It doesn't seem that long ago I was using the dial up internet in my dads office to log into NFL.com to play pick 3 fantasy. Tommy Maddox Plaxico and Hines Ward were my go to guys. Even though I was dipping my toes into the realm of fantasy football I was still a football purest. I'd watch the Sunday Ticket every week absorbing all the football knowledge and just enjoying the greatest game on earth. Of course nothing trumpt my love for the black and yellow. Hence my homer picks in the early days of fantasy football. As the years went on I started playing in numerous yahoo public leagues. Dominating against guys you didn't know was an unrivaled thrill when you're 12-13 years old. I fell in Love with the game of Fantasy Football. Eventually I would find myself back in Houston and attending the great school of ole Klein High. It's there where I made friends that invited me to join my first ever competitive league with people I knew. Ebers league. Yes, the one he tried to rig for himself to win by giving himself Peyton Manning and making the scoring as QB heavy as you've ever seen (you scoundrel). And yes, it was also a 2 QB league before those were a thing. Maybe Ebers was just ahead of his time. Even though Ebers structured things largely in his favor I found a way to win thanks to my first muddog move. Starting Marques Colston at TE. Man that felt cool and I felt so smart. After that I was ready for the big leagues. I was ready... for PWS.
Although I continued to compete in many other leagues over the next 17 years no league had my attention like PWS. PWS would always be the only league that had my heart. It was a love so deep that I gave PWS my mind body and soul. Everything I had. My absolute all. The goal every season wasn't to win money or to win X amount of titles. There was only one goal each year. Win a PWS title. Year 1 my hopes died with Ronnie Brown tearing his ACL at the time being the number 1 back in fantasy. I went into year 2 so focused. So hungry. So ready to win. As fate would have it I would share those feelings with the man that would become my Muddog Brother. Tyler Branch. He selflessly shared his team with me so we could make room for Clark Kendall and Ebers. It's hard to put into words the bond formed by sharing a team with someone in your main league. Going through a full seasons trials and tribulations together. Making countless trades in our favor together. Talking line up decisions and negotiating deals at practice or even the sidelines during the Friday Night Lights. All we cared about was winning it all. Then all our hardwork went down the drain as the menace to society known as Antonio Bryant robbed us of our destiny. A loss like that you never get over. That pain sticks with you. You can either let it tear you down or motivate you. Year 3 I had to face the grind of the season alone as Branch and I had our own teams again. I made a pre draft trade and had my whole draft mapped out based on that deal. I couldn't wait to unleash that blueprint for a championship. It wasn't until draft day that I would learn my trade partner wasn't holding up his end of the deal. This burned a rage in me so deep that my first Fuck you draft was born and from those ashes came the Golden Arms. Brees Palmer Schaub McNabb Bulger and yes even Trent Green would all be drafted by yours truly. Even though I devoted my draft at that point to screwing over members of the league the way I had been screwed I was still able to put together a contender. Lead by Jamaal Charles and Drew Brees. The 2 guys who were my franchise players. They carried me into the semis where I would be taught a very valuable lesson. Don't Trust Beat Writers. Those guys are scum. I had stashed Jerome Harrison for 3 weeks for that week 15 match up against the worst run defense in football only to have beat writers sway me based on their Sunday morning reports that Harrison wasn't going go start. All he did was rush for 286 yards and 3 scores that day. I would lose by 7 points which meant I would leave my Muddog Brother alone in the finals. It was our goal to give the middle finger to league by having a Muddog Final that year. I let him down. I let myself down. Yet another haunting loss that stays with me even today. That failure however, would take my game to another level. Year 4 I drafted 5 RBs in the first 6 rounds. I used them to form one of the greatest teams the league has ever seen. Once again with Brees and Charles but this time much much more. McFadden, TD leader Dwayne Bowe, Mike Wallace, Mike twinkie Town Tolbert and the legend Joe Webb would prove to be the sidekicks needed to hoist my first ever PWS Championship despite being locked out of my Yahoo account for the final few weeks of the season. It seems like just yesterday I was in my room watching Charles and Bowe shread the Titans defense on that fateful day. What a feeling. Watching Jamaal Charles run in the open field was the remedy to my soul and watching Drew Brees drop back in a clean pocket warmed my heart even on the coldest of days. That Championship was so sweet. The only thing sweater .... a championship Repeater.
