History of the Chicago Butchers

This article details the history of the Chicago Butchers International Simulation Football League club.

Origins

The Chicago Butchers are an expansion team to the ISFL. The team was founded in 2030 and had their debut season in 2031.

2031 Season

Roster

Players leading the team in the statistics include: Rose Jenkins, QB, who completed 216 out of 388 passes for a total of 3106 yards; Sam Torenson, RB, whose 347 carries on the season resulted in 1458 yards, averaging 4.2 yards per carry; and Kazimir Oles, WR, with 57 receptions totaling 1131 yards, for an average of 19.8 yards.

Preseason

The Butchers lost all four preseason games of 2031, the first two losses coming from the Wraiths, followed by losses to both the Liberty and Outlaws.

Season Performance

Chicago started the season strong with three wins in a row, getting revenge on the Outlaws and Wraiths and claiming victory over the Yeti. The Butchers lost games 4 and 5 of the season, both away games, one to the Hawks, one to the Liberty. Game 6 was the start of another win streak, where Chicago claimed 7 victories in a row - first securing their second wins of the season against Colorado and Yellowknife before going on to their first ever wins against the Hawks, Copperheads, Liberty, SaberCats, and Otters. Their win streak was broken to finish the season on a loss in week 13 against the New Orleans Second Line. They finished the season with a record of 10-3-0 and were undefeated at their home stadium during the regular season.

Postseason

As a result of their record, the Chicago Butchers were named regular season champions in 2031. In the conference postseason, Chicago clinched the division championship but were unable to progress further.

2032 Season

Roster

Players leading the team in the statistics include: Rose Jenkins, QB, who completed 202 out of 325 passes for a total of 2491 yards; Sam Torenson, RB, whose 334 carries on the season resulted in 1478 yards, averaging 4.4 yards per carry; and Kazimir Oles, WR, with 47 receptions totaling 919 yards, for an average of 19.6 yards.

Preseason

Chicago showed scoring ability through the preseason, putting up an average of 25.25 points per game. Results were mixed, however, with the Butchers winning two of the four games.

Season Performance

The Butchers completed the season with an 8-5-0 record, equaling the Baltimore Hawks and Yellowknife Wraiths at the top of the NSFC. The team maintained a very strong record at home, winning 6 of the 7 games played in Chicago.

Postseason

The Chicago Butchers qualified for the 2032 postseason, but were eliminated inside their division. This would be the final playoff appearance by the Butchers until 2039.

2033 Season

Roster

Major roster changes for the 2033 season include the release of well-performing running back Sam Torenson, and the week 5 trade of Kazimir Oles, WR, to the Outlaws in exchange for Josh Parker. In week 9, Chicago was sent Action Jackson from the New Orleans Second Line in exchange for future considerations. The Butchers continued to rely on Rose Jenkins in the QB position. Jenkins completed 302 of 530 attempted passes, totaling 3652 yards. Stepping into the void left by Torenson was RB Marquise Brown, whose 196 carries were good for 825 yards, or 4.2 yards per carry. The week 5 pick-up, Parker, made 64 pass receptions averaging 17.8 yards each for a total of 1141 yards.

Preseason

Chicago exited the 2033 preseason with only one tally in the win column. They faced three losses in a row before picking up a win over the Yeti - a positive momentum swing going into the season.

Season Performance

The Butchers ended the regular season of 2033 with a record of 5-8-0, placing them in a tie for third in the division. Only two of the five wins came from division rivals Hawk and Yeti. Other wins secured were over the Outlaws, Copperheads, and Second Line.

Postseason

The Chicago Butchers did not participate in the 2033 postseason.

2034 Season

Roster

Quarterback Rose Jenkins maintained his position for another season, completing 326 of his 578 pass attempts, resulting in 3716 total yards. Aksel Danielsson, RB, was the standout in terms of rush statistics: his 263 carries this season averaged 4 yards each and came in at a total of 1040 yards. Justin Parker, WR, lead the team in receptions for the second year in a row - 75 receptions averaging 15.6 yards each for a total of 1168 yards on the season.

Preseason

The Butchers secured an early win in the preseason with a 23-10 victory over the Colorado Yeti in the first game of the preseason. They were unable to continue the trend, losing the remaining three preseason games.

Season Performance

In the worst performance of their young career, Chicago finished the season with a record of 3-10-0, placing them at the bottom of the NSFC. Of their three wins, two were against divisional rivals Liberty and Wraiths, with their third and final win coming over New Orleans.

Postseason

The Chicago Butchers did not participate in the 2034 postseason.

2035 Season

Roster

Rose Jenkins continues to perform in the quarterback position for Chicago in the 2035 season. Jenkins completed 347 of 614 attempted passes, 4275 yards total for the season. Justin Parker, last year’s best performing wide receiver, drops off the roster this year. To take his place, Chicago signed Ahri Espeeyeeseetee. Their new acquisition was good for 77 receptions of 18.5 average yards, totaling 1427 yards. The team relied on Aksel Danielsson in the running back position, where he provided a dependable 4 yards per rush on average (733 yards over 182 carries.)

