Ahead of Super Bowl LX, DenTek revealed the Ultimate Fantasy Football Punishment for CJ Kemper, which turned out to be a giant banana statue built in his likeness, which was equally embarrassing and hilarious.
In attendance for the unveiling were a number of NFL players, including Hall of Famer Ronde Barber, five-time All-Pro linebacker Roquan Smith ( Baltimore Ravens ), two-time Pro Bowl corner Jaycee Horn ( Carolina Panthers ), and two-time Pro Bowl long snapper Jon Weeks ( San Francisco 49ers ).
Smith, Horn, and Weeks all spoke with Essentially Sports about their partnership with DenTek as well as their careers, current team, Super Bowl LX, and many other topics. Weeks was the first in line.
Is this the best fantasy football punishment you've ever seen?
"It is. I've said this multiple times today. Dentech has done such an amazing job, but I don't think he lost. I think he's the winner in this. I think he's walking away with maybe the coolest punishment prize I've ever seen in my entire life. And I think he somehow weaseled his way into being the champion of his league and not the loser. If I knew this would have been a possibility, I might have tanked myself."
Do you play fantasy football?
"There was a time in my life when I was out of football for a few years, and I did. But I wasn't a good fantasy footballer. I was an auto-draft guy. I was a, 'Hey, John, I need you to try to beat this person. Can you substitute these three guys in? Because you've got three guys now.' I just didn't pay attention enough. I wish I had. But yes, I was that guy. I was an auto drafter. I didn't do too much research. But I think in my defense, this was the early 2000s.
"I think fantasy has taken off big time since I've been in the league. So I'm gonna cut myself a little bit of slack and say that it wasn't the monster it is now. Sure."
Do you think the 49ers team is built to win a Super Bowl? Absolutely. So what details put you guys over the top?
"Absolutely. Now, the details that put you over the top, I think, you know, that's above my pay grade. But I can tell you from the culture, from the locker room, from the leadership, I think the team is in a prime position to compete for a Super Bowl, not just next year, but a lot of years.
"As long as Kyle [Shanahan] and John [Lynch] are maintaining what they've been doing for so long, I mean, the success is there."
Are you hoping to return to the 49ers?
"I am. I'm hoping to. I really, I mean, I loved my time here in San Francisco . I couldn't think of a better situation for me to end up in after spending so long with one team. To come here was just, it was a true blessing because I don't know if there would have been another team that made it so much fun. So I'm hoping to come back. That's unfortunately out of my hands at this point, and we'll see what happens."
I recently spoke to Jeff Garcia.
"Oh, I played with Jeff in Houston . He was my quarterback for a couple weeks. This is how bad, when we got to a spot in Houston where I think my quarterback, my starter, was Jake Delhomme; my backup was Josh Johnson ; and the backup to Josh was Jeff Garcia. I've been in the league a long time."
Jeff Garcia thinks Brock Purdy is the most underrated quarterback in the NFL. Do you agree?
"Absolutely."
Why do you think so?
"I'm not going to say I have a unique perspective, right, but you come from another team. You hear things around the league about certain people through media and all that kind of stuff. When you come here and you kind of, you see the kind of quarterback, leader, athlete, all that stuff that Brock is, Brock is an elite, elite winning quarterback in this league, and I don't think, I have no doubts in my mind—he's going to take this organization to some high spots."
Did you ever interact with Brandon Aiyuk ? What are your thoughts on the entire situation?
"I don't have anything about the situation. What I can tell you is that from the brief moments I did interact with Brandon, he was an awesome guy. I enjoyed our conversations. They were not long. They were brief; I had good conversations with Brandon when he was there."
Is retirement something that you've thought about, or is it like, when it comes, it comes?
"I think when you start to get where I've gotten to in my career, I think that's always in the back of your mind. But I think right now what I try hard to do is just try to enjoy each and every moment when I'm in it, right? So, I try not to look too far ahead. I have found that when you look too far ahead, it brings unnecessary stress. So, listen, I understand the business. I understand that that is always in the cards, kind of where I'm at in my career. But I'm healthy. I'm loving playing football. I'm loving being in San Francisco. And as long as I can continue to do that, and as long as I continue loving it, I'm not going to retire, at least on my terms."
Just a year-by-year kind of thing?
"That's the plan."
I am sure you've heard about that EMF stuff next to Levi's Stadium?
"Yeah, the substation stuff."
What do you think? You think there's any merit to that?
"I just got asked that question, and my answer would be this. I'm new to the team. I was healthy. I was okay this year. But I think when you stress so much about the importance of recovery and health to the body, I think all guys want is just all the information.
"At the end of the day, I think that's it, in my opinion. I think as long as, if you can get the guys' information where it's like, 'No, this is affecting you,' then they can see how to attack it. If you can get guys' information where it's like, 'Hey, listen, we understand what people or stories have said, but it's not true,' I think that's also good information."
Who do you have in Super Bowl LX? Seattle Seahawks ? New England Patriots ?
"It's tough, right? I've realized the Seattle-San Francisco rivalry is very heated. I'm new to that. I don't want to see a division rival win a Super Bowl in our stadium. At the same time, 15 years in Houston, I've had a lot of heartbreaks from New England , so I have a specific dislike for them as well. But I'm now a 49er, and I don't want to see Seattle winning in our stadium, so I'm going to go with New England."
Who do you think will win Super Bowl MVP?
"I'm going to give it to my old teammate. I'm going to go with Stefon Diggs . Stephon's going to have a huge game for New England. He's going to help them win, so I'm going to give it to Stef."
