The Leopards Hall Of Fame - The Bright Spots

It's time to honor the players of Class of season 21.

The board of the Leverkusen Leopards has again sit together and invited randomly picked fans.
Remember, a player worth the HOF had to have some impact on the team or the game itself.

This time a lot of players were in the mix to get the honor of becoming member of the Bright Spots and most of them got the final call.

Hans-Herbert Schäfer got drafted in season 12 and did play 228 games for the Leopards, until he and the management divided and he left for another team.
Regardless how he left and why, his 10 seasons with the team were some of the most challenging ever, including Elite league season.
He won the Bowl in season 16 and was an anchor in the linebacker squadron for seasons.
He is right now TOP 6 in INTs for the team and TOP 5 in defense TDs.
Hans-Herbert was never shy of competition and left as one of the best LBs in franchise history.
Welcome to the Bright Spots.

Karl-Wilhelm Maier was drafted as DL in season 11 and left after season 21 to play for another team.
His 11 seasons with the team were great regarding team success and he was a major part of that success.
Still active right now he is still out there pounding opponents and punishing runners and passers.
He is TOP 6 in tackles and second overall in tackle for loss.
He will be always be a part of this team, that's why he is now part of the Bright Spots.
Happy to have you here, Karl-Wilhelm!

Tadeusz Thomas is one of the longest lasting members of the Leopards, ever.
He came to the team in season 3! by youth pull and was developed into a fine defensive back.
He retired after 19 seasons with the team and 360 played games.
You won't find him high on any record list, he was just that guy you can rely on when needed and he was one of the locker room icons you need to keep a team together.
Too young to win the league title with the seniors in season 6, he was happy to win it in season 16.
A Bright Spot for sure. Thanks Tadeausz.

Aldo Hofmann was bought to the youth academy in season 8 and became a major player in the offensive line a few seasons later.
He left the team after season 21 to play for some more seasons, but his major contribution was with the Leopards for 14 seasons.
His 266 games are a good amount of time he had with the team and he was a valid player on every position Tackle, Guard or Center.
We are proud to have him within our Bright Spots team from now on.
Aldo, you are more than welcome to join!

Manu Etxebarria came to us as transfer to boost the RB and returner position.
A quality RB throughout his career, he was unlucky to have always even better RBs ahead of him on the depth chart.
He adjusted to his role as game closer and backup players very well and never let the team down.
He might never have made the front page, but for sure he is a fantastic player and more than worthy to be part of the Bright Spots.
Manu, be part of this team again!

Rudolf Lexa was bought in season 10 to become a QB in our team, which slowly shifted from run heavy to pass heavy.
Rudolf did play 297 games in 12 seasons for the team and when he retired he had thrown more yards for the team than any QB before.
His average yards are still the most of any QB so far and he also is TOP 2 in TDs and has still the best QB-rating the team ever had.
He was the guy who lead the team to a bowl in season 16 and he did also lead the team into 4 Elite seasons in a row.
Thanks Rudolf and welcome to the Bright Spots. Ready?

Vittorio Müller entered the team with the draft in season 9 and did play 327 games with the team in 13 seasons.
He became our joker on the defense back crew and even if he never made it high on any record list, he was a major part of the success the team had in the past.
When he decided to quit the team was in general sad to see him go, but now, we can welcome him back to the team, as part if the Bright Spots.
Vittorio, thanks for all the season and welcome back.

