David Samson is no stranger to Survivor. Arguably the show’s most infamous first boot (Francesca Hogi may like a word), Samson made a strong initial impression that ultimately led to his downfall within one of the game’s most chaotic tribes. Nearly 12 years later, David (who is still a superfan) recounts his time on Survivor: Cagayan, potentially the show’s greatest season. He also makes predictions for the most anticipated installment of the franchise yet, Survivor 50, which will begin airing on Wednesday, February 25 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on CBS.
David Samson
David participated in the 28th installment of the Survivor franchise, Survivor: Cagayan. He spent 18 seasons in Major League Baseball, 16 of those as President of the Miami Marlins (which was his position when he joined Survivor) and two as Executive VP of the Montreal Expos. Samson won a World Series with the Marlins in 2003.
Nothing Personal with David Samson
Samson debuted his show Nothing Personal with David Samson in 2019. The weekday program broadcasts regularly on DraftKings Network, inviting fans to step inside the front office and join Samson as he decodes the sports and entertainment worlds. Viewers can also watch on YouTube, listen on Apple Music or Spotify, and follow David on X.
David joined DraftKings Network’s Jeff Pratt for an interview ahead of Survivor 50. Read their full chat below!
David Samson breaks down his time on Survivor: Cagayan and makes predictions for Survivor 50
Jeff: Survivor 50 is just around the corner. How are you feeling about that season? Have you been locked into Survivor since your time playing?
David: Oh, I’m all on, never off. I have never missed an episode since it debuted. So this will be my 50th straight season. I even watched every episode of the season I was on after I got eliminated, which was horrific, but I knew I wanted to be on Survivor the minute it debuted. I watched the first ever episode at Olympic Stadium with my assistant GM at the time I was with the Montreal Expos, and there was this new show that was called Survivor, that seemed like something totally opposite of anything I’d ever done, since I grew up in New York City.
Episode one, and I didn’t need to see Richard Hatch naked. I was just all-in from the start, and I always knew I wanted to go on it, and it was never the right time to apply because of being in baseball, and running a team, and winning a World Series, and moving a team and everything else. And finally, I just said, we have a new ballpark. It’s open, and I’m going to apply. I had a love of that game. God, all my kids loved watching it. And I got a call the day after I submitted my application. It was one day after I submitted, I got a call from someone in casting wanting to confirm: Hey, do you really want to do this? You know, you’re the president of a Major League Baseball team. We’ve never had that before. Do you understand that you’d have to go away to an undisclosed location for a matter of six or seven weeks. And I said, I get it, and I want to do it. And they said: We need permission from your owner, from the commissioner, like you can’t just disappear. And I said, I’ll get all the permissions. Well, you got to come to LA, you know, and meet with Jeff and meet with Mark. I said, alright, you know, I’ll do all that.
So I flew to L.A. and went through a pre-casting process, and before you know it, I was told: Hey, go get some shots. We had to get vaccinated. We had no idea where it was going to be. This was before it was just Fiji, and I had no idea where I was going. And they don’t even tell you back then. It’s a true story, actually a crazy story. I’m in the lobby of a hotel. We’re told: Be in the lobby, and we’re getting on a plane. They don’t tell you where. I go to the lobby and I look, and it’s Cliff Robinson! I can’t believe we’re in the same hotel. Like, what is he doing at an airport hotel in L.A.? This makes no sense, because they didn’t sit us together as a cast, so we didn’t know who was else was on the season with us. You have no idea, I don’t think anything of it, and then all of a sudden, we’re checking in, and that’s when we knew we were going to the Philippines, because we’re at Philippine Airlines, and there’s Cliff Robinson! I’m thinking, everyone’s got to know, and I’m looking around thinking, is this an athletic-themed season? Because back then, the seasons were themed. So is this about people associated with sports? I saw a big guy who turned out to be Garrett, so I thought, this could be an athlete. I saw a guy who looked sort of strong and turned out to be the winner, Tony. I saw Sarah, who looked athletic, and I was thinking, alright, she could be a professional athlete. I thought maybe a wrestler. So I was thinking through all these things, and of course, we didn’t know it was Brains vs. Brawn vs. Beauty until filming actually started, and that’s when I knew I was screwed on the Brains tribe and dressed in a blazer. It was over for me before it started.
