Maurice Virtanen

Maurice Virtanen

Virtanen destroying Wisconsin
No. 23 – Yellowknife Wraiths
Position:	Linebacker
Personal information
Born:	(2008-02-22)February 22, 2008 (aged 53) Helsinki, Finland
Height:	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Weight:	255 lb (116 kg)
Career information
High school:	Mäkelänrinteen High School
College:	Michigan State
ISFL Draft:	2033  / Round: 1 / Pick: 7
DSFL Draft:	2032  / Round: 1 / Pick: 4
Career history
Roster status:	Active

Maurice Geronimo Virtanen (born January 22, 2008) is an American football linebacker playing for the Yellowknife Wraiths of the NSFL and is about to enter his 4th season

Early years

Maurice Virtanen was born in Helsinki, Finland to Darnell and Maija Virtanen. His father Darnell had originally moved to Finland after an unsuccessful stint in the NBA where he only played one game for the Detroit Pistons, scoring 4 points and met his future wife at an end of season party for his team, Torpan Pojat.

Maurice was never too interested in school, just as his two half brothers (Axel and Teemu) from his mother's previous marriage, but was keen on trying his hand on different sports. Initially interested in basketball due to his dad’s history he had his head turned in his last year of middle school by school mates who were raving about new NFL star Baker Mayfield.

Maurice decided to go to a sports-focused high-school where he joined the school’s American Football team and initially played wide receiver. Noticing his talent and athleticism, his coach suggested he try out for the local professional football league and after his second tryouts started playing for the Helsinki Roosters where he converted to playing Linebacker and won a national championship. Upon graduating high school, Virtanen took a full scholarship offer from Michigan State University.

College career

Playing for the Spartans from 2027 to 2030, Virtanen started 34 of 42 games at linebacker, including two Redbox Bowl starts. As a true freshman, he started 5 games after impressing as a backup in the first half of the season and ended up with 51 tackles and 1 sack. He took big steps in his sophomore year totaling 114 tackles (7 for loss) and 3 sacks while starting in the Spartans Redbox Bowl loss to rivals Wolverines.

Junior year, Virtanen started all games and was the standout player in the Spartan defense that emphatically won the Redbox Bowl and avenging their loss the previous year to the Michigan Wolverines and was named Redbox Bowl Defensive MVP. The other highlight of the season was against Wisconsin where Virtanen was able to tally 13 tackles, 2 sacks and return an interception for a touchdown while allowing Wisconsin to only score 6 points.

College career statistics

Career statistics			Tackles			Sacks	Interceptions		Other
Season	Team	Games	Reg	TFL	Total	Sack	Int	IntTD	DefTD	FFum	FRec	PD	Safety
2027	MSU	5	51	2	53	1	1	0	0	1	0	2	0
2028	MSU	13	114	7	121	3	2	1	1	3	0	18	0
2029	MSU	13	133	6	139	5	4	1	1	3	0	20	1

DSFL

Virtanen was drafted 4th overall in the 2032 DSFL Draft (S17) by the Kansas City Coyotes. He was brought in alongside a slew of additional defensive players in the draft, as the Coyotes felt like their offense was in good shape. The defense was definitely a strong point for the Kansas City Coyotes as their offense had clear struggles at quarterback, with Jay Longshaw not being able to play up to his standards even with star wide receivers Dexter Banks II and running back Michael Vincent. After an 0-3 start to the season, the Kansas City Coyotes would end up going 6-8 and losing to the Portland Pythons in the playoffs. Virtanen made his presence known and ended up second in tackles with 157 and adding 3 tackles for loss, 2 sacks, and a blocked punt to really get his name on everyone's lips.

DSFL Career statistics

Career statistics			Tackles			Sacks	Interceptions		Other
Season	Team	Games	Reg	TFL	Total	Sack	Int	IntTD	DefTD	FFum	FRec	PD	Safety
2032	KCC	14	157	3	160	2	0	0	0	2	1	0	0

NSFL career

Maurice Virtanen declared for the NSFL draft straight after their bitter playoff defeat to the Portland Pythons. He was seen as one of the best prospects in the large draft class and was expected to go in the top three. In the end and to the surprise of many he dropped all the way down to pick number 7 and was picked by the Yellowknife Wraiths who were delighted to be able to get one of the best prospects near the end of the first round.

2033 NSFL Season

Maurice Virtanen was called up right away as the Yellowknife Wraiths had clear needs on defense. After discussions with his coaches and management, Virtanen opened up his NSFL career by playing at Defensive End with the team already having established starters at Linebacker. He slotted in nicely on the defensive line and helped the Yellowknife Wraiths to one of the best defensive seasons and a 11-2 record. With home field advantage throughout the playoffs, the Yellowknife Wraiths looked to be the early favorite for the Ultimus. After a tough win over the Baltimore Hawks in the conference championship, the Yellowknife Wraiths ultimately lost to the Orange County Otters in the Ultimus and Virtanen had to endure a bitter taste of defeat

2034 NSFL Season

Virtanen continued his play during 2034 (S19) on the defensive line as a defensive end. With only Ryan Leaf Jr. leaving the Yellowknife Wraiths on the defensive side of the ball and the addition of Sunnycursed along with calling up Mathias Hanyadi and Orien Drake to complement the backfield (as Jerrod Canton and Morgan Marshall said goodbye to their careers), the Yellowknife Wraiths looked poised to make another run for the Ultimus. After a tough opening day defeat to the Philadelphia Liberty, the Yellowknife Wraiths learned from that and ended up with a 9-4 record and again secured home field advantage throughout the playoffs. This season played out similar to the previous one with a tough win against Baltimore Hawks in the conference championship and another loss to Orange County Otters in the Ultimus where it seemed Franklin Armstrong could not be tackled on the last drive of the game. To soothe the wounds, Virtanen enjoyed a much better statistical campaign, finishing second in Tackles for Loss.

