San Jose Sabercats
| San Jose Sabercats | |||
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 Current season | |||
| Established 2016 First season: 2016 Play in and headquartered in HP Pavilion San Jose, California | |||
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| League/conference affiliations | |||
Current uniform
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| Team colors | Green, Gold, White | ||
| Personnel | |||
| General manager | Professor Chaos (ckroyal92) | ||
| Team history | |||
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| Championships | |||
League championships (1)
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| Conference championships (2) | |||
| Division championships (2) | |||
| Playoff appearances (7) | |||
| Home fields | |||
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Contents
History of the San Jose Sabercats
The 2016 season
The 2017 season saw a lot of changes going on in San Jose. Besides the fact that they had bolstered their Offensive Line with Vincent Sharpei, Jordan Yates, and Braden Sharp, the team as a whole had a lot of hopes and promises. They hired a new GM, by the name of Lord Nibbler and a lot of young players came in through the draft, and seemed like they would be a great fit. The team started off the season winning 3 of their first 4 games, but all good things came to an end by losing 8 in a row, and 8 of their last 10 games. San Jose’s dreams were cut short through that, finishing with the same record as they did in season 1, at 4-10.
2018 saw a lot of interesting things happen. Lord Nibbler stepped down, and Vincent Sharpei’s Agent stepped up and became Co-GM of the San Jose Sabercats. Through the first two seasons, San Jose put a lot of a blame on their kicker, and for good reason. Losing a lot of close ones because their kicker couldn’t hit anything. They decided to draft a kicker in the first round. That was a huge surprise to many around the league, but Iyah Blewitt was an amazing addition. The team slowly, but surely started to turn it around, finishing the season at 5-8-1.
The 2019 season took the league by storm. It saw Vincent Sharpei moving to Linebacker and Jordan Yates moving to Running back. Game plans changed as well, and the Defense was tearing up the league. The Defense lead the league with 28 interceptions and 7 defensive touchdowns. They also had 8 forced fumbles and 7 fumble recoveries, and because of this, lead the team to a beautiful 9-5 record. Sadly, they were beaten in the playoffs, by the Otters, who even though they had the same record, had better points for differential and ended up going to the playoffs with the Arizona Outlaws.
In 2020 the Sabercats kept on pace, winning the first game against the Otters at home. The Defense yet again was one of the top in the league, and their rushing game was a thing of beauty as well. Losing Jordan Yates to free agency to the Otters, the Sabercats saw one of their own, Darren Smallwood, switch over and fill in the role, and fill in the role he did. He helped lead the Sabercats to be the top rushing team in the conference and third in the league. Another winning season saw the Sabercats at 8-6, but just like the year before, ended up having the same record as the Arizona Outlaws, who went into the playoffs against the Otters due to point differential.
2021 was one of the most special years for the Sabercats. From the beginning, the team had kept pushing themselves and each other to get better and this was that season. They started off 3-1, In the first four games and then they rattled out a 6 game winning streak. The team finished with a 11-3 record, and made their first ever playoff game. They were matched up against the Orange County Otters and it was a game of the ages. It went down to the wire, and the Otters were able to hit a field goal with 34 seconds left to win the game. The Sabercats fought hard all year long, to fall short so suddenly. It was at this point the GMs decided to start discussing what was going to happen to the future of the SaberCats.
2022 was the year that the Sabercats decided to, in essence, blow it all up on defense. Dan Miller, the focal point and steal of a draft so late in the first round, was traded to the Colorado Yeti at the trade deadline. Just hours later, Vincent Sharpei was traded to the New Orleans Second Line, and everything that the team had built was coming down. The defense was getting older, and just couldn’t really keep the new blood in on the schemes they were running. After all this happened, San Jose was still able to squeak out a 5-9 Record, and yet again miss out on the playoffs by point differential to the Arizona Outlaws.
2023 was a continuation of the fall from grace for the Sabercats as they went from an 11-3 playoff team to a 5-9 team and now in the offseason lost their starting quarterback, Chris Orosz, and one of their best defensive linemen, Ricardo Sandoval, to retirement. On top of that San Jose also lost Darren Smallwood to free agency. Seeing the writing on the walls, the Sabercats decided to embrace the rebuild and traded off their best cornerback, Benson Bayley, for Terrell Brister and 3 future draft picks. San Jose would draft Brad Pennington in the first round of the S8 NSFL draft and would throw him in the fire right away alongside fellow draft mate, running back D.J. Riddick. The Sabercats would shock some people winning their first preseason game of the season, but it was all downhill from there. Through their first 5 games, San Jose would lose all of them while managing to put up only 16 points a game while giving up 33.8. San Jose would actually manage to win a game as they routed the Outlaws 34-20 in front of their home crowd for what would be their only win of the season.