Jeff: That’s a perfect segue into what I want to get into, which is touching on your experience first in Cagayan and the blazer. I’ve done my homework. I know that the blazer, maybe not necessarily your decision?
David: Yes, there’s a casting department. There’s a costume department. The funny thing about it, a little secret, is that they approve everything. You have to send your clothes into them, including your underwear. I sent in a pair of boxers, thinking these are comfortable, I have a little breeze going, it’ll be good to wear for 39 days. They send it back for you to pack, to bring, and they had sewn up the fly! I was like, these guys touched my undies! And then I was thinking, oh, I get why they sewed up the fly. So that is true, they literally approve and go through everything to make sure there’s no extra blurring or editing required.
Jeff: I can say I’ve never heard that before, and it answers what I was going to ask you later, which is, what is something that you would want people to know about Survivor that isn’t generally publicized or talked about?
David: That’s certainly one, but I would say what’s not publicized is that when I was cast, I said to Jeff directly: Listen, I don’t ever want to be alone, I’m a city boy. I’m scared of the dark, I’m scared of the country. And he said, I promise you’ll never be alone. I didn’t realize how serious he was, you’re never alone. There are camera people, there’s sound people, there’s producers, you’re just never alone, because I realized it’s really bad TV for you to die out there. That’s not good for the show. That is something that people don’t realize, there’s always people around, and they’ve started showing a little more behind the scenes footage, and you can see the number of people at tribal council, the number of people on the beach when you first start the game. It’s not five people. It’s 50 to 100 people. It’s incredible. It’s unbelievable, the size of the crew to make a TV show. Have you ever been to a movie set or a TV show? You know, that’s not ours, where it’s just me and Coca. Regular shows, there’s huge crews that you just don’t think about. And that’s the case in Survivor.
Jeff: What’s one thing that you would like people to know about your cast? The group on Survivor: Cagayan, it’s got a lot of returning players, none this season, which a lot of people were up in arms about. I know that Spencer Bledsoe, who was on your tribe, was a finalist, and thought he was a lock to play.
David: By the way, I thought I was a lock to play.
Jeff: Really? This is news to me. You were in on it as well?
David: I wouldn’t say more, other than that my Survivor story as being the first boot feels incomplete. I thought that I could win the game, and if I wasn’t going to win the game, I had a feeling I’d be out early. Once I realized what the game was, brains, brawn, beauty and that I was chosen as leader of the tribe so early, that was it. So when you saw me playing hard right out of the gate, I was backed into a corner of playing that hard, there’s no question about it. But, I always felt like my journey was only partly told because I didn’t really get a chance to fully play.
Jeff: Let’s get into that. Obviously your journey wasn’t your typical first vote out, I’d say arguably the most infamous first vote out in Survivor history. Thrust into a position as the leader of the Brains tribe, immediately forced to make that tough call of labeling a weakest link. To choose Garrett, saying it’s for the long game, ultimately down the line, that did you in —
David: — and him. It did in Garrett too.
Jeff: Kass didn’t do you any favors by telling J’Tia that she was on the block and stirring up some chaos. As we now know, that’s just who she is. Do you, in a way, feel like the game was somewhat rigged from the start against you? If you had to go back in time, who would you have pivoted to labeling the weakest, and how do you think you would have operated within that absolutely chaotic, legendary Brains tribe if you had survived the first vote?
David: I want to bring you back to what happened, actually, while the cameras are rolling, because you only see a part of it. The tribes get there through different ways, and we didn’t realize. You’re in the pregame, and all of a sudden they say, alright, the game is starting in four hours. So you go to the bathroom, you shave, you get dressed, you get into your clothes, and you still don’t know what tribe you’re on. You still don’t know how the game is starting at all, and all of a sudden there’s people on a boat, there’s people in a helicopter, and we still don’t know why we’re in a helicopter! So you have to keep in mind, we don’t know what the season is yet. All we’re doing is looking around at the people in the helicopter, and we’re trying to figure out, why are we on a tribe together? Because back then, it was all themes. So you get there and the camera rolls and Jeff Probst says: Welcome to Survivor: Cagayan. Then he says what the game is.
