Man Regrets Tattoo of Ex-Running Back

GAITHERSBURG, MD- A decade ago a Delaware fantasy coach started Skip Hicks of the Washington Redskins, a free agent pick up the week before, and Hicks paid off in spades. Lonnie Avery says that day was really special for his fantasy football team.

“I thought I had discovered gold with Hicks,” Lonnie says, “When Skip rumbled into the end zone three times that day I was walking on air. He gave me a certain confidence about my fantasy skills, and a sense that my team could do anything. .”

Lonnie was so thrilled by his new found power back that he decided to get the player’s face inscribed on his arm.

“At the time I really felt like I ‘wanted to represent’,” Lonnie said.

Lonnie took a friend to the local tattoo parlor, and plastered an image of Hicks over the barbed wire design he had gotten just a few months before. He says at the time the tattoo cost $175, and took eight hours to finish. When he first saw it on his arm he was beaming with pride. Now, ten years later, he has thought twice about the whole decision.

“I might have jumped the gun with Hicks,” Lonnie said. “I never really saw him produce much after that game. I think I started him eight more times after that, and just nothing. It’s easy if you’re green to get excited about your fantasy player when they do well. Now, I know better, but at the time I guess I was like a lot of guys in my league. It was also probably a mistake to get my girlfriend at the time, Bonnie, to get the same tattoo.”

Avery is considering getting both the barbed wire and Hicks tattoo removed, but he says other priorities may derail that plan.

“Well, I have a Patrick Ramsey face inked on my inner thigh which I probably dislike even more, so that is probably the first to go. It’s just all a mess right now,” Lonnie lamented. “I’ve learned my lesson, and hope that by sharing my story I can help other fantasy owners avoid this type of tragedy.”

Avery offered no information on whether ex-girlfriend Bonnie has removed her Skip Hicks etching.