Atlanta Bravehearts

2024 Atlanta Bravehearts Season
The Atlanta Bravehearts are a virtual American football team that plays in the Valiant Football League, and they compete in the Atlantic Conference, being a member of the Atlantic Conference Central Division.
The Bravehearts have won the then-United Cup twice, in 2020 and 2022, and have appeared in the championship game four times, in 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2022. The Bravehearts have won the ACF Championship five times, in 2018, 2019, 2020, 2022, and 2024. The Atlanta Bravehearts also won the ACF Central Division Championship five times, in 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024. Whilst the Bravehearts have won the League Championship once, they have appeared in the league championship game four times, which is a record amongst VFL franchises. They are generally considered one of the most successful clubs in the league's history.
The team currently plays their home games at Sanford Stadium, having played there since leaving the original Georgia Dome in 2016.
== History ==
=== Early Years and Kerry Collins Era (2014-2016) ===
During the inaugural UFL quarterback draft, the Atlanta Bravehearts would select Kerry Collins in the first round to serve as their veteran quarterback whilst they searched for a future franchise quarterback through future drafts and free agency periods. Collins' experience was originally slated to be the mentoring role for the young quarterback the Bravehearts eventually planned to find and serve as the franchise quarterback for the following years. During the team's inaugural season, Collins would lead the league-middle Bravehearts offense to a 2-4 record, tied with the worst record in the Atlantic Conference with the 2-4 Kansas City Core. During the 2014 UFL offseason, the Atlanta Bravehearts would take a chance on semi-professional quarterback Keller Jr Chryst, who the franchise expected to sit behind Collins for a few years learning how to read professional defenses. During Chryst's rookie season, the Bravehearts would struggle to get out of the gate under Collins offensively, which would prove to be a season-long struggle that would see the Bravehearts finish the season with a league-worst 1-5 record.
Despite media and fan criticism, head coach Keith Jackmon would elect to allow second year quarterback Keller Jr Chryst more time to learn the offense as Kerry Collins would continue to lead the Bravehearts for a third year under his tenure as the team's starting quarterback. Despite early success with a 2-1 record, the Bravehearts would drop three of their final four games of the regular season, but they would earn the third and final seed in the Atlantic Conference postseason picture after winning a tie-breaker with the also 3-3 Kansas City Core, but they would also lose out on the second seed via a tie-breaker with the 3-3 New York Sentinels. Despite early success in the divisional round, Collins and the Bravehearts would collapse in the third quarter against the Sentinels, losing to the eventual-Atlantic Conference champions to end their season, as well as Collins' tenure as the starting quarterback of the Atlanta Bravehearts. During the 2016 UFL offseason, the Bravehearts would release Kerry Collins, electing to allow the offense to be lead by Keller Jr Chryst for the foreseeable future.
=== Keller Chryst Era and Potential Bravehearts Dynasty (2018-present) ===
During the 2017 UFL offseason, the Bravehearts would re-sign now third-year quarterback Keller Jr Chryst to a record five-year deal worth $18M to remain a member of the Atlanta Bravehearts through at least the 2022 UFL season. At the start of the Keller Jr Chryst era with the Bravehearts, the team would struggle out of the gate with an 0-2 record, only to win three of their final four games of the season to end the season with a 3-3 record, missing out on the postseason and the fifth and final playoff spot via a tie-breaker to the also 3-3 Baltimore Capitals. Despite the disappointing conclusion to the season, Jr Chryst would state in a media interview that he was proud of his team's effort during the season pulling things together before ending their season on a high note, which many media outlets would point out as a favorable factor in the idea that the Bravehearts had found their franchise quarterback.
Going into the 2018 UFL season, the Bravehearts would face criticism after their management through the Kerry Collins era of the franchise, but would answer during the season by finishing out the year with a 4-2 record, finishing in second place in the Atlantic Conference Central Division and earning the third seed in the Atlantic Conference playoff picture. After an MVP performance during the regular season by Keller Jr Chryst, the Bravehearts would upset the defending-league champion Connecticut Stampede to face the New York Sentinels in the Atlantic Conference championship game, defeating Chad Kelly and the Sentinels to advance to the Bravehearts' first league championship game in franchise history. Despite taking an early lead in the first three quarters of the game, the Tampa Silverstars would mount a 21 point comeback before sending the championship game into overtime, with Roberto Aguayo hitting a 42 yard field goal to upset the Bravehearts to win the Silverstars the first league championship in franchise history, ending Keller Jr Chryst's MVP season and the Bravehearts 2018 campaign in tremendous disappointment.
Despite obvious weaknesses in the defensive secondary unit going into the 2019 UFL season, analysts and experts predicted the Bravehearts to be the second-most probable team to advance to the league championship, only behind division rivals the Kansas City Core as the statistical favorites. Despite high expectations, the Bravehearts would disappoint midway through the season after starting the year 5-1, eventually limping into the postseason with a losing record of 7-9, finishing the second half of the year with a 2-8 record. Despite this, the Bravehearts would enter the postseason as the fourth seed in the Atlantic Conference, defeating the Baltimore Capitals in the Wildcard round before upsetting division rivals and the top seeded Kansas City Core in the Divisional Round to advance to the Atlantic Conference Championship Game, where the Bravehearts would win a close game over the Orlando Crusaders to advance to their second consecutive league championship against the Pacific Conference champion Arizona Copperheads. Despite high expectations going into the league championship, the Atlanta Bravehearts would lose decisively to the Arizona Copperheads 33-3, losing in the league championship for the second consecutive year, breaking the hearts of Bravehearts fans. Despite struggles in his fourth year as the starting quarterback of the Kansas City Core, head coach Keith Jackmon would state that he had high hopes in Jalen Hurts going into his fifth season with the Kansas City Core, stating that he fully expected the Hurts-led Atlanta Bravehearts team to be the favorites to advance to their third-consecutive league championship game. Despite coach Jackmon's expectations, many experts predicted the Bravehearts to take a step back in the 2020 season, possibly falling behind the Fargo Oilers in the Atlantic Conference Central Division, slotting them into position towards possibly fighting with the Baltimore Capitals and New York Sentinels for the final wildcard spot in the Atlantic Conference.
Those experts would be proven wrong, as the Bravehearts would finish with a 13-6 record, defeating the Connecticut Stampede in the 2020 Atlantic Conference Championship Game to advance to their third-consecutive League Championship Game. The Bravehearts would defeat the Copperheads in the rematch 42-10 to win their first United Cup in franchise history.
In the 2021 season, the Bravehearts would win the AC Central Division again and make the conference championship game again, only to be defeated by the Connecticut Stampede. In the 2022 season, the Bravehearts would again with the Central division and would defeat division rival St. Louis Eagles to win their fourth AC Conference Championship in five years, returning to the United Cup with a chance to win their record-tying second United Cup, which they would earn when defeating the Cincinnati Lynx by a score of 22-20.