I knew the minute he said it why I was in trouble. You have to take an IQ test pregame. Part of casting is an IQ test. This doesn’t get talked about a lot, and I don’t want to overstate it, other than to say when you do really well on an IQ test, the tendency is you’re not going to win the game. It is inversely correlated. I was told pretty early on during the process, you’re gonna have a hard time winning this game. And I was so serious with Mark Burnett and Jeff Probst, guys, you got me wrong, I’m gonna win this game. I’d love to make a million dollars in 39 days. That is a higher rate than I make a million dollars as a president of a baseball team. So this makes sense to me , this is good math. I want to do this, and I got all the necessary permissions, everything was all set. When the cameras roll and he introduces who’s what, the game was over for me. I remember thinking, alright, the game is over. What do I do? What is my one chance here? And you’ll notice that the Beauty tribe and the Brawn tribe had made their choice first. I was last, and they had hemmed, they had hawed. Who do I choose? I said, I have to do something totally different, totally against the grain, and hope that I get it right. Maybe they’re going to do a challenge, maybe they’re going to do a tribe swap, maybe something crazy is going to happen, because it’s Survivor. And it turns out it was just so they could go look for idols. By choosing Garrett and then having him get the idol, it just made him angry. And the fact is, looking back, and we’re all still in a group chat. The Brains tribe on my phone, we have a Brain tribe group chat, and we are all completely in touch 10 years later, and it’s fantastic. And Sarah Lacina is one of my closest friends in the world, and Tony is someone who I love dearly. We all miss Cliff terribly, who tragically passed away, and it’s just a really close cast, because the game ended, and we immediately had this bond thinking we just went through and gave entertainment to the country as one of the greatest ever first-timer seasons. We felt it, during even in my three days, we were like, wow, that was a hell of a three days. A lot of stuff just went on. So I look back and say I wouldn’t have done it differently, other than to tell you that next time, I will be better. If I’m lucky enough for there to be a next time, I’ll be better. I’ll be better hydrated, I’ll be better fed, and I will I will be smarter about playing.
Jeff: Tony, in your season, was able to play a pedal to the metal, unrelenting game, make it all the way to the end and win. Now, obviously these old school winners still had to pick and choose their spots, but the game has drastically evolved since then. Now to win, you often need to stay on the sidelines until the final six-to-eight players and quietly form strong bonds, then you can start to make your moves. Do you feel the product and the spirit of the game has been diluted in any way? Or is it equally or more impressive that players have been able to adapt on the fly and find ways to win in this much more subtle era of Survivor?
David: Yeah, the greatest thing about Survivor is that you vote people out, and those are the people who have to vote you the winner. And that has stayed the same. In baseball, there’s a lot of changes that happen, a lot of rule changes, but the essence of the game has stayed the same for 150 years. And I love that. Survivor’s the same way. The biggest difference, actually, if you ask players from Season 1 and Season 49, the starvation is not as significant as it used to be. When you look at the weight loss that used to take place, if you go back to early seasons and you see what people look like at the end of taping versus what they look like during the live reunion, when you know it’s six months later and you don’t even recognize them? I think the producers realize that we get better gameplay when people aren’t going to pass out. We get better gameplay when people aren’t lying around. So it has become a far more social game than a physical game. Even though the challenges are super hard, make no mistake, those things that you lift and puzzle pieces, they’re all much heavier than you realize from your couch. But it is far more a psychological game, and the reason I want to play again, where I’d be given the opportunity is, I want the opportunity to show that it’s not really age anymore that stops you from winning Survivor. It’s not about young versus old, or good looking versus bad looking, or what your sexual preference is, or what your color is. It’s actually the ability to get people to understand that you are a worthy person. And that sounds crazy, because Survivor was never that. It was, be the biggest jerk you can be and go balls to the wall for minute one and just literally outlast. I think that outwit has become more important than outlast, and it used to be the outlast was more important than outwit. So I love the idea, and Survivor 50 is going to be an interesting examination of my idea that people from earlier years of Survivor can play a different game, where you’re not worried about dying, you’re worrying about making it further in the game.
Jeff: Let’s talk about that, because we’ve got a group of legends from earlier seasons, and then a couple other players. Jenna all the way from Season 1. Stephenie is returning. And then the legends you’ve got, Cirie, Ozzy, Coach, and Colby to a lesser extent. In the past, we’ve seen these players have huge targets on their backs right away and virtually no chance to win. Do you expect that to be the case again this season, or with that definitive group of newer school, craftier players, that ‘outwit’ category you’re talking about, will that threat actually create an opening for one of these legends to make a run?
