Daron Arnold

Daron Arnold

No. 99 – Yellowknife Wraiths
Position:	Defensive End
Personal information
Born:	(2026-08-12)August 12, 2026 (aged 36) Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Height:	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
Weight:	280 lb (127 kg)
Username:	Tubadeus
Career information
High school:	Penn Hills High School
College:	Illinois
ISFL Draft:	2048  / Round: 1 / Pick: 3
DSFL Draft:	2047  / Round: 1 / Pick: 5
Career history
Portland Pythons (2046 (S31)) Minnesota Grey Ducks (2047 (S32)-2048 (S33)) Yellowknife Wraiths (2049 (S34)-present)
Roster status:	Active

Daron Arnold (born August 12, 2026) is an American football defensive end for the Yellowknife Wraiths of the International Simulation Football League (ISFL).

Early years

Daron was born to a single mother on the outskirts of Chicago. The pair struggled to make ends meet, though Daron has been quoted saying that this particular time in his life taught him the value of hard work. Their fortunes changed, however, when Daron's mother met a widowed businessman on a trip from Pittsburgh. The pair soon followed the businessman out to Pennsylvania where Daron first met his soon-to-be stepbrother Aaron.

The pair immediately began a long-running sibling rivalry. In their constant endeavors to one-up each other, they began working out, figuring that it would be easier to antagonize each other if they were stronger. Unfortunately for Daron, Aaron proved to be the better athlete. Daron did have a small-size advantage, but Aaron was faster, stronger, and more agile than his stepbrother. Daron quickly fell into Aaron's shadow as the two began to prepare to take their talents to the college level.

College career

While Aaron stayed in Pittsburgh, Daron decided to go back to his home state in an effort to break free from his stepbrother's shadow. He didn't receive many offers being only a two-star recruit but was able to latch onto the team at the University of Illinois. Unsurprisingly, his freshman year was not particularly productive. While he was active for all 13 games, he only managed to produce 9 tackles (3 for a loss) to go along with 1 sack. He worked his way into more playing time his sophomore year, where he managed to rack up a much more impressive 37 tackles, 9 of them for a loss. However, he still only managed 4 sacks and had yet to force a fumble.

Daron managed to finally break out his junior year, notching 58 total tackles (12 for a loss) to go along with 7 sacks and 2 forced fumbles. The impressive showing earned him second-team All-Big Ten honors. However, Daron was still unsatisfied as his stepbrother Aaron was named a first-team All-Big East player. Desperate to surpass his more recognized stepbrother, Daron overworked himself during the offseason and tore a pectoral muscle. The tear proved to be substantial. Not only did the follow-up surgeries prevent the once-promising prospect from carrying his momentum into his senior year, but the slow recovery tanked his draft stock, leaving Daron undrafted. Recognizing that it wouldn't do him any good to try and push through the pain, Daron opted to allow the muscle to fully heal before pursuing joining the DSFL to prove that his junior year at Illinois was no fluke.

College career statistics

College statistics			Defense
Season	Team	Games	Tackles	For Loss	FF/FR	Sacks	Int	PD	Safety	TD
2042	Illinois	13	9	3	0/0	1	0	0	0	0
2043	Illinois	13	37	9	0/0	4	0	0	0	0
2044	Illinois	13	58	12	2/1	7	0	2	2	1

Professional career

S31

Being a late-declare free agent, Daron was ineligible to participate in the 2046 Draft (S31). However, by shrewdly waiting for the trade deadline to pass before filing his paperwork to join the developmental league, he remained eligible to participate in the following year's draft by virtue of having the 2046 season not count as his true rookie season, essentially turning his first taste of DSFL action into a makeshift senior college season to prove he still had what it took to make it in the big leagues. That experience came at the hands of the Portland Pythons, who picked him up off the waiver wire for the last two games of the 2046 regular season. However, as a freshly recruited, backup defensive tackle, Daron struggled to find playing time in the closing games of the regular season. He finished the year with a disappointing stat line of only two tackles before Portland was eliminated from playoff contention and Daron was thrown back into the free-agent pool for the S32 DSFL draft.

