- Individual
NSFL records
- 2018; Set new NSFL playoff record for pancakes in a game (10).
- 2023; Currently Sits first all time in Passer Rating. (94.3)
- 2023; Currently Sits first all time in Touchdown to Interception Ratio (2.8)
- 2023; Currently Sits third all time in NSFL Completion Percentage (59.5%)
- 2023; Currently Sits third all time in Passing Touchdowns (168)
- 2023; Currently Sits fourth all time in Passing Yards (21708)
Baltimore Hawks Franchise
- 2023; Currently Sits first all time in Passing Yards (21708)
- 2023; Currently Sits first all time in Passing Touchdowns (168)
- 2023; Currently Sits first all time in Passer Rating (94.3)
- 2023; Currently Sits first all time in Completion Percentage (59.5%)
- 2023; Currently Sits first all time in Touchdown to Interception Ratio (2.8)
- 2020; Single Season Hawks Franchise Record in Passing Yards (4858)
- 2020; Single Season Hawks Franchise Record in Passing Touchdowns(42)
- 2023; Single Season Hawks Franchise Record in Passer Rating (98.9)
- 2018; Single Season Hawks Franchise Record in Pancakes by a non-bot (54)
