You always know what to expect in my house on Sundays during football season – from 1pm-8pm, our TV is turned to NFL Redzone, which gives us 7 hours of commercial free, uninterrupted football where you get to see every touchdown. Watching Redzone is basically as exciting as football can get in my mind because they jump to every “red zone” moment, which is what happens when a team is in the field between the 20-yard line and the goal line – AKA could score at any moment.
My husband has always been a sports fanatic, but I never grew up watching or playing sports of any kind. So this new sports centered life was definitely foreign to me when we first started dating. While he watched football, my husband would be constantly checking his computer for some “fantasy game” that I totally thought was ridiculous. What grown man plays some game that has “fantasy” in the name? Fast forward enduring 6 football seasons of dating and being bored out of my mind every Sunday, I decided that I may as well embrace the football life and follow the advice of “if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em.”
Well, I wish that I hadn’t made fun of fantasy football and jumped on the bandwagon sooner because it helps me endure and, dare I say this, but enjoy the football season. So, if you are in the same situation as I was, and are totally clueless about what fantasy football entails and dread every Sunday, I’m going to give you the rundown on what fantasy football is {Fantasy Football 101} and how you can get it on the fun so that your fall Sundays soon become Sunday Fundays {How to Start a Ladies League}!
Fantasy Football 101
Fantasy football is as the name implies, imaginary football, in the sense that your “team” is not a team that exists in real life. You are not rooting for the New York Giants team as a whole. However, the players that you pick to have on your team are very real, which is why getting your skin into the game of fantasy football makes football more fun to watch. For example, if you draft Tom Brady as your quarterback, his performance {touchdowns, passes, runs} during each week’s game impacts your score!
Every week, the imaginary team that you created out of actual NFL players will be in a head-to-head competition with another imaginary team. Each team will score points according to the actual performance of your selected players and each team is part of a bigger “league.” You can join leagues with your friends, family, coworkers, or strangers that you get matched up with online – it’s up to you. It’s most fun when you know the other people you are competing against and you can engage in some friendly smack talk! Most leagues consist of 12 teams, but some are less and some are more. You will be the owner/manager of your team and will be responsible for taking players in and out for maximum points. Each league has a “commissioner” that is in charge of collecting dues if you play for money, setting the rules, and making sure everyone is actively participating every week.
How do I get players on my team? You participate in a draft, in which all NFL players are able to be drafted. The draft occurs in late August or early September, but has to take place before the NFL season starts, which falls on September 8 this year. The draft may be live or virtual {everyone does it from their own computer}. Your league might wait until early September to draft so that you have the most up to date news on player injuries, performance during pre-season {the “warm up” games played before the games start counting for the record}, etc. You are assigned a draft order that is set by the league and all owners draft until their roster is filled. Roster sizes can vary, but are about 13 players on average. You can only draft a player if it has not been drafted by another owner. For example, if someone already picked Aaron Rodgers, you won’t be able to pick him.
What positions does my team consist of? A football team consists of different positions, the main parts being offense {the guys who score touchdowns} and defense {the guys who prevent the other team from scoring}, with many positions within. In a typical fantasy football league, you will draft specific offensive players {for example, Adrian Peterson} and an overall defense {i.e. New York Jets}. A typical fantasy football team will consist of the following positions, which you will need to draft {here is an explanation of what each position actually does, if you’re curious):
- Quarterback (QB)
- Running Back (RB)
- Wide Receiver (WR)
- Tight End (TE)
- Kicker (K)
- Defense (DEF)
- Bench players
A typical league will consist of 1 QB, 2 RBs, 2 WRs, 1 TE, 1 K, 1 D, and 5 bench players. The bench players are there if your primary players get hurt or if they have a “bye week” {say what? see below for explanation}. It’s a good idea to have backup players at every position, except K or DEF because you can easily switch those out when needed. Some leagues will have a “Flex” position, which is kind of like a bonus position because you can put in either a RB, WR, or TE. Trust me, this really helps you out on bye weeks!
What is a bye week? Each NFL team has one “bye week” during a normal season, which is built into the team’s schedule ahead of time, and a team’s bye week usually falls anytime between Week 4 and Week 12. The bye weeks in real life are the same as in fantasy football. For example, if you draft Drew Brees as your primary QB and the New Orleans Saints has a bye week on Week 5, he won’t be able to get you any points in Week 5, so you will have to put in another QB in his place for that week.
How do my players score points? Each league will set the scoring a little differently. Generally, players get points for touchdowns, rushing and receiving yards, interceptions, sacks, fumble recoveries, field goals, etc. The points will all be calculated by whatever website you use for your league.
Can I change my players during the season? Absolutely. You will be able to get rid of players, add new players, or trade new players. Leagues may have restrictions on when you can add or trade players, so check with your commissioner.
How long does the season last? It depends on the league settings, but, typically, the regular season will run about 13 weeks and then have several weeks of playoffs.
Do I need to be a football expert to play? Absolutely not. When I started playing fantasy football, I really knew nothing about football and 5 seasons later, I’m still learning. Sometimes those that know nothing about football going in are the most successful! You’ll learn about football along the way and, one day, you may surprise yourself by cheering for one of your favorite players after they made a touchdown! At the end of the day, fantasy football is really just a game of strategy and decision-making, and it doesn’t hurt to have football knowledge, but it’s not a prerequisite! Most websites have player statistics, projected points, and news on each player, so it’s very easy to get up to speed and make decisions about who to play and who to put on the bench.
What do I really have to do every week? At a minimum, you need to be alert for bye weeks, injuries, and suspensions. It’s your duty to replace inactive players and either remove them from your team and replace them with better players or put them on your bench until they are active again. It’s no fun to be in a league where owners aren’t managing their team and let their opposing team have an easy win because they didn’t replace bye week or injured players. Make sure to check your line-up {your list of players} on Thursday afternoon and again on Sunday morning to make sure you have the right players in. Obviously your objective is to have higher points than your opponent, so you want to put in the best possible players every week.
How to Start a Ladies {Couples, Work, Etc.} League
Okay, so now you know what fantasy football is and you want to see what all the hype is about! Here are some tips to start your own league:
- Learn about fantasy football. See Fantasy Football 101 again.
- Decide who will be in your league and how many teams you will have. The average league is 12 people, but you can have more or less.
- Select your platform. My favorite is Yahoo Sports because I love the projected points, stats, and player news and I think it’s user friendly {and it has an app}. The platform should walk you through the process of creating a league, inviting teams, etc.
- Decide if you will have league dues or not. Does everybody want to play for money or not? If people have skin in the game, then they are more likely to participate. The more participation, the funner it is! League dues have a wide range, but if you are just starting off, $20 is a good way to start. Based on the number of teams and league dues, you will create a payout structure for league champ at the end of the season, runner-up, etc. The commissioner will hold on to the money until the end of the season when it will be distributed. Make sure people pay you early on so they {and you} don’t forget.
- Pick the draft date and format. Draft day is the most important day in your fantasy football season because it’s when you get your players! Make sure that everyone can make the draft date and time. You can do in person or virtual. If it’s virtual, but some people want to get together, you can all bring your laptops to one house and split a bottle {or a few bottles} of wine and yummy food. If it’s virtual, people can pick to auto-draft if they aren’t available, which means they can put in player preferences and the platform will automatically select the highest available ranked player. Auto-drafting is tricky because you could end up with 4 QBs and no RBs, but it’s an option if someone really can’t make the draft.
- Have fun and happy drafting! Make up fun team names, smack talk each other, and look forward to your future Sunday Fundays!
Have you been part of a fantasy football league before? Do you have any tips for creating a ladies league?
