Santos & Kuekes To Be Inducted Into NFFC Hall of Fame

[Greg Ambrosius]

We are proud and excited today to announce that Mike Santos and Kurt Kuekes are the newest members of the NFFC's Hall of Fame. Both NFFC veterans will be officially inducted into our Hall of Fame at the Bellagio Las Vegas on the weekend of Sept. 9th through Sept. 12th. They are the first inductees into the NFFC Hall of Fame since we announced the seven original inductees in 2014.

Santos and Kuekes have been partners in just about every NFFC contest they've joined since 2011. During that time, they've teamed up to win 29 different league titles and three -- yes, THREE -- overall titles. They won the NFFC Primetime in 2015, they won the NFFC Classic in 2019 and Mike won the debut NFFC Silver Bullet in 2019. That's winning the overall titles in our 14-team, 12-team and single entry national titles, which is an amazing accomplishment.

Among their 28 league titles, they've won 10 different NFFC Primetime titles, which is second to only Chad Schroeder's 14 NFFC Primetime league titles. They have also dominated the private leagues, winning two Platinum League titles and one Diamond League title, while finishing second once in the Diamond League and once in the Ultimate League. Their league titles also include those in the Rotowire Online Championship, the Draft Champions leagues, the Trendsetter league and even the Billy Waz DC league.

Their resume of success across all different contests -- from 14 teams to 12 teams to FAAB leagues to Best Ball leagues to private leagues -- is as vast as anyone's in our 16-year history of the NFFC. It's as worthy as any of our seven previous Hall of Fame members, and maybe more worthy.

"Mike and Kurt are two of the most consistent, steady, strong players we've had in the NFFC over the last nine years and they seem to win in any format and at any price point, whether that's a free Trendsetters league or a $150 Draft Champions league or a $20,000 Platinum League," said Greg Ambrosius, founder of the NFFC. "To win one national championship is one hell of an accomplishment, but to win three different ones in three different formats shows you how talented these two guys are. They know what it takes to be the best of the best and that's why we're honored to add them to our prestigious NFFC Hall of Fame."

In 2014, after 10 years of the NFFC, seven owners were inducted into the Hall of Fame. There haven't been any additions to the HOF since then. Currently in the Hall of Fame are:

Jules McLean
Chad Schroeder
Chris Vaccaro
Tom Yates
Derek Anderson/Kyle Pope
Michael Edelman
Billy Wasosky
Mike Santos & Kurt Kuekes

The two California natives, Mike is from Tulare and Kurt is from Altadena, are well known in the high-stakes community and have had good success in other contests as well. But they seem to save their best for the NFFC, especially in the national contests.

Still, it wasn't easy to learn the NFFC format right away. Mike joined the NFFC in 2011 and had two teams: 1 Classic and 1 Primetime. He finished second in his Classic league and 37th overall during the regular season before finishing 52nd in the Championship Round. His Primetime team finished 306th overall.

In 2012, Mike jumped into 9 NFFC leagues and had two second place Primetime League finishes. One of those teams was 36th overall during the regular season and then finished 16th in the Championship Round, with the other Primetime team finishing 97th overall. He jumped into multiple Rotowire Online Championship leagues for the first time that year and made it to the Championship Round twice, with one team finishing 122nd overall.

Mike and Kurt joined forces in 2013 and they won their first Primetime league title in 2013, finishing 32nd overall, while also finishing second in the Diamond League. Mike also won three Draft Champions league titles and finished 12th, 14th and 32nd overall, while Kurt won one DC league title on his own.

The two were off to the races after that, winning another Primetime league title in 2014 and finishing 17th and 30th overall. Mike also won two Draft Champions league titles and finished 18th overall. They were getting closer to the top of the national titles at this point and soon they would break the glass ceiling.

That happened in 2015 when the pair had a historic season, winning nine league titles and the Primetime overall title. The pair won two Primetime league titles, finishing 1st and 22nd overall. They also won the Platinum League and $130,000. They also won three $150 Draft Champions league titles, a $400 Draft Champions league title, the Trendsetters league title and the Billy Waz DC league title, while finishing second in the NFFC Ultimate League.

The pair won two Primetime league titles in 2017 and then topped that with four Primetime league titles in 2018, with two teams in the Top 50 overall. Yes, FOUR Primetime league titles. They also won their second NFFC Platinum league title and $165,000, while also winning the NFFC Diamond league title and $82,000.

In 2019, Mike won the debut NFFC Silver Bullet single-entry championship, drafting in the first-ever Silver Bullet league and winning that league title before winning the $30,000 grand prize. Mike and Kurt had one entry in the NFFC Classic and finished third in their New York league, but had a historic run in the Championship Round to win that overall title. They also won one Rotowire Online Championship league title.

The dynamic duo are second on the NFFC Career Money List despite only playing nine seasons in the NFFC with a combined winnings total of $869,250. Only Chad Schroeder has earned more in the NFFC.

We look forward to inducting Mike and Kurt into the NFFC Hall of Fame at the Bellagio in Las Vegas. We'll celebrate their honor all weekend long, but we'll formally do it on Saturday, Sept. 12th at 10 am PT on the Stage of Champions in the Bellagio Ballroom before the first Primetime league drafts that day. Can't wait.

CONGRATS GUYS!!! You have more than earned this honor and we all know you'll just keep adding to these winning totals for years and years to come. We look forward to seeing you in Las Vegas in a couple of months and honoring both of you. Stay well and congrats.

[Coyote Streakers]

First off I would like to say I am honored and humbled to be recognized by the NFFC to be included in the HOF. Its truly a great honor to be included with all the other great players. I want to thank Greg, Tom and Darik and the rest of the NFFC team. I also want to thank Kurt for being a great fantasy partner and a even better friend! One of the true good guys in life! Thanks again to everyone I am truly honored and humbled it means a lot to me.

Mike
Coyote Streakers

[Coltsfan]

Congrats Mike and Kurt!

This is probably the most overdue induction ever! What these guys have accomplished is almost unbelievable. Rumor has it that Kurt carries a genie in his pocket and that has been the secret to their success but it's never been proven...

Congratulations guys! This is very much deserved!


Wayne

[Coyote Streakers]

Thanks Wayne I appreciate that! Love competing and talking football with you every year! You are one of the best and a great friend!

[hammer]

Congratulations, Mike and Kurt. Well deserved.

[chriseibl]

I just assumed you were going to re-name the HOF after them! Congrats to 2 awesome fantasy football players and great guys.

[Tom Kessenich]

This is a well-deserved honor. As I said on Twitter, Mike and Kurt are both outstanding players and even better people. Incredible amount of success in our contest. Congrats to both.

[Coyote Streakers]

Thanks for the kind words everyone! Really appreciate it. Great group of people in the fantasy community!

[ChiTwn]

Congrats to two of the more down to earth humble players!! You guys deserve it.

I assumed you two were already in the HOF.

[Greg Ambrosius]

We're happy to have Mike Santos on our High Stakes Fantasy Advantage show tonight at 11 pm ET. Darik Buchar and myself will host tonight's show from 10 pm ET to midnight and it's a good one. We'll have Brady Tinker on to give us insight on the Dallas Cowboys, John Hansen of FantasyPoints.com on to give us his Gurrific players for 2020 and Vic Tafur of the Athletic to preview the Las Vegas Raiders.

Should be a blast as we are 6+ weeks away from the start of the NFL season.