Zee Rechs

Zee Rechs

Zee Rechs
No. 87 – Retired
Position:	Tight End
Personal information
Born:	(1997-07-26)July 26, 1997 (aged 63) Gilmer, Texas, U.S.
Height:	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Weight:	245 lb (111 kg)
Career information
High school:	Gilmer High School
College:	Texas A&M
ISFL Draft:	2037 / Round: 9 / Pick: 107
DSFL Draft:	2036  / Round: 21 / Pick: 161
Career history
Dallas Birddogs 2036 (S21)-2038 (S23) Yellowknife Wraiths 2039 (S24)-2040 (S25)
Roster status:	Retired

Zee Rechs (born July 26, 1997) was an American football tight end for the Dallas Birddogs of the Developmental Simulation Football League (DSFL) and the Yellowknife Wraiths of the ISFL.

Early years

Born and raised in the Piney Woods of Gilmer, Texas, Rechs attended Gilmer High School, where he played tight end and fullback for the Buckeyes football team. Rechs also played catcher for the baseball team and was Captain of the wrestling and powerlifting teams. Rechs was named to the Texas AP All-State football team Second-team offense his senior year and set state records in the bench press and deadlift as a member of the powerlifting team. Raised by his parents, both Texas A&M alumni, Rechs grew up on the family cattle ranch. Rechs father was a four-year starter on the Aggies' offensive line. Rechs also excelled academically, and was valedictorian of his high school graduating class. Despite excelling on the field and in the classroom, Rechs went unrecruited out of high school, and intended to enroll in the local community college until his father convinced him to attend Texas A&M instead.

College career

Rechs originally attended A&M hoping to make the wrestling team, but failed to qualify. Rechs then attempted to walk-on to the football team. After serving mostly as a back up his freshman year, Rechs became the starter due to player injury late in the season. His sophomore year, Rechs made an immediate impact, catching 25 passes for 512 yards and 4 touchdowns. His junior year, Rechs caught 34 passes for 736 yards and 8 touchdowns, and caught 32 passes for 712 yards and 6 touchdowns his senior season. Rechs was also known for his run-blocking abilities, and was instrumental in the success of the Aggies run game during his tenure. Rechs also served as team Captain his junior and senior years. In addition to his athletic successes, Rechs also graduated with a 3.8 GPA in mechanical engineering. Rechs declared for the NFL draft immediately after his senior season was over and was considered the #1 rated TE in his draft class.

College career statistics

Zee Rechs			Receiving
Year	Team	GP	Rec	Yards	TDs
2016	Texas A&M	5	10	107	2
2017	Texas A&M	12	25	512	4
2018	Texas A&M	12	34	736	8
2019	Texas A&M	12	32	712	6

Professional career

DSFL career

Rechs was drafted by the expansion Dallas Birddogs with pick #161 in the DSFL S21 draft.

DSFL Season 21

After being drafted by the expansion Dallas Birddogs with the 161st pick of the S21 DSFL draft, Rechs started the season as the Birddog’s TE2, behind Jeffery Phillips. However, Phillips converted to wide receiver mid-season, allowing Rechs to slide into the TE1 spot on the Birddog’s roster. Since expansion teams don’t have an expansion draft in the DSFL, the Birddogs struggled and finished their miserable first season with 5 wins and 9 losses, missing the playoffs entirely and finishing with the worst record in the DSFL. While starting all 14 regular season games, Rechs was not much of a factor in the passing game only catching 16 passes for the year. He still managed to catch 2 touchdown passes, tied for second best on the team. Rechs did contribute strongly to the team in other aspects of the game, with an impressive 17 pancakes and no sacks allowed. Although Rechs’ first year in the DSFL was not impressive by any means, his potential caught the eye of many NSFL teams and he was drafted by the Yellowknife Wraiths in the 9th round of the S22 NSFL draft, using the 107th pick. While the Wraiths were excited about Rechs joining their team, they wanted to see more development from young Rechs before moving him up to play in the NSFL, and elected to send him back down to the DSFL to spend another season on the Birddogs’ roster. When asked, Rechs told reporters he was “stoked” about the upcoming season and he looked forward to showing off his growth on a much stronger Birddog’s team.

