32 Teams/32 Days: Year Five Call For Writers
Five years. Wow. Looking back, it's hard to believe I've been that long since the first run of 32 Teams/32 Days. For me, this series helped kick off an obsession with football over the past five years and it's been incredible. When I look back at the old posts I've made over the years for this series, I see how much my knowledge of the game has grown and I think that running this series has been a significant part of my drive to learn more about the game. I hope it's helped some of you along that path as well.
When I started this series, r/nfl had about 75,000 subscribers. Today, there are 500,000 more. That's incredible too. There are a number of reasons this series has been successful, but really it boils down to three groups. First, the writers, who have put I don't even want to know how many collective hours into writing their posts. Second, the mods, who gave me the initial endorsement, encouraged me to ask for more writers when my first post didn't get a huge response, and have promoted the series every step of the way. Finally, but equally important, the readers, because my (and the other writer's) ranting somehow doesn't fall on deaf ears. Thank you, everyone.
Now for my normal introduction:
When I first joined this sub in the offseason of 2011, one of the things that got me hooked was a series by u/sosuhme, where he tried to write posts covering all 32 teams during the offseason. He didn't finish the series, but it gave me an idea. Instead of one person trying to write for all 32 teams, during the 2013 offseason I decided to try to organize a series where we covered all 32 teams in 32 days. Going in, I knew the series would be a lot of work, but I never expected how well it would be received or how much work my writers would do for it. The results were wonderful. Since then, many of the other sports subs have copied my model as well, and I think it's brought great discussion to a number of places. I repeated the series in 2014, and here are the results of that. Oh, and I also did it again last year and the year before.
Normally I like to do this before Free Agency begins. This series is meant to review the previous season and look ahead to free agency/the draft. I also run another series later in the offseason to review FA/the Draft and look ahead to the next season. The problem is that the league keeps compressing the offseason schedule, and the NFL league year (hence free agency) begins on March 9th, which left fewer than 32 days between the Super Bowl and FA. Therefore, it's not possible to fit all 32 days in. For that reason, I'm postponing the series for two days (skipping March 9th and 10th) to allow for the big FA news to come through. The series will start this Monday, 2/13. Hopefully that gives the first few writers enough time to get their posts done.
**If you want to sign up to write, this is the thread to do so. If you missed the series the last couple of years or want a refresher, there are many good examples. This link has all of the posts linked within it. I'm being lazy and just reusing the examples I gave last year, but there are many good examples from 2014 too. Don't forget to check out 2016's as well. I highly recommend reading through a few (or all of them).
If you do get a writing spot, I highly recommend accepting help from those who offer it, and if you want a writing spot but didn't get one, I highly recommend offering to help the person that did. A couple of warnings:
- THIS IS A LOT OF WORK. If you don't think you can do a high quality job, don't volunteer
- SOME PEOPLE AREN'T GOING TO LIKE WHAT YOU SAY. If you can't take criticism, don't sign up.
If you sign up and something comes up to where you can no longer do it, please let me know ASAP. Shit happens. Don't let some perceived obligation to an internet forum get in the way of your real life.
However, if you don't tell me anything until the day before your post is supposed to be up, I'm going to be super pissed. If you need to back out for any reason whatsoever (even I don't feel like doing it anymore), I don't care. Just give me some notice so I can find someone else.
The basic format is altered somewhat from previous years. I've taken out a couple of categories I had included, added a couple to replace them, and added some that many people did anyway as "optional" but recommended. When you sign up I will send you a PM with specifically what I want you to do. This is what the PM will probably look like Basic format:
- Record, team stats (Record, PA, PF, etc), and draft picks
- Upcoming free agents from your team
- General season review
- Performance review of new additions (rookies and FA additions)
- Discussing potental losses (optional)
- Coaching staff review (optional)
- Overall roster/Individual player review (optional)
- Recommendations for team needs/what they should do it free agency/the draft
- A summary of how the team preformed vs. expectations
The most comprehensive examples end up looking like this, this, or this. It's the style I prefer to write, but I am by no means asking all of the writers to deliver that. Write what suits you. More words does not always mean higher quality.
In addition, this year I will expect writers to submit a rough draft or WIP post two days before their writeup is due. This will probably be waived for the early teams because of the quick turnaround but if you don't submit that I will look for someone else.
###IF YOU CAN'T BE OBJECTIVE ABOUT YOUR TEAM, DON'T SIGN UP
###TENTATIVE SCHEDULE (writers and dates are subject to change)
##I'm going to be a bit more rigorous about vetting candidates than I have in years past. I'm going to follow the general guidelines of previous years' writers get priority and after that first come, first serve, but I reserve the right to not choose someone if I don't think they're fit for the role. Former writers will have until I get home from work on Friday to respond and give their interest.
##Please, please, please do not PM me if you want to write. If you aren't a previous writer, I will assume you decided to not read this post, and therefore will not trust you to write for the series.
##If you sign up, I'll add your name here, but it's going to take me a little bit. If you can't do it on the preliminary date, but can do it on a different day, let me know and I'll try to work things out for you.
The schedule isn't in drafting order, but it does go from teams that were 4th place in the division to teams that were 1st
| Team | Date | Author | Link |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cleveland Browns | 2/13 | /u/admiralkit | Here |
| Carolina Panthers | 2/14 | /u/unc54 | Here |
| San Diego Chargers | 2/15 | /u/milkchococurry | Here |
| Philadelphia Eagles | 2/16 | /u/MikeTysonChicken | Here |
| Jacksonville Jaguars | 2/17 | /u/JaguarGator9 | Here |
| Chicago Bears | 2/18 | /u/emperos | Here |
| New York Jets | 2/19 | /u/nickmangoldsbeard | Here |
| San Francisco 49ers | |||
| Cincinnati Bengals | 2/21 | /u/sanswagata | Here |
| New Orleans Saints | 2/22 | /u/Bouzal | Here |
| Denver Broncos | 2/23 | /u/Vermillionbird | Here |
| Washington Redskins | 2/24 | /u/thehbrwhammer | Here |
| Indianapolis Colts | 2/25 | /u/Lvl9LightSpell | Here |
| Minnesota Vikings | 2/26 | /u/skepticismissurvival | Here |
| Buffalo Bills | 2/27 | /u/IlluminatusUIUC | Here |
| Los Angeles Rams | 2/28 | /u/dleonard1122 | Here |
| Baltimore Ravens | |||
| Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 3/2 | /u/TheFencingCoach | Here |
| Oakland Raiders | 3/3 | /u/GipsySafety | Here |
| New York Giants | 3/4 | /u/lookitsblackman | Here |
| Tennessee Titans | 3/5 | /u/WertyBurger | Here |
| Detroit Lions | |||
| Miami Dolphins | 3/7 | /u/Purelybetter | Here |
| Arizona Cardinals | 3/8 | /u/lazymyke | Here |
| Pittsburgh Steelers | 3/11 | /u/nope96 | Here |
| Atlanta Falcons | 3/12 | /u/Felix_Tholomyes | Here |
| Kansas City Chiefs | 3/13 | /u/IIHURRlCANEII | Here |
| Dallas Cowboys | 3/14 | /u/Shoeheaddotcom | |
| Houston Texans | 3/15 | /u/Rebelrbl | |
| Green Bay Packers | 3/16 | /u/msgbonehead | |
| New England Patriots | 3/17 | /u/timnog | |
| Seattle Seahawks | 3/18 | /u/King_Rajesh |
Posted Feb 8, 2017, 2:47 PM UTC · edited