Maybe it’s just because my leagues are weird, but fantasy football changes me.
I’m in a certain mode on Sunday afternoon. I say things to people I never would on any other day. I am almost a different person.
I live with three other guys, and two of them are in the league I value most. One of them is done for the season after an 0-5 start, and the other has won five in a row and is contending after an 0-3 start.
The latter is a great guy, but others in the league and I have a common thought process: We do not want him to win.
On Tuesday, I talked with people about how I didn’t want this guy to win for the rest of the year. Later that same night I was hanging out with him and having a good time. Am I becoming two people?
I’m friends with everyone in the league, so whenever I play anyone, not just my aforementioned annoying friend, things get testy, borderline personal. While we have an understanding that this is for fun, it is really for so much more.
We make fun of each other all the time, and whenever someone doesn’t have a comeback for a joke, fantasy football records are brought into the argument. Unfortunately, I have not made the playoffs in any of the three years we’ve done this league. I hear about it all the time.
And what do these arguments stem from? They come from our cheering for individual players, some on teams that I despise, so they can help my fantasy football team win.
I strongly dislike some players just because of fantasy football, as do many people across the country. I especially dislike Drew Brees. The only good thing he’s ever done for me is have a subpar game last Sunday against the Broncos when I played against him.
Now think about that statement. Brees comes across as a great guy. He appears to be a true leader. He is even in a commercial with One Direction! How awesome is that?
My answer: Not awesome, because until last week, he had great game after great game whenever I played him in fantasy football. Ever since I started this league, I’ve thought about how all the “Who dat?” stuff done by the Saints is really dumb, and I have stopped rooting for them entirely, which the BountyGate scandal didn’t help, either.
I’m a huge Packers fan, but last year I started four Lions players in my fantasy football lineup. I was rooting for Matthew Stafford, Calvin Johnson, Jahvid Best and Jason Hanson every week until Best went and got himself concussed, which I make him sound like a jerk for doing. What is happening to me?
I’m now accused of being a Lions fan because of this, which I will vehemently deny forever. But I do have a soft spot for Johnson and Best. They’re my guys. I still have Stafford on my team, and next year when the draft comes around, I may feel obliged to pick him again.
The worst part of my current team is owning the Bears defense. I don’t like them either, but I respect their contributions to my team.
From noon on Sunday to the conclusion of Monday Night Football, I’m a different person.
This year, I’m convinced I have the best team in my league, so that different person is much more annoying. But, that’s the fun of it, and luckily for me, we’re only halfway through the season.