A long 90 yard pass from your starting quaterback Tony Romo to your number one receiver Terrell Owens just earned your fantasy team ten points. Big plays and big players are what is enticing football fans nowadays, and fantasy football is the reason. In fantasy football, each owner drafts a virtual team made up of players in a online league. Each team is a composite of players from teams throughout the NFL. Fantasy football is popular to many people through out the U.S. because it allows fans to become closer to the players of the NFL than ever before and gives players a much bigger spotlight to shine in.
Fantasy football is more than just a computer game. P eople are often rooting for individual players, pressuring them to do well instead of cheering for one team or the other. And, with some leagues requiring money as a buy-in, people take fantasy football very seriously. Some leagues require one hundred or even two hundred dollar buy ins, causing avid fantasy players to glue themselves to their HD T.V.s on sunday afternoon all day long. Pizza, nachos, potato skins and a 79 cent slurppee acomany die hard football fans . People don’t just play for the money through some play for the bragging rights. This is seen as sinful by some, breaking the tradition of a Sunday afternoon game: your hometown team versus their rival. But most just see it as a way to give football another edge.
With many games being aired on Sunday afternoon, teams like the Chiefs are put on the bottom of the “games to watch” pile. Thanks to fantasy football though, many people are bumping that game up in the order. Larry Johnson, the Chiefs running back, can put up points and many people who have L.J. on their fantasy team are willing to watch the sub-par Chiefs in order to see their man, L.J, score a a few touchdowns. This is helping the NFL, making players and teams become more popular with more people. Frank Gore, running back for the San Francisco 49ers, is a solid first round draft pick in many fantasy leagues. The 49ers as a team, however, haven’t made it to the playoffs since 2003, and have not been a solid team since the days of Steve Young. Fantasy football however gives Gore, a pro-bowler, a spotlight to shine in above his own team. This me above team concept is the deterrent to many football fans who oppose fantasy sports. However, players through out the NFL are happy about the recognition fantasy gives them.
It’s Monday in school, the Sunday before Bret Favre had an unexpected stellar game, throwing six touchdown and throwing for over 275 yards. You can be sure that Favre is going to be the topic of discussion in the halls and at lunch. Fantasy football gives many different people a common interest. It’s not just the students, the teachers and faculty are also found mingling and conversing about how their team did over the weekend. Which players did well, which ones did not: surprises and injuries. All topics that bring the student body as well as the entire public together. It is rare to find any other topic that is as popular among all the students and faculty than fantasy football.
Highlight reels and top 10 plays of the week, big stats and big points seem to be the basis of professional football nowadays. Fantasy football recognizes this, and captures this new view of football. Who would have thought that fans would be glued to the T.V. screen just to watch a kicker? But, if that kicker is on you r fantasy team, he can reel in some critical points, and possibly earn some winning points. After all, the critiquing and scrutinizing of fantasy football is defiantly doing the NFL good, popularizing hidden players with renowned talent, who else would have gone over looked. As the NFL evolves, so too will Fantasy Football. Who knows, maybe ten years from now fantasy football might become a legitimate sport.
