Players’ Club: Thomas Emerick

We love our DC Fray players, so we’re highlighting them in our Players’ Club series. Click here to learn more about our leagues.

This month, we’re featuring flag football superstar Thomas Emerick, who fills us in on everything from team nicknames and football strategies to his favorite post-game bar. 

District Fray: How did you get hooked on flag football?
Thomas Emerick: Football’s my favorite sport, and I freelance for different sites that cover the NFL. I figured flag football would be a fun way to get exercise once I moved to D.C. I joined a free agent co-ed team before starting my own squad and bringing that team over to what is now Fray in 2015. We named ourselves Too Much Tuna from a sketch on “Kroll Show,” which is built around a prank tuna fish sandwich. It’s really fun running it back each season with people you like to hang with and playing a sport that strategically is more interesting to me than any other. 

How do you celebrate victories?
We’ll usually find our way to The Blaguard. Then from the bar, we head back over to the field to watch other teams our friends are playing on. We like sipping from our Fray title chalices. Sometimes we get a karaoke reservation in. 

What’s an important piece of flag football strategy most beginners don’t know?
My advice, based on what’s helped Too Much Tuna win 15 to 20 or so Fray ’ships, is to [form a team with] people who [believe in] playing smart football together — who like being around each other and have just enough football skill. You don’t need all studs. Though, for the record, we are all studs. I don’t want my team reading me saying anything other than they are all athletic freaks. There are a lot of games where we’re up pretty comfortably, and it seems like a key difference is the ladies on our team give us a decisive advantage.

What do you do outside of flag?
As I mentioned, I do freelance NFL articles, which has become a hobby as much as an extra gig. In 2023 I’d like to bring back my podcast “Remember That Game” for Season 2 about events in sports that low-key changed the trajectory of teams, players and our own way of thinking. Unfortunately, a retro video game podcast called “Remember the Game?” is basically running me off the map on SEO. Anyways, hopefully I can get a pod network to pick it up by the time I start recording again. 

What’s your favorite thing about being involved with Fray?
Knowing folks in the league and with the league — and having a shared joy in getting outside in D.C. to be around people playing some ball. I do get sentimental about all the old rivalries. [The fact] that DC Fray has a co-ed flag football league with sensible rules and enough teams has made it possible for my squad to play going on eight years. All the joys of competition and making friendships are there, too, because you draw quality teams that care about the thing you’re experiencing together season after season.

Favorite D.C. area bar post-game: The Blaguard. Personal sports hero: Eli Manning. Walk out theme song: “How Soon Is Now?” by The Smiths. Best part of living in the DMV: Biking or walking from A-to-B in D.C., specifically.

Learn more about Emerick on Twitter @ThomasEmerick. Listen to his podcast here.

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Emerson Dameron