For the first time in a while the Sabercats weren't hit hard in the offseason and were returning relatively the same team in 2024 as they had the previous season. The one big thing to note though is that their offensive line definitely regressed and looks to be one of the worst units in all of the NSFL. Zapp Brannigan was the big addition to the offense which also saw the departure of Mayran Jackson, which meant second year quarterback Pennington really didn't have too many weapons to work with. After losing their first three preseason games they ended up blowing out Arizona once more which kind of gave the Sabercats fans some kind of hope that they might do better this year. Unfortunately for the faithful, while being technically true, this is a case where technically being true isn't all that great. San Jose would lose the first seven games of the season and twelve of fourteen on the year. Once again they had the worst offense and gave up relatively the same amount of points and finishing as the worst team in the entire NSFL for the second straight year.
The two year experiment of Brad Pennington would be over after just two seasons as prior to the 2025 season San Jose shipped him off to Yellowknife for the last year of Mat Akselsen's career and the 4th overall pick in the S10 draft. With the 2nd overall pick San Jose selected Kazimir Oles and would bring up S9's 1st overall pick, Xavier Flash, to give Akselsen a bunch of options on offense. Along with Oles and Flash, the Sabercats selected cornerbacks D'Pez Poopsie and Xandra Troyski and would bring up S9 draftee Kolby Deringer to have a ton of youth and also see what their rebuild has brought them. Three straight losses and a big win against Arizona in the preseason would have a lot of people saying "oh no, here we go again", but really the Sabercats looked to have turned a corner as they won four times the amount of games as they did in 2024 and improved their offense a great deal while slightly improving their defense.
2026 would be yet another changing of the guard as Akselsen was relegated to the bench and S10's 4th overall pick, Joliet L. Christ was named the starter, a move a lot of people were questioning. Aside from Christ, San Jose looked to returning the same team which seems to be the second real year of having their core rebuild team playing together, which had people optimistic. That optimism was quickly deflated though as they would drop every preseason game, including their game against Arizona which for seasons had seemed like a lock. The regular season wouldn't go much better as they would drop the first eight games and 13 of 14. Luckily for them they were saved from infamy as they managed to squeak out a 27-21 win at home against the Philadelphia Liberty. Not all was lost though as rookie running back Jerrod Canton would come in as the second leading rusher in all of the NSFL so despite Christ being statistically the worst quarterback in the NSFL for S11, there's still a lot to look forward to.
Coming off of a 1-13 season in 2026, the San Jose Sabercats were not content on just sitting still. Instead, based off what they saw internally the thought their window was about to open up so in a flurry of offseason moves, management went out and traded for Chad Pennington, Thad Pennington, and Benson Bayley and then bolstered their defensive line through the draft selecting big bodies in Freezer Riposte and Jorel Tuck. After making these moves San Jose was heavily criticized and then mocked quite a bit after going 1-3 in preseason with their only win against New Orleans whom many thought were the other bottom team in the ASFC. Despite what the critics said they had no reservations about what they were doing and jumped out and won their first eight games of the season. This had many naysayers backtracking and admiring the San Jose roster and marveling at the run game and defensive efforts of many of the Sabercats players. San Jose would stumble a bit as a team as they'd finish out the remaining four games only winning one, but still found themselves at 10-4 and good enough for the playoffs. Jerrod Canton would get things going for the Sabercats as he'd have the games first touchdown, however, the team really couldn't find their identity and stumbled the rest of the game as Gus T.T. Showbiz threw the ball around with ease en route to downing San Jose 35-10.
2028 was the living proof of San Jose turning it all around in a span of just two years. Their roster returned as a whole, and their eyes were set on the prize. Once again, they had a poor preseason, only winning one of the four games, and after being 1-1 after week 2, with both games decided by two points or less, doubt was cast above San Jose. A switch was flipped. Criticism fueled the 'Cats, and they went on an absolute tear, winning ten games in a row, and with being 11-1 with two games to play, they secured the top seed in ASFC. During that span, San Jose averaged 33.1 points per game, allowing more than 20 points only twice. They split their last two games, finishing the regular season with a 12-2 record. In the playoffs, they got to host the Otters. They were the favorite entering gameday, but Orange County upset them, 31-21.
