Fantasy Football vs. Real Football

By Charlie Portelli

Every guy loves fantasy football. Hell, there are even a lot of women who are into it these days. It's spreading rapidly and extensively. Its easy to join, easy to draft, easy to manage and most anyone can grasp the concept of fantasy football overnight. It has helped the National Football League reach record profits and is also a huge factor in the NFL making all-time marks in television ratings. The problem is, people are so engulfed by their fantasy football team that they have lost sight of the true beauty of the most exciting sport to watch in the world; real, athletic, hard hitting, American Football.

In case you have been living under a rock for the past decade and are unfamiliar with what fantasy football is, it is very simple. You draft a team of real NFL players consisting of a Quarterback, Running Backs, Wide Receivers, Tight Ends, Kicker, and a team defense. Each week you are matched up with another fantasy football team in your league and you compete against each other and acquire points based on your player's accumulation of stats. You are essentially your team's general manager and begin by drafting your team. Throughout the season you can trade with other teams, add/drop players, and change up your roster.

Like the majority of guys out there, I also participate in fantasy football. Although I am always invited into several leagues each year, I limit myself to just one league with 9 other guys who happen to be my best friends. I am also the commissioner of the league. Win or lose in our league (I mostly lose), I have an absolute ball with it. It's fun to throw some money in a pot, draft with your buddies, talk some shit, and see how it all plays out. With that said, I don't let it get out of hand like too many guys out there tend to.

Everyone hates "3-fantasy football league guy" who has so many conflicts of interest he doesn't know who the hell he is rooting for in every game. He needs Matt Ryan to play decent because he owns him in one league, but he is also playing against him in another, but the first league is more important so I guess he can throw like... 2 TD passes, but no more. Oh, and he can't throw any of those TD passes to Tony Gonzalez because hes playing against him.

Dude, shut up.

How about the guy that you watch the game with that keeps his mouth running every single play? "Alright, the Patriots need to pass. Let Tom Brady pass. Why the fuck are you running the ball?!?! Pass the ball damnit!"
We are certainly all guilty of this one to some degree. I'd be lying if I told you I didn't root for a particular player to score a TD while in the red zone.

But seriously, every play? Give me a break.

Almost as bad as him is the guy that is staring at his fantasy football roster on his phone for the duration of a game. Then he tells everyone "Demarco Murray just scored a touchdown!", everyone chimes back, "We just saw it live on TV while you had your head buried in your phone".

Something else that irks me is the fact that fantasy football experts think they know it all about real football. This year they tell me that Tom Brady sucks. He isn't putting up the gaudy stats that he used to, so now he sucks.

Really, pal? I will argue the contrary. He is having a great year this year. He has helped lead his team to a 6-2 record thus far with wide receivers that are undrafted rookies. So in case you are having trouble grasping that, these are players that are in their first year in the league, who after 254 draft selections this year, were passed by. No one wanted them. So then the Patriots signed them after no one chose to draft them, and they're now Tom Brady's primary weapons on offense. Tom Brady has been incredibly resilient this year. If they understood real football and watched the games and not just glanced at box scores or their fantasy football points, they too would realize this.

Even worse than fantasy football nerds are the guys who play fantasy football and have completely lost touch with reality because of it. It has become far too common in a world where social media dominates and a football player receives death threats to him and his family based on a poor performance. The player's poor performance resulted in lost points for this fantasy owner's team, so he threatens his life. It sounds like a sick joke, but the truth of the matter is that it happens very often. Some fans are so persistent with these threats that team security has to step in. Some people forget that while these professional football players are icons and many of them make millions of dollars, they are real people too. These players don't give a shit about your fantasy football team, and I don't blame them.

All of these different types of guys have lost sight of the true beauty of the game of football that we've all fell in love with.

While I enjoy fantasy football, I do not let it tarnish real football. I grew up watching football with my grandfather (before fantasy football was popular) and fell in love with the raw human competition. Coaches drawing up plays, creating game plans and then attempting to execute them against another team on Sundays. I also witnessed my grandfather's emotional roller coaster as I saw him root so feverishly for a team that he had bet on that day. For all you nerds out there who participate in 3 fantasy football leagues every year and have all your football watching excitement bank on your wide receiver catching a deep pass, I have an idea for you. But first, you're going to have to grow a pair. After you've done that, take some of your hard earned money and do the old fashioned thing, bet on a football game. You want to talk about exciting? Throw some money on a football game with a buddy, split a 12 pack to ease the nerves and hang on for the ride. You'll be white knuckling it until the final whistle. You'll never take your eyes off that TV and you will truly appreciate the real football game. Now of course, gambling on sports is nothing to joke about. You could easily become addicted and lose all your money, that's the reality of it, as scary as it sounds. With that said, exercise some self-control and keep it fun. Don't bet your mortgage or car payment. Just some extra cash to have fun with. I am not an advocate of betting on sports, but at the same time, I think everyone should experience it at least once, especially fantasy football nerds who think they know real football.

Listen, fantasy football is great. But too many people are getting out of hand with it and losing sight of the real game that we've all fell in love with one way or another. So this Sunday put your smart phones down, sit in front of the TV, crack a beer and watch with bated breath while I hope like the hell the Baltimore Ravens cover the point spread.