Many believe that late August to Labor Day weekend is the best time of the year due to one thing, the fantasy football draft. Tracing back to 1966, fantasy football has been around for a long time and doesn’t seem to be going anywhere.
What exactly is fantasy football? Fantasy football is an online league, where you create your own NFL football team. There are many platforms where you can play, including ESPN (the most popular), CBS, Yahoo, DraftKings, and many others. During the end of the NFL pre-season, the infamous draft is held, and you can draft players to fill up your team. Many people prepare all year for the draft, studying who to pick and how to create the best team. Others wing it, and may even use the auto-draft feature.
Once the draft has concluded, you create a team name, and every week you square off against someone else in your league, hoping to accumulate more points than them. You choose which players from your roster to put in your lineup each week, and “then, you watch as they run, pass, catch, and score touchdowns, all of which are worth fantasy points,” according to ESPN’s beginners guide.
The playoffs are conducted at the end of the regular NFL season, working like a regular bracket. If you win your head-, you move on, if you don’t, your season has ended. While most fantasy football platforms have no prize for winning your league, players get creative and create their own.
Senior Tyler Price has been playing fantasy football for two years and does a buy-in with her league of friends and her league of family members. The winner of her league gets the pot of money, as well as bragging rights.
In addition, religion teacher Mr. Martinez plays with his friends from high school and graduate school, and the losers have to complete a punishment. He explains that he enjoys watching college football much more than the NFL, so tracking his fantasy players gets him engaged in the NFL season.
Regardless of the prizes, it is their competitive spirit that drives them to play fantasy football. According to Yahoo, “83% say fantasy football helps them keep in touch with friends they wouldn’t otherwise see.” Fantasy football gives an “excuse” for old friends to reconnect and share their bond over football, and connect through the competition that brings people together.