To have a complete list, here are the members of the bright spots:
- Cletus Bautista SF, left season 6
- Jamey Johansen OL, left season 7
- Justin Engle WR, left season 7
- Tony Speer TE, left season 7
- Anderson Tobias WR, left season 8
- Angelo Spence TE, left season 8
- Teddy Field OL, left season 9
- Bryce Barela DL, left season 9
- Logan Herring CB, left season 9
- Jewell Temple DL, left season 9
- Ramon Gifford LB, left season 10
- Adolfo Zarate OL, left season 10
- Carrol Mcgovern FB, left season 10
- Long Ponder SF, left season 10
- Graham Akers RB, left season 10
- Rüdiger Möller OL, left season 10
- David Abell K, left season 11
- Irwin Guerra P, left season 11
- Nicolas Schulte OL, left season 11
- Gaylord Vail CB, left season 11
- Murray Waterman CB, left season 12
- Keith Hoy DL, left season 12
- Rusty Cramer WR, left season 12
- Coleman Selby OL, left season 12
- Josef Schuhmacher LB, left season 12
- Paul Cote SF, left season 13
- Bernd Neumann RB, left season 13
- Lambert Wagner QB, left season 13
- Max Krause LB, left season 13
- Sylvester Kraus DL, left season 13
- Burkhardt Fischer DL, left season 14
- Freddy Kaiser DL, left season 15
- Gabor Herrmann OL, left season 15
- Hans-Otto Schneider OL, left season 15
- Theo Thomas OL, left season 15
- Manfred Schreiber LB, left season 15
- Jochen Schulz SF, left season 15
- Wilson Vazquez CB/SF, left season 15
- Hans-Josef Beck WR, left season 15
- Henning Schröder QB, left season 16
- Sieghard Schröder TE, left season 16
- Rueben Houghton OL, left season 16
- Franz-Josef Roth SF, left season 16
- Nils Heinrich RB, left season 16
- Rubén Oliver TE, left season 17
- Karl-Hermann Neumann P, left season 17
- Mohamed Walter DL, left season 17
- Tillmann Hartmann FB, left season 18
- Holm König LB, left season 18
- Uwe Schneider DL, left season 18
- Günter Meyer OL, left season 18
- Ignacio Mauldin WR, left season 19
- Carlos Rojas DL, left season 19
- Vicente Giménez WR, left season 19
- Hardy Busch LB, left season 19
- Doston Kozhabayev TE, left season 20
- Hubertus Schulz DB, left season 20
- Hans-Herbert Schäfer, LB, left season 21
- Karl-Wilhelm Maier, DL, left season 21
- Tadeusz Thomas, CB, left season 21
- Aldo Hofmann, OL, left season 21
- Manu Etxebarria, RB, left season 21
- Rudolf Lexa, QB, left season 21
- Vittorio Müller, CB, left season 21

"The *peeeeep*ing Leopards did it again!

After season 6 and season 16, 4 seasons in Elite League and 2 disapointing tries after that in the 1.1 we won the *peeeeeeeeeep* title again!

The team gets an extra hookers, extra vacation and extra *peeeeeeeeep*ing everything for that!

Next season will again be *peeeeeeeeeep* or be *peeeeeeeeeeeeeeep*ed in Elite League.
But that is on another day.

THIS night it's *peep*ing party time!

Let’s do a review of season 22.

After the failure in season 21 the Leopards were still in the Monarch Region and were one of the favorites to win the League.
At the end did we win all regular season games except 1 and finished 15-1 as the second best team in the whole league.
In the playoff the team did win against Blood Kings in the Divisional Round, again, but lost to Grand River Snakes in the Conference Title game, which was the second Conference Title game loss in a row.
A disappointing finish. Nevertheless are coaches, management and players motivated to do it in a better way in season 23, again.
The Supercup came down to the game against Brasília Muscles, which was won in a close game. Therefore the division was won with a 15-0 record there. The team made the playoffs of cause and made it to third round only to lose against a strong The Notorious Pub Gang team. The management had done a bad selection on playbooks prior the game, so it’s unknown, whether the Leopards would have competed better if they would have been 100%.
Better luck next time.

We drafted Kemal Sulayman to become a LB and got RB Dunc Cox in second round who will likely be converted to SF and in third round we got K Ilaitia Kuresa, who was shipped short time later.
This draft is considered average.

No big changes on the roster during the season, the team is very much in revolver mode, few in, few out.