DSFL Season 22

After a losing first season in the DSFL, both Rechs (and the Birddogs’) started S22 with high hopes of being a competitive team, and perhaps even contending for the DSFL Championship. Rechs continued as the team’s TE1. On a personal level, Rechs made a much greater impact, more than doubling the number of catches from his previous season of play with 37 catches for a total of 267 yards. Sadly, Rechs was unable to find the endzone, although his longest catch of 37 yards fell short by a mere 3 yards. Rechs also remained an effective blocker for a total of 18 pancakes. Unfortunately, Rechs also was to blame for 2 penalties after committing no infractions the previous season. In the end, however, Rechs personal improvements did not translate to a winning record for the Birddogs. The Birddogs started off the season with a win, but were unable to turn that into a winning season. While the team did improve to 7 wins for their second season, three of their losses were by an agonizing 3 points, and they were still one win short of securing a coveted playoff slot.While Rechs show marked improvement in his second season of DSFL play, Wraiths management decided that one more season of experience in the DSFL would do him good, and although he can’t wait to put on that Wraiths jersey and kick ass with the big dogs of the NSFL, Rechs is excited to show the DSFL that these Birddogs do hunt and make a playoff run with them this upcoming season.

DSFL Season 23

For the second season in a row, Rechs was the Birddogs TE1. This year was Rechs’ time to shine! While the Birddogs had lost a lot of last year’s team to ISFL call ups, they had also added a lot of young talent in the draft and hoped again to be championship contenders this year. The Birddogs dominated during the regular season. Rechs had his best season yet, catching 45 passes for 427 yards and a team leading 3 touchdowns. He also contributed with 24 pancakes on the offensive line and allowed no sacks. Rechs’ 3 touchdowns and 24 pancakes were both tied for the most by DSFL tight ends. Due to the team’s outstanding efforts, the Birddogs achieved the first winning record in the young franchise’s history by winning 9 games, while losing only 5. Unfortunately, this success did not follow them to the playoffs, where they lost in the SFC championship game in a heartbreaker to the Norfolk Seawolves, 19-17. While obviously sad to get so close to the finale and lose, Rechs was proud to have been a founding member of the Birddogs franchise. Rechs outstanding play earned him a spot in the DSFL Pro Bowl and he was runner up for the DSFL Tight End of the Year award! Rechs also got the exciting news that Yellowknife would be calling him up to the ISFL after the season ended. While Rechs will always look fondly on his time as a Birddog, he is more than ready to don that Wraiths jersey and show the ISFL what he can do!

DSFL Career statistics

Career statistics			Receiving					Rushing					Blocking
Season	Team	GP	Rec	Yds	Avg	Long	TD	Att	Yds	Avg	Long	TD	Pancakes	Sacks Allowed
2036 (S21)	Birddogs	14	16	66	4.1	13	2	7	3	0.4	2	0	17	0
2037 (S22)	Birddogs	14	37	267	7.2	37	0	0	0	0	0	0	18	2
2038 (S23)	Birddogs	14	45	427	9.5	28	3	0	0	0	0	0	24	0

ISFL career

ISFL Season 24

Season 24 would be Zee Rech’s first in the ISFL, and he was excited to show the league that he could be a competitive player. As the Wraiths were the reigning Ultimus champions, the team went into the season with high hopes they could repeat last year’s championship. However, those hopes had to be tempered with the fact that Wraiths legendary QB Cooter Bigsby had retired and rookie QB Colby Jack was now the team’s starter. Further, besides Rechs, two of the wide receivers were also rookies. Rechs, as the only TE on the roster, was the de facto TE1. The Wraiths started the year off pretty well, with a 4-2 record after week 6 of play. Unfortunately, after that the Wraiths only managed to win a paltry 2 more games and ended the season with a 6-10 record, including a miserable 6 game losing streak. At least they managed to end the year with a win! As the Wraith’s offense is centered around RBs Mathais Hanyadi and Acura Skyline, Rechs did not have super high expectations that he would be putting up huge receiving numbers. Rechs ended the year with 390 receiving yards on 44 receptions, and 3 touchdowns, putting him towards the bottom of the league amongst tight ends. He also had 41 pancakes and allowed only 1 sack. Surprisingly, the pancakes were enough to rank Zee 3rd amongst tight ends. While obviously this season was not what either Zee or the Wraiths hoped it would be, there is a lot of room for growth and potential and hopefully next year Zee can be a more competitive player and the Wraiths a more competitive team.

ISFL Career statistics

Career statistics			Receiving					Rushing					Blocking
Season	Team	GP	Rec	Yds	Avg	Long	TD	Att	Yds	Avg	Long	TD	Pancakes	Sacks Allowed
2039 (S24)	Wraiths	16	44	390	8.9	35	3	0	0	0	0	0	41	1
2040 (S25)	Wraiths	16	58	346	6.0	35	2	3	4	1.3	3	1	38	1