Fantasy football became more like nightmare football for ESPN’s Field Yates.
The media personality specializing in fantasy football analysis was hospitalized with a dislocated shoulder after he was injured running, leaping and driving his shoulder to tackle an inflatable quarterback in what was a competition to determine the draft order for his fantasy football league, as reported by ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
It happened on the beach at ESPN’s Ultimate Draft Weekend in the Bahamas.
“Worst pain of my life,” Yates wrote on Twitter. “However, many on the beach were calling me the Lawrence Taylor of beach football.”
Yates credited Stephania Bell – ESPN’s football injury analyst but also a board-certified orthopedic clinical specialist and certified strength and conditioning specialist, according to her Twitter bio – for being a “hero” in the situation.
Yates knew almost immediately that he was in trouble as he got to his feet and said “That did hurt” and acknowledged it was a bad injury, as the video shows.
If this was real football with a real quarterback, Yates would’ve been penalized, likely ejected and likely fined and suspended for his harsh treatment of the quarterback.
Since it was an inflatable, there is a silver lining: Yates was awarded the No. 1 pick in his draft. It is unclear who else participates in Yates’ league.
So, will the prize for his dislocated shoulder be 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey, Dolphins receiver Tyreek Hill or some sleeper?
“No one will remember your salary, how busy you were, how many hours you worked,” Yates wrote,” but they will remember that time when you secured the first pick in your fantasy draft and CRUSHED that blow-up QB.”
