Crasher Wake
Crasher Wake in his typical wrestling gear | |
No. 57 – Austin Copperheads | |
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Position: | Linebacker |
Personal information | |
Born: | Hokkaido, Japan | September 28, 2033 (aged 31)
Height: | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) |
Weight: | 235 lb (107 kg) |
Username: | Zodiacexe |
Career information | |
High school: | Great Marsh Senior High School |
College: | Sinnoh University at Pastoria City |
ISFL Draft: | 2058 / Round: 1 / Pick: 10 |
DSFL Draft: | 2057 / Round: 1 / Pick: 1 |
Career history | |
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Roster status: | Active |
Crasher Wake (born September 28, 2033) is an American football linebacker for the Austin Copperheads of the International Simulation Football League (ISFL). He also played for the Dallas Birddogs of the DSFL.
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Early years
Makishi "Crasher" Wake (usually referred to as Wake) was born on September 28, 2035 in Pastoria City to parents Maxi and Minni Wake. At a young age, Wake developed a fascination with gridiron football, though the few programs in Japan meant he struggled to find practice in the sport before senior high. In his junior high years, Wake primarily competed in wrestling, a sport which he continued through college. Though his stocky frame provided an advantage in wrestling, he struggled to outmaneuver his opponent. Through junior high, Wake would play both ways as OL/DL, though he showed much more propensity on the defensive side of the ball. In his senior year, the Great Marsh Senior High 8-on-8 football team won the Hokkaido Region title. Wake showed out in the championship game, recording 4 tackles for loss including the game-sealing tackle. In April of 2053, Wake officially committed to his hometown college: Sinnoh University at Pastoria City.
College career
Though still a small sport, Sinnoh-Pastoria could field an 11-on-11 football team. Wake began his freshman year in a rotation on the defensive line, but quickly established himself as one of the best nose tackles in Japan. Despite a lower snap count, Wake recorded 11 TFL in his first year of 11-on-11 football. Wake started at DT in his sophomore season, recording 29 solo tackles and 3 forced fumbles. Despite a lesser season in terms of stats, Wake's junior year saw him win the award for top defensive lineman in Japan. A big part of both points was his reputation, as teams would often refuse to run the ball up the middle while Wake was on the field. At the end of his senior season, during which he managed to record a scoop and score on a ball fumbled within the 5 yard line, Wake announced his intention to enter the DSFL draft.
Professional career
S42
After a strong showing in the Prospect Bowl for the Zimbabwe Zebras, Wake was draft with the first overall pick to the Dallas Birddogs. The defensive tackle immeidately got to work, quickly making his mark by contributing to the best run defense in the league. It was a slow start to the season with the Birddogs only able to get one win through the first four games. After that though, Wake and his teammates' contributions propelled Dallas to a six game win streak that put them into playoff contention. However, going 2-2 to end the season combined with being in a tough division against the Tijuana Luchadores and the Norfolk Seawolves meant that Dallas's incredible run would fall short of a championship game berth. Wake's contributions to that stonewall defense were significant, racking up the most sacks and fumbles forced out of any defensive tackle that season. Those stats along with competitive tackle and TFL numbers were enough for Wake to be a Pro Bowler and voted first team All-Pro as a rookie in the DSFL. Though it didn't come with a playoff berth, Wake would say that he considers the season a massive success both for the team, who came off a 2 win season to fight for a playoff berth, and for himself.
Crasher Wake was selected with the tenth overall pick by the Austin Copperheads.
S43
After meeting with his new team in Austin Wake had some work to do. The Copperheads needed a LB more than DL, so the offseason was a lot of slimming down for the young player. His transformation was impressive, dropping 110 lbs between the draft and the start of the preseason to become a prototypical edge rusher.
Dallas once again had an embarrassment of talent on the front seven with Wake acting as the general-- wearing the mic and calling for shifts as needed. Wake was used in a more versatile role, being one of only two players in the DSFL with double digit TFLs, sacks, and defended passes. The Birddogs would ride the whole defense alongside a solid offense to a 9-4-1 record and a conference championship berth, but despite Wake earning 2 points with a safety sack the Birddogs' season would end in a 21-16 loss to the Tijuana Luchadores.
Wake would be invited to the DSFL Pro Bowl along with most of the rest of the Dallas LB corps, and although he wouldn't win it he was nominated for DPOY. This would be his final season in the blue and yellow, as Crasher Wake was officially called up to the Austin Copperheads during the offseason.
S44
Despite the Copperheads eventually making the playoffs for the first time in a few seasons, including ending their losing streak against Arizona, S44 was a tumultuous one for Crasher Wake. Sitting as LB4 in the depth chart, he didn't exactly burst onto the scene in his rookie season. His most explosive play of the season was a pick 6 in Week 5 against Arizona, but otherwise he only found his way into the backfield for a sack once. This appeared to cause some frustration for the young player and contributed to a feud brewing in the locker room.
Throughout the season, Wake could often be found jawing at Austin OL Great Khali. It seems they didn't like each other from day 1, and the bad blood between them only grew as the season wore on. Following a 10-15 loss to the New York Silverbacks in week 14, an argument broke out between the two once again. After an unknown comment from Khali, Wake threw his helmet at the OL. The two were quickly separated, and although disciplinary action was considered neither player was publicly punished.
Wake was one of many players vocal about poor game management by the Austin coaches following a decision to go for it on 4th & Goal rather than tie the game with a field goal in the waning seconds of a playoff game against New York. Despite an incident-filled first season, the team and Wake agreed to a 1-year, $3M extension to his rookie contract.
