The phenomenon of Fantasy Football has captivated millions of football fans each year. Individuals create an online league with friends, family, or anonymous participants and act as team owners. Fantasy participants get to draft real-life players in the NFL and manage their teams throughout the regular NFL season.
Each week, participants are paired with another person in the league, and the goal is to outscore their opponent based on points. Points are based on how well their chosen players perform in the actual NFL game, and they gain them through touchdowns, yards gained, receptions, field goals and more.
I have never participated before this year, but I am enjoying it so far. The season starts with a draft where you have to choose a quarterback, wide receivers, tight ends, running backs, a kicker, a team defense and backup players. The draft requires some research, quick decision-making, and a lot of luck. I did my research and went in with two different lineups, but I quickly realized that everyone wanted the same players.
It was stressful scrambling to find other players when I had no idea what I was doing. However, this was a great way to bring my friends together for the night, and we all enjoyed everyone’s competitiveness. Girls were screaming, and there was a lot of stress and laughs, but we learned a lot about football.
Managing a team brings lots of responsibility. Making sure you are checking your roster weekly, starting players who are bringing in the most points, benching players who aren’t performing well, dropping players if they get hurt, and picking up free agents. I find this to be one of the most stressful parts of fantasy because it’s all luck. You don’t know who will have a great game or who will be out for the rest of the season due to an injury. One decision can make or break the week for you.
The engagement is a notable part of playing the game. I have never watched as much football as I have in the last three weeks. Fantasy Football encourages you to not only watch your favorite team, but to also engage with the teams that your players are on. I have never been fond of the Chargers, but they are my defensive team, so I now root for them because I want those points. Watching other teams creates more engagement, and it’s a great marketing strategy for the NFL.
Overall, playing Fantasy Football with my friends has been fun, even if there have been lots of ups and downs with our teams. We didn’t realize how time-consuming and occasionally stressful it would be. Losing is not something we take lightly, and it brings out our competitiveness. It is fun to trash-talk and help each other improve our teams (I know that’s not how you’re supposed to play). It’s also something to talk about; it’s fun to debrief how our teams played at the end of the week. I am currently winning my league, not to brag. Get a group of friends together next year and try it out for yourself!