David: It’s a great question. To me, there’s an overweighting of the 40s seasons in this in this cast and I understand it. You know, recency bias is a real thing in the business world and in the entertainment world. It makes sense. It’s how sequels get green-lit all the time. So I understand why there’s so many newer players, but will they feel the urge to peacock a little bit and band together against some of the older players? I think the answer to that is no. I think you’re going to see an interesting mix here, because I don’t think anyone wants to play a game where it’s the first 30 seasons versus the last 19 seasons and that’s how it plays out. I don’t think production would like it. I don’t think the audience would particularly like it. So I think there will be a far greater mix in the allies, and I believe the older players will be able to play the new type of game, because I must tell you, we’re not curing cancer, as much as I wish we were. It’s a little bit like middle school. It’s a little bit like a workplace. It’s a little bit like life, where you are thrust into a position to work with people who you don’t know. It’s called every day at the office, by the way, every day is what Survivor is. What’s amazing is that they tape you and what your feelings are. Imagine if at DraftKings, they had a camera and they were taping how you all feel every day and what you’re doing every day. It would be pretty compelling in the right editors’ hands. That’s part of the beauty of Survivor, is that we’re like voyeurs into this group of new friends, getting together, figuring out who’s who and what’s what.
Jeff: Moving on, as the former President of the Miami Marlins, you’re one of the best talent evaluators in the world, so I want to dip into the entirety of this Survivor 50 cast. I’d love for you to determine which player you think is the most overpriced in terms of expectations, who is the most appropriate value in terms of hype and potential to make a deep run, and who’s the diamond in the rough, the player that people are sleeping on, who is a legitimate threat to win this game?
David: So let me just give you some names that are interesting to me. I’ll start with Cirie. The reason why, I don’t know whether she’s favored to win, but in my mind, she’s an interesting choice to win. There’s many more women. Remember, there was a time when women were not winning Survivor, and everyone’s always saying there aren’t enough people of color, there aren’t enough women, there aren’t enough men. There can be that sort of societal tension, which is what Survivor is. It’s a microcosm of society where you do get these tensions. Cirie, though, is someone who no one looks at as Black or as a woman. It’s the strangest thing. Cirie is not labeled as anything other than incredibly strong, protective, loyal and an interesting character on camera. And don’t underestimate the importance of the fourth because at the end of the day, it’s a TV show. It is an entertainment product. They want people to watch. People love watching and listening to Cirie. You want those people on as long as possible. It’s why I thought that I had a chance to win. I figured they’d want to be entertained by me for longer instead of three days. But I digress.
So I like watching Cirie. I would tell you that Savannah, Rizo, Joe, the people from the last season or two, do not have a chance to go to the final four. It’s great that they were named, but I do not believe that there will be enough players who will say to themselves, alright, let’s further reward (them), let’s get them off stage and get some other people an opportunity. So I would look sort of midway, look at someone like Aubry, who’s a brilliant player. Very social player, good at challenges, has the ability to maneuver in and out of different cliques. And I liken Survivor to a clubhouse. A clubhouse has cliques. We had a Latin clique, we had a Black clique, we had a White clique. You have pitchers cliques, you have infielders cliques. There’s cliques everywhere. It’s like a high school cafeteria sometimes, but there’s certain players who are able to go around and be in each group, not a lot of them at all, but certain players can do that. Aubry is one of the players who is super comfortable amongst many cliques. That’s an important factor to being popular. And then from an older player, I discount the probabilities of Jenna or of Colby, not anything against them, but someone like Stephenie, who is just tough, and seeing her get far in the game by winning challenges, winning immunities, and being on the right side of challenges, which is obviously something that hasn’t happened to her all the time… that’s someone who I’m watching. So I can’t wait for Season 50 to happen. There’s going to be a first boot of Season 50 who will join the club. And we’re a very small club, as you know, there’s only 48 members of first boots in the United States. We’re very small. There’ll be a 49th, Francesca was a first boot twice. So there’s only 48 different ones of us in this club, and someone’s going to join who certainly doesn’t want to be there. But once you’re there, you make the best of it.
Jeff: If I may ask, is there a first boot group chat or email chain, anything like that?