We sold:
Franz-Josef Schuster, Gustav Becker, young players with no roster spot in his future went to other teams.
Ianis Marcone, a 3rd round draft pick from season 21, which position on the roster was not finalized after a season and who went to another team.
Ilaitia Kuresa, as mentioned the 3rd round pick of the draft of season 22, likely a K.
Markus Crow, a LB drafted in season 19 with 2nd round, which had to make room for younger players and who became expendable.
Clemens Pohl, long time a WR and TE, had to make room on the roster and became too expensive.

We bought:
Clemente Trent, a 19 year old for the Youth Academy to become a SF in a season or two.
Pascual Carreras, a 19 year old for the Youth Acadamy to become a RB in season 23 or later.

A few veterans did call it a career:
Hans-Henning Frank, a lifetime OL, drafted in season 9 in the 3rd round did call it a career and we had to agree on a canceled contract before season rollover to create some roster space right in time for the Youth Academy players to come.
Theodoros Koch, another lifetime Leopard, DL, promoted from the Youth Academy in season 8 retired at season rollover.
Both are expected to become Hall of Fame members sooner or later.

Thanks to all players!

We promoted WR Urs Stein, QB Wolfram Vogt, DL Miroslav Wolff, SF Vitali Schumacher, LB Jonas Heinrich and OL Eugen Weiß from Youth Academy to senior team. We think many of them will make the team for several seasons, maybe until they retire. Some will for sure not make the team for long, depended on the draft in season 23. It was the first time we had such a high quality on 6! YA-players since start of the franchise.

Season 23 will be again the hunt for the Bowl win in Monarchs League 1.1.
The Elite league does send only 1 active team back, so the competition will be a little bit less strong as normal, but the Monarchs league teams will do improve fast, so it will be also a challenge to win against those.

The Leopards Hall Of Fame - The Bright Spots

It's time to honor the players of Class of season 20.

The board of the Leverkusen Leopards sit together and invited randomly picked fans.
Remember, a player worth the HOF had to have some impact on the team or the game itself.

After a long discussion 2 players were selected.

Doston Kozhabayev came to the team in season 11 and was aquired by transfer market.
Not many players had such an impact in such a short time.
Even he playered as TE and only 197 games for the Leopards, he is at the moment at position 6. in yards for all receivers with an amazing average of 19.8 yards per catch.
Of all players with such long plaiyng times and plays only the great Tony Speer had more.
Doston is also 4th in touchdowns, with 230 scores over his career and 5th in broken tackles with 505.
Until now no player under 200 games for the Leopards became a member of the Bright Spots, but Doston as our TE broke also THAT tackle and made it to the house.
He is still active for another team and we are sure he will be honored also there.
Today the Leopards do honor him as Member of Class Season 20.
Thanks Doston for all your effort!

Hubertus Schulz was drafted beginning of season 7 and stayed with the team until he retired end of season 20.
A DB for live he made an early impact and stayed on top for most of his career.
He was there went it counted the most and had crucial tackles, crucial sacks, crucial interceptions and crucial touchdowns.
We loved him as part of the family then, we love him as part of the family now.
Hubertus, a Leopard for live, is now also a Bright Spot, for live and beyond.