In 2029, the Sabercats were dominant from the get-go. 3-1 in the preseason, and they had put the league on notice. They fortified their defence with the acquisitions of Spencer Castle and Footballer Sackerman, and they were ready to take what they thought was righfully theirs, the Ultimus Trophy. After starting the season 3-0, everyone had got the memo that San Jose was ready for big things. A 4-5 in the next nine games got the Sabercats in trouble, but with two wins in the last two games, they locked the 2nd seed in the ASFC and earned the right to travel to Santa Ana and face the Otters in the Championship game. There, they would take revenge for the last two seasons, beating OCO by a score, 24-17. In Ultimus Bowl XIV, they hosted the Philadelphia Liberty. The game was close, with Philly jumping to a 17-6 lead in the 2nd quarter. But San Jose boasted the best defence in the league. And they showed up. Philly only scored 7 points in the remainder of the game, and San Jose finally hoisted the Ultimus Trophy, after a 36-24 victory over the Liberty.
2030 was another season of dominance over the ASFC for the Cats. They swept their division, beating all of their ASFC rivals twice, en route to another divisional title, rallied by the #1 defence in the whole league for the second straight season, with a 11-3 record. They allowed 18.9 points per game, 0.6 points more than their last season average. But they were the defending champions. And to be the champion, you have to beat the champion. San Jose played host to the Otters yet again in the Championship Game, easily beating them 37-17. The Cats were back in the big game to defend what's theirs. The crowd in The Aviary was buzzing. 100,000 people cheering and rallying the Baltimore Hawks players. That may have got to the San Jose players' heads, as they never really showed up. The offence was non existent, the #1 defence couldn't stop a nosebleed, and the Sabercats were crushed by Baltimore, in the worst loss a team has ever suffered in an Ultimus Bowl, 49-0.
2031 was the expansion year. And San Jose lost quite a few key players. The team was obviously worse than the last 3-4 seasons, but they still managed to make it back to the playoffs for the 5th straight season, locking the 3rd seed in the ASFC, after two straight wins to end the season with a 7-6 record. In the newly instated ASFC Wildcard game, they visited the Arizona Outlaws. It was obvious the team needed help, as the once highly regarded defence was no more. 41-21 win for the eventual champions, and the San Jose GMs were back to the drawing board.
In 2032, San Jose looked like the previous season was just a fluke year, as they swept the preseason, and started the regular season with three wins in the first three games, and were 5-2 after seven games. They lost 5 in a row right after, but a week 13 win over Colorado was enough for them to clinch the 3rd seed in the ASFC with a 6-7 record. In the wildcard game, they visited Orange County, with hopes of turning nothing into something. Byt by the end of the first half, the Otters were up 17-0. The final score, 20-13 win for Orange County is more of a consolation prize for the Sabercats.
The past two seasons made a need for changes obvious. The team decided to look in the future. Younger players started getting more playing time, and a 4-9 finish to the 2033 campaign, dead last in the ASFC, came to nobody's surprise. San Jose had the worst offence in the league, averaging only 14.2 points per game. The front office knew where they had to invest, and with an aging Christ, they knew they had to trust young QB Dan Wright under center. Christ left the team in the offseason.
2034 was another disappointing year for the Sabercats, but with the upheaval the expansion had caused, they only finished one game outside of playoffs, despite their 4-9 record. However, both their offence and defence were the worst in the league, scoring only 14.4 and allowing 31.2 points per game. But the front office was invested in rebuilding, so everything came naturally. Who knows what the future holds for the Sabercats.
The Sabercats were still looking towards the future as they finished with a 5-8 record in 2035, and once again finished bottom of the league in both scoring offense and scoring defense. There were some bright spots that should give them some hope though, as they finished top 5 in both rushing offense and rushing defense, as well as having a season sweep of the New Orleans Second Line, who would go on to play in the ASFC Championship Game. Standout on offense was rookie running back Quindarius Tyerucker, who finished 2nd in rushing yards with 1283 yards, and finished tied for 4th in touchdowns (8) and tied for 8th in yards per carry among running backs (4.1). On defense Tyron Brackenridge finished with 84 tackles, 10 sacks, and 13 pass deflections to go along with 1 forced fumble and an interception. They would send three players to the pro bowl in rookie running back Quindarius Tyerucker, wide receiver Action Jackson, and linebacker Tyron Brackenridge.
