2016 TEAM RANKINGS | #11 ERIC VOZZOLA

He’s the youngest member of Robioland Football, he’s a loyal Trumo supporter and remains one of the few who is still allowed legally to be within 200-yards of a middle school. He’s Eric Vozzola.

Thanks to a solid 2015, where Eric earned a three-seed, he was able to move out of the Robioland Football basement and pass Jeff in most of the important categories. He’s now 11th in points, wins, playoff results and 1,500 points. Baby steps, baby.

Speaking of steps, Eric has made it to the playoffs in five out of his last nine seasons. Most people wouldn’t brag about that, but Eric should feel like Prince Akeem after a bath. Think about it, he failed to qualify for a single playoff spot in his first six years in the league, so five out of nine ain’t bad.

The problem now is, like a bipolar teenage girl, Eric suffers through both extreme highs and extreme lows. When he succeeds, he succeeds big. He’s twice gone 9-4 since 2012 (five teams haven’t done that once in that same time frame). Eric has also earned a scoring title (something Masterson can only dream about) and made it to the title game (another thing Masterson can only dream about). Yet, in the last six seasons he’s missed the playoffs four times and he’s gone just 11-41 in those four non-playoff seasons. Holy hell, that’s bad.

BY THE NUMBERS

THREE GREATEST MOMENTS

In 2012, Eric was defeated by Calderon in week thirteen, but not all was lost. He scored 1,298 and was able to earn his first ever scoring title. He became just the fourth person to average over 1,500 PPG for a season and his 1,503 average that year remains the sixth most scored in a regular season. When you add in the playoff points, his 24,225 total points remains the fifth most points scored ever.
Eric started the 2007 season winning his first five, becoming just the third person at the time to accomplish that feat. On top of that, he and Dave both started the year 5-0 and then faced off. The 10-0 combined record is the most wins with two undefeated teams facing off.
Led by Tom Brady, Ray Rice and rookie Alfred Morris, Eric used a balance attack to win his first ever post-season game in 2012, after twelve years in the league. He defeated Rob Masterson in the quarterfinals, 1,649 – 1,269.

THREE WORST MOMENTS

We all know Eric struggled to get into the post-season during those early years, but you may not realize how close he got sometimes. Between 2002-2005, three times Eric finished tied in wins with others for the final playoff spot, yet all three seasons he missed the playoffs because of points. The harshest of those years was 2002. Eric finished 7-7, along with Rob Masterson and David, with only two playoff spots open. Masterson took the first spot, because he dominate the other two in points. However, David squeaked by Eric by just 294 total points (21 PPG difference) to take the 8-seed.
Despite sucking for what seemed like forever, Eric shocked the world and not only made it to the title game in 2012, but had to be considered the favorite against me. Best yet, he had a solid Sunday and with 1,871 points and a 222-point lead, he looked like the clear winner. I had only Marshawn Lynch left to play Monday, a player who had broken 222 only once all season. Well, he did it a second time and Eric end up losing, 1,973 – 1,871. The 1,871 points scored remains the most points scored in a post-season defeat.
During 2007-09, Eric was on a roll. He had made it to the post-season three straight years and it looked like a new era for him in Robioland Football…then 2010-2011 happened. If wins and loses really are what matters, no one has put together a pair of seasons as bad as those two. Eric won two games in 2010 and then just one game in 2011, going 3-23 overall. His three wins came against Matt and Molly in 2010 and Bob in 2011 (yes, 2011 champion, Bob).

HISTORIC MOMENTS

Before Bob and Matt’s 1-point title game in 2014, the game of the century was Eric v Rob in the title game.
Yep, you couldn’t have the worst four non-playoff teams in league history without Eric.
It took a long while, but Eric did eventually make the playoffs.

LEAGUE RECORDS

Eric own’s one dubious record he probably wished he didn’t have. He once went 29 weeks (2009-11) without scoring 1,500 points in a single game, which is the longest by any active member. Best yet, he also has the 5th longest streak, too (25 straight games).
Eric once went 59 weeks without a weekly high score. That’s over four and a half years worth of games. He’s tied with Griff for the longest streak ever.

FAVORITE & LEAST FAVORITE OPPONENT

Eric really only has one favorable opponent and that’s Richard Burrier. He’s 11-6 against Rich in his career, having won four out of his last five against him.
The one team Eric does not want to see is Griff. He’s just 6-16 against him since 2001. In fact, he hasn’t beaten Griff since 2009.

GREATEST PLAYER

It’s not easy to find a great player when Eric hasn’t put together a lot of great teams. However, I’m all about digging here. Rich Gannon was Eric’s first first-team All-Robio player, averaging 288 PPG back in 2002. However, the greatest single season by a player came from last year. Tom Brady, a quarterback Eric picked up in a dump trade the season before, average a studly 357 PPG. However, great players do well over time, which leads me to…Alfred Morris. After week one in 2012, Eric picked up Redskins’ rookie and he never looked back. He finished 11th in 2012, 10th the following season and then 9th in 2014. While that’s not quite All-Robio level production, that’s a three-year starter.

FUN FACT

Eric is currently riding an eight-game losing streak to Griff. That’s the longest streak in league history.
Eric has won on the opening weekend the past four seasons. Before that, he had lost four straight week one games.
Eric has twice drafted a wide receiver in round one that ended the season as the league’s top pair of hands (Larry Fitzgerald in 2005 and again this past season with Antonio Brown).
Eric is the only current league member to never have a first-team All-Robio running back. Never.