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Survivor birthday: Todd Herzog (China) turns 33

By Daniel George

LOS ANGELES, CA - DECEMBER 16: Runner up candidates Amanda Kimmel (L) and Courtney Yates (R) celebrate after Todd Herzog (C) wins the Survivor: China Finale at CBS Television City on December 16, 2007 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA - DECEMBER 16: Runner up candidates Amanda Kimmel (L) and Courtney Yates (R) celebrate after Todd Herzog (C) wins the Survivor: China Finale at CBS Television City on December 16, 2007 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images) /
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One of the most strategic and socially sound early-Survivor players to win the game without a God Idol, Todd Herzog turns 33 years old today.

Player: Todd Herzog
Occupation: Flight Attendant
Hometown: Pleasant Grove, UT
Season: Survivor China
Tribes: Fei Long (Red Buff), Hae Da Fung (Black Buff)
Finished: Winner

When it comes to non-stop strategic players of the game of Survivor, few played as hard in the early seasons as Todd Herzog. Never hesitating to come up with a new scheme and play individual players up to their desired sensibilities, the meek flight attendant from Utah would go on to pull off one of the most mentally-dominating performances of any winner, especially considering how open he was.

Todd, while working with his closest ally Amanda Kimmel, would play some real 3D chess during his season. He came up with the idea of kidnapping James and handing him an idol in order to blindside a member of the opposing tribe, thus allowing him to nurture a relationship with the strongest player in the game while weakening his opposing tribe. Even though it didn’t work, it showed a weakness in the kidnap twist that has since been phased out of the game.

Additional strong moves included his epic blindside of James, the player he brought into his alliance earlier, sending him home with two idols in his pocket (a momentous occasion that may play into part of Survivor Ghost Island). He also pulled off one of the greatest Final Tribal Council performances in history, as he managed to pull off the impossible by shutting Jean-Robert up for a few seconds.

If he’s ready and willing to accept the challenge, I would love to see how well Todd Herzog does in an all winners season of Survivor, as there are several factors that both improve his chances and make it difficult to succeed, depending on who else is at the FTC. He truly was a modern fan’s player well before his time, so to see him in a twist-heavy season would be remarkable.

Next: Survivor Winners: Ranking 34 Sole Survivors By Season

From all of us at Surviving Tribal, we’d like to wish Todd Herzog a very happy and healthy 33rd birthday!

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