Mattathias Caliban

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Mattathias Caliban

No. 8 – Dallas Birddogs
Position:	Quarterback
Personal information
Born:	(2016-01-07)January 7, 2016 (aged 45) Hollywood, Florida, U.S.
Height:	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Weight:	230 lb (104 kg)
Career information
High school:	Boynton Beach Community High School
College:	University of Louisville
ISFL Draft:	2039  / Round: 2 / Pick: 9
Career history
Dallas Birddogs (2038 (S23)-Present)
Roster status:	Active
Player stats at ISFL.net

Mattathias Caliban (born January 7, 2016) is an American football quarterback for the Dallas Birddogs of the Developmental Simulation Football League (DSFL).

Early years

Mattathias Caliban was born in Hollywood, Florida on January 7, 2016. Throughout his childhood, his passion was always playing sports. During his younger years, he experiemented with playing football, basketball, and baseball. However, as he got older, he decided to mainly focus on football as that was his favorite sport. He attended Boynton Beach Community High School and played the on the football team there. He had the option to play many different positions as he was the fastest player on the team, however, he wanted to play quarterback as he enjoyed the mental aspects of the position. Caliban also ran on the track team during the offseason to help him stay in shape. He helped lead his football team to a state championship in his senior year of high school and was viewed as one of the top quarterback prospects in the nation coming out of high school with elite duel threat potential.

College career

Caliban was heavily recruited as a 5 star recruit coming out of high school. However, he ultimately chose to sign with the University of Louisville as they were the first school to reach out to him during his high school career. At Louisville, he became a starter as a true freshman. As a freshman, he dazzled with his duel threat playing style. He would pass for 3124 yards and 25 touchdowns with 8 interceptions that year while also running for 879 yards and 8 touchdowns. The Cardinals finished 9-3 in his rookie season, which was not enough for a playoff spot but did earn them a spot in the Orange Bowl where they would defeat the LSU Tigers 35-28.

After a great freshman year, Caliban was poised for a big sophomore year. He entered the season as one of the Heisman favorites and he lived up to the hype. Through 9 games, he had led the Cardinals to a 9-0 record while throwing for 4225 yards and 32 touchdowns with just 4 interceptions while also rushing for 1021 yards and 10 touchdowns. However, during the final drive of that 9th game, he suffered a major injury. As he was throwing the pass that would put his team in range for a game winning field goal, he took a big hit that resulted in a torn ACL and a dislocated knee. His stellar season came to an abrupt end as doctors questioned whether he would ever play football again. After looking like early championship favorites, Louisville would not win another game that season after Caliban's injury.

It was a long recovery process for Caliban to come back after his injury. The doctors informed him early on that he would not be ready to play at all in his junior season. That offseason, Louisville recruited Andrew Church, a quarterback in his junior year transfering from Ohio State, as they doubted whether Caliban would ever be able to play football at a high level again. The biggest issue for Caliban was that a large part of his game came from his athleticism and his talent as a duel threat. Even if he was able to return to football shape, he was informed that he would never make it back to the same level of speed as he had before the injury. However, Caliban refused to give up on his career and was determined to make a comeback. He spent his time during recovery studying game film and working on the mental aspect of his game. He planned to reinvent his playstyle once he was able to play again and become more of a pocket passer while he worked to regain his athleticism. However, by the time Caliban was medically cleared to play football again, the college season was already over. His ability to start the following season was in doubt as Louisville was hesitant to commit to a player with questionable health when they had already found a replacement. Caliban began to consider other options. He didn't want to transfer to a new school and start all over for one more year of college. However, he heard about another option to end his college career and to instead enter the DSFL's waiver system. This would allow a DSFL team to pick him up for the remainder of the season, which could give him the chance to get a little bit of game experience after the injury before entering the DSFL draft. He entered the waiver system, but he was not claimed and so he had to sit out the rest of the season. He will now have to impress teams during his workouts and hope that he is able to convince one of them to draft him so that he will have the chance to revive his career.