S32

Despite the nearly invisible showing in his first taste of DSFL action, Daron's effort and dedication had clearly impressed the league. Now eligible for the 2047 Draft (S32), he received interviews from almost every team. Of the teams that did not interview the rising star, at least one team confirmed that they "did not bother with interviewing Daron because we knew he wouldn't be there for us that late in the 1st round." In the end, the Minnesota Grey Ducks took Daron as the 5th overall pick. Minnesota quickly switched Daron from his original defensive tackle position to linebacker. While the position change was a curious move, it certainly worked out well for both Daron and the Grey Ducks as Daron earned a nomination for Rookie of the Year while finishing 6th in the league in tackles. Minnesota also recognized Daron's keen mind by quickly integrating him into war room discussions and scouting.

S33

The remarkable showing in 2047 improved Daron's draft stock going into the 2048 Draft (S33). Similar to his rise in the DSFL ranks, Daron received interview requests for almost every team. Of the teams that did not interview him, two had scouts embedded within the Minnesota Grey Ducks organization, allowing a more in-depth scouting analysis without the formality of a sit-down interview. Suffice to say, Daron was considered one of the jewels of the S33 draft, a notion that was confirmed when he ended up being drafted 3rd overall to the Yellowknife Wraiths. However, as the Wraiths already had more than enough linebackers to spare, they relegated Daron back to the DSFL for the 2048 season. The extra season allowed Daron to grow into a wrecking ball in the developmental league. Among his achievements, he finished second in the league in total tackles, T-2nd in TFLs, T-7th in FFs, T-7th in sacks, and led all linebackers with 10 PDs (3 ahead of 2nd place).

S34

With a spot now open for the budding star on the Yellowknife roster, Daron was officially promoted to the ISFL. However, the Wraiths already had a full linebacker corps. Fashioning himself as an EDGE rusher and harkening back to his original role as a defensive tackle, Daron accepted a switch to defensive end in order to make the final roster. The ISFL rookie immediately found a role as a day one starter for the Wraiths across from franchise cornerstone Leonard Taylor. Unsurprisingly, the rookie started a little slow with only 1 tackle in week one, but it was all gas from there. Daron notched 6 tackles week two, then recorded a sack in three straight games after that (including a safety). Ultimately, Daron only managed 33 tackles on the season but produced a respectable 11 total tackles for loss (5 TFLs, 6 sacks) along with 2 forced fumbles and the aforementioned safety. The performance earned him a Defensive Rookie of the Year nomination, where he finished with the second most 1st place votes.

S35

Daron started off S35 with a bang, recording 2 TFL's and a sack week one to go with 4 tackles. It looked like the second-year lineman was picking up right where he left off his rookie season. Unfortunately, that game was arguably the highlight of the DE's season. While Yellowknife was enjoying a surprising amount of team success (including holding the 1 seed in the NSFC for most of the season), Arnold was struggling to make an impact. Finally toward the end of the season, Arnold at least started recording some respectable tackle totals, but his personal achievements were marred by the Wraiths skidding through a five game losing streak to end the season. Thanks to tiebreakers, Yellowknife still managed to hold the 3 seed and make a playoff appearance, but the team fell just inches short of moving onto the conference championship game. To make matters worse, young Arnold struggled to make an impact in the lone postseason appearance, only recording 1 tackle in the game. He would end the season with some improvement in total tackles over his rookie season, but arguably regressed in the impact categories that light up the stat sheet.

