Confident, relaxed Irwin ready for his title defense

PITTSBURGH, Pa. — Championships are meant to be celebrated. That’s the fun part.

Once the dust settles and time stretches thin, however, it eventually comes time to find enough motivation to get back to work. That’s what Tiger Township Fantasy Football League champion Casey Irwin is now facing ahead of the 2017 season.

Irwin capped off perhaps the greatest individual season in league history a year ago, which culminated in his second career championship. Since then, the Kent State graduate has soaked in his accomplishments — and deservedly so. After all, football season in the TTFFL can be a battle both mentally and emotionally.

“We took some time off, actually returned to golf for the first time in a while, and just tried to relax a little bit,” Irwin said in an exclusive interview with Chibby’s Corner. “We took off probably all the way up till May or early June.”

Yet, as he and the rest of the TTFFL nears the start of a new campaign, Irwin has gotten back into the lab to begin preparation for whatever might come next.

The story behind Irwin’s 2016 season revolves around a rare sense of consistency inside the league. He went 12-1 in the regular season, tied for the most single-season wins in TTFFL history (Andrew Castle), before finishing the deal in the postseason with wins over Evan Julian and Grant Seanor. His 163.8-149.3 triumph in the championship game allowed the now-Pittsburgh based Irwin to claim his first title since 2011.

“We wanted to enjoy this one,” Irwin said. “Last time, we got too caught up in the process. We enjoyed it a lot, but we took it for granted. So, we want to cherish this one because getting back to the mountaintop is very challenging. To do it a second time was really big for this organization.”

Irwin’s group, which was self-proclaimed “The Greatest Show on Turf” midway through the season, scored more points (2,214) than any other team in TTFFL history. He won his first 10 games of the year before his only slip up to Castle in Week 11. After that, though, there was nothing stopping Irwin from claiming the Guy Julian Memorial Trophy.

Irwin, who will enter his 12th TTFFL season this fall, built a solid foundation at the 2016 Draft, grabbing both Julio Jones ($63) and Mike Evans ($37) to kick-start his wide receiver corps. He also spent $21 on Derek Carr, who turned into one of the league’s best values a year ago.

Then, on Oct. 4, he made a trade that would jolt his team into becoming one of the best groups of all time. Irwin acquired both Matt Stafford and Odell Beckham Jr. from Louie Thomas, seeing instant results from both players.

Irwin also acquired LeSean McCoy from Devine in a separate deal, another player that proved to pay off for the soon-to-be champion.

As the page turns, though, Irwin senses this new season, one that kicks off with the TTFFL Draft on Saturday in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., could go down as being just as critical for his career. That’s because he’ll not only be on a year-long title defense, but he’ll also be trying to avoid the dreaded championship hangover that has bitten him one before.

“We know what happened last time,” Irwin said in regard to his struggles following his first championship in 2011. “We stubbed our toe twice. So, that’s why we took the approach this year to step back, clear our minds and take the time we needed to relax. We like to think we wipe the slate clean every year, so we think we celebrated in the manner that we should’ve before getting back to it.”

Irwin went just 5-8 in 2012, the year after his first-ever league title. From there, he experienced even worse results in 2013, rather than executing any sort of comeback. The former high-school football and baseball standout, who caught 19 passes and ran the ball for nearly 200 yards on the gridiron before hitting .433 at the plate during his senior season, went just 2-11 in 2013 — tied for the fewest wins in any TTFFL season.

Since then, however, Irwin has made the playoffs in each of the past three years.

Irwin says he’s ready to take on the challenge of defending his title this time around, though. He’s fully embracing the role of “the hunter” becoming “the hunted” as 11 title-hungry competitors look to knock him down a peg.

“We’re embracing it,” Irwin said. “We’re a proud organization; we hope to get everyone’s best on any given day when the time comes. But as a two-time champion now, that just puts it that much further. Everyone is going to be gunning for us, but at the same time, it’s all internal. We want to see how we can improve this organization.”

As Irwin enters the new season in a position where he’s earned the right to look down at his peers, he claims garnering even more respect is on the top of his wish list this fall. That is one of things that is keeping him motivated after such a whirlwind journey a year ago.

There’s another mission Irwin hopes to tackle this fall as well. It’s the opportunity to become the TTFFL’s first three-time champion.

While avoiding the urge to get complacent remains present, Irwin appears ready to take on all comers in what promises to be a season to remember one way or another.

“What keeps me hungry starts with getting the respect of your peers year in and year out,” Irwin said. “Number two, I can be the first one to three and that gets me a heck of a lot happier to be the first one to do something.”