Michael Witheblock

Michael Witheblock

No. 18 – Sarasota Sailfish
Position:	Wide Receiver
Personal information
Born:	(2014-11-16)November 16, 2014 (aged 48) Freistadt, Upper Austria, Austria
Height:	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Weight:	200 lb (91 kg)
Career information
College:	University of Applied Science Hagenberg
ISFL Draft:	2037  / Round: 3 / Pick: 36
DSFL Draft:	2036  / Round: 7 / Pick: 53
Career history
Kansas City Coyotes (2036 (S21)-2037 (S22)) Sarasota Sailfish (2037 (S22))
Roster status:	Active
Career ISFL statistics as of 2037
Total touchdowns: 1 Receptions: 32 Receiving yards: 427 Yards per reception: 13.3 Receiving touchdowns: 1
Career DSFL statistics
Total touchdowns: 4 Receptions: 31 Receiving yards: 392 Yards per reception: 12.6 Receiving touchdowns: 4

Michael Witheblock (born November 16, 2014) is an American football wide receiver for the Sarasota Sailfish of the National Simulation Football League (NSFL).

Early years

Michael Witheblock was born in Freistadt, Austria. He changed his name due to difficulties in understandings for English speaking guys in the league - in a partly proper translation - to Whiteblock. He grew up on a farm in Lichtenau, Upper Austria, Austria.

He soon gained some national attention in winning some athletics competition. After spending some years in training athletics, he changed with the age of 13 to his local hobby Football team, the Lichtenau Graders. There he learned the basics of American Football and gained experience in different positions. With his athletic background, he could play various positions (QB, WR) extraordinary good. He gained some experience in mostly friendly junior games, as there is no professional junior league in Austria. By joining the Graders, he could learn from some of the best Austrian Quarterbacks and wideouts on the hobby sports level, which can - by far - not be compared to some professional sports. But his interest in the NFL rose, so he made up the lack of experience with watching many games and especially film of some of his favorite players.

College career

He chose the University of Applied Science of Hagenberg as his college. He enrolled in the program of Mobile Computing.

His first year for the Hagenberg Hunters he played as Quarterback. In his freshman year, he racked up more rushing yards as receiving yards but impressed doing so. The Hagenberg Hunters won the Austrian College Bowl. After his first successful year in college, he switched position to Wide Receiver, as he saw far more potential for himself playing the position of Wide Receiver on the higher level. Looking at his stats in his sophomore year, the position change was a fine decision. He broke the Austrian College Football receiving yards record with 1565 yards and 19 Touchdowns. In his junior year he racked up even higher numbers with 1673 yards and 21 Touchdowns. After finishing his program with the Bachelor of Science in Engineering, he decided to go to the NSFL in the S22 draft class.

College career statistics

Use this page to get the stats table template.

Professional career

DSFL career

Drafted by the Kansas City Coyotes, Witheblock came in as the second receiver after being picked as the second Wide Receiver for the Coyotes after Eddie Jeeta. Kansas City continued to draft a third receiver in Tan Johnson. After the first trainings, Johnson got the starting job over Witheblock due to better performance and agility. This circumstance let Witheblock see the field in his first games only sparsely, but not really regularly. He played in all DSFL games though. The first pass that went in his direction was also his first career touchdown. He caught the ball in Week 4 against the Dallas Birddogs in a stellar 46-14 victory of the Coyotes. In this game, he noted 2 catches for 51 yards and the already mentiond touchdown. In the next two games, he was again mainly used in special teams. After a remarkable increase in agility noticed in training, Witheblock leaped Johnson in the depth chart and was WR2 for the rest of the season. As the new starter, he had a top performance in week 7 against the Minnesota Grey Ducks. He caught 6 catches for 75 yards and a touchdown in a 23-16 victory on the road. The following week, a tough loss against Myrtle Beach, he had 2 catches for only 8 yards, but recorded another touchdown. Witheblock continued his touchdown streak in the following week against Norfolk. The rest of the regular season he continuously racked up yardage, but another score wasn't to be seen on his agenda. The Coyotes finished the regular season with a 9-5 record on top of the NFC North. In the Champoinship Game they hosted the Portland Pythons for the battle of the North. Kansas City went out as the winner in a stellar 31-7 victory. Witheblock was a big factor in this game again, finishing with 5 catches for 58 yards and scoring the first touchdown for his team. In the Ultimini, Witheblock was the main target with 6 receptions, racking up 49 yards, but stayed scoreless in the tough 10-27 loss against the Myrtle Beach Buccaneers.

NSFL career

Pre-draft measurables

Ht	Wt	40‑yd dash	20‑ss	3‑cone	Vert jump	Broad	BP	Wonderlic
6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	4.32 s	4.03 s	7.06 s	27.6 in (0.70 m)	11 ft 0.5 in (3.37 m)	10 reps	12

2037 Season (S22)

Prior to the S22 NSFL draft, expansion happened. The Honolulu Hahalua and Sarasota Sailfish were presented as the new franchises in the leauge. This changed the draft, as not 10 but 12 teams were to select the players. Michael Witheblock, one of the top WR prospects, fell to the end of the 3rd round, where he was picked up by the Sarasota Sailfish. He was the third WR taken, after Eddie Jeeta and William Lim were selected only a few picks before him. In the Sailfish organization, Witheblock found his new home. They just had a very good expansion draft, where they could pick up some pillars for future success. With GM Rayne Gordon and #1 expansion pick Dexter Banks II as clear WR2 and WR1, Witheblock started as WR3 into the season. Their inaugural game, an away game at Baltimore, Sarasota pulled out a 17-13 win. Witheblock recorded his first two catches for 10 yards. The next two games were away games at Yellowknife and Colorado, which they lost both. Their first home game vs the Philadelphia Liberty, they could win, and also against the Chicago Butchers they showed a solid performance. In this 4 matches, Witheblock showed his talent and was a reliable target, finishing 2 of them as second most targeted receiver. In a 3 game losing streak, Witheblock recorded his first touchdown in the NSFL against the Orange County Otters. After this 3 game stretch, the Sailfish traded for QB Rose Jenkins to make a push at playoffs. In week 9, Witheblock recorded his season high of 99 yards with only 4 receptions. The Sailfish made the playoffs with a solid finish to the season. In the WC game, the Sailfish lost 14-36 to the later winners Colorado Yeti. Witheblock recorded 3 catches for 29 yards to finish the season.

Professional career statistics

DSFL stats

			Receiving
Season	Team	GP	Rec	Yds	Avg	Long	TD
2036 (S21)	Coyotes	14	31	392	12.6	34	4

NSFL stats

			Receiving
Season	Team	GP	Rec	Yds	Avg	Long	TD
2037 (S22)	Sailfish	13	32	427	13.3	57	1

Achievements and records

Individual

• DSFL Pro Bowl Selection (1): 2036