Fantasy Football 101: More Than Just a Game

I’m sure many of you have heard of the fantasy football craze and have maybe even played, but did you know that over thirty-five million Americans participate in this game? Fantasy football has drawn in a massive audience simply by being a fun group activity, accessible to a variety of users, and involving absurd punishments.

Friend groups from all around the world compete for the best roster of sixteen, which scores points based on the players’ real statistics from NFL games. Participants use all sorts of strategies during the draft and throughout the games. A popular strategy is to draft the best running backs and wide receivers during the early rounds, because they score the most points and can play if one of your star players is hurt.

More recently, the results of fantasy football have led to insane punishments that many groups partake in. At the end of the fantasy season, the loser (person with the lowest-scoring team) will complete the punishment that was agreed upon by their league. These punishments can range from a simple “loser trophy” to completing a one-thousand piece puzzle entirely in the dark or posting humiliating videos. These punishments make the game far more interesting as well as far more stressful.

All in all, fantasy football is really what you make of it. It can be a relaxed league with no penalty or a really intense one with a horrible punishment, so choose your league carefully. Time is ticking and the fantasy league is trudging forward; I encourage you to spend those seventeen weeks of football calculations with careful judgement!