NFL Star Messes With His Fantasy Owners in Sadistic, Yet Hilarious Way: TRAINA THOUGHTS

Josh Jacobs feels wrath of fans after lying about playing status on social media.

1. If you follow me on Twitter, you've heard (read?) me say many times that a few years ago, I stopped playing fantasy football—and it was one of the best decisions I've ever made in my life.

Outside of the first year around draft time, I haven't missed it for one single second. I can't begin to describe how freeing it is and how much more enjoyable an NFL Sunday is. 

Cut to Sunday afternoon, when fantasy owners across the country were scrambling to put together their lineups for either a playoff matchup or a matchup that could put fantasy players into the playoffs.

That's when the Raiders' Josh Jacobs, one of the top fantasy running backs, took to Instagram to let his followers know he'd be active, but wouldn't be playing in Las Vegas's game against the Colts.

Instagram

Naturally, those who have Jacobs on their fantasy rosters were not happy and let him know about it. 

Instagram

If you can't read that tiny font at the bottom, it says, "OWELL 🖕YO FANTASY."

Well, if you think Jacobs owners were pissed off at this point, the prank was just getting started, because once the Colts-Raiders game kicked off, guess what? Jacobs was in the backfield and in action.

His prank wasn't nearly as devastating as it could've been, because he ran for only 49 yards on 13 carries and had three catches for 25 years without scoring a touchdown.

But there were Jacobs owners out there who benched him and lost their matchup by a few points. And there were people who were not happy with the stunt and the lack of "respect" for fantasy football.

@iAM_JoshJacobs if it were not for fantasy, you would be irrelevant to so many NFL fans. Show respect. Don’t be cocky. You lost a lot of fans today. SMH.

— TCookeFF (@TCookeNFL) December 14, 2020

@iAM_JoshJacobs maybe think about this one when you want your big contract from the Raiders in 2 years. You don’t have to care about fantasy but don’t disrespect people who do, who buy stuff off the back of it and grow the pie for the NFL so you get more money.

— James (@jameslinton1) December 14, 2020

Speaking on the Josh Jacobs incident. It is appaling to me that a 22 year old professional athlete would blatantly troll his fans by saying on Instagram that he would not be playing and then go out and play. @iAM_JoshJacobs act your age, then maybe your team would be able to win

— Colin (@saint_7401) December 14, 2020

Since I don't play fantasy anymore, I love this troll job and would love to see more of it. 

2. Near the very end of the latest SI Media Podcast, at the one-hour-and-30-minute mark, I asked Steve Kornacki whether he's ever had technical issues with his digital maps while live on the air. Little did I know that would happen to him Sunday night on Football Night in America while he was trying to break down the NFL playoff picture.

Steve Kornacki dealt with technical issues on Sunday Night Football and never missed a beat.

A pro’s pro. @SteveKornacki 🤝https://t.co/fxaZ3s3Gcf

— BroBible (@BroBible) December 14, 2020

3. On Nov. 16, I wrote the following in that day's Traina Thoughts: "Just a reminder: College football coaches are running one of the great scams in American business." 

I mentioned that because fired South Carolina coach Will Muschamp got $15 million to go away.

Gus Malzahn had much more success than Muschamp, so he got $21 million to go away after getting fired this weekend.

Auburn is looking for a new coach after firing Gus Malzahn. The Tigers owe him a $21.45 million buyout for the remaining four years of a seven-year, $49 million deal. Malzahn was 68-35 in 8 seasons, 39-27 against SEC opponents.

by @jzenor
https://t.co/GNzV1TKIAF

— AP Top 25 (@AP_Top25) December 14, 2020

4. More TD celebrations like this one from DK Metcalf, please.

Lmao DK Metcalf stealing the media camera and using it for his TD celebration. #Seahawks pic.twitter.com/I9mmXWevBi

— Samuel Gold (@SamuelRGold) December 13, 2020

5. The latest SI Media Podcast features interviews with Mike Tirico and Steve Kornacki. Tirico discusses what it's like calling a blowout, the main job of a play-by-play broadcaster, the NFL's blocking him from calling Thursday Night Football, his relationship with Al Michaels, the best and worst games he's called, leaving ESPN and more.

At the one-hour mark of the show, Kornacki joins the podcast and talks about his new role breaking down the NFL playoff picture on NBC's Football Night in America. We also discussed election night and got into some lighter topics, such as whether he owns a pair of jeans and whether he's rivals with John King.

You can listen to the podcast below or download it on Apple, Spotify, Stitcher and Google Play.

Or you can watch the podcast on YouTube.

6. RANDOM VIDEO OF THE DAY: SNL spoofed the bats--- propaganda network Newsmax by showing us what the sports version of the channel would look like.

7. SPORTS VIDEO OF THE DAY: With the Browns playing on Monday Night Football tonight, here is a vintage video of the first ever MNF game in 1970, featuring the Jets and Browns with Keith Jackson on the call.

Be sure to catch up on past editions of Traina Thoughts and check out the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast hosted by Jimmy Traina on Apple, Spotify or Stitcher. You can also follow Jimmy on Twitter and Instagram.