A 39-year-old Philly fan beat pro athletes to finish third in the Fanatics Games — and walked away with $250K from Tom Brady
Matt Dennish, a schoolteacher from Red Lion, Pa., initially won a LeBron James rookie card, until Brady offered him a quarter million dollars for it.
NEW YORK — Matt Dennish, a 39-year-old Pennsylvania schoolteacher, found himself on stage with some of the biggest names in sports on Sunday night at the Javits Center.
Wearing his oversize Eagles hat, Dennish sat next to UFC fighter Justin Gaethje and seven-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady for the closing ceremonies of the Fanatics Games.
Although Dennish, an avid Philly sports fan, shared the stage with notable names such as Brady, Gaethje, Dana White, Kevin Hart, and Michael Rubin, the Red Lion High School health teacher felt like he belonged — and he proved that over the weekend, placing third in the games among 50 pro athletes and celebrity contestants.
“In this athletic environment, I can usually calm myself down,” Dennish said. “As a fan, I can’t. But when I’m performing in that area, I feel more confident. So, I just kind of embraced the moment.”
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The inaugural Fanatics Games featured eight different events: an NBA shooting competition, a FIFA goal-scoring shootout, an NHL slapshot accuracy competition, an NFL passing skills test, a UFC striking challenge, a golf challenge, an MLB pitching accuracy competition, and a WWE entrance challenge.
After finding out his application for the games was accepted from a FaceTime call with Rubin during a Father’s Day dinner with his wife, Jane, and their fathers, Mike and David, Dennish spent the next couple of days preparing for the competition.
“I had to pace myself too, because doing all those events and not being in tiptop shape, you know, being 39 years old, I had to be somewhat careful,” Dennish said. “But one of the biggest preparations was for the WWE walkout. I’m not a wrestling fan, so, I didn’t know any of the songs. So, I contacted one of my coworkers who’s a huge wrestling fan and she and her husband gave me different options.”
Dennish decided to go with a Joe Hendry-inspired entrance. For someone who isn’t a wrestling fan, he sure got into character — taking off his shirt and carrying a championship belt.
“I said going into this event, if I’m going to do it, I’m going all in,” Dennish said. “The shirt came off and I was thinking initially, if I don’t win this thing, nobody will know this. Nobody will see this. And as the time was going, I was thinking, uh-oh. This is going to get out there. And being a teacher, I’m sure there’s going to be memes.”
Dennish found out about the Fanatics Games through social media during his last week of school with his students. Coming from an athletic background, Dennish believed he could do well.
His video submission included clips of him dunking on students, and hitting a half-court shot at a Sixers game — and, of course, professing his love of Philly sports teams. Standing at 6-foot-6, Dennish grew up playing basketball and running track and cross country. He went to East Carolina University for track, where he still holds the school’s record for the indoor mile.
But what really helped him in the Fanatics Games were his pitching skills — even though he only played baseball until sixth grade. Dennish took first place in the MLB pitching accuracy competition.
“My grandfather played a little bit of major league [baseball], so it’s kind of in the family,” he said.
In the overall competition, Brady placed first, winning the grand prize of $1 million. Gaethje placed second, winning a red Ferrari 296 GTB, and Dennish followed in third, earning a LeBron James rookie card.
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But Dennish, who isn’t a collector, didn’t walk away with the card. Brady offered Dennish a market value of $250,000 for the card. Hart, looking out for his fellow Eagles fan, intervened to broker the deal, getting Brady to throw in a signed jersey and trading card.
“Backstage before going out, [Brady] asked me if I was a collector,” Dennish said. “And I just simply said, ‘No, I don’t deal with this stuff.’ And the other guy Justin asked me what I was going to do with the card, and I was like, I don’t know how to go about it, and Tom was there, too. So then after it was all said and done, looking back, I’m like, Tom was probably just setting me up, knowing he was going to do that, but I had no idea.”
Dennish is still waiting for the money and the Brady signed memorabilia to get shipped and processed. Although Rubin handed the teacher a bag of cash, Dennish did not walk around the streets of New York City with $250,000.
“It was suggested and we were trying to figure out the logistics of doing that and getting security,” he said. “But I was a little hesitant and they eventually decided that was probably not the best way to go about it.”
What is he planning to do with the money?
“I do like to save and invest, so I won’t be going and just spending, spending. I did buy my family dinner last night, but it’s something where I just kind of wait and see.”