I brought back Brees and Charles for my title defense crew but also drafted a young gun QB in Matthew Stafford as trade bait. In preseason we would have one of the biggest hold out scares we've seen with Chris CJ2K Johnson threatening to sit the season out. The thought of having Charles and CJ2K on the same team never seemed possible. It was beyond my wildest dreams. So I did the unthinkable. I traded away my Franchise Drew Brees in a deal for Chris Johnson and I pushed all my chips in on Stafford. My roster was absolutely loaded. Charles Johnson Felix Jones and Joseph Addai at RB. Brandon Marshall Kenny Britt Jermichael Finely and Dallas Clark as pass catchers . Well, my repeat dreams seemed all but dashed just a few short weeks later as Charles Britt Addai Jones and Clark were all out for the year. Johnson was a bust through the first half and Stafford was banged up. Sitting at 2-4 my season seemed all but over. That's when I put my faith in a man named Tim Tebow. After picking him up I would proceed to have the greatest management season I have ever had to this day. I flipped Marshall for the unknown Victor Cruz. I flipped Finely for Roy Helu and Jordan Reed. I picked up CJ Spiller and Denarius Moore. I wouldn't lose another game. Running the table to go back to back.
I've told the behind the scenes story of the 2012 season. The chase for the unthinkable. A 3 peat. Many mistakes were made that year that I still think about from time to time. I carry every failure with me. I would go on a downward spiral in the coming years. Largely in part to enduring the streak of most points against in league history that still stands true today, but no excuses. Fight like a champion. That mantra was never more true than 2014 when I turned an 0-6 squad into one of the best teams to never win a title by assembling a cast of Rodgers Dez Julio DJax McCoy and rookie year Hyde and Hill. Rallying to make the post season but coming up short in painful fashion.
Years past and I suffered many painful losses. The Mahomes Gurley season. The Muddog reunion season where we lit $96 on fire and still won the regular season despite facing 9 seperate player suspensions that year. A team truly worthy of the Muddog title. Last but not least The Josh Allen Tyreek Hill Justin Jefferson Aiyuk CMC Ekeler Conner and cameo Kittle Squad. The redeem team. Cruising to the finals only to have the worst week of the season due to covid and injuries. Nothing is worse than 2nd place. Those haunting losses kept me going. Kept pushing my obsession to win further and further.
PWS has been my main obsession. For all 17 years. It started from the beginning. In year 1 I was with my girlfriend watching the Jags Texans game. A mostly meaningless game for me aside from my back up QB David Garrard. Did I start him? No, I had Drew Brees, but did I want to see how he looked for future reference? Absolutely! Unfortunately, my girlfriend wanted to have sex so she turned the game off and made her move. I'm sure most guys would have gladly accepted the advance and gone with it. I am not most guys. I positioned her away from the TV where only I could see. Then I snuck my hand over to the remote to put the game back on and muted it. I just had to know if Garrard was good enough to start during Brees' bye week. That's how obsessed I was with PWS. As the years went on and I got into sports betting and it became obvious to me that my fantasy team took presidence over sports bets regardless of the amount on the line. One MNF game I had KC to cover and KC ml to close out 2 parlays both paying out 1k+. Late 4th Q Marlon Mack rushed for a game sealing TD. Something that would have felt like a punch in the stomach if not for Marlon Mack being in my starting line up. Did it effect my match up outcome? Not in the slightest, but did it add more points to my team and make it look more boss ass ? Hell yeah it did. That's all that really mattered to me.
Year 17 just like every other year was championship or bust for me. Of course I was particularly hungry to go back to back again. On draft day two individuals not so subtly tried to throw a wrench in my perceived draft plans not once, but twice. I've outgrown bias. I've outgrown "man crushes". Players are just numbers to me. By the time we draft I've already done hundreds of drafts and experimented with countless player combinations. Something these two know little of. I was the last guy to get a player, but that player was the Sun God. Him and Etienne were my Favorites despite Lamb being the higher scorer. They lead me to another repeat. So all sun shine and rainbows right ?