Defense was the name of the game for the 2036 Sabercats. They finished top 5 in every defensive category, whereas on offense they finished last or second last in every category except for rushing offense, where they finished 4th. This would, unsurprisingly, cause them to post a 4-9 record. Their biggest win of the season was in week 3 where they would blow out the future NSFC representative in the Ultimus, the Yellowknife Wraiths. Quindarius Tyrucker was once again a standout on offense, but wide receiver Action Jackson had a good season as well. Tyrucker finished with 1126 rushing yards with 4.5 yards per carry and 8 touchdowns, while Jackson had 1137 receiving yards with 3 touchdowns. Tyron Brackenridge was also once again the standout on defense with 83 tackles and 12 sacks to go along with 8 pass deflections and a safety. Four Sabercats would take a trip to the pro bowl. They were running back Quindarius Tyerucker, wide receiver Action Jackson, linebacker Tyron Brackenridge, and rookie cornerback HeHateMe PickSix.
In 2037, the Sabercats would post their best records since their ultimus win in 2030. They would have both a top 5 scoring offense and a top 5 scoring defense, as well as the second best rushing defense, but of course not all that glitters is gold. Even though they started the season 5-1, they would end the season 3-4 and ultimately miss the playoffs, including a 35-14 blowout at the hands of the Austin Copperheads. Standouts on offense were WRs Deondre Thomas-Fox and Action Jackson, Thomas Fox ended with 71 catches for 1022 yards and 11 touchdowns, with Jackson shortly behind him with 63 catches for 989 yards and 8 touchdowns. Defensive Standouts were LBs Inspectah Deck and Tyron Brackenridge with Deck finishing with 114 tackles, 4 sacks and 14 pass deflections, while Brackenridge finished with 103 Tackles, 8 sacks, and 11 pass deflections. They would send WRs Deondre Thomas-Fox and Action Jackson to the pro bowl, with Thomas-Fox winning ISFL Breakout Player of the Year Award
2038 marked the start of another rebuild for San Jose following the loss of Wide Receiver Action Jackson to free agency, as well as Quarterback Dan Wright to retirement. As expected with a young roster, San Jose finished last place in their conference with a 5-11 record, though there were some bright spots. They would upset the Orange County Otters in Week 4, as well as post a top 5 pass defense. Standouts on offense include Jamar Lackson, who finished 4th in rushing yards with 1,259, and top 10 in touchdowns (7) and yards per carry (4.3), as well as Deondre Thomas-Fox who finished with 60 catches for 964 yards and 6 touchdowns. The big standout on defense was George Fisher who had 108 tackles, 11 sacks, and 16 pass deflections. They would send two players to the pro bowl in rookie running back Jamar Lackson, and second year linebacker George Fisher, with Lackson winning ISFL Offensive Rookie of the Year
Season-by-season records
| Season | Regular Season Record | Post Season Record | ||||||
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| W | L | T | PCT | W | L | |||
| 2016 | 4 | 10 | 0 | .286 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2017 | 4 | 10 | 0 | .214 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2018 | 5 | 8 | 1 | .393 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2019 | 9 | 5 | 0 | .643 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2020 | 8 | 6 | 0 | .571 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2021 | 11 | 3 | 0 | .786 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 2022 | 5 | 9 | 0 | .357 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2023 | 1 | 13 | 0 | .071 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2024 | 2 | 13 | 0 | .143 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2025 | 4 | 10 | 0 | .286 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2026 | 1 | 13 | 0 | .071 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2027 | 10 | 4 | 0 | .714 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 2028 | 12 | 2 | 0 | .857 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 2029 | 9 | 5 | 0 | .643 | 2 | 0 | ||
| 2030 | 11 | 3 | 0 | .786 | 1 | 1 | ||
| 2031 | 7 | 6 | 0 | .538 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 2032 | 6 | 7 | 0 | .462 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 2033 | 4 | 9 | 0 | .308 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2034 | 4 | 9 | 0 | .308 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2035 | 5 | 8 | 0 | .385 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2036 | 4 | 9 | 0 | .308 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 2037 | 8 | 5 | 0 | .615 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 2038 | 5 | 11 | 0 | .312 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Total | 139 | 176 | 1 | .441 | 3 | 8 | ||
Players of note
Current roster
San Jose Sabercats roster
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Quarterbacks
Running backs Wide receivers Tight ends |
Offensive linemen
Defensive linemen
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Linebackers
Defensive backs
Special teams |
Reserve lists
DSFL Send-downs
Rookies in italics
Roster updated February 27, 2021 | ||||||
Current staff
San Jose Sabercats staff
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