Popular fantasy football analyst Mike Tagliere dies at 39 after battling COVID-19
The fantasy football community lost one of its most popular analysts on Friday when FantasyPros' Mike Tagliere died after a lengthy battle with COVID-19 at the age of 39.
Tagliere, known simply as "Tags" to many of his more than 100,000 followers on Twitter, was a fantasy football analyst and podcast host for FantasyPros. His fantasy rankings were consistently among the best in the business; twice he finished in the top six in FantasyPros' industry-wide accuracy contest.
However, he contracted COVID-19 in August and spent time in the hospital battling the virus, despite being fully vaccinated. Tagliere's wife Tabbie revealed over the weekend that he had "passed away peacefully."
Tributes from throughout the fantasy industry have been numerous and heartfelt.
We're heartbroken by the news of Mike Tagliere's passing. https://t.co/zK8RaG8xNM pic.twitter.com/8P4HIRbkzY
— FantasyPros (@FantasyPros) September 25, 2021
Rest in peace Mike Tagliere
Our thoughts and prayers are with his family 🙏 pic.twitter.com/4BtNW2oOWo— Fantasy Football Today (@FFToday) September 26, 2021
This is terribly sad news and a gut punch to the fantasy industry. 💔 Condolences to Mike's family, friends and online community. https://t.co/Wbh331MvE9
— USA TODAY Fantasy (@usatodayfantasy) September 25, 2021
Tagliere had written for FantasyPros since 2017, and before that spent two years at PFF Fantasy. He was the host of a podcast for FantasyPros with Kyle Yates and Dan Harris.
FantasyPros has set up a GoFundMe campaign to benefit the Tagliere family – his wife and their two children. An initial goal of $100,000 was easily reached, with over $300,000 raised in less than 24 hours after it was established.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Fantasy football analyst Mike Tagliere dies at 39 after battling COVID