S45
Crasher Wake found himself in a less active role during his second season with the Copperheads. He became part of a rotation rather than an every-down linebacker. It seems this scaled back involvement in the game brought some perspective to Wake. Previously quite standoffish and sometimes confrontational as seen with the incident during his rookie season, teammates reported that Wake was much more approachable. This change in attitude was even seen on the sidelines, with him often seen bringing up a teammate who made a mistake instead of storming away frustrated.
The Copperheads would go 9-7 en route to another playoff bid. After routing Arizona in the first round with a beautiful second half performance, Austin defeated the favored Hahalua. The Ultimus, held at Mount Everest, was a hard fought game. Wake himself would make a couple of key tackles that held Sarasota to field goals. He was on the sideline when Walter Gunther made the walkoff interception in overtime, but he was one of the first to rush onto the field and support his fellow linebacker as Ultimus champions.
S46
With some of the team gone after their successful Ultimus run, Wake came through training camp as a mainstay of the Copperheads front seven. The quarterbacks of the ASFC would soon learn why Wake had climbed the depth charts, as he showcased a new speed coming off the edge. Over the course of the season he made the backfield his home away from home, picking up the most combined TFLs and sacks in the entire league with his sack numbers in particular tying the league record for sacks in a single season. Wake had well and truly broken out, earning a Pro Bowl appearance, Second Team All-Pro honors, and the Defensive Player of the Year nod.
Unfortunately, a repeat ring was not in the cards. After an instant classic game against Orange County went the way of the Copperheads, the team came up against their old rival: Arizona. This time nothing was stopping the Outlaws as they won by 3 touchdowns en route to an Ultimus victory. While it wasn't the ending Wake had wanted for his career year, he said after the game that he and the team should be proud of what they had accomplished over the last two seasons.
S47
2062 would be a year of ups and downs for both Wake and the Copperheads. A 3-3 start to the season was followed up by a 4 game losing streak in which their opponents scored 30 or more points. Despite Wake having another productive season as part of the league's best yardage defense, short fields surrendered to opposing offenses contributed to what was, by the end of the season, a mediocre scoring defense. Combined with a heavily regressed WR corps, Austin finished the season with a losing record for the first time in 4 seasons.
Although the story of the season was DJ Maclean's defensive dominance, Wake had a very productive year. He was a leader of the Copperheads defense, heading the team in tackles, TFLs, forced fumbles, sacks, and even tying leading DBs Trent Thigpen and Geralt in interceptions. This production earned Wake First Team All-Pro honors, making up for only landing second team as DPOTY the season before.
In an interview prior to 2063's training camp, Wake said through his translator that "individual honors are great, but there's only so much pleasure I get from that. Hopefully we can push forward as a team and return to sharing success next year."
S48
Wake returned to top form in 2063, with the pass rusher tying for the league lead in sacks with 21. He contributed to a defense that limited passing yards very well through the season, but it was still a down year as a whole for the Copperheads. Winning one fewer game than the year before, the atmosphere within the team was pretty down. While the team did pull together to win 3 out of 4 in the middle of the season (including a win over the eventual Ultimus champions), overall it was just a tough one to take. When asked about his plans as he approached his peak years (including potential trades), Wake simply referenced his interview from the preseason-- he's staying as long as the team would have him.
Wake's performance earned him another Second Team All-Pro nod, and his feelings for next season were quite good. He said to press that he felt the team was on "an upwards trajectory now," and that while they may not compete this season they should be back to contention in no time.
Professional career statistics
Career statistics | Defense | ||||||||||
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Season | Team | Games | Tck | TFL | FF/FR | Sck | Int | PD | Sfty | TD | Blk P/XP/FG |
2057 (S42) | Birddogs | 14 | 42 | 4 | 2/0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1/0/0 |
2058 (S43) | Birddogs | 14 | 104 | 12 | 3/3 | 10 | 2 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0/0/0 |
2059 (S44) | Copperheads | 16 | 66 | 0 | 1/0 | 1 | 1 | 13 | 0 | 1 | 0/0/0 |
2060 (S45) | Copperheads | 16 | 33 | 1 | 0/0 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0/0/0 |
2061 (S46) | Copperheads | 16 | 110 | 8 | 3/2 | 23 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 0/0/0 |
2062 (S47) | Copperheads | 16 | 119 | 10 | 6/2 | 16 | 3 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0/0/0 |
2063 (S48) | Copperheads | 16 | 121 | 10 | 5/1 | 21 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0/0/0 |
Led league
Tied record at the time
Achievements and records
- 2057 (S42) DSFL Pro Bowl (DT)
- 2057 (S42) DSFL First Team All-Pro (DT)
- 2058 (S43) DSFL Pro Bowl (ILB)
- 2060 (S45) Ultimus Champion
- 2061 (S46) Tied record for single season sacks (23)
- 2061 (S46) Defensive Player of the Year
- 2061 (S46) Pro Bowl (OLB)
- 2061 (S46) Second Team All-Pro (OLB)
- 2062 (S47) Pro Bowl (OLB)
- 2062 (S47) First Team All-Pro (OLB)
- 2063 (S48) Second Team All-Pro (OLB)
- Austin Copperheads currentteam parameter articles
- Zodiacexe
- People from Japan
- People from Asia
- Developmental Simulation Football League players
- Defensive Linemen
- Dallas Birddogs players
- Austin Copperheads players
- Season 43 players
- DSFL Pro Bowl players
- Season 42 DSFL Pro Bowl
- Season 43 DSFL Pro Bowl
- Defensive Player of the Year
- ISFL Pro Bowl players
- NSFL Pro Bowl players
- ASFC Pro Bowl players
- Season 46 ISFL Pro Bowl
- Season 47 ISFL Pro Bowl