Footballers AMA + Super Bowl Picks, Draft Heist - Fantasy Football Podcast for 1/11

Today's show is all about what you want to know about us. It is an Ask Me Anything. Nice graphic there, by the way. Make sure you subscribe to this show and enjoy. The Fantasy Footballers podcast with your host, Andy Holloway, Jason Moore, and Mike Wright. Welcome in. Thursday episode of the Fantasy Footballers podcast. Mike Wright, Andy Holloway.

And a big cardboard bear. Cardboard bear extraordinaire. Jay Gris, aka J. Riz. Isn't that the word of the year or something? Riz? Wasn't Riz, uh, the, probably. What are the all the dictionary companies? Uh, let's see. Miriam Webster. Yes. I think it's their word of the year. Well, it's not there. I mean, it's really the young people's word of those. Yeah, I don't, I don't even know how to use it. Oof. Do you know, do I have Riz? No. Okay. If you don't know how to use it, you don't got it. You don't got it. Yeah. It's actually Oxford University. Oh, that's who. See, I knew they were. Do they compete like Oxford and Merriam Webster? Is that like a showdown situation? Unreal heated rivalry? Yeah. So it's Oxford that named it. Our dictionary has 1,100 pages. Marion Webster went with the word authentic for the word of the year. Is that true?

Someone said it's true. According to Kyle. That's true. Sources say, and my source is Kyle. So wait, does that mean that Oxford is like the cool hip, like dictionary with Riz? I guess. How is that possible? I don't know. It doesn't sound like it. Isn't Oxford like they have the United Kingdom. Yeah, but they have those weird facts where it's like Oxford was around like before the Mayan civilization. Yeah, it predated the dinosaurs. Here we are. Welcome into an offseason episode of the show. We got an AMA today. Jason will be back next week. We're going to go over our Super Bowl predictions. If you had the privilege of going to my playoff picks.com, you can build your own bracket. It'll do the receding for you. And we'll talk about how we think that's going to go. But mostly we'll be answering your questions on today's show. That is correct. Unless something goes catastrophically wrong with our technology.

Just setting him up for failure? Because it's the off season. So we made some upgrades here to some of the computers and the gizmos and the gadgets. But just be clear, it's all Al's responsibility. Al, how are you feeling today? I'm doing good. Yeah? Everything seems to be recording. Yeah. We'll find out in about 45 minutes. To be fair, for Owl, I did see him and Papa Josh working on the computer. Papa Josh went home already. Very tired. Coincidence? I think not. No, we do have to protect ourselves. What else here at the top? We've got the Footy Awards. Next week we'll be announcing the winners on Tuesday with Jason back in studio. You can still vote. Yeah, footy awards.com. You can still vote. I voted. As did I. So that was pretty fun. I put a little sticker on after I did. Oh, did you? Yeah. Do we provide those? No, I print them. It was a one of one. Okay.

And yeah. It was authentic. And the DFS Pass is free right now. That is the other big news. DFSPass.com free during the playoffs. And you can get a little taste if you want to check that out. Yeah. Looks like about 700 of you decided free was the right price. You were really into that. You were like, you know what? There's been a barrier there. And free, it brought the barrier down. All right. So that's all the DFS, all the props, all that stuff from the amazing, amazing team that we have here that works on the DFS pod as well. You can find us on X at the FF Ballers. You can find Jason at Jason FFL, Mike at FF Hitman. And I'm at Andy Holloway. Mike's in his customary winter hoodie. It is winter and it has been very cold here. Been very cold.

I did something I never thought I would do in Arizona yesterday. I am loving it. Oh, what did you do? Well, I was going to pick up the boy from the late night baseball practice. Okay. And, you know, you know how kids are. They kind of like it when you're at their practice. Yeah. But then when it's like 40 degrees out, you're kind of like. You don't like it so much. You don't like it so much? Yeah. I bought a pair of gloves. What? I know. They sell those here? They sell gloves. And they were great. Hold on, hold on. I'm telling you, they kept my hands warm and everything. You're telling me, everyone else, they're on to something with gloves? Yeah, I bought a pair of gloves from Target. Like, fingerless gloves or like? Oh, no, no, those are. I don't have wrist, Mike. I can't wear fingerless gloves. Were they individual fingers? Or was it the mitten? No, it's not a mitten. Although I was tempted. No, it's just a pair of gloves. And then I realized when I got there, you know, how parents, they just play on their phones while their kids do practice. Oh, yeah, you can't.