Professional career

DSFL Career

Dallas Birddogs

Mattathias Caliban joined the Dallas Birddogs in the 2038 DSFL Draft when they selected him with the 4th pick in the 4th round, #28 overall.

Season 23

With former Birddogs starting quarterback Montery Jack being called up to the San Jose Sabercats, Mattathias stepped in to the starting role immediately in his rookie season. He made his first start in the Birddogs' Week 1 20-12 victory against the Tijuana Luchadores. His first touchdown pass came in Week 3 during a 20-3 win over the Portland Pythons. The Birddogs saw mixed results during Caliban's early starts as they went 2-2 in their first 4 games. The Birddogs really started to hit their stride starting with Week 5. In Week 5 they would come back from a 3-14 deficit to beat the Kansas City Coyotes 15-14 on the road. This win jump-started their season as it was the first win in a 6 game winning streak that would take the Birddogs to an 8-2 record which put them at 1st place in the entire DSFL. Unfortunately, their momentum fizzled out in the final stretch of the season as they would go 1-3 in their final 4 games to finish 9-5, which allowed the Norfolk Seawolves to overtake them for 1st place in the SFC. The Birddogs made their first playoff appearance in franchise history and traveled to Norfolk to take on the Seawolves in the SFC Championship Game. The game was tied at halftime, but the Seawolves pulled away in the 2nd half and would win 19-17 despite the Birddogs scoring a touchdown on the final play of the game.

Overall Caliban's rookie season with the Birddogs was a success. He experienced some growing pains, but finished the season with the best passer rating among all rookie DSFL quarterbacks. The Birddogs were unable to cap the season off with a championship, but they still made it to the playoffs and finished with the 2nd best regular season record in the DSFL.

Season 24

After being selected by the Colorado Yeti in the draft, Caliban was sent back down to the DSFL to play a second year with the Birddogs. He was hoping to build off of the success of his rookie season and lead the Birddogs to new heights. However, it didn't pan out quite as he had hoped. The Birddogs split their first two games, but then fell to 1-3 after back to back blowout losses. They rebounded in Week 5 with a big 30-10 win against the Minnesota Grey Ducks. However, they followed that up with back to back losses which left their playoff hopes bleak with a 2-5 record. They rallied for another win against the Tijuana Luchadores, but would then fall in to a three game losing streak which officially ended their playoff hopes once they fell to a 3-8 record. However, they didn't stop fighting once their playoff hopes ended as they were able to close the season out on a three game winning streak to finish 6-8.

Caliban's second season with the Birddogs was a bit of a disappointment after the success the team saw during his rookie year. The team had hoped to be serious championship contenders, but ended up missing out on the playoffs entirely. However, despite the disappointing team results, Caliban did make some strides in his individual performance. He was a much more efficient passer as he improved his passer rating by 6.1 and his completion percentage by 3.1% while also nearly cutting his interception numbers in half. Caliban was a much improved runner in his second season as he totaled more than double his previous season's rushing total and also added on two rushing touchdowns. Though he was unable to lead his team to success, Caliban was able to prove that he was continuing his development as a player and that his progression was moving in a positive direction.

NSFL Career

Colorado Yeti

Mattathias Caliban joined the Colorado Yeti in the 2039 NSFL Draft when they selected him with the 9th pick in the 2nd round, #21 overall. He was sent back down to the DSFL for Season 24 and Season 25.

Pre-draft measurables

Ht	Wt	40‑yd dash	20‑ss	3‑cone	Vert jump	Broad	BP	Wonderlic
6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	230 lb (104 kg)	4.58 s	4.57 s	7.73 s	23.2 in (0.59 m)	9 ft 0.3 in (2.75 m)	11 reps	44

Professional career statistics

Career statistics			Passing								Rushing
Season	Team	Games	Comp	Att	Yards	Pct	Lg	TD	Int	Rating	Att	Yards	Avg	Lg	TD
2038 (S23)	Birddogs	14	219	392	2325	55.9	40	9	11	69.3	17	54	3.2	16	0
2039 (S24)	Birddogs	14	233	395	2330	59.0	46	7	6	75.4	29	129	4.4	28	2