Dallas tornado survivor turns to fantasy football for sense of normal
How’d you fare in your Week 16 fantasy football finales? I lost two title games – both blowouts. Ouch.
As Week 16 and most fantasy football leagues faded to black, the bad beat stories started to trickle in on social media. The Latavius Murray stat correction, the victory formation kneel downs by Matthew Stafford and Kirk Cousins, and then there was the wacky Denard Robinson Week 15 stat correction posted last Friday after Week 16 had commenced. The 13 new-found rushing yards forced one commissioner to make a ruling because, if awarded the 1.3 fantasy points, D-Robinson’s owner would take home the crown instead of finishing third.
Four-plus months of research, dedication and TLC towards your fantasy football team came down to one week and to lose in those fashions came with it a sharp pain. Then, on Monday December 28, I noticed we had this message on our FOX Sports Fantasy Facebook page:
The day before the tornado hit Garland, Texas, 27-year-old Devin Mccalop, his wife Tiffany and two girls, ages 7 and 15 months – celebrated the Christmas holiday, played with new toys and watched movies. On Saturday, the holiday routine continued inside as the weather turned wicked outside. Devin says he received a weather alert on his phone Saturday night.
“When you look at those you think I get these all the time and it’s not really that serious. With that happening and not hearing a siren, we just weren’t prepared.”
As the family of four watched Netflix on the couch, the storm surged closer.
Devin's apartment the next day.
“I didn’t really hear much. We saw the lights start flickering a little bit. I started looking outside and saw three big lightning flashes and then all of a sudden the wind started picking up real bad. I opened up my front door and saw stuff flying around.”
Devin closed the front door momentarily, but the high winds pushed it back open. Using all his weight, he couldn’t get the door closed and locked. He had his family come to him and laid on top of them as best he could.
“As we’re laying down, the walls were ripped off and all of our furniture, electronics and pretty much everything was blown back at us. The force of the wind blew us back into the dining room.”
He says the chaos lasted about 10-to-15 minutes. Think about that.
Here’s a still image of the tornado that ripped through Devin’s apartment.
Wow...no other word can be used to describe the tornado over Rowlett. Credit:birchmencolonizer on Reddit pic.twitter.com/NQH2l1yM1q
— Andrew Gorton WALB (@AndrewGortonWx) December 27, 2015
Incredibly, Devin and his family - including his 15-month old baby girl - only suffered minor cuts from the flying glass.
“I hear a lot of people say that it sounds like a train when it’s coming towards them. But I didn’t hear anything until the storm hit. It was terrifying. It was a loud roar going through the house.”
Although his apartment association has offered to put them up in a nearby complex, Devin and his family are staying with Devin’s parents and plan to save some money and buy a house.
That brings us back to Devin, fantasy football and why in the world does he care about a Week 17 matchup days after his world was literally flipped upside down.
“{I’m} just trying to stay normal. I was already feeling down. It wouldn’t have helped just moping around. The one thing I enjoy doing and I do it with all my friends is fantasy football. Just trying to get stuff back together and get back in the swing of things.”
Devin’s “D-Town Spartans” finished the regular season 8-6 and credits some mid-season trades for his rise up the standings and trip to the title game.
He flipped some players in exchange for Alshon Jeffery and Eric Decker, while earlier in the season he moved Matt Ryan and Matt Forte for Allen Robinson and Darren McFadden. Take a look at his full roster below. I told him fellow owners who read this piece could provide feedback on Week 17 Starts / Sits in the comment section below or he said hit him up on Facebook. Right now, he’s concerned about rolling out Jordan Reed with the Redskins’ assumed plan to rest starters.
Devin's 2015 Fantasy Roster
QB
Blake Bortles
RB
Darren McFadden
RB
Tim Hightower
WR
Eric Decker
WR
Allen Robinson
TE
Jordan Reed
FLEX
Michael Floyd
K
Justin Tucker
DST
Panthers
Bench
Stafford
Bench
M. Bryant
Bench
Hilton
Bench
Eifert
Bench
Seferian-Jenkins
Bench
Seahawks DST
It's hard not to wax poetic about fantasy football wins and losses and real life perspective in the wake of tragedy. As sad as it is, typically those introspective lessons linger as long as the story stays in the headlines. Although his perspective is uncanny, what I take away from Devin’s story is that – for him – fantasy football is as much of an escape as it is therapeutic during this rough patch of his life. He loves the competition and the fantasy fraternity he’s created with his boys. What better way to grieve a tough loss and snatch back the normal than within your friends' company?
“It’s still devastating and it still bothers me, but I left that building with my family with nobody really hurt. Everything else can be replaced, but they can’t.”
Devin and family.