Oh. On the pointer fingers of the gloves, they put some technology in there that lets you control your phone. It was the life. That's great. Now, cold weather people here, I guess I'm only talking to Brooks. Right. Do we not have the technology that they have in the mittens where it covers all the fingers? You know, so you just, all you have is a clamp. Okay. But I'm assuming those keep your hands warmer than the individualized finger gloves. I don't see. Why? Because of like shared heat? Or an insulation thing. What is the point? I feel like the mitten was the precursor. Like somebody's like, I don't know what to do here, but I can make two pockets. This pattern is too complex. But then eventually they went from two pockets to like. Someone look into this. I only use the regular gloves. I don't do the mittens. I'm telling you gloves were great. This is breaking news for all of you out there. We got thin skin in Arizona. Do you find it cold Brooks or are you acclimated here?

No, this is cold. This past couple weeks. See, it's been cold, right? There's freeze warnings in the 30s. Yeah, that's really cold for you for here. Yeah. I just know when Mike's got the hoodie on, things are getting serious around here. Hey, it's comfy, man. I know. It's so nice. Yeah. Yeah, I don't blame you. I don't blame you. Jay Grizz has got a coat, so he doesn't need to do anything. All right, so our Super Bowl picks, I have the. Dallas Cowboys. Oh. Over the Buffalo Bills. Well, hello. My preseason pick was, well, it looks quite ridiculous now. It looked good for approximately, what, two plays? I had the Jets beating the Cowboys in the Super Bowl before the season. All right. So you're keeping the boys in? So I'm keeping the boys in. It was tight. You know, San Francisco could certainly do it, but I'm going to go.

Cowboys over the bills. Okay. Jason has sent in his picks. He has the 49ers over the Ravens. And I just have... Well, are the Niners the true number one seed? I don't know. Well, I have it just vice versa of Ravens over 49ers. Kyle will chime in momentarily and tell us who the... betting favorite for the Super Bowl actually is, which is the 49ers. That's the 49ers. Yeah, and in my, my bracket overalls, I only have a couple upsets. Like I had, I have the Eagles losing the first round. Oh, what, are we back to the mittens? Did you see it? But Rapscallion, you're going to have to chime in here. He shared, he shared this quote. He says one of the major arguments in favor of mittens is the fact that they are warmer than gloves. And the reason lies in their design. However,

He did not write it as though it was a quote. So I wonder, did you write that yourself? No, I did not. Okay. Okay. I was like, are you an expert? I am not omitting expert by any means. Okay. Because you can, if it's just one pocket for your, for your, for your, your fingies, you can get more insulation in it. I put one of those hot hand things inside the glove as well. Like I went, you were, you were, I was sweating profusely. So you went Ravens? Yep. Jason 49ers. I went with Dak and the Cowboys. What a difference a year makes when it comes to our perception on DAC and Shatlin Hertz. And I had tweeted something earlier today just looking at the touchdown to interception ratios between some of the top talents. Last year, DAC was 23 touchdowns, 15 interceptions, and Hertz was 22 and 6. Pat Mahomes, 41 and 12, Josh Allen 35, 14. This year, DAC is 36 and 9.

I knew you could do it, Dak. I mean, honestly, you did. You've been the Dak believer, and there were doubts. And now Hertz, 23 and 15, the exact number that Dak put up last year. Pat Mahomes, 18. So you don't even have, like, Hertz, Mahomes, Allen, none of them threw for 30 touchdowns. That's wild. I mean, well, because Josh Allen was too busy running in, what, like 15 or whatever? Yeah. Or no, that was, is that Hertz? No, no, Hertz had 15. Yeah, but, I mean. It is interesting. Like, Dax probably getting paid this offseason. Oh, for sure, Will. So, yeah. We do have some news to talk about before we get into the AMA, which should be a lot of fun. News and notes from around the league. Well, this was big. We were sharing a meal, having some lunch, and then across the wire from every source possible, Pete Carroll, out as the head coach of the Seattle, Seahawks.