2035 NSFL Season

With the loss of Logan Uchica during Free Agency, the Yellowknife Wraiths had to do a small reshuffle over on their defensive side of the ball. This meant that Maurice Virtanen would move over from the defensive end position he had played for his two first years as a Yellowknife Wraiths and would play as the Middle Linebacker on defense. This was further aided by bringing up Jayson Kearse from the DSFL, who was and still is a promising young Defensive Line stud. With the move over from Defensive End to Middle Linebacker, this would also change how Virtanen would fill up the stat sheet. Now he was contributing less sacks and tackles for loss but looked like his old Kansas City Coyote self by running up those tackle numbers. Obviously it was not as easy as there were a talented group of veterans beside him in the defense. The season overall was at times quite similar for the Yellowknife Wraiths with an opening week home loss, but which they would bounce back from. Overall everything in the NSFC was very close, but the Yellowknife Wraiths would end up taking the conference with a 9-4 record with Colorado Yeti finishing second and Baltimore Hawks in third place. Yellowknife Wraiths would host Colorado Yeti in the NSFC Championship game and end up winning 40-24 with Virtanen contributing 6 tackles. This meant that they would again be moving on to the Ultimus and again with home field advantage. This time things were going to be different, starting with their opponents who were the Austin Copperheads. Things seemed to have gone differently, but ultimately the Yellowknife Wraiths would end up losing 37-20 and Virtanen contributing 9 tackles.

2036 NSFL Season

After a tough loss to Austin in the Ultimus, Yellowknife Wraiths were looking to get back and claim their prize that had eluded them for 3 straight seasons. With the sudden passing of Tommy Helanen, the Yellowknife Wraiths added Wide Receiver Bender B. Rodriguez during free agency and called up new draftee Douglas Quaid to help out the defense. The season was quite a roller coaster ride through for the Yellowknife Wraiths. After an opening day loss to the Baltimore Hawks (which always seems to happen) there was revenge with a home win against the Chicago Butchers The season seemed to be bouncing between wins and losses, until the Yellowknife Wraiths were able to upset the then undefeated New Orleans Second Line in week 10 and follow that up with a win over the Philadelphia Liberty and Austin Copperheads. A final week defeat against Arizona Outlaws dropped the Yellowknife Wraiths to third in the NSFC and had them have to win three road games to make it to the Ultimus. That is exactly what they did, with their first win being over the Colorado Yeti with Virtanen contributing 11 tackles and a sack. They then travelled to Baltimore where they destroyed the Hawks and Virtanen getting another sack along with 2 passes defended and 6 tackles. They were then face to face with the New Orleans Second Line in the Ultimus and whose undefeated season hopes they had dashed. In the end it was all for nothing, as the Yellowknife Wraiths turned into the Buffalo Bills and lost their fourth straight Ultimus. Virtanen tried his best with 10 tackles and a sack but it was not enough. Virtanen enjoyed another great regular season stat wise from the strong linebacker position but the season was to end in heartbreak yet again.

2037 NSFL Season

Maurice Virtanen was thinking was he stuck in groundhog day. This was the fourth time in a row he was coming off of a loss in the Ultimus, this time to the New Orleans Second Line. It was even more eerie, as the Yellowknife Wraiths lost their first game of the season, AGAIN, this time to the Colorado Yeti. After that though it was all smooth sailing most of the way home, with the Yellowknife Wraiths racking up 11 wins over their next 12 games, and the only loss coming to New Orleans Second Line, which was a bitter defeat in a close game and the Wraiths were not able to get any revenge over the previous seasons loss in the Ultimus. The Yellowknife Wraiths had also had a busy offseason which most likely contributed to this success. They added Offensive Lineman Laszlo Fourty-Two through a trade with the Sarasota Sailfish and a great rookie class, with safety Johnny Hellzapoppin, defensive linemen Patrick Money and James Cho, and running back Acura Skyline getting called up right away. With having the best record in the league, the Yellowknife Wraiths were set with home field advantage and a first round bye. That put them in a home match against the Colorado Yeti. The game was a close match, which eventually ended up in a Colorado Yeti win by a margin of one point. It was a bitter defeat for the Wraiths and Virtanen and was the first time in his NSFL career that he did not make the Ultimus. Virtanen enjoyed another great statistical season, if that was any consolation prize and was nominated for both linebacker of the year and defensive player of the year and gaining his third pro bowl nod. Maybe they will help him eve more hungry for an Ultimus win.

NSFL Career statistics

Career statistics			Tackles			Sacks	Interceptions		Other
Season	Team	Games	Reg	TFL	Total	Sack	Int	IntTD	DefTD	FFum	FRec	PD	Safety
2033	YKW	13	20	3	23	6	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2034	YKW	13	32	16	48	3	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
2035	YKW	13	99	1	100	0	0	0	0	3	0	3	0
2036	YKW	13	83	0	83	13	0	0	0	1	1	7	0
2037	YKW	13	95	1	96	12	0	0	0	0	1	10	0

Professional 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)	255 lb (116 kg)	4.34 s	4.21 s	7.23 s	34.2 in (0.87 m)	11 ft 0.9 in (3.38 m)	38 reps	20

Professional career statistics

Come back to this later

Achievements and records

Awards

Team

• NSFC Champion (3): 2033 (S18), 2034 (S19), 2035 (S20), 2036 (S21)

Individual

• NSFL Pro Bowl Selection (2): 2034 , 2036 , 2037