The line between traditional sports and esports is growing blurrier each day, as ESPN2 has even started airing Madden NFL footage in lieu of sports. No one person might better represent this shrinking divide than the Jacksonville Jaguars defensive end and Magic: The Gathering personality, Cassius Marsh.
Outside of his successful career in the NFL, Cassius has been a recurring guest on possibly the most popular Magic: The Gathering web series, Game Knights. The series is focused around a four-player format of Magic known as Commander. Each episode features the two hosts of the show battling it out with two guest stars in a winner take all game. The newest episode, which premiers tomorrow, might be the first time that fans will get to see some of the new Magic Godzilla cards in action.
The heavily tattooed, 6'4’’, 269 lbs, defensive end has been a long time fan favorite of the show. However, he hasn’t appeared in an episode since 2018 where he piloted an equipment based deck. Many fans were worried that that episode would be his last. But luckily for them, it was announced on twitter today that he would be returning in tomorrow’s episode which will focus on the Commander 2020 pre-constructed decks.
Even a decade ago, an NFL pro playing Magic: The Gathering may have seemed untenable clash of nerd and jock culture. But times are quickly changing. Video games are cool now, and traditional sports have taken notice — just this year the Detroit Lions used Animal Crossing to reveal its 2020 schedule. If this trend continues, stories like Cassius’ will no longer be outliers, but the norm.