S36

Daron’s 2050 struggles continued into the 2051 season. On the one hand, the 3rd year pro cut down significantly on the mistakes, recording an impressive 100% tackle rate with no missed tackles. He also wasn't entirely invisible in the Wraiths wildcard loss, recording a sack in the game. On the other hand, those were the only things Arnold managed to improve on between his 2nd and 3rd seasons. Despite continued skill improvement through a stringent training regimen, Arnold was unable to produce any turnovers. He also saw significant drops in total tackles and tackles for loss, and continued his trend of losing one sack year over year. Asked about the reduction in counting stats, Arnold remained humble as always, stating that he would “keep his head down, keep working, use this as fuel next year.” Privately, though, it was reported that Arnold was frustrated with his rotational use as a nose tackle. The big power rusher was reasonably well built to fill in his old role, but after so much training to embrace the needs of playing on the edge, the difference in mechanics required proved disruptive to Arnold’s production at both positions.

S37

After taking a clear step backwards in his 3rd year in the league, Arnold roared back with a vengeance in 2052. He opened the season with 4 tackles and a sack in week one and never looked back. In fact, he would record at least 1 TFL or sack in 13 out of 16 games that season en route to his first ISFL All Pro selection - and a unanimous first team All Pro selection at that. His breakout season was highlighted by a particularly stellar run from week 8 through week 13. During that six week span, Arnold piled up 31 tackles, 6 TFLs, 6 sacks, 3 fumbles forced, and 2 fumbles recovered. However, overshadowing Arnold's impressive regular season display was the fact that the young star once again disappeared once Yellowknife reached the postseason. Arnold failed to record a single TFL or sack and only managed 3 tackles over two games before the Wraiths lost in the NSFC championship game. The star defensive end vowed that he would come back the next year hungry and looking for a different ending to the season.

S38

Unsurprisingly, Daron regressed a little bit from his incredible 2052 campaign. However, even regression from such lofty heights doesn't mean his 2053 season was poor. The star lineman still led all defensive ends in tackles (52) while finishing with the 4th most TFLs (7) and 3rd most sacks (11). He also maintained his consistency from the previous season, notching at least one play behind the line in 14 out of 16 games during the regular season. The young star still wasn't happy with the performance, though, both due to his own lack of turnovers along with the poor team performance down the stretch by the Wraiths (3-4 record over the last seven weeks of the regular season). Despite limping to the finish, the Wraiths did manage to make the playoffs for the 4th consecutive year. And this time, Arnold was ready. After three straight poor playoff performances, Arnold silenced doubters with two of his best games of the season, racking up a whopping 11 tackles, 4 TFLs, 2 sacks, and 1FF/FR. Sadly, it still wasn't enough as Yellowknife once again fell in the conference championship game. Nevertheless, Daron's individual effort was once again recognized with another All Pro selection.

Professional career statistics

Career statistics			Defense
Season	Pos	Team	Games	Tck	TFL	FF/FR	Sck	Int	PD	Sfty	TD	Blk P/XP/FG
DSFL
2046 (S31)	DT	Pythons	2	2	0	0/0	0	0	0	0	0	0/0/0
2047 (S32)	LB	Grey Ducks	14	105	7	2/2	4	0	7	0	0	0/0/0
2048 (S33)	LB	Grey Ducks	14	107	11	3/1	8	0	10	0	0	0/0/0
ISFL
2049 (S34)	DE	Wraiths	16	33	5	2/1	6	0	0	1	0	0/0/0
2050 (S35)	DE	Wraiths	16	51	6	1/1	5	0	0	0	0	0/0/0
2051 (S36)	DE	Wraiths	16	43	2	0/0	4	0	0	0	0	0/0/0
2052 (S37)	DE	Wraiths	16	64	10	3/2	11	0	0	0	0	0/0/0
2053 (S38)	DE	Wraiths	16	52	7	0/0	11	0	0	0	0	0/0/0

Achievements and records

Team

-DSFL North Champion (S33)

Individual

-ISFL Unanimous 1st Team All-Pro (S37)

-ISFL DRotY Nominee (S34)

-DSFL All-Pro (S33)

-DSFL Pro Bowl (S32, S33)

-DSFL MVP Nominee (S33)

-DSFL Defensive Player of the Year Nominee (S33)

-DSFL Linebacker of the Year Nominee (S33)

-DSFL Rookie of the Year Nominee (S32)