NEWS

Even in Spotlight, Davidson Remains League's Shadow

Bobby Sansone, YFFL.com Senior Writer


December 16, 2005


Joe Paterno
Like Joe-Pa, Chris is showing the world he can still coach a winner

With the most anticipated Conference Championship in league history looming, the YFFL has been buzzing all week. With games starting Saturday and lasting through Brett Favre's historic game on Monday night, it might be a long weekend for Chris and Jon. The two owners have been going about their pre-game routines like normal all the while dealing with constant media coverage by YFFL.com.

The AFC Conference Championship owners are feeling a bit left out and even tried to steal some attention away from the NFC by getting active in the forum again. Make no mistake, all eyes are still going to be on the NFC this weekend as the possibility looms that Brett Favre could ruin Chris Davidson's return to glory. Davidson is well aware the stakes are higher than ever. A win and Chris all but ends a 50-year absence from YFFL stardom. The tight end draft jokes, comparisons to Joe Paterno, the Kellen Winslow references, open letters to the league in the forum and the "Brett Favre Giveaway" will all be forgotten. A loss and they will all suddenly resurface and Chris will have questions to answer all off-season.

Many owners view Chris as the shadow of the YFFL. His opinions and beliefs aren't often represented openly. He has stayed quiet through the first two installments of "Simms of Change" even though his opinion might have come more highly regarded than the Commissioner's himself. This week we thought Chris would emphatically return to the spotlight with one of his "open letters to the league" in the forum letting everyone know that the Dragons don't have a chance and reassurance that he made the right move trading Favre to a division rival. So far we have not heard from the legendary owner which leads many to believe that Chris might be second-guessing the "Brett Favre Giveaway".

To understand Chris today and the significance of this weekend's game you have to remember the Chris of yesteryear. In his fantasy owner prime, Chris was a legend and the league's greatest asset. His reign culminated with the great Big Boys dynasty meeting his own Apple Eaters in the 1998 Super Bowl. He was on top of the YFFL with no sign of slowing down. His merchandise was the hottest selling of all YFFL merchandise; his autographs were the most sought after on the sidelines of YFL games. He had reached Puff Daddy status. Then all of a sudden it was gone. The Boys dynasty faded away like a sunset dipping below the horizon. The Eaters failed to compete with the big dogs of the AFC West. E! True Hollywood Story remarked, "Chris Davidson went from Puff Daddy status to Mase status."

In the midst of perhaps the most hostile season in YFFL history, a season in which owners' integrity were questioned, tempers flared in e-mails and in the forum, trades were visciously disputed and defended, and the league's 16-team format hotly debated, all the while Chris Davidson, the league's eldest member and perhaps it's most prestigious, remained absent from the YFFL yet again. So with Chris gunning for his first playoff win in seven years (yes, seven long years), many are hoping that his return to prominence will bring with it the release of seven years of incarcerated emotions, opinions and beliefs. So with that in mind, and on behalf of the league, I hope I wake-up on Tuesday morning and in the infamous words of Mase, am able to say to a victorious Chris, "Welcome Back".

...but part of me wants to see Brett Favre win so I can say "I told you so."