Ben Horne

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Ben Horne
refer to caption
Horne on the Sabercats in 2023
No. 58 – Arizona Outlaws
Position:Linebacker/Defensive End
Personal information
Born: (1996-01-15)January 15, 1996 (aged 65)
Palo Alto, CA
Height:6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Weight:255 lb (116 kg)
Career information
High school:Denver South High School
College:Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
ISFL Draft:2023 (S8) / Round: 1 / Pick: 6
DSFL Draft:2022 (S7) / Round: 2 / Pick: 1
Career history
Roster status:Retired
Career highlights and awards
Career NSFL statistics as of Week 13, 2034
Total tackles:1021
Pass deflections:96
Interceptions:4
Tackles for loss:29
Sacks:70
Forced Fumbles:7
Fumble Recoveries:6
Player stats at ISFL.net

Ben Horne (born January 15, 1996) was an American football linebacker and defensive end for the San Jose Sabercats, Baltimore Hawks, and Arizona Outlaws of the National Simulation Football League (NSFL). He played college football for Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) before being drafted by the Tijuana Luchadores in the 2022 DSFL Draft (S7). In the 2023 ISFL Draft (S8), he was drafted by the San Jose Sabercats and played the next 6 seasons in San Jose. Following the 2028 (S13) season, Horne signed a long-term deal with the Baltimore Hawks as a free agent. His best statistical seasons would happen in Baltimore, putting together 4 Pro Bowl seasons in 5 years. After his 5 seasons with the Hawks, Horne would play 1 season with the Arizona Outlaws before retiring from football. Horne is the 6th player in NSFL history to have over 1000 tackles in a career. While many thought Horne had a shot at the Hall of Fame, he would only receive one vote on his first year of eligibility, ending his Hall of Fame hopes.


Early years

Horne was born in Palo Alto, California, but was quickly moved to Denver, Colorado at the age of 1. He would grow up in Denver, attending Denver South High School. It was there where his football career would begin, playing both Quarterback and Linebacker for the South Denver Rebels his sophmore year. Horne quickly became known on the team for his football intelligence, quickly reading plays on both sides of the ball. After gaining the starting position at Linebacker his junior year, Horne suffered a season-ending knee injury. Horne would go through lateral release surgery to realign the kneecap and remove tore cartilage. Although Horne recovered from the injury by the next fall, he decided to sit out his senior year to focus on his studies.


College career

Horne attended Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York on an academic scholarship. He majored in Computer Science and did not plan to play football. However, his sophomore year, he decided to try out for the football team, as he was getting burnt out on academics. To his surprise, he made the team and became the starting Linebacker halfway through his first season. He would lead the team in tackles and sacks each of his 3 seasons on the team. Despite Horne's stellar performance throughout his college career, RPI only had 1 winning record season during Horne's career. Many blamed these losing seasons on the lack of offenses players recruited by the school, others blamed it on the D1 hockey program taking all the school resources. Rather than bank on his reincarnated football career, he would stay at RPI after graduation to obtain his Masters of Computer Science. After his masters, he again decided he should continue his education, obtaining 2nd Masters in Sociology. During this time, he played in a semi-pro flag football league to keep his football skills sharp.

College career statistics

Career statistics Tackles Sacks Interceptions Other Defense Special Teams
Season Team Games Reg TFL Total Sack Int Yds IntTD DefTD FFum FRec PD Safety KR Yds KR TD
2016 RPI 9 50 1 51 6 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0
2017 RPI 14 120 6 126 3.5 2 22 0 0 4 1 10 0 0 0
2018 RPI 14 127 5 132 5 1 6 0 2 7 3 15 1 0 0

Professional career

DSFL career

While Horne's plan after his two Masters degrees was to continue to get a PhD, he declared for the DSFL draft anyway. Coming from a D3 football program only known for NFL coach Matt Patricia, Horne did not expect to be drafted. In addition, Horne was older than his peers, entering the draft at 25 years old. Despite his and many others doubts, he was heavily scouted and excelled in both team interviews and public press conferences. To even more people's surprise, Horne wowed many scouts with his athletic ability at the DSFL Combine. Horne says this is all thanks to his athletic trainer and mentor at the time, Icy Douglas.

