By Jash Mody and Jay Shah
Fantasy football is a game which allows users to draft players from the NFL and compete against each other weekly in a league. The goal is to get a roster of players that score the highest possible amount of points. The points earned is based on the performance of a player in a game. It takes ordinary football fans and transforms them into team managers, responsible for assembling a group of athletes to compete in a virtual arena. As the NFL season progresses, the winner of the fantasy football league will be decided and the loser or lowest ranked player will sometimes have to do an embarrassing punishment.
Source by Alvin Paul
NHP students actively check fantasy football for updates and trades.
Some believe fantasy football is an entertaining way to connect with fellow football lovers. Additionally, some students feel that fantasy football is a testament to the enduring human spirit of competition and connection. Sports fans find fantasy football’s sudden surge in popularity interesting, as originally the scoring measurements and lineup management were entirely contrasting. Creator of the game, Bill Winkenbach, and owner of the Oakland Raiders, favored special teams, as values for their efforts could reach as high as 200 points.
“Fantasy football is such an amazing and fun app to use,” senior Varun Devjani said. “I’ve been playing for the last four years and it’s helped me increase my knowledge of the NFL and it also gave me information about some of the best players in the league. Fantasy football has also caused me to watch even more football games as now I am rooting for my players to do well in games. My entire friend group is constantly negotiating trades in our free time and adjusting our rosters.”
“When it comes to fantasy football, my friends and I take it extremely seriously," junior Tyler Lopez said. "We began a 10 man league and had a specific draft date to meet up and select players for our roster. Constantly trades are occurring within this league and things can get very chaotic. The person who gets dead last will have to count to 50,000 on Instagram live as their punishment for losing."
With the influence of the internet, fantasy football has veered from a leisure activity to a well-known phenomenon. Automation of fantasy sports in general allowed for popularity to explode and nearly 60 million people played the game in North America, according to research conducted by FSGA in 2017. Furthermore, students are entertained by fantasy football leaders such as Tyreek Hill, Christian McCaffery, and Justin Jefferson, which they feel encourage them to participate in the game.
“Some of my favorite fantasy football players are Tyreek Hill and Christian McCaffery," junior Aayan Ahmed said. "These two players have always been leading scores for the last five years. This year they have been extremely consistent and are overall fun to watch during games given their incredible speed and immaculate ability to spin past defenders."