DeSean Jackson

DeSean Jackson has been one of the most exciting players in football over the last decade plus. One of the fastest players in the NFL, he led the league in receiving yards per reception four times in his 12-year career. He also has 5 1,000-yard seasons and 3 Pro-Bowl appearances. In addition, Jackson throwing an interception helped me win a fantasy football championship. (Now that Andy Reid won a Super Bowl with Kansas City, people think he's a genius, but I'll always remember Reid having his wide receiver throw the ball on 3rd and goal on a Monday night game.) Plus, DeSean Jackson is part of one of my favorite movie quotes from the last decade from the movie Silver Linings Playbook:



I remember there being two words between the and man with the first word being mother and the second not being appropriate for children. Maybe the NSFW video isn't on YouTube. Maybe I'm remembering it wrong.

Anyway, I'm getting way off topic. Last week, DeSean Jackson shared two (now deleted) disturbing, anti-Semitic posts on Instagram. Jackson apologized for these posts, likely because he rightfully got called out by many people including his employer, the Philadelphia Eagles. Personally, I found the apology to be fairly weak and likely done because the Eagles, his agent, and/or others close to him told him that this needed to happen. On Friday, the Eagles fined Jackson and provided this statement:

"This has been a difficult and emotional week for our community and organization," the team said in the statement. "The Philadelphia Eagles do not tolerate hate towards any individual or group. We believe in respect and equality for all races, ethnicities, and faiths. We as an organization want to help be an instrument for positive change. This can only occur through strong, deliberate actions and a commitment to learn and grow. 

"We have had a number of constructive conversations over the last few days, not only with DeSean Jackson, but also with many other players, members of the organization, and leaders in the community. That has led us to the point where we and he are ready to take the next steps."

"Today we have penalized DeSean for conduct detrimental to the team," the statement read. "He accepted these consequences and apologized. In our many conversations with him, it has also been made clear that this is only the beginning. We have discussed a concrete plan for how we and he can heal moving forward. He understands that in order to remain on the team, he must also commit to supporting his words with actions. We have been encouraged by his desire to educate himself, but we all understand that there is still a lot of work to be done. We will continue to assist DeSean in this process, and we also know that all of us in our organization need to listen and learn more about things that are unfamiliar or uncomfortable to us.

"We must continue to fight against anti-Semitism and all forms of discrimination, while not losing sight of the important battle against systemic racism."

Obviously, what Jackson posted was wrong. My question is whether a fine is necessary. How does Jackson grow and learn from being fined? Wouldn't the fine cause him to be more resentful? Now, should he lose sponsorships? Yes. Companies don't want someone paraphrasing Hitler pitching their products. Taking Jackson off of the team's 2021 calendar or removing his jersey from the online team store? Absolutely. But a fine? It seems to me that Jackson needs education, not a fine. Fortunately, education is happening. Jackson spoke with Holocaust survivor Edward Mosberg who invited him to visit Auschwitz.

Apparently, Jackson also spoke with New England Patriots WR Julian Edelman, who offered to take him to the US Holocaust Memorial Museum in DC. I hope he also talks with NBA Hall of Famer Ray Allen who is (or at least was) on the US Holocaust Memorial Council.

I do want to end on a positive here. I've seen several NFL players speak out last week, including this video by Pittsburgh Steelers offensive lineman Zach Banner. I already liked him because of his personality and because he plays for the Steelers but now he's one of my all-time favorite players.

Fantasy Football Champion

I remember my very first fantasy football league. I was a junior in high school, and we really didn’t know what we were doing. There were no fantasy football magazines or websites. I don’t even think there were any websites back then. All of the stats were done by hand. With the #5 pick in the first round, I selected Jerry Rice. The only other players I remember on my team was Wilbur Marshall (we had an individual defensive player) and my starting quarterback, John Friesz of the San Diego Chargers. As you can guess, a team starting Friesz did not win the title. The league was done after one year as half of the participants went off to college. I didn’t play fantasy football again until 2001.



Meanwhile, I have been in one fantasy baseball league consistently since 1992 and joined another league over the past few years. This year, I was in three fantasy football leagues, losing in the quarterfinals in my 16-team league after going 10-3 in the regular season and falling in the semi-finals in the second league. By my estimate, I have participated in around 40 seasons of fantasy baseball and football. Throughout that time, I have never won a championship. I wrote about my fantasy football frustrations each of the past Decembers (2007 and 2006) and even thought about quitting. However, my perseverance has paid off as I am now a fantasy football champion.

I know most people don’t care about my championship team, but this is my blog, so I’m going to write about this magical season. If you don’t want to read about it, feel free to answer the trivia Tuesday questions below. Anyway, of all of my fantasy football teams over the years, this may be one of my worst. My top three running backs, Joseph Addai, Reggie Bush and Earnest Graham all missed significant time with injuries, with the last two now on IR. In addition, my first quarterback drafted was Derek Anderson of the Browns. He didn’t work out well this year for me or the Browns. In fact, I’m convinced that my team is the worst team ever to go 13-3 (including playoffs) and possibly the worst team ever to win a championship.

Take a look at my starting line-up this week:

QB: Chad Pennington (I made a last-minute decision to bench Matt Cassel)
RB: Joseph Addai (even though he was active, he didn’t even play this week!)
RB: DeShaun Foster (yes really)
WR: Reggie Wayne
WR: Greg Jennings
Flex: Kevin Walter
TE: John Carlson
D/ST: Pittsburgh (The team’s worst performance of the year)
K: Jason Elam

How the hell did I win? Well, I need to give credit to the Oakland Raiders defense who shut down Matt Schaub, Steve Slaton and Andre Johnson. I also need to thank the Giants defense for containing Steve Smith but doing nothing else. I guess I should also express some gratitude to the Redskins defense for holding Brian Westbrook to only 11 points. In fact, only Brandon Jacobs showed up for my opponent. (Sorry Gobo.)

I also should send some flowers or donuts to the real hero, Philadelphia Eagles’ coach Andy Reid. In my semi-final match-up, I was up 5 going against DeSean Jackson on Monday night. Although Jackson scored 7 points for having 70+ receiving yards, he earned a -2 for throwing an interception. Yes, Andy Reid had Jackson, a wide receiver, throw the ball on 3rd and goal. I won the tie-breaker. (Sorry Messiah.)



However, I don’t think I have fully explained just how bad my team was this year. In this 12-team league, I faced the team who had the lowest score of the week 7 times, including the championship. In two of those weeks, I finished 11th in points scored, but earned the ugly victory. For the championship game, I finished 10th in points scored, worse than all but one of the teams in the consolation brackets. I think there's a saying that it's better to be lucky than good. I'd rather be good, but for this year, I'll take lucky.

I guess I can check winning a fantasy league off of my list of things to accomplish in my life. Is a fantasy baseball title next?