CP3 is in Jay-Z's Fantasy Football League
This week marks the start of the NFL season and along with it comes the joy, tears, and tremendous amount of fun that is fantasy football. By nature, fantasy football is an activity that can quickly consume your life. While many players have been caught playing fantasy football at work, for ESPN’s Matthew Berry, it’s his job.
Berry joined ESPN in 2007 as the director of fantasy sports. He is now a featured columnist and a fantasy sports analyst for ESPN, who frequently appears on sports programs. For many sports fans, Berry has the ultimate dream job: playing fantasy sports, hanging out with famous athletes, and working for the largest sports company in the world. However, Berry has it even better than we imagined.
On an ESPN His and Hers podcast, Berry revealed that he was invited to the draft party hosted by none other than hip hop mogul, Jay-Z.
Fantasy Football brings people together. @S_C_ @AdamSchefter @LittleBurger http://t.co/qfbYgko0Iq
— Matthew Berry (@MatthewBerryTMR) August 29, 2013
But that’s not all. Guess who else is in Jay-Z’s fantasy league?
Making some last minute phone calls on my way to the draft! #FantasyLeague http://t.co/CqaSnJK4rV
— Chris Paul (@CP3) August 28, 2013
That’s right. NBA all-star, Chris Paul, was apparently heading to Jay-Z’s draft party on August 28, 2013. Chris Paul has become a part of Jay-Z’s inner circle, along with an executive from Atlantic Records. If you thought the 50 dollar buy-in for your fantasy league was expensive, imagine how much it would cost to play in Roc Nation’s league.
Berry revealed in the podcast that this was actually not his first time being invited to Jay-Z’s draft party. In fact, he attended last year and often communicates with Jay-Z via email. Also, in attendance at the draft party was his colleague, Adam Schefter, NFL insider for ESPN. The two ESPN analysts were in friendly competition with each other: Schefter helped CP3 draft his team while Berry assisted Jay Z. Berry notes the the hip hop artist is quite knowledgeable himself, but Jay-Z did not hesitate to ask for tips. If anything, Jay-Z required more help naming his fantasy team, because “Roc Nation” failed to impress His and Hers host, Michael Smith.
While this seems like the life that we all dreamed of, Berry talks about some of drawbacks of being a fantasy football expert. For instance, there is the intense amount of pressure that comes with making predictions. While Berry does not receive much credit for his correct predictions, his followers have been very vocal about his wrong ones. He shares times where he had to block followers because of the harsh nature of their comments.
In addition, he jokes that his job has brought him a considerable amount of “useless fame”, because the majority of his fans are sports nerds desperately in need of a fantasy tip.