If you left Chargers rookie tight end Oronde Gadsden II on your bench in fantasy football for Week 7, don't feel bad. His own father made the same mistake.
Gadsden II broke out in a big way in Week 7, tallying seven receptions for a career-best 164 yards receiving and a touchdown reception in the Chargers' 38-24 loss to the Colts. And while Gadsden's father, who played six seasons in the NFL, didn't get to watch his son's team emerge victorious in the breakout performance, at least his fantasy team benefited from the monster output. Right?
"It's the second week in a row I've lost by under 10 [points]," The elder Gadsden said during his weekly appearance on 104.3 WQAM sports radio this week. "And in my league they were like, 'What dad leaves their son on the bench with 32 points? What dad does that?' "
Even though the elder Gadsden had to face the music and hear it from his fantasy league members for his familial roster mismanagement, he's planning to double down and leave his son on the bench—both for superstitious reasons and so that no one else can benefit from his stellar play.
"And guess where he will stay for the rest of the year? On the bench! We just playing fantasy football—he's catching for real out there," Gadsden continued. "So he will stay on the bench. Nobody else got him, we cool with it, I'm cool."
Gadsden II is on a tear the last couple of weeks, accumulating 14 receptions for 232 receiving yards and a touchdown. This past week, he became the first Chargers rookie tight end to eclipse 100 receiving yards in a game since Pro Football Hall of Famer Antonio Gates.
Even though he'll be riding the pine for his father's fantasy football team, he certainly won't be doing so for the vast majority of other players after these performances.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Even Chargers Rookie's Own Father Benched Him in Fantasy Football Before Breakout.