And it was reported that after the Cardinals game, he planned on continuing coaching with the Seahawks. He said that on his radio show. He probably doesn't remember saying it, though. What? Because it was age? Yeah. It's an age joke. Yeah. 72, man. No, he's young at heart. He's like Papa Josh. Same exact age. Same young at heart. But this is huge. I mean, big news. Still one of the best coaches in the league, in my opinion. And, you know, 11 winning records in 14 seasons. Super Bowl appearances, one win. But now there's a lot of rumors around Dan Quinn in Dallas. Yeah, which makes sense. Now, he's turned down head coaching opportunities for a few years to stay as the D.C. Yeah, because he was waiting out Pete Carroll. Maybe. I mean, that's how I feel about this next situation, too. Mike Vrable. Also wild. The Titans have let Mike Vrable go. Trading them was going to be too complicated, and he is being rumored as heavy interest in New England if Belichick leaves.

which makes perfect sense, both those guys' familiarity with those teams. When Mike Vrable gets fired, my immediate reaction is teams that are on the edge of firing their coach should fire their coach and hire Mike Vrable. That is how I feel about Mike Vrable. I would not disagree. It was shocking. I don't think you should not be ashamed as an owner or a general manager if you're like, you know what, we're going to keep Madyber Flues. And then Vrable's available and you're like, Just kidding, goodbye. Like, that's how I would view it. We are not. We are not keeping. Yeah, we said not. Look, if this show has taught anyone anything, it's that, not is only three letters. It's only three letters. And it comes and goes from sentences. Who am I to leave it in, leave it out? It was, you said you were keeping it. It was a typo. Yeah, yeah. We missed the word not. It gives you flexibility to put it in or take it out. It was a variable, I mean. He had no shot.

That's exactly like the Titans look at the roster that he had. He's the coach, and so he manages the pieces that he has. They were not, I mean, I thought they would, I thought they might be able to pull it out, but you knew it was going to be very difficult. He's not the one that signed Tanna Hill to this franchise encumbering deal. Yeah. You know, he's not the one that traded A.J. Brown away. The Bears have fired their offensive coordinator. Luke Getsy. Matt Iberfluse is expected to return unless they take my advice. And, you know, the bears are doing what the bears have done. Chris Harris tweeted this out. Like this is a pattern. They hire a coach. The coach does poorly. They draft the top tier quarterback. They do poorly again that year. And then they fire their coach. And they've done that three straight times, which.

A lot of people think that this move is setting it up so that they can draft a quarterback at number one. Do you have an opinion on that, Mike, whether they should or shouldn't? I feel like they, if they can pull off the heist of talking to a number two, Kyle, who's that number two? Washington. It's the commanders. Tell the commanders, we're going to take your guy. You better come up to number one and get him. Otherwise, we are going to take him. You get that move. You can probably extract some decent draft capital from that. Then you go to number three. I know you want a quarterback. We're going to take your guy and just keep doing that to everyone and move down. And if you can compile enough, I think that while having the elite quarterback is a massive advantage, I think that Fields can be good enough to win if you just stack the team, which I think that they are in a...

very strange, unique situation they could end up doing. Now, you have to hit on all the draft picks, but of course, you've got to hit on, if Caleb Williams is your number one guy, you know, it hasn't been really working for number one overall picks every single time. I mean, Burrow smashing success, but, you know, Baker, he's on what his fourth team. Trevor Lawrence, there has to be huge questions from Jacksonville as they stare at the, at the, uh, the stopwatch that's clicking on his extension that is coming in. And then you have this year, Bryce Young. Yeah, they could have taken Straub, but the point being, it's still really difficult to find a quarterback. And if you can piece together such an elite cast of characters around the quarterback, I think you can still win in today's NFL. I mean, you might be right with the outcome, but I don't have the courage to...

make the process or go through that again. I think I would take the pick. In their situation with like Iber flus seemingly barely holding on to his job, he might be pushed into how you're like, no, you're going to take Caleb Williams or you're not going to hold on to this job. So that's news. And then Kirk Cousins did talk about maybe taking a hometown discount in his next contract with the Vikings. You know, he basically said, look, he's been blessed. Beyond his wildest dreams. He has done very well. The dollars are not really what it's about. You've heard Justin Jefferson, who I think has, I would imagine a huge sway in the discussion there because, you know, he's got to get paid, right? Yeah, very soon. So Jefferson just loves Kirk Cousins as a leader, as a quarterback, wants them back. So look, that's best case scenario for Addison and Jefferson. For everybody out there, there's not a better scenario.

than that, in my opinion. I'm in agreement of maybe you don't think Kirk Cousins is worth the money. You don't think he's a great quarterback. It's very easy to get rid of your quarterback. It is very difficult to replace your quarterback. Yeah. And if you don't replace them, you can be trapped forever. Yep. Ian Rappaport, Gabe Davis, Sprane, PCL. Okay. We have no other news on that. whether he's playing. Yeah, not that I've seen. And then AJ Brown, MRI in his knee, so waiting on that. This one is bizarre. Just that we don't have more info? Yeah. Yeah. Well, the NFL already was like, hey, we'll go ahead and give me an extra day to get better because they're Monday night football. Just feel like he's your superstar wide receiver. I would have, he would have walked, he would have gone from the tent immediately to the machines. That's why I doubt that there's something seriously wrong.

