Collinsworth Invitational: Warren Sapp, champion

(Pro Football Focus gave subscribers the opportunity to win a team in the Cris Collinsworth Fantasy Football Invitational, playing alongside celebrities such as Warren Sapp, Jenny McCarthy and of course Cris himself. As the lucky winner of that contest, I will be writing a weekly piece that provides a view into what it’s like playing in a celebrity league and how I will use the PFF tools to give me an edge.)

So close yet so far away. In the Collinsworth Invitational, the playoffs ran through Week 17. That meant that only a handful of NFL teams had something to play for and many star players were being rested.

That simple fact was a major deciding factor in what ultimately resulted in my championship loss to Warren Sapp, with a score of 87.25-59.75. My score was the lowest I had all season by a pretty wide margin. The culprit was my stud players not playing like studs. Lamer Miller rested for the playoffs, and his backup Alfred Blue scored 4 points. LeSean McCoy put up 1.6. Dez Bryant had a single target all game and a big fat zero on the score board. The list goes on. Even my kicker somehow put up a goose egg. You can’t win a championship with performances like that.

A fun season nonetheless

PFF gave me a cool opportunity this season to play in my first ever “celebrity” fantasy football league. I came close to returning the favor by representing the PFF subscriber community with a championship victory. But alas, I fell just short.

Overall the season was a blast, though. The experience of drafting live on Sirius XM during a show I listen to all the time was something any fantasy football geek can appreciate. Trying to wheel and deal all season long with sports commentators and celebrities was something hard to describe but lots of fun as well.

My only wish is that the season had ended in Week 16 instead of the lame-duck Week 17. The outcome of the league would not have been different, as Warren Sapp would still be the champion — his team put up 129.4 points in a strong Week 16 showing — but my team would have at least given him a run for the money with a score of 125.6. Sapp is a Hall of Famer – both in real life and apparently in fantasy football. He had the best regular-season record and put up the highest score each round of the playoffs. I just wish I had shown up as a tougher opponent in the final game.

A big thank you to to the entire team at Pro Football Focus for the opportunity to participate in the Collinsworth Invitational this year and sharing that journey with readers each week. PFF is a world-class organization from top to bottom and I hope to have the opportunity to participate in some way again next season.