In the 2022 DSFL Draft (S7), Horne was drafted by the Tijuana Luchadores as the 1st pick in the 2nd round, number 5 overall. In Horne's first and only season on the Luchadores, he would become a core member of the iconic defense, nicknamed "Ciudad de Sack" (roughly translating to Sack City in English). The Ciudad de Sack included fellow linebacker Chad Pennington, safety Thad Pennington, defensive end Vance Sachs, and defensive tackle Omar Wrong. The Luchadores would win their first playoff game in franchise history due to this iconic team, becoming the SFC Champions. Sadly, the team would go on to lose in the 4th quarter of Ultimini III to the Portland Pythons.

NSFL career

San Jose Sabercats

Horne was drafted with the sixth overall pick in the 2023 ISFL Draft (S8) by the San Jose Sabercats. He quickly became the core of a young team, starting all 14 games as a rookie. Sadly, the team finished the season with only 1 win. The next two seasons would end with similar fate, only winning 6 out of 28 games over the two seasons. During that time, Horne started all games, recorded 278 tackles, 8 sacks, and 3 interceptions. Despite fairly high performance, Horne only made the Pro Bowl in 1 of the 3 seasons.

In 2026 (S11) Horne signed a 1 year $2M extension to his 3 year $1M Rookie contract with the San Jose Sabercats. There had been a lot of player turnover this off-season, with many up and coming stars joining the team, including the mobile, rookie QB Joliet Christ. Despite a more complete team on paper, the Sabercats would again put up a 1 win season.

In 2027 (S12) Horne signed another 1 year extension with the San Jose Sabercats, this time worth $3M. It was in 2027 (S12) that Ben would move to play Defensive End to make room in the starting lineup for newly acquired Linebacker, Chad Pennington, who was a teammate of Ben's in the DSFL. While Ben knew moving the to Defensive Line could hurt his career statistics, he saw this as an opportunity to both win games and play with his former Luchadore teammates, rebuilding the "Ciudad de Sack." That season, the Cats won 10 games and broke a playoff drought that has lasted 6 seasons. The Cats defensive unit was dominate putting up 39 sacks and 19 turnovers. They would go on to lose in the first round of the playoffs to their rivals the Orange County Otters.

Seeing the Sabercats on the rise and his contribution to the defense valuable, Horne again returned to the team to play Defensive End, signing a 1 year $4M deal in 2028 (S13). Furthermore, Icy Douglas, Ben's former trainer and agent, joined the coaching staff and would call all of the plays for the team. The team would go on to put up their best season yet, winning 12 games and the division. Again the defensive unit was dominate, putting up 40 sacks and 21 turnovers. To the league and teams surprise, this dominance would end again in the first round of the playoffs to the Orange County Otters.

Baltimore Hawks

After 6 seasons in San Jose and two devastating playoff losses, Horne left for Baltimore Hawks in Free Agency, signing a 3 year $4M contract. Icy Douglas also left San Jose to reunite with star DSFL GM Epictitus Milburn, both of which were GMs during Horne's time in Tijuana. It was in Baltimore that Ben would return to playing Sam Linebacker and would have his best statistical seasons, putting up 4 Pro Bowl seasons and 3 seasons with with double digit sacks. He would also become a veteran leader of a very young, but talented defense. In 2030 (S15), Ben would finally get his ring, with the Hawks shutting out his former team, the Sabercats, in the Ultimus, 49 to 0. Horne's playoff run in 2030 (S15) would prove to be his best, recording 13 tackles, 3 sacks, and 1 interception. As of Horne's retirement, this Ultimus win was the only blow out in Ultimus history.