Preseason

In a pattern consistent from the time of their founding, the Butchers struggled in the preseason. It proved to be an especially difficult preseason schedule with all four games scheduled away from Chicago’s home stadium. They picked up a single win out of the four, in Arizona over the Outlaws.

Season Performance

At the end of the regular season, the Chicago Butchers held a final record of 4-9-0, placing them at the bottom of their division for the second year in a row. The Wraith and Yeti each fell to the Butchers one time in the ‘35 season, adding fuel to the rivalries in the division. Though they struggled through the season, Chicago found their footing for the first time in week 12, stringing together two wins to finish the season strong - the first against the Orange County Otters, the second against the Austin Copperheads.

Postseason

The Chicago Butchers did not participate in the 2035 postseason.

2036 Season

Roster

For the sixth straight season, Chicago retains Rose Jenkins for the quarterback position. This season, Jenkins was good for a total of 3242 yards, completing 267 of 464 passes. In an interesting twist, the team’s best player for rushing and receiving was DT Ryan Leaf, Jr., who they signed in the 2034 season. Leaf, Jr. averaged 4.4 rushing yards over 209 carries and received 59 passes for 12.8 yards each, on average. In the fifth week of the season, the Butchers signed DT Johnson Harding.

Preseason

The 2036 preseason was a balanced one for the Butchers, with two wins and two losses, both in competitively scoring games. They traded wins with the Copperheads, each picking up a victory at their home stadium. The other win of the preseason for Chicago was against the Yellowknife Wraiths, also at home.

Season Performance

The Chicago Butchers finished the 2036 regular season with a final record of 5-8-0, earning them the fourth place position in the standings, saving them from their third year in a row at the bottom of their division. The team showed glimpses of their good scoring potential, but were ultimately unable to put two wins together throughout the season.

Postseason

The Chicago Butchers did not participate in the 2036 postseason.

2037 Season

Roster

2037 brought a host of roster changes to Chicago. The Butchers released their DT-turned-RB in Ryan Leaf, Jr, who was the 2036 rush leader for the team. Filling the Running Back positions are Julia Tirtawidjaja and Charles Allan. Tirtawidjaja would prove to be the more effective of the pair, averaging 4 yards per carry over 230 carries in the 2037 season. In the ninth week of the season, Chicago released their QB Rose Jenkins and brought in new talent in the form of Franky LaFleur.

Preseason

The preseason of 2037 was an indicator of what the regular season had in store for Chicago. After a win to start the season, the Butchers found themselves losing the next three of the preseason. Especially gutting were the two back-to-back losses against the Austin Copperheads, who outscored the Butchers by a massive 65 points across the two games.

Season Performance

Chicago suffered from abysmal offensive output this season, claiming only one win in the regular season, finishing with a record of 1-12-0. The most points in a single game scored by the Butchers this season was 20, where on average, opponents scored 29 points per game against Chicago. Certainly a low point in the history of the team, the Butchers ended their season dead last in the standings.

Postseason

The Chicago Butchers did not participate in the 2037 postseason.

2038 Season

Roster

The career of Franky LaFleur was a short one in Chicago, lasting only half a season. The Butchers replaced the short-term QB with new signer to the team George O’Donnell. O’Donnell would complete 275 of his 504 attempts, totaling 3083 yards for the season. Tirtawidjaja continued to perform in the RB position with a consistent 4 yards per carry. WR Sean O’Leary, with the organization since the ‘34 season, pulls down 73 receptions averaging 14.3 yards.

Preseason

Chicago put a single tally in the win column during preseason in an incredibly close game against the SaberCats (final score 28-27) after a string of competitive losses. The Butchers offense played well enough to keep them in the game, but they were simply outscored in the first three games of preseason.

Season Performance

The team bounced back somewhat from the year prior, but only barely, as they finished the season with a record of 3-13-0, sitting dead last in the standings for the second year running, and the fourth time in the last five seasons. The offense faltered once again, with their opponents holding them to single-digit scores in seven games in the regular season. The defensive side of the ball saw statistical improvement as well, but not enough to cause any upward mobility in standings.

Postseason

The Chicago Butchers did not participate in the 2038 postseason.

2039 Season

Roster

The team relied on O'Donnell, Tirtawidjaja, and O’Leary for the second year in a row to provide the core of their offense. In week 10, the Butchers traded Eric Richards to the Sailfish in exchange for Raphael d’Alcott. Week 13 brought with it another trade, this time receiving SaberCats’ Cadillac Harris for Tyler Oles, Jr.

Preseason

The preseason was not an encouraging one for Chicago. They dropped both preseason games against Colorado as well as a close loss against the SaberCats. The one bright spot from preseason was a victory over Baltimore in their first home game of the preseason.

Season Performance

In a much improved performance from 2038, the Butchers finished the regular season with a record of 7-9-0, a strong enough finish to place them third in the NSFC and into a playoff position.

Postseason

The Chicago Butchers qualified for the 2039 preseason but did not progress outside the division. Butchers special teams legend, Sam Sidekick, began a long career of record-setting performances during the 2039 postseason with the Longest FG record (54 yards) and Longest Punt (71 yards), both records which would be surpassed in time by none other than Sidekick himself.