Raheem Mostert is reportedly a key component of a recent fantasy football cheating scandal after the Miami Dolphins running back was swapped out for another player by an employee of a website hosting a lucrative tournament.
The employee reportedly removed Mostert from a contestant’s lineup and put in Green Bay Packers running back Aaron Jones during the wild-card round of the NFL playoffs. Mostert had managed to gain just 33 yards rushing against the Kansas City Chiefs in the late game on Saturday, Jan. 13, while Jones wound up gaining 118 rushing yards with three touchdowns against the Dallas Cowboys in the early game on Sunday, Jan. 14.
The next week in the divisional round, the employee reportedly swapped out Chiefs wide receiver Rashee Rice in favor of tight end Travis Kelce after Kelce had already scored a touchdown against the Buffalo Bills.
The tournament is hosted by the National Fantasy Football Championship, which bills itself as the “industry leader of high-stakes fantasy sports contests” on its website. The particular contest involving the Mostert swap has more than 1,500 entries and a top prize of $150,000. The employee reportedly has been fired, and the contestant has been disqualified from the tournament, which is ongoing.
Mostert also did not score a touchdown against the Chiefs after he scored 21 of them during the regular season. That tied Christian McCaffrey of the San Francisco 49ers for the NFL lead and was six more than any other player.
Mostert returned to play after sitting out the final two games of the regular season with knee and ankle injuries. His disappointing performance on the ground was part of a discouraging 26-7 loss to the Chiefs. The game played at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City was one of the coldest in NFL history.
The defeat ended what had been a successful season for Mostert and the Dolphins, who were in line to win the AFC East for the first time since the 2008 season.
However, they lost their last two games of the regular season, including the finale to the Bills, and wound up as a wild-card team in the AFC instead. They then went out and failed to secure their first playoff victory since the 2000 season.
