Remington Musgrave-Smythe

Remington Musgrave-Smythe

Promotional image of Remington Musgrave-Smythe, for Elite Ostrich Racing, c. 2048
No. 49 – Tijuana Luchadores
Position:	Offensive Lineman
Personal information
Born:	(2024-03-21)March 21, 2024 (aged 37) Sandringham, Norfolk, United Kingdom
Height:	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Weight:	307 lb (139 kg)
Username:	37thchamber
Career information
High school:	Greenwood Bay College
College:	King's College, Cambridge
ISFL Draft:	2053  / Round: 2 / Pick: 16
DSFL Draft:	2052  / Round: 4 / Pick: 32
Career history
Kadoma Impulse (2050-2051) Bondi Beach Buccaneers (2051 (S36)) Tijuana Luchadores (2052 (S37))
Roster status:	Active

Remington "Remi" Aloysius Musgrave-Smythe (born March 21, 2027) is an American football offensive lineman for the Tijuana Luchadores of the Developmental Simulation Football League. An oddity among his peers, in that he did not play college football; though he did play for two seasons with Kadoma Impulse of X-Sector Asia. He has also briefly played for Bondi Beach Buccaneers, who picked him up off the waiver wire ahead of the 2052 DSFL draft.

Early years

Born in 2027, in Sandringham, Norfolk, to Philippa – the daughter of Edwin Aloysius Hartgrove, and childhood friend to King Sebastian I of Great Britain – and adopted by the King after his mother’s death during childbirth. The father is unknown, though it has been suggested that he is a man of great importance, whose identity remains secret for the purpose of maintaining propriety. Named Remington – “Raven’s Estate” – upon adoption, in a reference to the legend of the Tower of London, when the King noted that “this child will be my greatest legacy”. His middle name is in honour of his grandfather, who served the King for decades.

Under British succession law, Remington – or Remi, as he prefers to be called – is not actually in the line of succession; instead, the heir apparent is his adoptive younger sister, Rosalind, followed by her children. He was given the option to be included in the line of succession by his father, at age eighteen, and declined, noting he would not enjoy the restrictions such duty would come with. King Sebastian, having experienced such a personal conflict himself – when he suddenly became rightful King of Great Britain while in the middle of a Hall of Fame baseball career – understood, and freed Remi from such obligation, instead encouraging him to live a full life, and experience as much as possible.

Remi’s early childhood was spent at Sandringham, largely with his younger sister, where he trained in the disciplines of the modern pentathlon, excelling at pistol shooting – Remi won a national schools pistol shooting championship at age eleven – and equitation. He remained at Sandringham, attending Downham Preparatory School until age twelve, when he was sent to one of his father’s homes in Plettenberg Bay, South Africa, along with Jonathan Brewster – his grandfather’s protege, and another former attendant to King Sebastian I – to act as chaperone. There, he attended Greenwood Bay College until the age of eighteen, where he continued his pistol shooting excellence. Remi would also become involved in ostrich racing (using the pseudonym “Marten Reed”) in his graduation year, adapting well due to his extensive equestrian experience, despite being quite tall. After graduation, he returned to England, to take an undergraduate degree in Accounting and Finance at King’s College, Cambridge.

College years

During his time at King’s College, Remi frequently travelled back and forth between South Africa and England to participate in ostrich races, garnering something of a reputation in the sport while racing under a new pseudonym; “Phil Hartgrove” – a reference to his biological mother’s name. He dabbled a little in rugby at university, also, lining up as a loosehead prop at times. Remi would later concede that he abandoned the sport as the training required was "detrimental to [his] ostrich racing career", and that "sticking with it may have provided [him] an even stronger foundation for sumo and later, gridiron football".

Remi returned to King's College to get his MSc in Finance, before leaving to take a role with Deutsche Bank in Sandton, Johannesburg. His athletic career at the time was still heavily focused on his ostrich racing, and this would continue until he was transferred to the Tokyo branch of Deutsche Bank, to take a senior role in the venture capitalist division. Here, Remi developed a strong interest in Sumo, and began training in the sport, eventually competing for a local amateur club in Sumida, where he was based at the time. From here, Remi left his role at Deutsche Bank and relocated to Osaka to oversee a deal for X-Sector Asia (XSA), an expansion of the former XFL into the East Asian market, and ostensible competitor to the X-League in Japan. As X-Sector Asia prepared for its second season, Remi decided to declare for their draft, after noting the transferable skills between sumo and the offensive line positions in gridiron football.

To make the transition, Remi hired an array of staff including a sumo trainer and a personal chef, and altered his diet drastically. The focus was on developing a more compact, muscular frame, in stark contrast to his leaner approach for ostrich racing. In the six months between making the decision to enter the XSA draft, and their scouting combine, Remi had gained approximately 37 kilograms (82 lb), now weighing 300 pounds (140 kg) – almost double what he did during his ostrich racing peak – 78 kilograms (172 lb).

