The NFL goes hand-in-hand with fantasy football. After all, fantasy football, or “FF”, is a point-based game that gets its stats from NFL players themselves. At the start of each season, people can make a bracket with their friends, or even join a random one through online sessions and draft real-life players in the NFL. As these players gain points, whether it be through touchdowns or rushing yards, those accumulative points go to the one who drafted them. The athletes are given the chance to gain points in every football game they play in, so the Fantasy League goes on until the end of the NFL season.  

   Local students in the “Wingidiles” Fantasy League, have tips for new players and comments as to why they love the game so much. Aiden Denny (Senior) is very excited for his team this season, he boasts his team is “Looking absolutely great, a stable of running bucks, absolute stallions in the field.” His opponent within the game, Nate Weber, (Senior) was not as enthusiastic, stating “I’m a little worried not gonna lie, my only QB is Deerick Karr.” 

   Both Weber and Denny are enthusiastic NFL fans, which is how and why they both respectively got into FF. Both state that they love football and enjoy getting to pit their own knowledge against others in a competitive format. Denny stated his only reasoning for playing was, “I love football and I love beating people at things.” 

   As a new league member, starting out can be difficult especially if one doesn’t have any prior knowledge about FF or NFL players or stats. Thankfully, there is an “Auto Draft” portion for players who have no knowledge about NFL stats or players. However, inexperienced players are encouraged to try and research to learn more about the game and its players. It can shine a new light on the sport when new knowledge is available to a watcher, and when playing in a FF league it can make watching a game even more interactive and exciting. 

   The game also changes each year. Miller Caldwell (Freshman) states the game can change through “New players, players getting injured, or even players getting caught in scandals and getting suspended like Deshaun Wattson, but like that’s the fun of the game you know? It makes it more exciting when something unexpected happens.”