Matthew McDairmid
 | |
| No. 7 – Retired | |
|---|---|
| Position: | Kicker |
| Personal information | |
| Born: | September 4, 2014 (aged 46) Inverness, Scotland |
| Height: | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) |
| Weight: | 207 lb (94 kg) |
| Career information | |
| High school: | George Heriot's School |
| College: | Arkansas-Pine Bluff |
| ISFL Draft: | 2037 (S22) / Round: 5 / Pick: 53 |
| DSFL Draft: | 2036 (S21) / Round: 10 / Pick: 77 |
| Career history | |
| Roster status: | Retired |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
Matthew McDairmid (born September 4, 2014) was an American football kicker for the San Jose Sabercats of the International Simulation Football League (ISFL). Prior to his rookie season in the ISFL, McDairmid played for the Kansas City Coyotes of the Developmental Simulation Football League (DSFL).
Early years
Matthew McDairmid was born in the Scottish city of Inverness in 2014. While growing up in the Highlands, Matthew became keenly interested in the sport of Rugby, and would begin playing officially at the young age of 10 with his local team. Over his years in the north of Scotland, he became accustomed to the fly-half role, which gave birth to his dramatically strong kicking game. Upon reaching high school age, Matthew's parents transferred him to George Heriot's School in Edinburgh - which became the work base for both parents at this time. Once again, Matthew excelled at the sport he had grow up with, and continued to develop his mid-game intelligence and kicking leg. While Matthew had hoped to play at Scottish Championship level in his rugby career, his life was pushed in a different direction when his parents moved him away once again - this time, to Arkansas. It was here that Matthew was introduced to the game of American Football for the first time.
College career
Having spent most of his high school career in Scotland preparing for a rugby team to pick him up, Matthew had fallen behind in his academics. Because of this - upon reaching America - he would have difficulty getting into high level colleges. He spent a long time assessing his capabilities at multiple institutions - however the opportunity for him to go to these prestigious schools was out of his limits. Eventually, he stumbled upon the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, where he eventually attended and walked on to their DI FCS football team. While cutting an imposing figure as a large Scottish import, the biggest thing that stood out about his game - as was similar in Scotland when playing Rugby - was his very strong leg. Seeing the potential he had, the coaches named Matthew the starting punter as a true freshman - however, due to his struggles with accuracy from a held position at first, he would sit behind more experienced kickers for his first 2 years. During his time at UAPB, Matthew continued to impress all those who would watch with his amazing kicking abilities; while, at the same time, becoming much more accurate from extra point and field goal sets. These vast improvements over his 4 years at UAPB saw him claim all-conference honours in the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC).
Professional Career
DSFL Career
Upon finishing his college career - thanks to the pushes from his coaches - Matthew decided to attempt to become a pro American Football player, and declared for the DSFL Season 21 draft. In the 10th round of that draft, at pick number 77, he was selected by the Kansas City Coyotes; Matthew would become the second kicker on their roster for that season, behind Lefty Louis. With Louis, McDairmid would create one of the most troublesome tandems that the league could possibly come up with, especially towards the beginning of the season. Through the first 10 weeks, Louis would take every possible kicking opportunity possible and - with time being given to him to work hard on his punting game specifically - McDairmid continued to impress with his ability to flip the field whenever possible. However as the season wore on, Lefty Louis began to struggle completing his duty as the sole kicker, missing 2 extra points and 4 field goals in the last 4 games of the season. This would prove problematic for the Coyotes when - after losing 7 points due to the mistakes of Lefty - the team would miss out on home field advantage by losing in the final week to the Minnesota Grey Ducks 23-20.
