64 | SEPTEMBER 14 • 2023
SPORTS
J
ason Brown got some
advice from an expert
before his fantasy
football league draft.
That expert was none other
than Adam Schefter, ESPN’s
senior NFL insider.
The connection between
the two men was made at the
32nd annual Hank Greenberg
Memorial Golf, Tennis and
Pickleball Invitational, held
in June at Franklin Hills
Country Club in Farmington
Hills.
Schefter, a 1989 University
of Michigan graduate, was
at the invitational to receive
the Dick Schaap Memorial
Award for Media Excellence.
The invitational is a
fundraiser for the Lawrence
& Idell Weisberg Cancer
Treatment Center at the
Karmanos Cancer Institute.
Schefter donated a Zoom call
with fantasy football team
owners as a live auction item.
Brown, the founder and
owner of PublicCity PR in
Royal Oak, was the winning
bidder for the Zoom call at
$750.
“I would bid on that again.
The call was great, and the
money went to a very good
cause,” said Brown, a board
member of the Michigan
Jewish Sports Foundation,
which presents the Greenberg
Invitational.
Brown and four friends
from his fantasy football
league participated in a
45-minute Zoom call with
Schefter on Aug. 3.
“Adam was in his home
office for the call,” Brown
said. “He was very gracious
and very helpful. He
answered all of our questions.
And he wasn’t on his phone
once.”
Brown’s last comment
was a reference to Schefter’s
well-earned reputation for
being on the phone with NFL
sources 24-7.
He normally has two
phones nearby while he
works, and he sometimes
breaks stories on-air while
talking on the phone.
“We asked Adam during
our call about players we
should and should not
consider drafting, and we
talked a lot about the Lions,”
Brown said.
That also was Schefter’s
recollection about his
conversation with Brown and
his friends.
“They asked a lot of
questions about the Lions,”
Schefter said. “I told them
I’m optimistic about the
Lions, but now is the time
for them to live up to
expectations.”
Brown had a question
for Schefter specific to his
fantasy football team.
In Brown’s league, team
owners can keep one player
from the previous year’s
team.
At the time of the Zoom
call with Schefter, Brown
was trying to decide between
keeping Dallas Cowboys
quarterback Dak Prescott or
Lions running back David
Montgomery.
“I advised him to keep
Prescott,” Schefter said.
“That was no slam against
Montgomery, who I think
will have a good season for
the Lions. I just thought
Prescott was the better choice
as a keeper.”
Brown kept Prescott.
He said Schefter’s advice
solidified his decision.
This wasn’t the first time
Schefter, who has been with
ESPN since 2009, has done a
Zoom call to impart fantasy
football advice.
“I’m often asked to donate
time or money to help a
charity,” he said. “During the
pandemic, I came up with the
idea to do fantasy football
Zoom calls. They’ve worked
out well. I can share my NFL
knowledge, hopefully help
someone become a fantasy
football champion and
benefit a charity.
“I do a dozen or so fantasy
football calls each summer,
starting at the end of July. I’m
Royal Oak business owner wins
fantasy football advice from ESPN
NFL expert Adam Schefter.
Tips from
the Top
continued on page 66
STEVE STEIN CONTRIBUTING WRITER
PHOTOS BY JASON BROWN
LEFT: Jason Brown has been
competing in the same fantasy
football league since the early
1990s.