Because I feel like with all the attention on that team and on the playoffs, you would have already heard something. But I would have loved to have heard he's fine. So anything else, Brooksie, you got news for us? I don't got news. Any new surprise coaches? Not yet. No, that's crazy, though. Pete Carroll. Both the Vrabel and Carol ones were bombshells to me. Bad news for big bubble gum. Oh, with him leaving. Oh, sales will plummet. He was very. I mean, he was keeping them in business. Uh-huh. Yeah. All right. How does he not have his own bubble gum company? I mean, he seems like a shrewd guy. It's probably because he doesn't want to chew anything else. He's probably in a routine. He's chewing some other brand. He doesn't want to make his own. Just copy it. Yeah. How different is gum? That's the Mr. Beast plan, right? I mean, honestly, aside from a little bit of flavoring, gum is gum, right? It's all the same exact chemicals. From what I know gum is gum, Mike. Yes.

Yes, I believe that is correct. He's a bubble yum enthusiast. Would it be a peach cobbler flavored? Well, of course. Yeah. That's the key. It's like Willy Wonka flavors. Do you have a favorite? Bubble gum? Yeah, gum. I haven't been a gum chewer in a while. I haven't either. I liked the old, what are the double mint? Is that the green package? Yeah, you were into that? Yeah, I liked that one. Juicy. What's the one with the twins commercials? Yes. Okay. No, no. Oh, yeah. Yes, the twins. I'm going to say then the juicy fruit. Juicy Fruit was delicious, but it just... Five seconds. Yeah. I mean, it moved you. Bubble yum. They had the volume. Yeah. You really got a lot there. All right. I don't know what we're doing. Quick break back with our fantasy footballers AMA. That was a preview. The bubble gum discussion was a preview of the AMA. If you liked that, if you liked that content. What was our discussion the other day? We had another really important. I mean, shopping carts? It was the shopping car one.

where Mike, Mike's mind was blown at the technology. I still don't believe it. You gotta try to steal a shopping cart and see what happens. All right. All right. You ready to dig into this? We have questions from everyone about everything on today's show. Sit that mailbag. Mailbag. I've got to be, I just love shows like this. I love shows. I feel like we are coming down off of a, obviously intense. Mm-hmm. For us, incredibly successful season, Mike. I mean, you right before the show, this is a good reminder for everybody out there if you're a champion. Yes. Take the time every day. It's like brushing your teeth to troll your league. It can be as simple as a thoughtful gift. Not gift. Gift. No gift. Yeah, where you go. You already gave him a gift. Yeah. Of being in the league with them. Right. Right.

But like Mike and I, we've got a couple titles. And like some days you throw a gift in. And I'm like, that's a good reminder that I need to go do that. And vice versa. Yeah. We're picking each other up. Keep each other accountable. Mock your league. All right. We are jumping into a footballer's AMA today. And our first question comes from looks like X. Jeremy Schwartz writes in and says, what is your greatest fear not related? to fantasy football. Interesting. I like that it infers our true greatest fear does have to do with fantasy football. And that would be like when Ariam Foster went out that one year. Yeah. Injury. For a long time, I would have said bees, but I have gotten much, much better. What has been the key to overcoming your bee phobia? Immersion therapy. Just forcing myself to deal with it. Immersion? Yeah.

That's like going under like. No, it's just being around it. So like when there was, if there's a bee there, you know, just take, take a breath, kind of wave them off, talk to them. You wave at it? You're not supposed to wave at a bee? Well, I'm shoeing them. Really? Yes. I think you just, you're supposed to go T-Rex on that. Supposed to just not move. Well, I shoe them away. I've always had it in the back of my head that the bees can sense your nervousness. That is a thing that is said, that bees can sense fear. See, that's what I think happens. I think that if you're just chill with bees, they're chill with you. Because you see the beekeepers. I even have a friend who's one. They don't put on, like, clothing when they go and clear out. Because they're psychopaths, man. Look, I've said I've grown. I'm not as afraid of bees anymore. I'm not going to be a beekeeper, though. Without.