After this horrible performance, the coaches decided to take action in their special teams department. And with this change in tactics in the special teams unit, McDairmid would take his spot as the main kicker and punter for the team. In the NSFC Championship game against the Portland Pythons, McDairmid set out to prove the team made the right decision in giving him both starting roles. And he put on a fantastic show, going 4 for 4 on field goals and 1 for 1 on extra points; the most exciting point in this game, however, came when McDairmid launched a 72 yard punt into the opposing team's half. This punt would go down as the longest punt to ever occur in the DSFL Playoffs, and would place McDairmid's name on the map alongside other greats who did some of their best work on the DSFL stage. After beating the Pythons, the Coyotes would travel to Myrtle Beach for their Ultimini match against the Buccaneers. McDairmid was less impressive from the field - going 1 for 1 in extra points and 1 for 2 in field goals - in what would be a 27-10 losing effort against Myrtle Beach. However, McDairmid would again show great prowess in the punt game, booting a long punt of 62 yards and averaging 7 yards more than his counterpart. In the end, there were many positives from McDairmid's rookie campaign, but the lack of an Ultimini left him unsatisfied as he ventured towards the NSFL Draft.
| Ht | Wt | 40‑yd dash | 20‑ss | 3‑cone | Vert jump | Broad | BP | Wonderlic |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) |
207 lb (94 kg) |
5.98 s | 5.55 s | 8.38 s | 18.4 in (0.47 m) |
4 ft 9.8 in (1.47 m) |
3 reps | 23 |
ISFL Career
2037 Season
After an exciting season with the Kansas City Coyotes, McDairmid would be drafted in the 5th round with the 53rd overall pick by the San Jose Sabercats. Here he would be paired with fellow Kansas City alum Chester Sweets, as well as multiple other stars from around the DSFL who would look to help push San Jose to heights not seen since 2029. Unlike his early situation in Kansas City - where he would share the workload with Lefty Louis, who this season would also come up to play in the NSFL for the Philadelphia Liberty - San Jose would release the other Kicker on their roster and give McDairmid full autonomy over special teams duties. This faith in his abilities was a godsend for McDairmid, who had been preparing for this moment since he began his career a year earlier in the DSFL. And in turn, he would pay his new club back with an altogether fantastic rookie season.
On a Sabercats team that we’re attempting to shock all the critics, McDairmid was a standout player. On 72 punts throughout the season, McDairmid averaged a distance of 46.7 yards, while also pinning 14 punts inside the 20 yard line. There were some highlights of some of his punts setting up for great defensive plays, however one of most memorable punts came during the Week 12 win over the Orange County Otters; from his own 24 yard line, McDairmid would bomb a punt 75 yards, before the ball would be downed at the 1. This would help to give Orange Country only their 3rd loss on the season in 12 weeks - 2 of those against the plucky Sabercats. Kicking-wise, McDairmid was very efficient in the chances he had; while he only kicked 14 field goals, he made all of them, and he only missed one of his 35 extra point attempts on the season. In the end, much like the ending to his lone season with the Kansas City Coyotes, McDairmid was left wanting in the team success department. Even after finishing with an 8-5 record, the Sabercats would miss out on the playoffs in a tough ASFC due to a worse Head-to-Head record against the New Orleans Second Line. McDairmid would again earn nominations for individual position awards, however the team success he craved had not yet come.
2038 season
The 2038 season could not come soon enough for McDairmid, who was still hungry for the awards and success that seemed on the horizon through both his first regular season as part of the Sabercats, as well as his year in the DSFL with the Coyotes. In the off-season, McDairmid spent his time grafting as the Special Teams co-ordinator in Kansas City to train up the rookies that would hollow him in the position of K/P, and so was in peak shape as the season drew nearer and training camps began for the ISFL (formerly known as NSFL up until this point) season.
There were sadly a couple of notable names missing from the Sabercats team this season. Dan Wright - the Quarterback who had a truly great 2037 season for the team - had decided to finally hang up his cleats in the off-season, as did one of the hotshots on the defensive line Brayden Ennis. Action Jackson, who had a near telepathic connection with Wright in his final year, would leave to join the Yellowknife Wraiths in Free Agency, a move that left Deondre Thomas-Fox as the star Wide Reciever in San Jose but with no help around him. DSFL stars would come in to replace these players from all different locations: Monterey “Monty” Jack, a gunslinging youngster, would replace Wright, while he would have a new target to aim for in Tychrondius Hood, who was called up from far-away Minnesota. On the defensive line, Ennis’ replacement would be that of Water Chestnut III, also out of Minnesota.
