FSWA Hall of Famer John Hansen has been an industry leader and pioneer since 1995, when he launched a snail mail newsletter that eventually became the Fantasy Guru Website. A former rock disc jockey, Hansen in 1994 began appearing on a sports cable TV show in New Jersey under the name “The Guru,” a nickname given to him by a leaguemate, and quickly gained a reputation for his predictions and evaluations. His first official prediction as a fantasy expert with a publication, in 1995, was that second-year WR Isaac Bruce was going to be the next Jerry Rice. Over 20 years later, Hansen lobbied for Bruce to make the HOF during interviews with Bruce on SXM, with Bruce appearing on the show February of 2020 to discuss his HOF induction.
Hansen in 1996 was hired by ESPN.com, and he was the first individual to contribute to ESPN’s coverage of fantasy football online and on ESPN Radio and TV. After a 7-year stint at ESPN, Hansen in 2003 began working with Yahoo! Sports, where his work was found through 2015.
Hansen’s other media credits include a gig in 2003 on \“NFL Fantasy Live\” on NFL.com alongside former NFL Player Ron Jaworski and in 2004 on the NFL Network's \“Playbook\” show alongside former NFL Players Sterling Sharpe and Solomon Wilcots. Hansen was also featured on a strategy-based preseason DVD the NFL produced in 2003. From 2003-2009 he was the chief fantasy analyst on the “Fantasy Fix” show on Comcast Sportsnet.
In 2004, Sirius NFL Radio was born, and Hansen was contracted to host the network’s weekly show “Sirius Fantasy Football.” In 2010, due to this show's great success on Sirius, SiriusXM launched an entire channel devoted to fantasy sports. Hansen famously hosted "Fantasy Football Morning" every weekday until stepping down from full-time hosting in 2024. Over the years, Hansen has also hosted season-long fantasy football radio shows with current/former NFL players LaDainian Tomlinson, Torry Holt, Roddy White, and Maurice Jones-Drew, as well as former coach Charlie Weis.
In 2014, Hansen was hired to be the chief fantasy analyst for a ground-breaking new "Fantasy Zone" channel on DirectTV,
Some of Hansen’s other noteworthy credits include being the publisher of the first fantasy magazine to feature a player interview (then reigning ROY Clinton Portis), having NFL legend John Madden voluntarily voice a promo for his radio show, being on the air for the first days of NFL Network, SXM NFL Radio, and DirecTV’s Fantasy Zone channel, and being written into the the hit comedy series "The League," in which Hansen and our very own Adam Caplan appeared in four scenes and played themselves hosting the SiriusXM Radio show (Season 2, episode 11). A working actor (sarcasm font), Hansen appeared in an episode of Curb Your Enthusiam that aired December of 2021 and yelled at Larry David.
Specializing only in football, Hansen is one of the most connected fantasy writers in the country and attends events such as the Super Bowl, NFL Draft, and the annual Scouting Combine, interacting with NFL players, coaches, analysts, agents, and insiders alike.
