Reverence of the past shaping the future

July has arrived and the offseason is officially in full swing. The next two months are important for all managers of the MFFL. It is a time in which strategies and philosophies are formed. It is a time when anticipation and excitement reach a crescendo. You cannot win a championship during these months, but you can certainly lose one. But even with all that, this time on the fantasy calendar means so very much more.

The time put in now shapes the reverence of the future.

The first offseason for TPD following a championship has been full of reverence for the past. In efforts to bottle the respect, passion, hype, and love TPD has for this game, he turns to the past, and the rich pages of TPD lure. These pages of TPD history are headlined by highlights of great games, plays, and performers from his accomplished past. Moments like Peyton's Manning's historic 2013 season, Aaron Rodgers and Jordy Nelson's 2014 season, Megatron being Megatron, Brandon Marshall and Chicago Defense 2012 season, Antonio Brown's 2015 season, Beckham, Evans, Mccoy 2016 season, Peyton's 7 TDs in week one of 2013, Rodgers 6 first half TDs in 2014, and 2014's 236 point game. Such memories are hard to encapsulate in a manner in which their importance and heart pounding recollections can be described. But it is within these moments that TPD's passion and joy for football is encapsulated. When honoring and respecting the past, these are the moments that TPD cherishes. They remind him why he loves this game so much. There is an indescribable feeling of joy he gets, watching certain highlights knowing that those memories are singularly attached to his franchise for that season, game, and play. The halls of MFFL glory hold such memories for all to remember and re-witness, but underneath their showcases is titled and engraved with the words The Perpetual Dynasty, marking their singular owner.  He is thankful for such memories to be a part of his franchise's history and his soul. Such reverence though, is not without a lack of understanding of its foundation.

Such memories are built in these current offseason days, and they shine forever because of TPD's preparation now. Great reverence is born from great effort and preparation. Pride is drawn from such moments. It was within the time now that TPD is able to attach himself to moments like Peyton's 2013 season and the 2016 championship, because he picked the players based on his work from theses offseason days. The highlights cannot be undervalued, as those moments are the ones he turns to when remembering the great, undamaged, unblemished, chrome past. While the scars of the past will endure, they fade over time, and what is left is the glistening achievements of each moment, untarnished and forever bright. While the urge of many would be to cling to such reverence, it is not so for TPD. He understands that his drive and passion are what sculpt such masterpieces, and he cannot remember the past without understanding its foundation, the foundation built in these hours. One miss step or moment of indecisiveness can shape the fantasy glory of the future. It is truly a game of inches. TPD has lost out on the inches in times of old, but the inches he has gained have added up to feet, standing tall above the rest. The claim to such historic memories shine so bright than they are hard to view with a direct gaze, but there is no doubt they are TPD's within the confines of the MFFL, and the reverence for such memories is from foundations built in these months.

The upcoming July is exploding with this reverence. It is the fuel continuing to drive this TPD engine. It is unending and strong. The moments TPD will cling to in future are being crafted now, and that is an encouraging thought. He views it not as pressure or a burden, but rather a right of passage, in order to hold such amazing memories in his soul. It adds more meaning to TPD's already rich franchise theme: What is dead may never die, but rises again harder and stronger. The rise speaks to the reverence. It shall always rise hard and strong, and uplift the soul of this embattled dreamer.

What is dead may never die, but rises again harder and stronger. Reverence. TPD 2017.