With all these rookies, San Jose fans knew it would be tough to replicate the football that was played the season prior. And, as expected, they instead turned to a smashmouth style of play reminiscent of old Ohio State football. This would benefit others in the team; for McDairmid however, it only served to make his usuage even worse than a season prior. For a team that struggled to gain traction a lot of the year, San Jose would rarely punt. And as such, McDairmid would finished tied for the least punt attempts for the entire year. His inside 20 numbers and averages were decent, if not exceptional. Where he continued his fortunes however was in his kicking: going perfect in extra points, his only blemish was a lone field goal miss from 40+ yards out late in the year. Ultimately, his kicking was good enough for a Kicker of the Year nomination - but sadly having 20 less attempts than eventual winner Prohaska meant winning the award would be tough. So in the end, it was another disappointing year for McDairmid in San Jose; however with a young squad still getting closer to its potential, it was yet to be seen if next year could be the turning point for the long-maligned franchise.
2039 season
2039 was set to be another season of middling success for the Sabercats, who were looking simply to continue to build upon their younger talent as they looked towards the future. They managed to re-sign their star Linebacker Tyron Brackenridge, as well as picking up Nate Swift in a trade that would see him leave his virtual home in Yellowknife to spend his last years playing for the Green and Gold. While fans were hungry for some sort of playoff run, they also understood what the wider media saw with this team; that it may just be slightly too early for the Cats to do anything special just yet.
More and more noise would be created in San Jose, however, after their electric start to the season. After 6 games, the Cats found themselves at 4-2, battling for a spot in the playoffs once again. Of course fans remembered the heartbreak from 2 years prior when they just missed playoffs on tiebreakers, so there was no cause for outright celebration yet. But they could definitely feel it - something was different in the air this season. And they would find out soon enough what that was.
The inter-conference games finished up and the Sabercats found themselves at 6-5. Whether that form was good enough for a playoff push, fans and media weren’t sure, but the Sabercats made a move signalling their intents for the year; they traded for Tyler Oles Jr from the Chicago Butchers. Now we could see that the management in San Jose had the belief that this - with an extra piece like that of Oles - was going to be their year. And so, the Cats pushed on through the rest of the season. Wins against Austin and Arizona were countered by losses to Honolulu and Orange County, which led to a primetime “win and you’re in” game against the Second Line. The Sabercats has a nickname for themselves this season: the ‘Cardiac Cats’, named as such because up to this point, they had 12 one-score games. And, on primetime to make it to the playoffs on a 9-7 record, they won again by one-score to make their first playoffs in a few years. But even better... they earned their first bye through the first round of the playoffs, as the chaos of the ASFC meant the Cardiac Cats somehow slept-walked their way to the 1st seed come playoff time.
McDairmid had what many may see as one of the elite punting seasons of all time. Averaging 50.6 yards per punt - 2nd most of all time - along with 19 punts inside the 20, many considered McDairmid to be a big reason why they sat where they did, at the top of the playoff tree. While this put a lot of pressure on the young kicker/punter, he was never one to bow to the pressure. Against the Otters in the ASFC conference championship game, McDairmid averaged 53.6 yards per punt, on the way to a dominant 17-3 win that saw them make it to the Ultimus to face the massive favourites in the Yeti.
However, the Cats were not for letting up here. On the back of Offensive MVP Matthew McDairmid - with his perfect kicking off the ground and his 56.3 yard average from his hand - and Defensive MVP Matt Krause - who ran home a Pick 6 to break the game wide open - the Sabercats did the unthinkable and won the Ultimus, with a score of 17-12. After years of middling performances and being underestimated by many, the Sabercats finally did what they were destined to do, and won the Ultimus they desired more than anything.
