Five Reasons Why You Should Play Fantasy Football

The NFL’s training camps are in full swing, and football fans everywhere can feel the start of the season getting closer.
And an ever-increasing number of fans are anticipating the start of the fantasy football season, which has come to mean nearly as much as the NFL season.
Having played fantasy football for the past seven years, I kind of assumed that pretty much every football fan has at least tried fantasy sports before. But I had a conversation with a friend this week about it, and it turns out that there are still more than a few sports fans out there that haven’t jumped on the fantasy bandwagon just yet.
So to help spread the good word, I’d like to share my five favorite things about playing fantasy football.
1. It helps you learn more about football.
Ever heard of Wes Welker? He’s the New England receiver that caught the most passes in the NFL last season. How about Jesse Chatman? He’s Miami’s third-string running back and filled in nicely when Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams got hurt.
In my fantasy league, both of these guys (and a few others) were like rock stars. People wanted to trade for them, the saved their waiver pick to see if they could get somebody like them; it was crazy, because nobody had heard of these guys before.
Fantasy football gets you beyond the big names and helps you see the value of players who may not ever be on Sportscenter.
2. It gets you into the game.
Sure, it’s easy to watch football when your favorite team is going up against your hated rival. Chargers vs. Raiders, Cowboys vs. Giants, Anybody vs. Patriots; they’re all great games to watch. But when the not-so-exciting contests come along, it can be pretty boring.
Fantasy football comes flying to the rescue because it allows you to watch Arizona vs. Tennessee with a renewed interest. Perhaps you have Larry Fitzgerald and need him to score two touchdowns so your fantasy team can win. Perhaps you have Rob Bironas and need him to hit four field goals. Maybe your fantasy opponent has one of the players on these teams and you need his guy to have an off day. You watch the game differently.
Some people say this is a bad thing – “We should root for our team, not for the individual!” – but I say the NFL is an individual-first league these days, so let’s enjoy what we can. It’s not like you can blow a hundred bucks on a Randy Moss jersey without realizing that he probably won’t be with his current team for more than the next three years. At least if you have him on your fantasy team, you can root for him this season, then start over next year with a new squad.
3. It gets you together with other football fans.
I like the fantasy league I’m in because I see the other owners on a semi-regular basis, and we get to good-naturedly bust each other’s chops about what our teams are doing. Sure, you can do this with the NFL, and as a Miami Dolphins fan from way back, I certainly have had my chops busted.
But with fantasy football, you feel like you have more to do with your team’s success than just rooting for them. If you drafted wisely, you feel a little bit of pride when your team does well. If you start out slowly, you can work the waiver wire and get your team back on track.
Plus, the pre-season draft is always a great time, especially if you get everybody together in person. Last year, we got the ten owners together (a couple phoned in from other places, but that will happen) and went through the picks one by one. We got to make fun of picks, we got to eat tons of food, and we had a great time. Live drafts are usually the key to having a great fantasy football league.
I’m always a fan of things that bring people together, and fantasy football does just that.
4. It’s so easy to play.
In the early days of rotisserie leagues, so I understand, players had to keep track of stats themselves and send (by mail) the results to their league commissioner, who would keep the league standings.
Now, you can sign your team up in about 27 seconds and your stats are all managed automatically. If you want to find out how many times Donald Driver has been targeted in the red zone this season, there’s a category for that. If you want to see how many third-down receptions Steven Jackson has, you can find that out easily enough. It’s all right at your fingertips.
5. If your NFL team is terrible, you can still feel important when your fantasy team does well.
Not to brag or anything, but I am the current champion in my fantasy football league. I have a sweet trophy, and I enjoy telling the story of how I had the last pick in the first round, yet still got my team through to the title.
On the flip side, as I mentioned, I’m a Dolphins fan. They won one game last year. One game! It was ridiculous trying to watch them (thank goodness not many of their games are on out here on the west coast) because they looked like a decent college team going up against the pros.
So every time the other owners in my league would ask if Miami was ever going to get a win, I’d remind them that my fantasy team was dominating and that there was clearly nothing they could do about it.
-- -- --
So there you go; five good reasons to log in and play fantasy football this season.
Coming in the next few weeks will be my annual Fantasy Football Preview, where I (and maybe a special guest) break down some players to grab and some players to avoid in your draft.
And as always, if you have any stories about playing fantasy sports, I’d love to hear them. E-mail me at sports@valleycenter.com and I’ll share it with our readers.
Just don’t make fun of the Dolphins. They look good in training camp, and they could be a playoff team if everything comes together.
Well, it probably won’t, but at least I’ll have my fantasy team dominating the league again.