Those people, there's madness. I called a beekeeper here in Arizona because we got lots of bees out here. And there was a hive that had moved into a tree. We got kids. I was like, I don't want this hive in my tree, man. Come get it. And he's like, sure, I'll come get it for this amount of money. And they take them and they humanely transport them to beef farms out here in the valley. And I'm just like, okay, he's going to get in the gear. He just walks back there. It just grabs the branch and starts shaking it. And then they picked him up and they flew off.

No, no, thank you. But do you have a greatest fear? I have noticed over the last 10 to 15 years that I am genuinely afraid of heights. Okay. And I didn't think I was afraid of heights. When I was a kid, I'd climb fences and jump on the roof and run around, didn't have any concern. But I think it is... You were closer to the ground back then. I was, yeah, just my natural height. But I was also, like, very sure of my body's ability to move. And I think now that I know that falling is a possibility in my life,

I remember trying to hang up lights on a second story house once, and I got halfway up an extension ladder. I was like, this is not, no. Not for me. It's not happening. I'm not going to do it. I am on that side. I don't need to go up there. Yeah, yeah, no, no thank you. Cort Zeigler writes in off of X as well, says, what is the best, okay, this is really an ask, ask us anything. What is the best way to eat potatoes? I mean, it's fried. How was it not? What are the other options? Like a baked potato. Like scalloped potatoes. A boiled potato. Fried is French fried. Yes. Yeah, that's how I'm going. But I do like them, you know, like in a... It's not like with your hands or with an instrument. That's not the question. No. No. Not the best way of consuming. But, you know, French fry them up. And then I love like a good stew where you have just...

The real soft potatoes in there? I love that. That's delicious. Those have got to be the russet, the brown potato. Don't give me down those red potatoes in my soup. In the stew. In the stew. Okay. No, you got to go the, I think they're called russet, right? I don't know. I'm seeing nods from our potato experts. Let's go to the potato experts over there, Inducers Alley. Here's your expert. The brown one, that's a potato. That's a potato. Yes. That's a potato. Yes, the default is potato. Yeah. They don't say like, Orange carrots and then purple carrots. It's just carrots. Yes. And purple carrots. Yeah. What does it look like? It's a brown potato. Yeah. It's because that's a potato. Yeah. Okay. Ridiculous. Very helpful. All right. We have, did we have a voice from our question or no? We had one. Is it gone? I think it's gone. I think we've got our first malfunction of the day. It was there. There it is. I see one.

Can I push the button? You can. All right, we got a voicemail question. Hey, Ballers, Lou from Charlotte. My question is, what is the most fun location that you guys have ever done for a live in-person draft? Thanks a lot. Bye. Yeah, it's South Dakota, obviously. South Dakota, best place for... No, I... We've always done them in the studio, right? Yeah. I mean, we had a great draft out here where the good folks at Traeger came out with their, like, pro... you know, barbecue chef. Yeah. And made some delicious food in the parking lot. We've also had it where we've literally invited a friend in a, in a full suit and tie to read the picks off. That's very fun. That were written on a card. That was a delight. Yeah. Location wise, we haven't done anything real special. But we do it every year now, we do it in the office. And I think that we have a,

We have the, when the trigger guys showed up, we did a filming of it. So it's on YouTube if you want to see how we draft. Yep. That's it called our league of record draft? Yeah. Who's the champ of that league right now? That would be you. Oh, that's right. YouTube. What was your, uh, there's a YouTube question from at 12 Moisty. What was your first fantasy football league and result? Mine being an auto-drafted team with random. that I somehow won. Oh, nice. I remember this very clearly. The very first league I ever joined, which is, I'm thinking 17, 18 years ago. Okay. I overcommitted to one team and drafted four saints. Ah, super duper stacks. So it was like Breeze, Reggie Bush, Marcus Colston.

And I think that league had like a coach spot. And I was like, give me Sean Payton too. And then the actual Saints started 0 and 7. What do you think the record of my fantasy team was? Oh, and 7? Oh, and 7. Nice. So that was my debut. The first league, first football league I was ever in. It was because fantasy basketball was where I started. Same. And some of the guys like, hey, let's try and do fantasy football. So they set it up. And I end up not even being able to be at the draft. So I set it up my auto draft. And I was real aggressive with my ordering. So I got both Larry and Bolton. Oh, two card. Nolan Whiteouts. I don't remember how that team did. But then my first real serious year was the first year in the league of record where I got to keep Jamal Charles. And then he immediately went down with an ACL tear.