Gardner Minshew Is A Free Agent In Gardner Minshew's Fantasy Football League
[Jordie’s Note: Nothing says Throwback Thursday like a good ol’ fashion reblog]
Something I’ve always been curious about is when professional athletes play video games like Madden/NHL/etc. Do these guys play as themselves or do they always choose a different team or what? I guess it would probably depend on the athlete. If I’m Patrick Mahomes then I am playing as Patrick Mahomes every single time I turn on the console. If I’m Kirk Cousins? Well then I am playing as Patrick Mahomes every single time I turn on the console.
To the same degree, you have fantasy sports. I can’t imagine that there are too many guys in the league currently who also have a fantasy team but for the ones who do, who is your #1 pick? Apparently for Gardner Minshew, he’s not his own #1 pick. Or his 2nd or 3rd or 4th or 5th or any pick at all. Because apparently in Gardner Minshew’s fantasy league right now, you can still grab him on waivers.
Source – Tre Polk, who is one of Minshew’s closest friends from Brandon, says Minshew stunned their dynasty league this past summer when he opted to redraft nearly his entire team (which is named Trust the Process) and start from scratch.
Polk goes on for a few minutes like this before putting on the bow. “Bottom line: He redrafted, like, his whole team, and he’s tied for first place. He just sees the game in a different way.”
I ask the obvious follow-up: Who is Minshew’s quarterback? “That’s the thing,” Polk says. “I keep waiting for him to pick himself up, but no one took him. Gardner Minshew is available in Gardner Minshew’s fantasy league.”
Polk laughs. “Gardner actually took Kyler Murray.”
Now here’s the thing. Gardner Minshew is one of the most interesting men in the world. So there has to be a reason why he wouldn’t pick himself up, especially after throwing for 374 yards and 2 touchdowns last week. That reason could very easily be that he’s just too humble to draft himself, but he also stretches in the locker room wearing nothing but a jock strap so I don’t think he necessarily cares about what people would think if he took himself. It could be just the fact that he doesn’t want to have a shitty performance that not only ruins his week as a professional football player but also as a fantasy football owner as well. Or mayyyyyybe, juuuust maybe, Gardner Minshew is testing out his friends here and realizing that he has surrounded himself with a bunch of assholes.
I mean c’mon. How have none of them picked him up yet? Do they not believe in Gardner Minshew? Do they think this is just a fluke? Are they convinced that he will lose his starting job whenever Nick Foles gets healthy again? If I was in Gardner Minshew’s position right now I’d be accepting applications for new best friends. It’s all fun and games to bust balls and everything, but when you put up a performance like he did last week and he’s still a free agent? I guess it’s better than just surrounding yourself with a bunch of “yes men” but that’s still a tough look for the friend group. Unless, of course, they know that Gardner would play a shitty game on purpose just to fuck with their team if he was ever playing against himself.
Either way, it’s a wild situation and we need more answers.