Footballguys Staff Bio: Mark Wimer
Age: 39
Birthplace: Holdrege, NE
Education: Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy, Hastings College, Hastings NE
Occupation: Footballguy, Writer, Dad, Husband
Hometown: Macon, GA
Family: I am fortunate to have married the red-headed Valkyrie of my dreams, and we have two beautiful little Vikings of our own to boast about.
Years playing fantasy football: 20
Favorite FF smack talk: Teasing the commissioner of the Heartland Football League about drafting Fred Lane for his RB stable in August of 2000. Bad selections during the HFL draft are now known as a "Fred Lane Pick".
Years writing about fantasy football: 11
Favorite FBG feature: During the build-up to the NFL Draft (Post Super-Bowl to the last weekend in April), I download the Audible constantly and listen to Cecil Lammey, Sigmund Bloom and company break down all the prospects. During the NFL-preseason/Fantasy Football drafting season, my favorite FBG feature is the awesome Draft Dominator that Bruce Henderson has created - there is no substitute if you want to crush the competition in your league(s). Random Shots usually makes me laugh at least once a week in-season, so it is my favorite in-season feature at Footballguys.com.
Organized football experience: The highest level of football competition I reached was playing wide receiver/defensive back for the Eta Phi Lambda flag football team in college.
Favorite NFL team: I lived in Charlotte when the Panthers franchise was awarded to the Carolinas, so I tend to pull for them in the NFC. My daughter loves Peyton Manning, so when she is watching football with me on Sunday the Colts are the AFC team most cheered for in the Wimer household.
Favorite college team: Nebraska Cornhuskers - if you were born there, you are part of the Husker Nation for life.
Favorite fan moment: Watching Tom Osborne finally win his first National Championship after years of frustration in the Miami Hurricanes' home stadium.
Favorite player of all time: Walter Payton. He was and remains the gold standard of what an NFL athlete can achieve, on and off the field - and he is the paragon that each current player should strive to equal.
NFL rule(s) I would change if I could: The league should start letting draftees practice with their new NFL squad from day 1. Times change - the rule about waiting for finals needs to go out the window.
Favorite movie(s): Once Upon a Time in the West; The Good, The Bad and the Ugly; Unforgiven; 3:10 to Yuma; Star Wars Episode IV (the original!); A Clockwork Orange; Blade Runner; The Godfather (I and II); Goodfellas; Reservoir Dogs; Patton; Cinderella Man; Rocky; The Lord of the Rings Trilogy; Braveheart; Gettysburg; HBO's Band of Brothers; There Will Be Blood; Breakfast at Tiffany's; The Big Lebowski; The Hustler; Akira Kurosawa's Dreams; Chinatown; Cape Fear ('62 and '91); Angel Heart; Heat; Blow; From Hell; Gold Finger; Live and Let Die; The Thomas Crown Affair; Batman Begins; The Dark Knight; Watchmen
Favorite musical genres/albums/artists: Led Zeppelin
What I read: History, Archaeology, Art theory/criticism, Economics, Biographies/Autobiographies, Journals (ie. Voyage of the Beagle, Captain James Cook's Journals) Historical Fiction, Alternate History Fiction, Science Fiction, Fantasy Fiction, Original, seminal texts of world religions (Christianity, Judaism, Taoism, Buddhism, Hindu mythology/philosophy), Cookbooks
Hobbies: Reading, cooking, furniture making, poker
Favorite TV show(s): Naked Archaeologist, Dogfights on the History Channel; Weaponology
Least favorite household chore: Doing Dishes
Dream job: I have my dream jobs already (see above)
Quote: Thirty spokes meet in the hub. Where the wheel isn't is where it is useful. - Hollowed out, clay makes a pot. Where the pot's not, is where it is useful. - Cut doors and windows to make a room. Where the room isn't there's room for you. - So the profit in what is is in the use of what isn't. - Lao Tzu
Parting thoughts: Don't give up, ever. Just keep going until you are going where you want to go and doing what you want to do.
