Summer Sanders serves as commissioner for the second installment of NFL PLAYERS Fantasy ’08. With many years as a sports broadcaster and insider, Sanders was also an accomplished athlete herself—she is a retired Olympic gold medalist in swimming. In this exclusive interview with NFLPLAYERS.COM, Sanders discusses the upcoming fantasy football playoffs, gives her thoughts on Thanksgiving football and her beloved Bills playing a “home” game in Toronto this Sunday.
Q: How did your fantasy teams do this weekend?
A: Well, let’s first talk about the fact that my poor husband missed out winning the regular season because of two things: he lost his game by .3 and my mom had Steve Slaton last night. She won her game because Steve Slaton had so many points. That last touchdown moved her ahead of my husband point-total wise, which is the tiebreaker and so she beat my husband and won the regular season! Guess who finished last? Me! Ten out of ten baby! That’s how it works. But my other team did well. I beat the girl who ended up winning the league last year, by one point because Aaron Rodgers scored 30 points. I think I had Philly defense and even my kicker did well, so I made the playoffs in that league and now anything can happen.
Q: What’s the best piece of advice you would give the members of NFL PLAYERS Fantasy ’08 as they head into the playoffs this week?
A: I would say if they’re on my fantasy teams, they better show up for their games. Just kidding. I would say at this point in the season, go with your gut because now every game counts. If you lose, you’re out, which I love. I don’t think now is the time to listen to every critic out there as to who you should play and all that. My feeling is to go with the guys who have taken you this far because you just really need to be consistent. There’s no rhyme or reason to it, but I would say now’s the time to go with your gut and not listen too much to what everybody else says.
Q: There are some interesting first-round match ups in the league with Maurice Jones-Drew playing last year’s champion Tatum Bell and red-hot Steven Jackson playing his Rams teammate Will Witherspoon. Jay Feely is the top seed, but who is your favorite at this point to win it all?
A: I think Feely. He’s just so consistent. It’s weird to say that he’s a smart fantasy player, but he’s not one of those guys that goes out on a limb with players; he’s pretty consistent with who he puts in. I forget his team, but I know he’s had to switch it up quite a bit because Tom Brady’s been out. So, I would go with Feely, which is funny because he lost to Tatum Bell last year in the playoffs after winning the regular season, so maybe he’s up for redemption this year.
Q: Did you get to watch much football on Thanksgiving?
A: Yes, I did. I love football on Thanksgiving. My opponent had Tony Romo, so that was great to watch.
Q: Members of the media have been calling for the NFL to create a flex schedule for the Thanksgiving games rather than just putting the Lions and Cowboys on TV. What is your take on that?
A: I think football is football. I love tradition and at some point the Lions are going to be a better team. They have played on Thanksgiving for how many years in a row? You can’t just drop them because they aren’t a great team because the tradition is there. They have given up a ton of Thanksgiving’s to play for people when they were good and when they aren’t so good and I think there’s something about tradition. Just go with tradition and then you never know, maybe Detroit will be a great team and have a great season. It’s not so much about the great team, it’s about the great game. If it’s a close game, then it’s great either way and who knows if you put the two best teams against each other if it’s going to be a great game. That’s my take.
Q: Some of the great offensive trios combined for great peformances this week, such as Romo, Terrell Owens and Jason Witten. If you could put any of the following trios on your fantasy team, which would you take: The aforementioned Cowboys, the Saints- Drew Brees, Reggie Bush and Marques Colston, or the Chargers- Philip Rivers, Antonio Gates and LaDainian Tomlinson?
A: I would go Romo, Owens and Witten. I just think T.O. just wants to win and is so hungry and Witten is so smart about football and he’s a playmaker. Honestly, I just love T.O. He’s a magnet to that ball. If it’s thrown anywhere near him, he’s just money. I grew up in the Jerry Rice era and I wouldn’t compare the two of them because I don’t do that type of stuff, but you just love that receiver who you can just throw it up there and they’ll go up and get it. And I loved them all on “Hard Knocks” this year. That was fun to watch.
Q: With fantasy playoffs getting underway, let’s look ahead to next year’s draft. Who do you think will be next year’s number one pick?
A: I think some people would say Tomlinson, but that’s not very convincing to me. I think people will be too scared to pick a quarterback as a number one pick, they’ll still want a running back, but the question is, who is it? What about a guy like Matt Forte? And even Steve Slaton? Nobody drafted him. I have Adrian Peterson this year and he’s been good, but it’s not like he’s pushed my team over the edge.
Q: Do you think Matt Cassel is worthy of a high selection, depending on what team he ends up signing with in free agency?
A: I don’t think he’ll be a first-round pick and I doubt he’ll even be a second rounder. This year I learned my lesson with quarterbacks. Ben Roethlisberger you could pick up in the fourth round of some drafts and what a great pick he was, or even a Philip Rivers. The top three quarterbacks go really fast, but after that you can get some great quarterbacks, so I doubt people are going to jump over themselves to get Cassel, but maybe they will.
Q: For this week’s picks at running back we have Michael Turner at New Orleans or Larry Johnson at Denver.
A: After seeing Thomas Jones run all over Denver last week, I’m going to go L.J.
Q: At quarterback: Ben Roethlisberger vs. Dallas or Jeff Garcia at Carolina?
A: I’ll go with Roethlisberger.
Q: For wide receiver: Calvin Johnson vs. Minnesota or T.J. Houshmandzadeh at Indianapolis?
A: Calvin Johnson.
Q: We can’t say goodbye without talking about your Bills.
A: I know, it’s so bad. I’m hoping Trent Edwards isn’t out because J.P. Losman either throws a long bomb for a touchdown or an interception. … Poor Bills. It’s a bummer because Denver has a three-game lead in their division and they’re what, 7-5? And then the Bills are 6-6 and they’re in last.
Q: As a lifetime Bills fan, what are your impressions of this week’s game vs. Miami being played in Toronto?
A: The Bills fans that live in Buffalo and go to the games are probably bummed out by it because you don’t want your team to go play somewhere else, but I hope Toronto embraces it and I hope people show up and cheer for the Bills because it is so close. It’s not as if it’s a world apart.