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It’s October 14, 2002. I’m lying in bed with my handheld radio listening to the 49ers-Seahawks broadcast. I’ve had multiple arguments with my parents to let me stay up and watch the game, but I’m denied. My fantasy matchup has come down to tonight. I’m down one point with Terrell Owens left to play, while my opponent has Shaun Alexander. Both players are having phenomenal games. With 7:53 left in the game, I hear, “Jeff Garcia drops back, throws it deep down the left side to Terrell Owens, who makes a leaping grab over Shawn Springs for the touchdown.” Owens then proceeds to pull a sharpie out of his sock and autograph the ball. I’m jumping up and down on my bed. I think I’m winning at this point, but my 9-year-old self is trying to add up the yards and touchdowns in my head. I think, “Did they say Owens has 84 total yards now. Did I hear that right”? I debate whether it is worth sneaking downstairs to my dad’s office to try and get on dial-up internet to see the live box score. Or should I sneak down to turn on the television to see if I can catch the stats flash across the bottom line? I end up waiting until the morning. I can see Owens’ and Alexander’s final stats on the SportsCenter highlights. I had won. This was when I truly fell in love with fantasy football.
There is some beauty to the nostalgic memories of watching Sunday NFL Countdown every night to see how your players did. There are some not-so-great memories of all of us going over to that one guy’s house who had the NFL Sunday Ticket package. I remember there would be 15 of us there. All non-stop yelling, “Turn the channel to this game. I think they are in the redzone” “Dude! It’s a commercial, hurry up and switch the channel”. Whoever had the remote had all the power, but I promise you, that job was the worst. I also don’t miss hearing about Priest Holmes being out for the year and trying to rush to the computer lab at my school to add Larry Johnson. And in all of this, I realize I’m only 29. Many before me used to add their scoring up via the newspaper manually.
Now we are incredibly blessed. Fast forward 20 years. Now I get a notification instantly sent to my phone when any of my players touch the ball. We have everything at our fingertips regarding injuries, suspensions, or any relevant NFL news during the week. On Sunday, for a lot of us, there is no need for a remote anymore except for us to push “yes” to the “are you still watching” question as the afternoon games kickoff due to the beauty of NFL RedZone, where we listen to Scott Hanson and Andrew Siciliano’s voice for seven hours of commercial-free football.
But what makes fantasy football the best is the people you do it with and the fall season, where it becomes a part of every conversation for months. Many of us play with the same people and have for the past however many years. It’s the pride and bragging rights that you covet more than anything. The ability to hold your league’s trophy at the draft or the amount of pain you feel for eight months when you’re the last-place finisher. Some people’s leagues are groups of best friends, others have been together for 20+ years, and you’ve built lifelong friends. Every week during the season, you’re working the waiver wire and discussing trades with league members all week to move that running back depth you’ve built up. Or the beauty of trash-talking league members, how bad you crushed them this week, and how much of a bonehead move they made by starting whoever in their flex who scored four points. It’s the Sunday and Monday night miracles you need where you are glued to your player on the field every single play. It’s the ridiculous scenarios you draw up in your head all day Monday at work of different amounts of receptions, yards, and touchdown combinations for you to win.
It is all these things for me, but it also gives any NFL fan hope. I grew up a Washington fan. From 2000-2022 I haven’t had too much to be excited about when training camp rolls around. But, in the league I’ve been a part of for 20 years, I can always get excited on draft night. Because I know at that moment it is anyone’s chance to win it all this year. Now, does my Washington Commander fandom come first? Absolutely. But, when it’s Week 7, and we are 3-4, I’m not looking at next year’s mock drafts. Instead, I’m scrounging the waiver wire, sending out too many texts of potential trade offers, and reading every article I can on which quarterback to stream during my starter’s bye week. That is why fantasy football is so great. Every year there is new hope, and you embrace the same triumph and defeat; it never gets old. If the Commanders ever return to consistent relevancy (no, the 2020 NFC East champs at 7-9 isn’t something I got super excited about). Trust me, I will be as fired up as anyone, and it will be icing on the cake for my love for fantasy football that has kept my fandom for the NFL afloat for the last 20 years.
We have finally made it through the dog days of summer. It’s time to get excited about your draft night. It’s time to tinker and tilt your lineup every Sunday morning. It’s time to stay up late on Sunday and Monday night to watch garbage time drives to see if that flex play can squeak out two or three more catches. It’s time to overthink all day Tuesday on where to spend your free agent bidding or where to make a waiver claim. It’s time for the low-ball trade offers you’ll send on Wednesday. And ultimately, it is time for the back-and-forth banter you’ve had for the first time with someone or the people you have been doing it with for the past 20 years. Football season is approaching. Get your cheat sheets and Footballguys draft dominator app ready. Let’s ride (Russell Wilson's voice).