2 years ago we had blatant collusion and despite many texting me individually about it they didn't speak up in the league chat and ultimately nothing was done about it. It really bothered me. Last year when it seemed history was repeating itself I was extremely vocal about it and a league member essentially quit because of it. Whether it's instances like those or when the majority of the league banded together to change the league settings in effort to take away what they thought was my competitive advantage despite it being open opportunity for everyone the joy the league once gave me has been gone and gone for some time now. I've tried to give back to the league over the years and make it more fun and exciting with my PWS dundies my in season blog posts and IG live interviews. This year I decided to pick what I thought was an amazing destination where we'd make memories that we'd never forget. Instead of there being excitement for the draft and the location I was made out to be a villain that doesn't care about the league. I've given the league all I have to give. I can't do it anymore.
PWS you have been my greatest passion for 17 years, but I can't be obsessed with you anymore.
Brett I'll never forget when you picked up Seyi Ajirotutu and started him the week he exploded against Kareem Jackson. I'll never forget us making the first ever draft trade year 1 when you moved up for Shaun Alexander. I'll never forget you making the best ball mania Finals.
Dylan I'll never forget the week you broke the scoring record. I'll never forget you getting Cam Newton for nothing his rookie year. I'll never forget all your players dieing and I'll never forget you rallying from a seemingly dead season to be just a Bengals Cheifs OT away from the ship last year.
Sam I'll never forget you dressing up as the nature boy before the draft started. I'll never forget you picking up Odell Beckhem. I'll never forget you trading half your team for Deshaun Watson hours before he suffered a season ending injury in practice. I'll never forget your desire for trades. I'll never forget watching games with you at Kirbys icehouse.
Drew I'll never forget you taking over THE BOSS ASSES. Having atrocious luck, but bouncing back to have one of the greatest runs I've ever seen from someone in fantasy. I'll never forget our Sky house Monday night games or watching butker steal the ship from you only for you to rally and win it all the very next year. I'll also never forget you showing up late to the draft room last year. Vegas am I right ?
George I'll never forget you ruining the muddogs championship season. I'll never forget you bringing the trophy back in shambles. I'll never forget all your savy trades for big names. I'll never forget your "joke" bid. I'll never forget you still owe me and Branch dinner from our chase for 3 bet.
Ebers I'll never forget the look on your face when you drafted Michael Jenkins. I'll never forget you finding out you traded Darren McFadden to the muddogs in the film room. I'll never forget Blake Bortles carrying you to a championship.
Phillip I'll never forget you stealing a kicker from me at 4am. I'll never forget Robbies Redemption. I'll never forget you making the greatest trade that never was because it was Vetoed. I'll never forget giving you a Joel Kloppenstein card at the first ever PWS dundies.
Soliz I'll never forget you grilling outside holemans house on draft day. I'll never forget you on laubachs shoulders as freak the mighty and bumping your head on the door frame. I'll never forget you making homemade tortillas with me. I'll never forget the draft we were both so drunk we traded mahomes back and forth mid draft 3 times.
Mike I'll never forget the draft you had to call drew for picks and you saying "I'm out" as soon as you heard a players name before even knowing what the bid was. I'll never forget our legendary bidding war on zeke for the first ever player over $100 @ #103. I'll never forget the curse of the jalapeño cake. I'll never forget you trying to form a super team every year instead of a championship team.
Holeman I'll never forget meeting you and talking about the Panthers freshman year. I'll forget you inviting me to be a part of PWS. I'll never forget our mutual love for the greatest back in PWS history Jamaal Charles. I'll never forget you flipping Hopkins for a massive haul that won you a ship. I'll never forget you drafting Rams WR Allen Robinson.
Thanks for the memories PWS. I'll always love you. I just can't be in love with you anymore.
Lastly, to Branch. My Muddog Brother, my biggest regret is not winning one together. In all my years playing fantasy I've never had fun like I did when we were the Muddogs. You're the best comanager anyone could ever ask for. Never stop believing. Your ship is sailing soon. Give em hell!
BOSS ASSES Out
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