Zoe Watts

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Zoe Watts
ZoeWatts.jpeg
No. 18 – Retired
Position:Runningback
Personal information
Born: (2015-04-20)April 20, 2015 (aged 46)
Ferndale, California, U.S.
Height:6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Weight:225 lb (102 kg)
Career information
High school:Ferndale High School
College:Stanford University
ISFL Draft:2039 (S24) / Round: 1 / Pick: 8
DSFL Draft:2038 (S23) / Round: 1 / Pick: 4
Career history
Roster status:Retired

Zoe Watts (born April 20, 2015) was an American football Running Back for the Austin Copperheads of the International Simulation Football League (ISFL). Watts was drafted eight overall in the 2039 ISFL Draft (S24) by the Austin Copperheads. Previously, she was drafted fourth overall in the 2038 ISFL Draft (S23) by the Dallas Birddogs. Watts also spent her first four professional games with the Dallas Birddogs as a waiver claim.

Early years

Born to Mila Watts, Zoe was raised in the small city of Ferndale, CA. Raised by a single mom alongside her older brother, Xander, Zoe grew up to be a strong and independent woman with a passion for all things sports. At a young age, Watts spent most of her time playing street hockey and soccer with her brother and other boys in her community. When she enrolled at Ferndale High School, she tried her hand at basketball, rugby, and soccer. Proving particularly successful at the latter, she wound up devoting most of her time to developing as a midfielder for the Ferndale Wildcats and made memorable appearances at two District tournaments. During her senior year, she scored 28 goals and served 7 assists while captaining her team to an 19-2 record. The Ferndale Enterprise named her Girls' High School Player of the Year in 2031. In 2032, she rose to the challenge of representing the United States at the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup.

College career

Watts attended Stanford University from 2033-2036 and played for the Stanford Cardinals women's soccer team under head coach Scarlett Jensen. During her freshman season, Watts started every match and was the team's leading scorer with 17 goals, earning her place as Freshman of the Year. Despite her great success as a midfielder for the Cardinals, Watts continued to seek out new opportunities to participate in a wider variety of sports with the intent of growing as a well-rounded athlete. In her Junior year, Watts was invited to practice with the Stanford University Cardinals football team as a kicker. Impressed by her performance, the team invited her to participate as a full time kicker/punter in their next season. In her senior year with the Cardinals football team, Watts gained 103 points with a 95.8% FG average and over 2,800 punt yds. Watts accolades attracted sports agents, who enthusiastically encouraged her to join the DSFL as a kicker/punter. In 2037, she entered S22 of the DSFL and was placed on waivers. Watts will be eliglible for the S23 DSFL draft.

Professional career

DSFL career

Waiver Pick-up

Watts entered the DSFL after the 2037 (S22) season's trade deadline and was placed on waivers. She was signed to a temporary contract by the Dallas Birddogs as a kicker. She spent the last four games of the season with the Birddogs, recording a less than impressive 85.7 XP% and 50 FG%. After missing the playoffs, Watts was sent back into the draft pool.

Dallas Birddogs

Despite her somewhat mediocre performance as a kicker in the final four games of the season, Zoe Watts was selected fourth overall by the Dallas Birddogs in the 2038 (S23) DSFL Draft. The pick came as a bit of a surprise to many in the league, but the Dallas GM's intentions soon became clear as Watts announced a position change to running back. Built for speed and willing to put the work into learning a new position, Watts played a successful role in a backfield committee with Bob Murphy in all 14 games of her first full professional season in the DSFL.

By the end of the season, Watts found herself fourth overall for total rushing yards in the league, just behind the likes of Danny King and Zed Keppler. The Dallas Birddogs went 9-5 on the season and made their first franchise playoff appearance, but came away unsuccessful against the Norfolk Seawolves, who went on to win the Ultimini against the Kansas City Coyotes.

At the conclusion of Season 23, Zoe Watts was nominated for Running Back of the Year, Offensive Rookie of the Year, and Offensive Performance of the Year.

The following year, the Dallas Birddogs struggled to perform on the field against teams predominantly composed of veterans. The team lost 8 of their first 11 games, but capped off the season strong with a late three game winning streak. Despite the many challenges Dallas faced throughout the year, Zoe Watts had a breakout season and proved she could out-perform players the likes of Captain Rogers and Bronco Mills - both of which had outstanding seasons with Norfolk and Tijuana respectively. She found herself at the top of the rushing stats board midway through the schedule and finished with 1,303 yards over 264 attempts and 10 touchdowns, breaking her previous year's records. Perhaps her strongest showing was in the last game of the year at home against the Portland Pythons, where she ran 129 yards over 19 attempts and scored 2 touchdowns. In one of her attempts she managed an astounding 62 yard run all the way into Portland's end zone.

Zoe Watts' efforts during the season were rewarded when she received the DSFL Running Back of the Year and Offensive Player of the Year awards. In a less formal accomplishment, Watts also caught up to Kichwa Jones' stat sheet and broke five all-time franchise records for the Dallas Birddogs.

Season 24 was the last year Zoe Watts played for the Birddogs. In interviews with various sports outlets, she often mentioned that getting called up to the ISFL was bittersweet and that she would forever value the experience she gained with her teammates and GMs in Dallas.

ISFL career

Austin Copperheads

Zoe Watts was selected eighth overall by the Austin Copperheads in the 2039 (S24) ISFL Draft. In Season 25, she stepped up to fill the large shoes of retired running back Mako Mendonca.