David: There is not, that’s funny. I’m in touch with quite a few players who have played in different seasons. We are like a family. Once you’re a Survivor cast member, there’s, you know, 700 or 800 of you. They’re not many. And so it really is like a family. I’m so proud of Bryce and what he’s done since his Survivor journey and the business he’s turned it into, I get very sad for people whose lives become obsessed with Survivor and become just angry. You know, Russell Hantz is just an angry man now, and that’s too bad, you don’t want people’s lives to be impacted by Survivor. At the end of the day, it’s a moment in your life, it’s a part of your story. It is not your whole story. And that was something I realized, of course, I’m lucky enough to have other stories. I think the cast of 50, none of them, maybe people would say that Coach has nothing but Survivor, but I wouldn’t say that. I would say that the whole cast are people who realize that Survivor is part of their story, not their full story.
Jeff: David, I’ve got one final question for you. It’s the simplest one of the bunch, and it’s time to call your shot. Which player is going to win Survivor 50?
David: I’m going to go with Cirie. There’s something about her that makes it hard to write her name down, and maybe that’s what’s cost her winning, because you have to get your name written down at the end. But I just have this feeling that it’s time for Cirie. Either way, I’m so proud of her. I’m so glad she went back. I love Survivor. If you want, I can show you the memorabilia that I have. I have the pen that’s used to write names down. I’ve got the stool I sat on at my tribal council. I have the Luzon flag. I have my buff. I’ve got my rice container that J’Tia threw the rice in the fire. Yes, our rice container. I have my torch. They auction off everything for charity. And at the end of Season 28 I bought all my stuff. I don’t even remember what it cost, because I would have mortgaged my home to get it, because the pleasure I have of living with my torch and sitting on the stool where I sat and using the pen to write, and all the different things I have, I love.
Jeff: Does a win make (Cirie) the greatest Survivor player of all time? Because you played with two people who are arguably top five in Tony and Sarah. I need to get your Sarah vs. Tony take too.
David: I love them both, but I love Sarah. She and I are so very close. I travelled the world with Sarah. We have been close for over 10 years. We met in casting, and you’re not allowed to talk to anyone. We were working out side-by-side, they give you time to work out during the casting process. We took the IQ test near each other. Then, all of a sudden you’re in the Philippines, and in the pregame you live in a tent to try to get used to living outside. Sarah and I were next to each other, and we would communicate at night, not scheming or pregaming because there were security guards, but we would cough and sneeze, and then, Are you okay? God bless you. And we’d get yelled at, and then our tents were separated. But there was just something, and we had never met! The show happened, and I was voted off before we got a chance to talk on camera. We started our relationship after I was home from filming and she was home, and I found her in Iowa by calling the police station where she worked and left a message. They don’t give you contact information, even after. Now it’s easy, you find someone on Twitter, but that’s not how it was. We have since blossomed into this unbelievable friendship, and I was texting with her yesterday. So, I’m gonna go with Sarah, as much as I love Tony. Sarah, to me, is the best player I have ever seen play. She’s the best person I have been around of all the Survivors. It is with complete bias, and understanding of that bias, that I tell you she is the greatest player to have ever played this game… and right now, money’s money. Tony’s won it twice. I don’t think a win would put Cirie in that category.
Jeff: David, it’s been fantastic chatting with you. I know your eyes will be glued to the screen weekly for Survivor 50, and hopefully we will see you on that screen in a future season.
David: Take care, thank you.
Stay tuned for weekly Survivor 50 content as the season begins!
Survivor 50 FAQ
When does Survivor 50 premiere on CBS and air weekly?
Survivor 50 premieres on CBS Wednesday, February 25 with a three-hour special from 8:00-11:00 P.M. ET/PT. Survivor 50 airs every Wednesday at 8:00 P.M. ET/PT.
Who was the first player voted out in Survivor: Cagayan?
Former Miami Marlins President David Samson was the first played voted out on Survivor: Cagayan. David attempted to play strong out of the gates, naming Garrett Adelstein as his tribe’s weakest link. This decision backfired, and ultimately led to both David and Garrett becoming the first and second players voted out of the game.
Who are the biggest names playing on Survivor 50?
Survivor 50 is headlined by a number of former Survivor legends and big names, including Ozzy Lusth, Cirie Fields, Benjamin “Coach” Wade, Colby Donaldson, Aubry Bracco, Savannah Louie and Mike White.
