Fantasy Football

By: Isabel Bostic

While sports betting has been an interest for many sport lovers around the world, a more accessible way to get involved in sports has emerged over the last few years. Nearly 30 million people around the world play in a Fantasy Football league.

What is Fantasy?
Fantasy football is an NFL drafting simulator where a team is put together based on current players in
the NFL. Each week a team is set up to play against another person in the league and whoever has the most points that week wins. Points come from each player’s performance in their own game. For example, in week one of the 2024/2025 NFL season, Miami Dolphins’ wide receiver, Tyreek Hill had 12 targets,
132 yards and a touchdown against the Jacksonville Jaguars, which translates to 26.0 fantasy points.
Another example is Ravens’ quarterback Lamar Jackson, who scored 25.1 points in week one of the NFL
season against the Kansas City Chiefs. After every week, the number of points reset, and each person
is set up against a different competitor. Fantasy ends January 5th, 2025.

Why Play Fantasy?
Playing fantasy football is a simple way to compete with friends and family. In fantasy sports players are in complete control of their teams: they get to be the general manager, owner and head coach. Aside from the competitive aspect of fantasy sports, there is also a social side to fantasy. Sportswriter,
Jason Smith, claims “fantasy football is not only a game, but a social experience” (nfl.com). Not only is fantasy constantly increasing in popularity around the world, but it is also on the rise around Nease.
When asked why he plays fantasy football, senior Nate Reeder said, “It gives me an incentive to watch every single game. It also brings fun, competitive stress when it comes down to a player making or breaking my result that week.” This aspect to fantasy is what draws the attention of like-minded students who live for healthy competition, like Nate.

Punishments
Punishments are arguably the most anticipated factor of fantasy football. From running a milk mile
to sitting in Waffle House for 24 hours, the consequences for placing last in a fantasy league are something participants want to avoid. Junior Emmet Haggerty has been playing fantasy football for 3 years now and in 2023 he and his friends chose the cage as their punishment for placing last. Another popular punishment is forcing the loser to walk around outside in a costume of some sort, all while holding a sign that says something along the lines of “I suck at fantasy football” or “This is my fantasy punishment.”

There is a vulgar, but very popular, punishment where the loser must sit in a dog crate while the rest of
the participants pour condiments and food on the loser and are unable to move. Sean Russo, a senior at
Nease, lost his fantasy league in the 2023/2024 season and was forced to sit in Waffle House for 24 hours.

For every waffle he ate, he was able to take an hour off the clock. Sean ended up eating 12 waffles and had to stay for only 12 hours. While walking around outside is not as harsh as the cage, it is still an embarrassing ramification for placing last.