With the exception of one inexplicable blip in Season 27 where the Copperheads went 3-13, Zoe Watts has consistently proven herself to be a strong performer on the field for the Austin Copperheads. While she didn't quite impress the ISFL judges enough for individual awards, she nonetheless represented Austin on the Pro Bowl roster several times throughout her career. In Season 28, she also made her first and only Ultimus appearance against the Yellowknife Wraiths, who ultimately came away with a 24-19 win.

In Season 30 she started her slow descent into regression, but this didn't do much to deter her. In fact, Season 32 turned out to be one of her best seasons yet where she put up 1,559 rushing yards and 13 touchdowns in 312 attempts in addition to 511 receiving yards and 4 touchdowns. For the first time since she played in the DSFL, Watts was awarded the Running Back of the Year and Offensive Player of the Year awards for her efforts.

Although age and its inevitable impacts continue to creep up on Watts, this veteran running back continued to put up some pretty solid numbers. In Season 33, she was still able to keep up with young up and coming stars in yardage and continued to show her efficiency on the field with a 4.6 average. Watts also made her presence on the field known by racking up the most pancakes she ever had previously in her career. This combined performance was enough to get her voted onto the S33 Pro Bowl Roster, making it her sixth career appearance in the ISFL event.

Despite slowing down towards the end of her career, Watts may very well go down in history as one of the league's top 10 running backs. In her last couple of seasons, she found herself placed 7th in all-purpose touchdowns, 7th in rushing yards, and tied for 6th in rushing touchdowns with Jamar Lackson. With Lackson out of the picture and retired along with most of the other record-holders at the time, it seems highly likely the name Zoe Watts will go down in ISFL history after she continued to forge ahead and build up her stat line in their absence.

Retirement

After spending the full duration of her career with the Austin Copperheads, in Season 35 Zoe Watts announced her retirement. Despite still showing on the roster sheet as a running back, she closed out her final season with the team in a wide receiver role. She caught 96 passes for 1,155 yards and scored 8 more touchdowns to add to her career record book.

At the end of the season, she found herself at 7th in career rushing yards, 3rd in career rushing touchdowns, 7th in career all-purpose yards, 3rd (tied) in career all-purpose touchdowns, 2nd in career scrimmage yards, and 3rd in career scrimmage touchdowns. She also broke several franchise records, proving she was worthy of being Mako Mendonca's successor and then some. Unfortunately she never managed to get an Ultimus and she didn't win as many awards as some might have expected she might, but overall she was pleased with her career and enjoyed her time with the team while it lasted.

Professional career statistics

Pre-draft measurables
Ht Wt 40‑yd dash 20‑ss 3‑cone Vert jump Broad BP Wonderlic
6 ft 2 in
(1.88 m) 		225 lb
(102 kg) 		4.24 s 3.99 s 7.28 s 30.9 in
(0.78 m) 		10 ft 8.3 in
(3.26 m) 		24 reps 3
Career statistics Extra Points Field Goals Punts Points
Season Team Games Made Attempted PCT Made Attempted PCT Long Punts Yards Inside 20 Long Points
2037 (S22) DAL 4 6 7 85.7 4 8 50 55 - - - - 18
Total 4 6 7 85.7 4 8 50 55 - - - - 18
Career statistics Rushing Receiving Special Teams Offensive Line
Season Team Games Attempts Yards Touchdowns Catches Yards Touchdowns Kick return yards Punt return yards Pancakes Sacks Allowed
2038 (S23) DAL 14 237 1160 9 13 57 1 708 0 5 2
2039 (S24) DAL 14 264 1303 10 8 49 0 763 0 7 3
2040 (S25) AUS 16 295 1202 11 42 275 2 763 0 8 5
2041 (S26) AUS 16 286 1138 10 67 860 4 787 0 15 1
2042 (S27) AUS 16 220 912 7 66 623 1 672 0 34 2
2043 (S28) AUS 16 264 1091 13 33 375 1 562 0 24 1
2044 (S29) AUS 16 213 1101 12 33 285 3 865 0 21 2
2045 (S30) AUS 16 293 1404 13 36 356 1 818 0 21 1
2046 (S31) AUS 16 222 1110 8 28 305 1 745 0 20 2
2047 (S32) AUS 16 312 1559 13 51 511 4 0 0 36 1
2048 (S33) AUS 16 268 1242 9 45 421 5 0 0 40 4
2049 (S34) AUS 16 131 631 10 33 218 0 0 0 18 1
2050 (S35) AUS 16 0 0 0 96 1155 8 0 0 22 5
Total 204 3005 13853 235 551 5490 31 6683 0 271 30

Achievements and records

Awards

Individual

Dallas Birddogs Franchise Records

  • 2039; Set DAL franchise record for total rushing yards (2,463)
  • 2039; Set DAL franchise record for total rushing touchdowns (19)
  • 2039; Set DAL franchise record for total rushing attempts (501)
  • 2039; Set DAL franchise record for total kick return yards (1,471)
  • 2039; Set DAL franchise record for total kick return touchdowns (1)

Austin Copperheads Franchise Records

As of Season 35, Zoe Watts held the following franchise records:

  • First in career rushing yards (11,390)
  • First in career rushing touchdowns (106)
  • First in career all-purpose yards (21,226)
  • First in career all-purpose touchdowns (136)
  • First in career scrimmage yards (16,774)
  • First in career scrimmage touchdowns (136)
  • First in season rushing yards (1,559)
  • First in season rushing touchdowns (13)
  • First in season all-purpose touchdowns (17)
  • First in season scrimmage yards (2,070)
  • First in season scrimmage touchdowns (17)
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