Challenge Total Madness Player Preview: Faysal “Fessy” Shafaat
If there is a male rookie that you want to watch out for this season, it has to be Faysal Shafaat, aka Fessy. Fessy was a legitimate high-level college athlete as he was a two time FCS All-American tight-end who had NFL tryouts, ran a 4.79 40 yard dash, and measures a ridiculous 6'5 and 243 lbs. Not only is he built like a freight train, but Fessy is also the fastest guy on the cast. Think a taller, stronger, and more athletic version of Zach Nichols, and also subtract the overt misogyny and verbal abusiveness.
When I made my original way too early power rankings for Season 35 back on departure day, I called Fessy the dark horse to win Season 35 as on paper — he has all the skills to be the next great challenger. While Fessy struggled with the strategic and political game of Big Brother, his athleticism and size will shine bright. You can’t vote him out the game like BB, to get Fessy out, you’re going to need to go through a hulking beast in elimination.
Introducing Faysal: His reality television debut was as a member for Big Brother 20, where he finished in 9th place out of 16 cast members. Fans who watched Big Brother 20 might be low on Fessy because he was part of an alliance known as The Hive. The Hive notoriously got picked off one by one despite winning multiple HOH’s and Veto competitions. They made bad move after bad move. The most notorious was Fessy’s. What happened was, Fessy won a critical HOH competition in which his alliance would finally be able to take out a member of the majority alliance. Instead, he got tricked by the other side and nominated one of only two people in his alliance. It resulted in his alliance of 3 becoming only 2 (the 6 others in the game were against them). The next week, he and his only alliance member (his girlfriend Haleigh) got nominated for eviction, and his game was over.
Now, why am I so excited about the guy who made the dumbest move in Big Brother history? Well, the Challenge isn’t Big Brother. While Fessy proved to be way too trustworthy and gullible on Big Brother, he displayed a remarkable amount of loyalty, and his straight-up playstyle will do him favors on the Challenge. Veteran players will want to align with Fessy because he is someone they can trust, and who they see as a threat; thus, they’d rather play with him than against him. The worst-case scenario for Fessy is Wes pulls a fast one on him at some point, but that’s called a learning experience.
Player Vitals
Faysal Shafaat: 28 Years Old, 6'5, 243 lbs, ROOKIE, 4.78 40 yd Dash, 22 reps of a 225 lb bench lift
Skills and Physical Strength: What is unique about Fessy isn’t that he’s big; it is that he is a magnificent mix of size, speed, and coordination. Every season of Big Brother, they play an endurance competitor where players have to run and up and down a greased-up/soapy surface while carrying a liquid from one end to another, trying to spill as little as possible as they try to fill up a container. You throw a 6'5 and 240+ lb guy like Fessy on there, and you expect him to fall on his ass every time. What happened? Essentially, Fessy never fell. He sped through the course and finished in a mind-shattering 15 minutes (it was supposed to be endurance based, i.e., close to an hour). Again, Fessy’s big ass did it in 15 minutes!!!
This guy is bigger than everyone on the cast, has ridiculous upper body strength, knows how to get physical at a high level, is faster than everyone, and is like a ballerina in terms of balance. It’s like I’m describing a young CT.
The big questions for Fessy will be, can he run 13–20 miles? We have seen guys his size struggle in finals. Part of me feels as though Fessy is in much better shape than Free Agents Zach, however, once your body shuts down on you, it’s over. Fessy better spend over an hour on the treadmill every single day he is in the house. While he’ll likely crush any basic daily challenge, someone with his talent should be playing to win.
If you’re wondering why he did not make the NFL, Fessy tore his ACL joint during his senior year (still received 3rd Team All American). It took a couple of years to recover, and he did impress during a Pro Day in 2017. While Fessy didn’t play FBS football, he dominated the FCS level, and had he not gotten he injured, he at least would have been signed to a roster (or Practice Squad). Sidenote: Fessy was also league MVP as a high school basketball player.
SSMP (Social, Strategic, Mental, and Political) Game: There is this concept that Fessy is an idiot based on his Big Brother playstyle and the fact he’s a bit of a goofy guy. Fessy is not socially cunning and is not the person who will play the puppet master. The guy is a loyal follower who will likely rely on his physical abilities. That doesn’t mean Fessy doesn’t have book smarts. In high school, Fessy was an honor roll student and followed it up with being an Academic All American in college, as well on the Dean’s List, and got awarded his college’s commissioner’s medal his final year. When you consider over half this male cast can’t solve a puzzle to save their lives, Fessy might be in great shape.
In terms of the political game, Fessy is somewhat tethered to Swaggy C and Bayleigh as Swaggy was his top ally in the Big Brother house. It is good to have numbers on your side entering the game, but it’s not hard to imagine them throwing Fessy against Swaggy in the first elimination, either. As I mentioned above, Fessy could be a strong and loyal number. Fessy linking up with Wes and CT and Rogan would be genius as they would be strong in the daily challenges. And also, even though they are strong players, it’s not hard to imagine Fessy edging them out in a final.
Fessy being in a relationship, hurts his potential social game. Although his girlfriend at home is crazy hot, so while it may affect his game, he is still winning.
Eliminations & Winning Potential: As some who analyzes the Challenge, I think Hall Brawl is a dumb elimination because it is dangerous, and often does not measure skills that matter in the Challenge. However, as a fan of this show, I would very much like to see Fessy play Cory or Bananas in Hall Brawl and send them flying. Imagining old-man 265 lb CT vs. Fessy in Hall Brawl sounds like a dream, two big meaty men bumpin meats.
In all seriousness, I think Fessy would do well in any non-carnival game elimination. You put him in a sledgehammer battle, and it can be anyone’s game (unless you play Jordan because then you will lose). As I write this article, I feel like I’m bullshitting all of you. What if Fessy sucks? Part of me feels he is a can’t miss prospect, and at the very worst, he has a Joss Vendettas performance.
Can he win? With bated breath, I think he could win in a world where Jordan and Bananas aren’t there for the final. If he can prove himself early by winning a daily challenge or two, then people will be intimidated by his 6'5 frame. Banking on the fact that the former honor roll student is competent in puzzles and won’t gas out like Free Agents Zach, Rivals 1 Wes, or Exes 1 CT, then he is a contender. At the very least, I can see him making the final.
Fessy will be a champion one day; I guarantee that.
