2023 NFFC Champions Profile - Duke Viveros

[Tom Kessenich]

Duke Viveros was having himself a year to remember in 2023. With the season coming to an end and hundreds of thousands of dollars on the line, he was positioned to win not one but a few national championships in the NFFC.

Not one to be greedy, the long-time NFFC stalwart wasn’t about to pin his hopes on anything too lofty, however, Viveros was simply hoping to win.
When the dust settled, and the season had concluded, win he did. Viveros took home the title in the NFFC Silver Bullet and its $50,000 grand prize.

“It was amazing to finally win a national championship,” he said. “I have been the Buffalo Bills of the NFFC, always coming up just short in the Classic, Primetime and (RotoWire) Online Championship.”

But not last season.

Duke was battling for several national championships over the last three weeks and was in the Top 2 in the NFFC Primetime and the RotoWire Online Championship through Week 15. He was also third overall in the NFFC Silver Bullet at that time and then moved into 1st place after Week 16 when his team scored 148.65 points. He posted a 176.05-point week in Week 17 to secure the title.

The championship did not easily, however.

Matt Shepherd’s second-place team briefly took the lead in the season’s final game but two late-kneeldowns from his quarterback, Patrick Mahomes, led to Viveros claiming the championship.

“That final Sunday afternoon I went from thinking I won the Silver Bullet to being gutted when Mahomes completed a short pass with two minutes left in the game giving Matthew a tiny lead over me,” Viveros said. “The Bengals got the ball back and got a few first downs and with 58 seconds left in the game I realized the Chiefs were getting the ball back and Mahomes will probably take two knees to end the game. Sure enough that happened, after hitting refresh button a million times for updated scoring, I realized I literally won by two yards.”

Viveros drafted this NFFC Silver Bullet team in Las Vegas on the First Weekend and won the league title and $5,000 with 2,166.95 points. His MANKIND NATION team entered the Championship Round third overall and it scored 186.80 points in Week 15 to remain in third place. But it took the lead in Week 16 and held onto the title in the closest race ever in NFFC history.
He becomes our fifth different champion in the industry's only single-entry, season-long national championship

“I was fortunate to be in the Top 3 in the Primetime, Online Championship and Silver Bullet after the first week of the playoffs, so I was very excited during the three-week sprint for all of those teams,” he said.

As many NFFC players do, Viveros went WR-heavy early on this championship team, starting off with CeeDee Lamb, DK Metcalf and Calvin Ridley as his first three picks. He credited his mid-round selections at RB (James Cook, Joe Mixon and Rachaad White) as being the most significant picks for aiding his title cause.

As was a critical pick much later.

“Drafting (tight end Sam) LaPorta in the 13th round was massive,” he said, “along with getting (quarterback) Dak Prescot in the 12th round.”

Working the Waiver Wire proved critical as well. C.J. Stroud ($155) was his most profitable pickup.

After the season was over and the check arrived, he made certain to put the money to good use.

“I surprised my daughters by paying off the cars and paid for a very nice tile shower in my house,” he said.