The next season, the league would go through a 2 team expansion and the Hawks would surprisingly miss the playoffs (the first time the GM duo of Epictitus and Icy had missed a playoff at any level). This under-performing season has been blamed on the high turnover after their 2030 (S15) championship. The Hawks lost many depth players to the expansion draft and retirement. Despite this under-performing season, Horne had another great season, with 105 tackles, 10 sacks, and 16 pass deflections.

Overall, Horne and the Hawks would make the playoffs 4 of the 5 seasons, one of which resulted in another Ultimus appearance (2032 (S17)). Horne would continue to perform at Strong Side Linebacker, averaging 93 tackles and 9.8 sacks over the 5 regular seasons.

After the 2033 (S18) season, Horne would become #9 in All-Time Tackles.

Arizona Outlaws

In S19 Horne signed a 1 year $1M contract with the Arizona Outlaws, moving back into the ASFC. After discussion with the coaching staff at Arizona, Horne played MLB instead of SLB or DE for the first time in his career, but this position move would prove fruitful. In Week 11 Horne would become the 6th player in NSFL history to have over 1000 career tackles (making him #6 in All-Time Tackles). While Horne was always a solid tackler, breaking 1000 tackles was an impressive feat in comparison to his 1000 tackle counterparts, as he played DE for 2 seasons, a position known for getting less tackles than LBs in the NSFL. Horne neared his career low in sacks, with only 3 that season, but those 3 sacks would give him an even 70 sacks on his career.

Despite Horne's surprising old age performance in S19 and the wide array of talent surrounding him on the defense (including the award winning ASFC LB Raymond Vans), his team failed to make the playoffs with a 5 and 8 record. Due to tie breakers, the 5 and 8 Austin Copperheads would make the playoffs over the Outlaws. Horne officially retired after the S19 season, along with Arizona great QB Andrew Reese. The S19 season would become a season of many great player retirements across the league, including Philadelphia's Quarterback Adriana Falconi, Journeyman Defensive End D'Pez Poopise, Journeyman Wide Receiver Sunnycurse, and Baltimore's Tight End Verso L'Alto, arguably the greatest NSFL Tight End of all time.

Pre-draft measurables
Ht Wt 40‑yd dash 20‑ss 3‑cone Vert jump Broad BP Wonderlic
6 ft 3 in
(1.91 m) 		245 lb
(111 kg) 		4.47 s 4.54 s 7.52 s 28.6 in
(0.73 m) 		117.3 in
(2.98 m) 		34 reps 26

Professional career statistics (Regular Season)

Career statistics Tackles Sacks Interceptions Other Defense Special Teams
Season Team Games Reg TFL Total Sack Int Yds IntTD DefTD FFum FRec PD Safety KR Yds KR TD
2022 (S7)- TIJ 14 45 1 46 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 8 0 0 0
2023 (S8) SJS 14 73 7 80 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 0 0 0
2024 (S9) SJS 14 88 2 90 4 2 0 0 0 1 1 4 0 0 0
2025 (S10) SJS 14 117 2 119 2 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0
2026 (S11) SJS 14 114 1 115 5 0 0 0 0 2 1 5 0 0 0
2027 (S12)+ SJS 14 40 9 49 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 13 0 0 0
2028 (S13)+ SJS 14 26 4 30 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2029 (S14) BAL 14 90 1 91 10 0 0 0 0 1 0 14 0 0 0
2030 (S15) BAL 14 96 1 97 12 0 0 0 0 0 0 15 0 0 0
2031 (S16) BAL 13 105 0 105 10 0 0 0 0 2 2 16 0 0 0
2032 (S17) BAL 13 89 2 91 9 0 0 0 0 1 0 3 0 0 0
2033 (S18) BAL 13 85 0 85 8 1 0 0 0 0 1 16 0 0 0
2034 (S19) AZ 13 97 0 97 3 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 0 0 0

- DSFL Season

+ Played as DE instead of LB

Achievements and records

Awards

Team
Individual
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