When Matt Dennish, a 6-foot-6 teacher from Pennsylvania, looked at the scoreboard after competing in a high-stakes sports skills competition, he had a better score than all but one of his opponents: Tom Brady.
Through the first round of the three-day Fanatics Games, – which includes 50 professional athletes and 50 fans competing in a multi-sport competition with a total of $2 million in prizes – the 39-year-old health teacher finished just behind Brady and just ahead of Eli Manning.
“I was in first for a while, but Brady came in and crushed my score,” Dennish told NBC Local on Saturday. “That was kind of frustrating too because I felt like I left points out there.”
He still tallied enough points to finish the day sandwiched between two future Hall of Fame quarterbacks. Dennish positioned himself to potentially win a lucrative runner-up prize if his score isn’t surpassed over the final two days by other opponents – some of whom are also Hall of Famers.
The competition — being held at Fanatics Fest in New York City — includes MLB pitching accuracy, NHL slapshot accuracy, NFL passing skills, an NBA shooting competition, a FIFA goal-scoring shootout, a UFC striking challenge, golf accuracy and a WWE entrance contest.
If a fan finishes the competition in first place, they win $1 million. The second-place prize, which Dennish holds entering Saturday, is the choice of a Ferrari 296 GTB or $400,000. Third place receives a LeBron James 2003-04 Topps Chrome Gold Refractor trading card valued at $250,000.
If no fans finish in the top three, falling short of the celebrity competitors, the highest-scoring fan receives $100,000. If a celebrity competitor comes in first, they take home the seven-figure prize.
So, if Dennish holds on to second place, which prize will be choose?
“I keep saying that I will not fit in that Ferrari being 6-foot-6,” he said. “So, cash seems like a better investment.”
Fanatics
Fanatics Matt Dennish, a teacher from Pennsylvania, competes in Fanatics Games at Fanatics Fest in New York City.
Dennish — who teaches at his alma mater Red Line High School in York – was a three-sport athlete who competed in basketball, track and cross country. He went on to run track at the Division I level at East Carolina University in North Carolina before returning home to start his job as a teacher 16 years ago.
He was scrolling social media last week when he saw a post for the inaugural Fanatics Games.
“I’ve always been told I can do all kind of random athletic feats,” he said. “I was like, ‘Why don’t I just try putting in for this?’”
He applied, submitting an audition video. He included a clip from last year when he hit a halfcourt shot at a Philadelphia 76ers game to win $10,000 towards his existing season-ticket package. He also included video from his school’s faculty-versus-student basketball game when he dunked over a student who regrettably attempted to take a charge and instead became…well, a highlight submitted to Fanatics.
Dennish was having dinner with his family on Sunday for Father’s Day when he received a call from an unknown number.
“It was Michael Rubin on Facetime,” he said of the Fanatics CEO. “I was a little taken back. I was like, ‘Uh oh, I think this might be the invite.’ He was really positive, energetic, saying, ‘Hey, I want to bring you up here’ and that whole thing.”
Dennish spent the next few days preparing for the competition, practicing each sport with his brother in the gym at the local elementary school.
“I was trying to do the sports that were gonna be included, not knowing all the details, but just practicing,” he said. “But also not trying to overdo it cause, being 39, the body doesn’t respond like it used to.”
The stage of the competition he was most concerned with? His WWE-style walkout down an entrance ramp, complete with music, jumbotron and fans – that would be scored by three judges.
“It was stressing me out all week,” he said. “I’m not a wrestling guy.”
He ended up scoring higher in that event than former New England Patriots tight end, and wrestling enthusiast, Rob Gronkowski.
Dennish replicated the entrance of wrestling star Joe Hendry – borrowing a championship belt he borrowed from the girl’s wrestling team at his school.
“I took off my shirt,” he said with a laugh. “I’m getting some comments on that one.”
His best event was in baseball, where he hit different targets in the strike zone and recorded the highest score of the day in the event. He was disappointed in his football performance, saying his accuracy and distance were not up to his standards. He struggled in hockey, unable to lift the puck while firing shots into a stackable washer and dryer.
“I was concerned about hockey and that proved true,” he said. “I was 0-fer on that one, I couldn’t get the puck off the ground.”
Bryan Bedder/Getty Images for Fanatics
Bryan Bedder/Getty Images for Fanatics Tom Brady and Eli Manning attend Fanatics Fest NYC 2025 at Javits Center on June 20, 2025 in New York City.
But the two lowest scores of the eight events for each contestant were dropped from their total. When the final scores were tallied Friday night, Brady led the way with 399.1 points, Dennish had 326 and Manning had 314.5.
He said he’ll be monitoring the leaderboard Saturday so see if he keeps hold of second-place, but he’ll always wonder what more he could have done to finish ahead of an athlete many refer to as the GOAT.
“Could I have beaten Brady? How much higher could I have been?” he said. “But it’s kind of cool just seeing the other names there.”