Professional career statistics
DSFL Regular Season
| Career statistics | Extra Points | Field Goals | Punts | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | Games | XPM | XPA | XP% | FGM | FGA | FG% | <20 | 20-29 | 30-39 | 40-49 | 50+ | Long | Punts | Yards | Inside 20 | Long |
| 2036 (S21) | KCC | 14 | 3 | 4 | 75 | 1 | 1 | 100 | 0/0 | 1/1 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 21 | 78 | 3338 | 8 | 64 |
| Total | 14 | 3 | 4 | 75 | 1 | 1 | 100 | 0/0 | 1/1 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 21 | 78 | 3338 | 8 | 64 | |
DSFL Playoffs
| Career statistics | Extra Points | Field Goals | Punts | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | Games | XPM | XPA | XP% | FGM | FGA | FG% | <20 | 20-29 | 30-39 | 40-49 | 50+ | Long | Punts | Yards | Inside 20 | Long |
| 2036 (S21) | KCC | 2 | 5 | 5 | 100 | 2 | 3 | 66.6 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 1/1 | 1/1 | 0/1 | 46 | 13 | 675 | 2 | 72 |
| Total | 2 | 5 | 5 | 100 | 2 | 3 | 66.6 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 1/1 | 1/1 | 0/1 | 46 | 13 | 675 | 2 | 72 | |
ISFL Regular Season
| Career statistics | Extra Points | Field Goals | Punts | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | Games | XPM | XPA | XP% | FGM | FGA | FG% | <20 | 20-29 | 30-39 | 40-49 | 50+ | Long | Punts | Yards | Inside 20 | Long |
| 2037 (S22) | SJS | 13 | 34 | 35 | 97.1 | 14 | 14 | 100 | 0/0 | 5/5 | 4/4 | 4/4 | 1/1 | 56 | 72 | 3362 | 14 | 75 |
| 2038 (S23) | SJS | 16 | 21 | 21 | 100 | 29 | 30 | 96.7 | 3/3 | 5/5 | 12/12 | 8/9 | 1/1 | 52 | 89 | 4061 | 17 | 77 |
| 2039 (S24) | SJS | 16 | 36 | 38 | 94.7 | 20 | 23 | 87 | 0/0 | 3/3 | 9/9 | 8/9 | 0/2 | 47 | 98 | 4954 | 19 | 76 |
| Total | 45 | 91 | 94 | 96.8 | 63 | 67 | 94 | 3/3 | 13/13 | 25/25 | 20/22 | 2/4 | 56 | 259 | 12377 | 50 | 77 | |
ISFL Playoffs
| Career statistics | Extra Points | Field Goals | Punts | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | Games | XPM | XPA | XP% | FGM | FGA | FG% | <20 | 20-29 | 30-39 | 40-49 | 50+ | Long | Punts | Yards | Inside 20 | Long |
| 2039 (S24) | SJS | 2 | 4 | 4 | 100 | 2 | 2 | 100 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 1/1 | 1/1 | 0/0 | 42 | 14 | 775 | 4 | 76 |
| Total | 2 | 4 | 4 | 100 | 2 | 2 | 100 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 1/1 | 1/1 | 0/0 | 42 | 14 | 775 | 4 | 76 | |
Achievements and records
Awards
- Ultimus Champion: 2039 (S24)
- DSFL Pro Bowl: 2036 (S21)
ISFL Records
- 2039; Broke ISFL/NSFL record for longest punt in a playoff game (76 yards)
- 2039; 2nd highest Punt Average over an ISFL/NSFL regular season (50.6 yards)
- 2nd highest Career Average Punt yardage in ISFL/NSFL playoffs
DSFL Records
- 2036; Broke DSFL record for longest punt in a playoff game (72 yards)
- 2nd highest Average Punt yardage in DSFL playoffs
- 9th highest Total Punt yardage in DSFL playoffs
