Late-Round Perspectives: Michael Fabiano

JJ (0:00)

Michael Fabiano is a senior fantasy analyst at Sports Illustrated and hosted the Locked On Fantasy Football Podcast and the Fantasy with Fab Show for SITV. He's an FSWA Hall of Famer, and he's a pessimistic Yankees and Cowboys fan too. These are his late-round perspectives.

Are you doing all right after the Yankees series?

Michael Fabiano (0:31)

You know what? I am one of those people that everyone loves to hate, because I root for the Yankees and the Cowboys. But the good thing about being a Yankees Cowboys fan is that after the Yankees break your heart, you've got the three months to get over it, and then the Cowboys break your heart, and then you've got the off season to get over it.

JJ (0:47)

You went through a period where you were legitimately trying to find a new football team, right? Or was that all just kind of like that?

Michael Fabiano (0:54)

I was a big baby. I had a massive temper tantrum after the Cowboys, or Jerry Jones brought in Schottenheimer, who is in another Chan Gailey. He's another Dave Campo. He's a puppet. He's already lost a game for us this year.

I was livid.

And I posted that on social media, and that video got like 200,000 views. I think it's one of the most viewed videos I've ever posted. And it's because I was being a big baby. I can't not root for the Cowboys, JJ. I have been a Cowboys fan since I'm eight. So I go back to like the catch, the three straight NFC Championship game losses, and then all the awful Cowboy teams. Like when we were starting Chad Hutchinson. Yeah. I mean, it was, it was, you know, it was brutal. Drew Henson. I mean, it was awful. So I, listen, I had my temper tantrum. And, you know, now I just, I hate Jerry Jones. I have no problem rooting for other players on teams that are playing against the Cowboys. As long as the Cowboys still win, I still want the Cowboys to win. But I will wear other teams jerseys.

JJ (2:06)

Old school.

Michael Fabiano (2:07)

I love old school football. I never would do that before.

JJ (2:10)

Yeah.

Michael Fabiano (2:11)

And Jerry has ruined the Cowboys for not only me, but I mean, think about, I mean, you're younger than I am, significantly younger than I am. If you're a Cowboys fan at your age, you've never seen a championship. All you've seen is heartbreak.

JJ (2:23)

To be fair, to be fair, I was seven years old when the Cowboys beat the Steelers. In 95 Okay. Yeah, 95 Yeah.

Michael Fabiano (2:31)

All right. So, but still, I mean, seven years old.

JJ (2:33)

The Steelers are my team, you know, growing up in Pittsburgh and all that kind of stuff.

Michael Fabiano (2:36)

So did you watch that game actually?

JJ (2:38)

Yes, that was hard. Yeah, because that was about the time that I really started to get into football, like around that time frame. I remember the Steelers AFC Championship game, the Harbaugh game where you threw the helm, you know, all that and the controversy and stuff like that. And then so that was like my big, probably my first big playoff push as a kid of remembering. And then I experienced Neil O'Donnell and that Super Bowl. And I'm like, okay, so this is kind of how this goes. So yeah, like I do remember, at least I was a kid. It's not, I certainly don't as any sort of adult of them being competitive whatsoever because they haven't, you know.

Michael Fabiano (3:18)

It's been brutal, man. And people make fun of you because, oh, you're a front runner and all this kind of thing. Number one, I started rooting for all these teams when I'm seven or eight years old. I didn't know what a front runner was. I understand why people want to do that. But I mean, literally, like the Cowboys have been 30 years of mediocrity or worse.

And even when the Cowboys had good teams, they found a way to mess it up. The 13-3 team with Romo, you lose to the Giants in the divisional round, you got a million penalties. They go on to win the Super Bowl, the game against the Packers. Farve makes, not Farve, Aaron Rodgers makes that throw to Jared Cook on the sideline, and Mason Crosby hits the field goal. And then the no catch that was a catch that wasn't a catch with Dez.

The Vaseline ball in Seattle, when Martin Gramatica was going to kick a field goal and went through, I mean, it just, it has been nothing but heartache. So now I just go into every season thinking, you know, whatever. I mean, I know we're not going to win the Super Bowl. Everyone's excited about the Cowboys because we beat the Texans last week. Like, who cares? They're a lousy football team this year. And the Eagles are going to be, I don't know. I mean, they're maybe a team that's going to start tanking. I have no idea. I don't know why they traded away Juergens. But the Giants aren't that great without Jackson Dart. The Commanders are not a good team. So the Cowboys might very well win the NFC East by default. But if you think that with that defense, they're going to get anywhere in the playoffs, you're sadly mistaken. I'm just a realistic fantasy manager, right? I'm a realistic fantasy fan. I'm a realistic Cowboys fan. I'm a realistic Yankees fan.