The Road to Brodemption

The Road to Brodemption - 

How the Loss of a Mentor, Hitting Rock Bottom, and Time Away from the Game He Loved Brought Travis Bogan Back to the Winner's Circle

by Peter King, si.com

Travis Bogan doesn't remember exactly when rock bottom came last fantasy football season.  "It was somewhere in the later part of the regular season.  I watched the Sunday ticker to see Marvin Harrison, Andre Johnson, and Hines Ward had all been ruled out for like the fourth week in a row despite being day-to-day.  I lost yet again with half a roster and was mathematically eliminated from the playoffs.  I was ready to take my ball and go home."  Taking his ball and going home is something Mr. Bogan was thankful he didn't do as he 

received the Rebecca Reynolds Trophy for regular season champion  and a huge bro-hug yesterday from the Commissioner.  "It's been an amazing four year adventure for me and to win this trophy is just...", Bogan's voice trailed off as 

tears welled in his eyes.  To understand the emotion, you have to know what he had been through to get there.

The year was 2005.  Travis Bogan had for years followed Fantasy Football and now wanted to be a part of the action.  He called his best friend, Corey Reynolds, and asked in.  Reynolds, as you know, is a legend of the game.  A coach, an owner, a general manager, and now the Commissioner.  He is a surefire first ballot Fantasy Hall of Famer and was the perfect person to mentor Bogan to Fantasy greatness.  That first season was magical.  A 13-0 record in one league, the first undefeated regular season in a Long League format that anyone can remember, and a 12-1 season in their other league.  Bogan and Reynolds sprayed fake champagne all over their living room and wore their make believe Fantasy Football Regular Season Champion Tees with pride.  Then, more quickly then their ascension had begun, it was over.  They lost in the first round of the playoffs in each league.  Their dream seasons were over.

Most mentor/pupil relationships become strained when the pupil wants to be something more.  Think Bill Bellichik and Eric Mangini or Obi Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker.  The losses in the playoffs only accelerated what was an inevitability.  Bogan wanted more than just a partnership, he wanted his own team.  From there, the relationship strained as both worked on one specific team of their two team partnership and the results were disastrous.  Poor regular seasons and early exits from the playoffs happened in both Leagues. Reynolds and Bogan both refused to speak about this time together, yet apart.  Apparently the memories are not fond ones for the two of them.  A change was coming, however, and Bogan was finally going to get what he wanted, it was just more than he bargained for.

Early September 2007 was a happy time for many in the Reynolds Ring of Influence.  Reynolds had accepted the position as Commissioner and a new League was formed.  Corey's Fantasy Goat and Pony Show held their first annual draft and the whole cast was there, including Bogan.  Bogan was finally getting to draft his own team, to mold his own season.  Reynolds, in his role as Exalted Leader and Commissioner, smiled from the head of the table.  "I was thrilled for Travis.  I always encourage my assistants to shoot for the stars.  I was glad that he finally had his own opportunity.  I hoped for the best for him, second place - right behind me," Reynolds says now.  Bogan was buoyed, he remembers, "I had a great draft, was loaded at Wide Receiver, and felt like my first year on my own was going to be a breeze.  Little did I know."

The first year on his own made Bogan question if he had a future in Fantasy Football.  Injuries, bad luck, and more injuries made him miserable.  He drafted a great team, the Local Transients, that when healthy would have been as good as anyone else's, but the Local Transients were never healthy.   He lost more games than he won and when the season shook out he played in the last place Toilet Bowl.  Bogan told everyone that would listen that Fantasy Football was all "luck, no skill".  There were late season rants about the "misery" of Fantasy Football and threats of not returning to the League that everyone took seriously.  Courtney Reynolds, owner of the Convicks, and sister to the Commissioner was worried.  "Travis is one of the most fun Fantasy Players around.  He keeps it lively and he's got a real eye for talent,"  she said. "The way things were going though, I really thought he wouldn't be back.  It would have been a horrible thing for the league if that were to happen.  Whether he admits it or not, I don't think my Brother would have been able to handle not having Trav in the League."  Bogan was at a Crossroads in his Fantasy Career and he had a decision to make.  Bogan's wife, Kasey, gave him some advice that he took to heart.  "I told him to stop crying like a little baby and to just get away from it all during the offseason," Kasey says now.  "He can be quite impulsive and I let him now that he need to find something else to focus on for a couple of months.  If he still didn't miss Fantasy Football then, he would know it would be time.  It's not like Corey was going to fill his spot in the League in February anyway."  Travis Bogan needed a cause, something to take his mind off Fantasy Football and to reinvigorate him.  What he got was Wilford Brimley.

