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Get in the Game: Fantasy Football
By Brandon | Last edited: June 11, 2008
Fantasy Football is a game where a person can become a manager of a football team and compete against other managers on the Internet. Usually in a league, there are a bunch of friends or random players that try and compete against each other via the teams that they auto or manually draft. There can be several thousands of leagues created on the Internet, however, if you’re playing the game, you can only compete against someone in your own specific league. In any case, fantasy football is game that has exploded and is becoming an American past time.
The game works first by picking a group of people to play with. Usually a league includes around 10 different teams. After a league has been created, the drafting of actual NFL players begins, allowing you as the manager (or owner) to pick several different NFL players to be on your fantasy league team.
Let’s say there are 8 different people in one league. Each of them have the ability to pick players, however, their first choice might not always be the one they get. After selecting players, the fantasy season begins when the real football season starts. The score of the fantasy football player’s works by the real statistics of the NFL players. If an NFL player Jerry Rice scores 3 touchdowns and he’s running a lot of yards, this will benefit someone who owns this player in their fantasy league. Here is a sample breakdown of the point system in a fantasy football league:
Yards: 30 yards 20 yards 10 yards Touchdown
- Passes 4 points 2 points 1 point 8 points
- Rushes 3 points 2 points 1 point 8 points
- Receptions 5 points 3 points 2 points 8 points
Additional points may be earned for sacks, turnovers, or field goals. Points may also be lost when an NFL player suffers penalties. As you gain more points, your rank in the league goes higher. Just as in real NFL play, players can trade or drop players as they wish. There is also money management (meaning better players cost more). Fantasy football is often talked about during school or a workplace. Most of the time, fantasy football is the best way to learn about the sport specifically (players, rosters, teams, etc). The game has now been designed to be easy to play for the beginner, and also contain cut throat competition for the veterans. There are many different websites with plenty of information to get you started on playing in a league. Most players use something called a “cheat sheet” to help them pick what players they want. A cheat sheet will give you a chart full of all the top players in the NFL, allowing you to choose based upon the rankings. There are several thousands of users who participate in discussion forums to exchange strategies. For someone that really wants to get into the game, the options are limitless because of the advancements of the Internet.
Only one type of fantasy football league example was discussed earlier. There are other types of leagues that allow for different style gameplay. There is a dynasty league which requires the game to be completed over several different seasons (both pro NFL as well as college football). In this type of game, there would have to be a re-draft every time a new season started (whether for NFL or college football). Another league that bounces from year-to-year is a Keeper League, where owners can keep some of their players from a previous season in the re-draft. The last type of league is a survivor league, where during a certain amount of time into the league, the team with the least points is eliminated altogether. The last team to still be playing in the season is the league winner.
Some common websites that offer fantasy football leagues include: Yahoo, ESPN, NFL.com, and Sandbox. Most websites that offer leagues are very similar, however, the gameplay might be slightly different based on their point calculations, etc. Fantasy gaming has evolved to other common sports such as basketball, baseball, soccer, and even tennis. Sites like Yahoo even offer money prizes which extends the game into a potential gambling addiction. Out of all the sports fantasy football is the most widely played, with over 30 million Americans who play the game which generates over 100 million dollars in revenue yearly. The game is continually on the rise, as Americans continue to support the growth of sports activities. Indeed, fantasy football is a new American past time.