In terms of the NFL, there is one thing I truly believe: everyone should play fantasy football.
I’m not speaking in hyperbole. I’m serious. Every American adult should play fantasy football.
It’s not about enhancing how you enjoy America’s favorite game. Rather, it’s about developing camaraderie with your fellow man that can’t be found elsewhere.
It doesn’t matter if you’re in the same league as another person. In fact, you probably bond more if you aren’t in the same league.
Everyone that plays fantasy can bond over universal things: the heartbreak after a devastating loss, the joy of winning because of one crazy performance or the excuses following a terrible benching.
If you’re talking about fantasy football, other players can identify with you after only a few words. In the past week, if you said you faced Peyton Manning, you probably got a mixture of grimaces and apologetic pats on the back. If you gloated about having Adrian Peterson, you probably received a high-five and congratulations.
Rather than disagreeing on which of your favorite teams will win the Super Bowl, can’t we all just get along? In fantasy football, you can be a Minnesota Vikings fan with Aaron Rodgers and Brandon Marshall on your team. Sure, you hope both of their real teams lose every single game, but they had better be individually successful.
And if you’re a casual fan? Take it from me; rooting for individuals is a much more enjoyable option than rooting for laundry. You don’t lead the awkward existence Indianapolis Colts fans have encountered. Yes, they hope Manning succeeds, but he better not beat the Colts in the playoffs.
In fantasy, the results of the games don’t matter. The stats going into the final score line do.
If you don’t have a favorite team—or it isn’t playing a certain week—watching football is much better with a fantasy team. Your friends may be all worked up about how good the Seattle Seahawks are, but you can just hope Russell Wilson throws a couple of touchdown passes.
But what if you don’t know anything about football? Play fantasy! If people start talking about football around you, you don’t have to become the awkwardly quiet member of the conversation; you can chime in about your thoughts on Tony Romo’s true value.
You don’t have to understand football to understand fantasy. Figure out the scoring in your league; then figure out which players put up the best numbers. You might not be good right away, but you will instantly have more enjoyable conversations on Monday if you can casually discuss what happened in the NFL that past weekend.
The NFL is very, very popular. People want to talk about it. If you aren’t able to take part in that discussion, you might be missing out on enjoyable friendships. If you play fantasy football, you open up another world of camaraderie.
Similarly, cheering for specific NFL teams can hurt that camaraderie. If you’re simply cheering for players, though, you have a much better chance of making friends instead of enemies
So please, do yourself a favor and play fantasy football. You won’t regret it.