Clenching his fists in apprehension as his eyes fixate on the television screen, junior Jeremiah Johnson holds his breath as his drafted player in Fantasy Football strides down the field. Johnson’s phone buzzes beside him as his friends react to the different professional players making or breaking whether they will triumph for the week.
During football season, while some fans may watch games with interest in supporting their local team, fans like Johnson devote additional time to the game “Fantasy Football.” This game has surged in popularity this year amongst friend groups at school, according to Johnson.
Participants draft a player weekly and get a certain amount of points depending on how well that player did in their regular season game. Each person goes against another within the group, chosen at random, and the NFL players’ success at the end of that week determines who gains the most points. Whoever achieves the most overall points by the end of the season wins the game.
Eight other juniors competed in the trend with Johnson. At the end of the regular season, he rose as champion amongst the group.
“I was really surprised when I won because I had been losing for the last couple of weeks of the season,” Johnson said. “When I ended up winning, it felt really good because I wasn’t expecting it.”
Johnson shared that he and his friends decided to add a competitive twist with an “anti-prize” called a teaser for whoever ends with the least amount of points. He is one of the people who comes up with these teasers, which can include doing dances and dares in public.
For last-place contestant Devyn Davis, his most recent dare was dancing in front of an audience at a CYO basketball game.
“Fueling the game with funny dares is the best part of the entire experience,” Johnson said. “I can tell he likes the publicity he gets from it, so I don’t feel too bad for him.”
Johnson explained that this game has been an easy way for him to bond over sports within his friendships.
“It was really fun to have some light hearted competition with my friends,” Johnson said. “It definitely brought us closer together.”
While Johnson was strategizing in hopes of a win this season, sophomore Owen Hughes also played Fantasy Football this past season within a different group. Differing from Johnson’s motives, Hughes shared that he joined to gain a better understanding of the sport.
“I started playing this year because it seemed like a good way to learn more about football,” Hughes said. “I definitely think I know a lot more about it now just from researching statistics of players.”
Participants in fantasy football can choose professional players based on their desired strategy during a group draft. Hughes explains that he personally chooses players based on their regular season statistics since it may foreshadow how well they perform in future plays.
“Some of my friends choose random players and rely on luck to help them win, but I like to put more thought into it to help me be more confident in my choices,” Hughes said.
According to Johnson, his experience has been more than just the thrill of victory or the challenge of strategizing- it is about the camaraderie and shared moments of competition that stem from the game.
“It’s not just about winning the league for me,” Johnson said. “It’s really just about making memories and getting into the game. Plus watching the players crush it is pretty awesome, too.”
