Canton Classics virtual football team finds a home, hopes to grow as community asset

An aspiring professional race car driver and rising country music performer have brought virtual professional football to Canton.

The Canton Classics are co-owned by Kristian Aleixo, a driver from Indianapolis, and Adam Chance, who lives in Los Angeles and tours with Home Free.

The pair met in the virtual locker room for the San Diego Fleet, a team in the Simulation Football League. Within a year they owned a team in the league. Aleixo suspects their flashy careers helped him and Chance land the team, but a bigger factor was their decision to connect the team with Canton.

Canton is the birthplace of the NFL and home of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Aleixo researched Canton's football history, learned about the Canton Bulldogs and how the NFL began in John Hay's Huppmobile dealership on Cleveland Avenue SW.

"I love the history," Aleixo said. "It's how we sold them on the team. We couldn't have picked a better city to represent."

What is the Simulation Football League?

The Simulation Football League is an esport without a controller. The league has 28 teams, with the Canton franchise being among the newest and its 19th season ran from July through early October. The championship was played Nov. 5.

The league uses the All Pro Football 2K8 format. But instead of current or former NFL players, league participants create their own players. Anyone who wants to be in the league pays a monthly fee — $3 per month for rookies, $5 per month for pro players and $7 per month for a pro quarterback or running back.

Players start off assigned to a minor league team, where they develop skills and increase their value. The goal is to be drafted by one of the professional teams, which carry 23 players "live" players and round out the roster with AI players.

That is what drew Aleixo and Chance to the league. Both enjoyed playing video games. The SFL allowed them to be in the game as they created digital versions of themselves and started playing football.

SFL team owners and coaches draft players, similar to professional leagues. Coaches spend Monday through Thursday scripting a playbook for each weekly game. They call plays and rely on the skills of their players.

Becoming the Canton Classics

As teammates in a virtual locker room Aleixo and Chance became friends and started talking about owning their own SFL team. The made a bid when the league decided to expand for the 2022 season.

The pair had different ideas aout where to locate. Alexio was suggesting Maui because of football's popularity in Hawaii, while Chance suggested Nashville.

Aleixo started talking with people he knew with NFL looking for ideas on how to connect the virtual team with real world football. One call went to Darrin Gray, organizer of the Fatherhood Festival at Hall of Fame Village last June. Gray and Aleixo had worked together in the past, and aligning with the Fatherhood Festival was a no-brainer, Aleixo said.

"It was a great time to introduce real world Canton to digital Canton," Aleixo said.

Building local connections

During the Fatherhood Festival, Aleixo met Doug Six, a Bethlehem Township resident who played football for Fairless High School in the 1980s. Since 1990, he's been part of a group of Fairless alumni who play a pick-up football game every Thanksgiving.

Six has coached youth football for 35 years and took his 9-year-old son — "my little sidekick" ― to the Fatherhood Festival, in part, to get a closer look at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium.

The Canton Classics had a booth at the event and Six was introduced to virtual football. A punter in high school, Six figured he would try the position in the SFL. The Classics drafted Six because they want the team to develop local ties, Aleixo said.

As it turned out, Six developed as a punter and Aleixo hopes he's considered by the SFL for a special teams honors. "He was pinning other teams on their backs," Aleixo said of Six's performance.

The league's format allows fans to watch game via streaming services such as NXT Level Sports. Players can interact through team locker rooms. "You have a little fun and meet people across the United States," Six said of the experience.

The Canton Classics finished the season on Oct. 9 with a 31-6 win over the Queen City Corsairs. After starting off with four loses, the team came back to end with a 6-6 record. They had a narrow shot at the playoffs but fell short.

Nearly making the playoffs adds to the anticipation for next season — the SFL's 20th. "We're working out a lot of bugs," Aleixo said.

Broadening local involvement

Aleixo said he hopes to have more people from the Canton area get involved with the team as players and as fans.

Local fantasy football writer Bob Lung has joined the league and is developing his player in the SFL's minor league system. Aleixo hopes to eventually have Lung playing as a receiver on the Canton Classics.

Lung anticipates the SFL could become involved with the Fantasy Football Expo he has been developing over the past four years. He hopes the team can establish a connection with the city.

"There's all kinds of fun stuff with the league," Lung said. "It's something different. We want to build involvement."

Aleixo and Lung would like to see the Canton Classics make a connection with the a Helix eSports complex that Esports Entertainment Group is scheduled to open at Hall of Fame Village.

While the game is virtual, it doesn't have to be locked into a virtual world, Aleixo said. He hopes that the team and its players will interact with the community, similar to other professional athletes.

"We want to be an influence for good," Aleixo said. "There's a real person behind all of these players."

Reach Edd at 330-580-8484 or edd.pritchard@cantonrep.com On Twitter: @epritchardREP

This article originally appeared on The Repository: Canton Classics virtual football team finds home in Canton