It was in the Mount Pleasant Inn, just down the street from his home, that Travis first ran into the man he credits with saving his passion for Fantasy Football.  Brimley was at the bar, trying to talk to a group of Mexicans about the dangers of Diabetes.  Bogan overheard Brimley and over beers the two talked about life, Fantasy Football, and Diabetes.  Bogan told Brimley that he was looking for something to take his mind off things and Brimley was confident traveling on the Diabeetus Express all over the U.S. for a few months was just what Bogan needed.  "Travis seemed like a lost soul and I could tell he needed something to believe in.  I thought educating the country about Diabeetus was something he would be good at," Brimley told me via text message.  "He's a salesman at heart and I knew if I could take him on the Express with me, we would be able to spread the word twice as fast."  Bogan accepted and began filming commercials with Brimley, speaking in Senior and Youth Centers throughout the MidWest and even testified to Congress about the need for more funding for Diabetes research.  "I barely slept, drank a ton of scotch, watched Brimley get all kinds of women, and didn't think about Fantasy Football for months.  I was fully on the Diabeetus Express and I was going to change things," Bogan says.  The trip to Washington brought Fantasy Football back into focus.

It was in Washington, just before heading out to speak to the United States Congress, that Travis ran into Jay Cutler.  Cutler, the world's one and only emo QB, plays for the Denver Broncos and had recently been diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes.  Bogan and Cutler talked about the dangers of Diabetes and how much work it was for Jay to test his blood sugar levels numerous times a day, but also how much better Cutler felt know that he knew what was ailing him. Eventually, the talk turned to football.  Cutler remembers the time as a turning point for Bogan.  "We talked a lot about how much better I was feeling and about how I was going to use my celebrity as a football player to raise awareness about Diabetes.  Travis was complimenting me on my season last year and asking a lot of questions about the talent we had coming back.  I knew he was a Fantasy Guy, I had heard through the grapevine about his horrible season the year before, so I didn't ask him much about it.  I did tell him Scheffler was going to have one hell of a year at tight end.  Before the conversation ended and we had to part ways, I finally asked him what he was thinking for the upcoming season."  Travis says that was when he knew what he had to do.  "I told Jay that I was going to do exactly what he was doing," Bogan said.  "I was going to go play Fantasy Football with a focus on spreading the word about this dastardly disease."  It was then that Cutler and Bogan agreed to start their own foundation, Destroying Diabeetus, Inc.  Travis Bogan was coming back to Corey's Fantasy Goat and Pony Show with a newfound focus and a mission of winning the fight against Diabetes.

The rest, as they say, is history.  Bogan nicknamed his team Brimley's Bro-skies, with the abbreviation Diabeetus, drafted Scheffler with Cutler's advice, and romped all through the regular season of the Goat and Pony Show.  Bogan had such a strong year that he clinched the regular season with one week left to play, a week he'll use to rest the troops and battle against the BAMFs for the Commissioner's Trophy for most total points in a regular season.  He's promised to donate all his winnings to Destroying Diabeetus, Inc. and is finally having fun again with Fantasy Football.  "It was a hard few years, losing my mentor, learning to go it on my own. Sometimes you just have to get away from it all to realize how much it means to you," he said.  "With the help of Wilford Brimley, I'll never take Fantasy Football or my health for granted again.  How 'bout them Bro-Skies!"  On a crazier note, he did it all without Brett Favre, someone this writer will never take for granted.