Via iStockphoto / @tonysillyano TikTok
A man says he hired a GM for his fantasy football team—and he's not doing too hot. Uh, is this a real thing?
Football season is upon us—which means you’ve probably already realized that your fantasy team is not as good as you hoped.
It’s an annual problem: You draft a team thinking you’ve got all the best picks, then one by one, you’re shown to be an idiot. While some trades and waiver-wire pickups may be able to get you out of a bind, at the end of the day, you can’t build a castle on a bad foundation. In other words, you can say goodbye to the $50 you put in your office fantasy league—or get ready to do something pretty embarrassing.
But what if there was a better way? You’re a busy guy, after all. You shouldn’t have to worry about the ins-and-outs of daily fantasy. No, you should let someone else handle all of that! But is that even possible?
It turns out, the answer is “yes.” Across the country, there are people hiring fantasy football managers. Various companies claim to offer these services, alleging that they can draft your team and deal with weekly lineups, waivers, trades, injuries, and more. Maybe it removes a bit of the magic from fantasy football—but on the other hand, it just leaves you with more time to enjoy the game.
At least, that’s how it’s supposed to work on paper. In reality, getting a fantasy football manager can lead to some pretty awkward situations, as one TikTok user recently found out.
A Fantasy Football Manager
In a video with over 88,000 views, TikTok user Tony Siciliano (@tonysillyano) explains that he decided to “change up” his fantasy football approach this season by hiring a general manager.
“I maintain the ownership position, so I pay to buy in, and the GM is gonna get a piece of the pie if we win,” he explains. “This freed up my schedule. Let me watch the little football a little more unbiasedly.”
While this may seem like an OK idea on the surface, Siciliano says it hasn’t been working out for him.
“Now, we have started the season 0 and 2, and it’s looking like we’re gonna end up 0 and 3 after this week,” he says. “Is it too soon to fire a GM that I just hired at the beginning of the season?”
Siciliano says he’s “never been in this position before as an owner of a fantasy football team.”
“I have someone on the payroll, basically, and I don’t even know how to fire somebody in this role,” he summarizes.
It Gets Worse
In an update, Siciliano says that they did, in fact, go 0 and 3. But that’s not the only problem.
“We’re going to see what happens in week four,” he says. “The GM did just make a very bold move by benching the entire team, so we’ll see if that rallies up the troops.”
“But, if we get to 0-4, I think I’m going to start the interview process, and it’s going to be a very quick hire,” Siciliano continues. “He’s got one week for this team to rally behind him—see if that mass benching does the trick or not, but I’m not very confident in it.
Uh, Do People Really Hire GMs For Their Fantasy Football Teams?
While the underlying practice may be a thing that actually exists—i.e. people really do hire GMs for their fantasy football teams—it’s unlikely that Siciliano is being 100% honest about something that actually happened. Instead, this is probably just a bit about how far people will go for their fantasy team (and how dumb some of the decisions they make can be).
There are a few obvious clues that this is the case, but if you need just one, “benching the entire team” cannot motivate a fantasy football team because they don’t know you did that and, therefore, cannot be motivated by it. Fantasy football exists only on your phone. It’s not like you bench your QB and Drake Maye gets yet another notification that he needs to get his act together.
But, in an email to BroBible, Siciliano, who is a comedian, insisted that this was all legit.
“This is based on an actual agreement in place. I also got permission from my league to set it up this way for the season,” he wrote. “I made a shortlist, and the league agreed on our close friend John taking over GM duties for the season…I was traveling around Southeast Asia during the draft. So I would have been out in Bangkok at 2am drafting a fantasy team from house music club. So, I figured the logical decision was to bring on a GM.”
According to Siciliano, the GM is aware that he’s not in a good place right now.
“He is aware he is on the hot seat. He actually benched the whole roster. I don’t have a starting lineup right now. He’s convinced it’s the players,” he summarizes. “I am open to bring[ing] on his replacement mid-season. I am getting approval from the league.”
Should The Fantasy Football GM Get Fired?
In the comments section, many users pitched the TikToker on their own services. Others simply suggested the best way to encourage the GM to get his act together.
“I’d have a conversation and see what his plan is moving forward. If he has a solid plan, maybe give him 2 more weeks. If not, let him go,” wrote a user.
“Give him an option to resign now or carry out the season. If he can’t make playoffs he owes half the buy in,” offered another.
“Nah man, this is a cut throat business, unfortunately if your payroll isn’t making you money, it doesn’t make sense to have them on payroll,” stated a third.
In response to comments like these, Siciliano tells BroBible he’s listening.
“What has been fascinating about the response has been the desire so many great candidates have reached out to try and turn this season around,” he wrote. “This historically is a top performing program. Team ‘Uncle Tony’ is a team players want to play for. So we will be back soon.”
@tonysillyano I think this might be the way of the future. You could really have as many teams as you want and just have a weekly meeting to check in how things are going. #fantasyfootball #football
BroBible reached out to Siciliano via Instagram direct message and email.