To have a complete list, here are the members of the bright spots:
- Cletus Bautista SF, left season 6
- Jamey Johansen OL, left season 7
- Justin Engle WR, left season 7
- Tony Speer TE, left season 7
- Anderson Tobias WR, left season 8
- Angelo Spence TE, left season 8
- Teddy Field OL, left season 9
- Bryce Barela DL, left season 9
- Logan Herring CB, left season 9
- Jewell Temple DL, left season 9
- Ramon Gifford LB, left season 10
- Adolfo Zarate OL, left season 10
- Carrol Mcgovern FB, left season 10
- Long Ponder SF, left season 10
- Graham Akers RB, left season 10
- Rüdiger Möller OL, left season 10
- David Abell K, left season 11
- Irwin Guerra P, left season 11
- Nicolas Schulte OL, left season 11
- Gaylord Vail CB, left season 11
- Murray Waterman CB, left season 12
- Keith Hoy DL, left season 12
- Rusty Cramer WR, left season 12
- Coleman Selby OL, left season 12
- Josef Schuhmacher LB, left season 12
- Paul Cote SF, left season 13
- Bernd Neumann RB, left season 13
- Lambert Wagner QB, left season 13
- Max Krause LB, left season 13
- Sylvester Kraus DL, left season 13
- Burkhardt Fischer DL, left season 14
- Freddy Kaiser DL, left season 15
- Gabor Herrmann OL, left season 15
- Hans-Otto Schneider OL, left season 15
- Theo Thomas OL, left season 15
- Manfred Schreiber LB, left season 15
- Jochen Schulz SF, left season 15
- Wilson Vazquez CB/SF, left season 15
- Hans-Josef Beck WR, left season 15
- Henning Schröder QB, left season 16
- Sieghard Schröder TE, left season 16
- Rueben Houghton OL, left season 16
- Franz-Josef Roth SF, left season 16
- Nils Heinrich RB, left season 16
- Rubén Oliver TE, left season 17
- Karl-Hermann Neumann P, left season 17
- Mohamed Walter DL, left season 17
- Tillmann Hartmann FB, left season 18
- Holm König LB, left season 18
- Uwe Schneider DL, left season 18
- Günter Meyer OL, left season 18
- Ignacio Mauldin WR, left season 19
- Carlos Rojas DL, left season 19
- Vicente Giménez WR, left season 19
- Hardy Busch LB, left season 19
- Doston Kozhabayev TE, left season 20
- Hubertus Schulz DB, left season 20

Let’s have a review of season 21.

Back in the Monarch Region were the Leopards one of the favorites to win the League.
At the end did the win all regular season games (16-0) as the only team in the whole league to do so.
In the playoff the team did win against Blood Kings in the Divisional Round but lost to Torchwood Aliens in the Conference Title game.
A quite disappointing finish, but coaches, management and players are motivated to do it in a better way in season 22.
The supercup was based on the divisional game against The Northern Riviera, which we lost, and with it the division top spot. Still the team made the playoffs and made it to second round only to lose against a strong Fighters de Pλris team.
Better luck next time.

We drafted Raymond Assis to become a LB and got RB Tao Teng in second round who was later sold since he did not fit into the roster and in third round we got WR Ianis Marcone, which position inside the team is still not finalized. It could happen the he also will be sold later.
This draft is considered average at best.

No big changes on the roster during the season, the team is very much in revolver mode, few in, few out.

We sold:
Woo Toan, drafted player from last season, didn’t make the cut.
Tao Teng, already mention drafted player from this season, didn’t make the cut.
Karl-Wilhelm Maier, a long time DL, had to leave because of roster spaces needed for the Youth academy players.
Hans-Herbert Schäfer, another veteran who had to leave because of roster space.
Louis Sauer, a promising K/P, became expendable with an even better prospect from Youth Academy.
Aldo Hofmann, an aging OL, still willing to play, but we needed the roster space.
Francisco Kuhn, youth academy player, with no future on the Leopards senior roster

We bought:
Kende Ungvári, a 21 year old player to fill in on DB.

A few veterans did call it a career:
Tadeusz Thomas, self made Leopard from Youth Academy, played DB. Sad to see him go.
Rudolf Lexa, Star QB for several seasons, left with some anger, since he thought to have several seasons left in the tank, but no team was interested and we had to let him go for roster space. He later decided to retire.
Manu Etxebarria, a career backup RB, who did not draw any attention on the market and decided to move on to another profession.
Vittorio Müller, future Hall of Fame DB, left to go fishing. Heartbreaking loss for the team.

Thanks to all players!

We will probably see some of the players who left again when they become members of the bright spots.

We promoted the new DL Hans-Heinrich Sauer, K/P Hanns Bergmann, OL Jens Neumann and WR Hans-Adolf Schulz from Youth Academy to senior team. We think they will all make the team for several seasons, maybe until they retire.

Season 22 will be again the hunt for the Bowl win in Monarchs League 1.1.
Some tough competition came from Elite, but the Leopards are confident to get to the Bowl.