Professional career

Upon being drafted to Kadoma Impulse as an offensive lineman, Remi opted to wear number 49 as a result of his understanding of superstitions around numbers in Japan; in Japanese, the number can be pronounced the same as a term which could be translated as “painful death”. He would go on to display this very term on his jersey, in place of his name, and became known for his aggressive playing style and frequent penalties, alongside his popular sumo-based blocking techniques. Midway through his second season in XSA, Remi was invited to enter the 2052 DSFL Draft (S37); he accepted, finishing the 2051 XSA season with Impulse, and winning X Bowl Asia, before travelling directly to Baltimore. In Baltimore, Remi met up with ISFL Hall of Famer – and his father’s former agent – Antoine Delacour, who encouraged him to declare himself eligible for the DSFL waiver wire in 2051 (S36), ahead of the draft, in order to maintain game sharpness and potentially attract the attention of scouts. Remi signed on to Delacour’s agency as a client at the same time.

With some concerns over Remi's age emerging around this time, WTSM put out a statement highlighting his incredible conditioning, through years of participating in high-level athletic competitions, while also noting that Remi would have less "wear and tear" than the average DSFL draftee, due to only playing two seasons of gridiron football in his entire career to date.

DSFL career

Remi was picked up off the waiver wire late in 2051 by the Bondi Beach Buccaneers, where he went on to make two appearances. Noting a large step up in competition, his brief experience in the DSFL ahead of the draft encouraged him to redouble his efforts in his individual training.

At the 2052 DSFL Draft (S37), Remi was selected at the end of the fourth round, thirty-second overall, by the Tijuana Luchadores. On his competitive debut for the Luchadores, Remi was at fault for a sack on quarterback Gore Done Ram Say, which he claims "again underlined the massive step up in quality [he] would have to overcome to be successful". In an attempt to project early confidence in his ability, Remi pledged a donation to RAINN based on his performance that season, and while he would only allow one more sack for the remainder of the season (against Portland Pythons, in week 11), he did not achieve the goals he had set for himself (only 43 pancakes), leading him to ignore his pledge criteria and donate more than double the originally pledged amount.

The highlight of his season was arguably his week 4 performance against Portland Pythons, in which he posted a personal best of six pancakes and no sacks allowed en route to a 27–27 tie game. With the exception of a false start penalty late in the first quarter, Remi looked generally impressive, lining up at right tackle, where he most commonly faced off against the Pythons' bot defensive linemen. He would later acknowledge that "bots aren't the strongest of tests" though, and that he needed to "find several more levels if [he is] to compete in the ISFL".

Later in the season, Remi revealed he had been approached by several ISFL teams, performing their pre-draft scouting and interviews. He publicly stated, after these talks, that he was quite certain he would be a first-round pick in the upcoming ISFL draft as a result, while also noting that he would find it "strange" to be selected by a team who had not contacted him beforehand.

For the 2053 (S38) season, Remi returned to Tijuana, where he was establishing himself as a major presence on the offensive line.

ISFL career

At the 2053 ISFL scouting combine (S38), Remi was underwhelming, recording results across all seven events that paled in comparison to Walrus Jones, the consensus best offensive lineman in the class. This did not concern him, however, and Remi was quoted as saying that "the combine is a useful opportunity to assess some athletic traits, but I don't feel it provides the best window into a player's in-game ability". He followed up those comments by stating his belief that "scouts have watched games in the DSFL and will likely take all of the information available into consideration before making decisions", and asserting that he was "not worried about a possible fall in [his] draft stock" as a result of his combine appearance. Remi would ultimately be selected early in the second round, with the sixteenth overall pick, by the Colorado Yeti. After discussion with management, it was agreed that Remi would return to Tijuana for at least one more season as he was not quite ready for ISFL competition.

Pre-draft measurables

Ht	Wt	40‑yd dash	20‑ss	3‑cone	Vert jump	Broad	BP	Wonderlic
6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	307 lb (139 kg)	5.02 s	4.88 s	7.86 s	23.2 in (0.59 m)	7 ft 0.7 in (2.15 m)	32 reps	20
ISFL season 38 scouting combine

Professional career statistics

Career statistics			Offensive Line
Season	Team	Games	Pancakes	Sacks Allowed
2050	Impulse	8	49	2
2051	Impulse	10	86	0
2051 (S36)	Buccaneers	2	2	0
2052 (S37)	Luchadores	14	43	2

Achievements and Records

Awards

Team

• X Bowl Asia Champion (1): 2050
• X-Sector North Pacific Conference Champion (1): 2050

Individual

• X-Sector Asia Offensive Lineman of the Year: 2050
• X-Sector Asia Offensive Rookie of the Year: 2049