Meet the fan who placed third against pros in Fanatics Games

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4 hours ago

Tom Brady, the soccer player? The legendary NFL QB took his shot at penalty kicks as part of the Fanatics Games on Friday. (Credit: Getty Images)
NEW YORK — For anyone who looked at the Fanatics Games' final leaderboard Sunday afternoon, there was only one question to ask: Who the hell is Matt Dennish?
Fanatics Games final championship leaderboard:
Tom Brady, 399.1
Justin Gaethje, 345.4
Matt Dennish, 325
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Dennish is now the answer to an age-old question: Can an average Joe beat the Pros?
Matt Dennish more than held his own against the pros at the Fanatics Games. (Credit: OBB Media)
Dennish is a 39-year-old high school teacher at his alma mater, Red Lion High School in York, Pennsylvania. He was one of 50 average fans who got the chance to compete against the pros for the top prize of $1 million, and he finished in third place to win a 2003-04 LeBron James rookie chrome refractor card, last valued at $250,000.
Dennish later traded the card to Brady for $250,000 cash, plus a signed Brady card and jersey.
Brady said he would give $5,000 to every fan who competed and donate the rest of his earnings to charity.
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Seven-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady added to his trophy case by taking home the initial Fanatics Games title and the $1 million prize. UFC fighter Justin Gaethje placed second and won a 2025 Ferrari 296 GTB.
Six of the top 10 finishers were average fans.
Dennish was clearly one of the best athletes in the competition.
He stands 6-foot-6, was a standout cross-country and track runner and a basketball player in high school. He ran a 4:08 mile his freshman year at East Carolina, and he said his recent accomplishments included hitting a half-court shot at a Philadelphia 76ers game and working himself down to a two handicap on the golf course.
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Dennish beat out such pros as Kevin Durant, Eli Manning, Dwight Howard, Rob Gronkowski, Denny Hamlin, Russell Wilson, C.J. Stroud, Bryce Young and Julian Edelman.
Contestants were scored in eight contests, and the lowest two numbers were dropped.
Dennish came into Friday's competition most nervous about the WWE Superstar entrance since he isn't a fan of wrestling.
"A friend who is a fan convinced me to do Joe Hendry," Dennish told cllct. "I got a belt that our high school women's wrestling team bought and took off my shirt."
Dennish got 70 total points in the WWE event, good for 10th-best score of the day.
The MLB pitching accuracy was next. Contestants were given six pitches to score as many points as they can by hitting targets. The top and bottom corners were worth five points. The middle strike zone was one, and all the rest were three. Dennish shined, hitting four five-pointers, a three and a one. No one did better.
Next he hit the NHL washer-dryer puck shooting contest, an area he knew would be difficult. He's not a hockey guy. Given 12 shots, he failed to knock in one, only lifting the puck successfully once.
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In the NFL QB skills, Dennish was impressive. He went 3-for-5 in the 10-yard toss and the 20-yard toss and missed the golden ball, a 30-yard toss, by a foot or two.
The top three best contestants in this skill were not surprisingly: 1. Stroud, 2. Brady and 3 (tie). Russell Wilson and Eli Manning. Dennish came in a respectable 11th.
Dennish also finished 11th overall in the UFC striking challenge, hitting the punching bag for a total of 75.5 points.
The FIFA goal-scoring was a strategy game for Dennish. He hit six out of eight in the bottom corners for five points each, but then got greedy by trying the top corners for 10 points and missed them all. He came in sixth. Streamer Adin Ross finished with Friday's best score.
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In the last event, the Dick's closest-to-the-pin golf contest, Dennish knew he would be among the best. And he was right.
"It's basically all I do these days," he said.
The challenge? The contestants had five chances to get the ball on the green at a 105-yard par-3 hole, simulated from Oakmont Country Club, the site of last week's U.S. Open. One point for the green, two points for within 15 yards. Dennish came away with a respectable four points, placing three on the green and one within 15 feet.
Brady finished first, and Dennish was fourth, one spot ahead of Manning.
After competing, Dennish sat around eating some pizza and reloading the scores. Before he headed home on his train back to Pennsylvania, he saw he was in third place behind Brady and just ahead of Manning.
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Although he dropped to third Sunday after Gaethje passed him, Dennish managed to hold onto the third spot and finish on the podium.
Darren Rovell is the founder of cllct and one of the country's leading reporters on the collectibles market. He previously worked for ESPN, CNBC and The Action Network.