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With temperatures dropping this weekend, it’s finally fall in Chicagoland. But while some are studying for midterms, others are setting their lineups.
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Fantasy football first developed in the 1960s. But as the internet got better, it exploded in popularity in the 2000s.The concept is relatively simple: each person in a league manages a team. They draft players at various positions before the NFL season starts.
Each week, teams are randomly paired off to play each other. Depending on the league’s scoring, players can earn points for rushing and passing. At the end of the season, the best teams move on to the playoffs.
Today, 19% of Americans aged 18 and up participate in fantasy sports. And even if Northwestern’s football team isn’t doing too hot, many students are hoping to at least manage a star team.
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Sam Keimweiss is a Northwestern senior studying philosophy and global health. He’s got two teams under his belt this year.
KEIMWEISS: Yeah, I’ve been playing fantasy football since middle school. I had a friend or two who’s like, “Hey, play fantasy football.” So I started playing fantasy football.
Keimweiss has a dynasty league with his friends from high school, and a regular league with his extended family. The dynasty league is a bit of a different setup. Rather than redraft every year, each team manages the same set of players over time.
KEIMWEISS: There are only eight of us in my league with my high school friends. And we switched to dynasty senior year of high school so that we would stick with it. We have a reason to come back every year because we have some continuity with our teams. There are people there who I’d never have talked to otherwise, but I’ve stayed close with them solely through fantasy football, which has been wonderful.
Keimweiss’s team with his friends connects multiple times throughout the year, with special traditions for their league.
KEIMWEISS: We draft over zoom. And we do a rules call every year in May over zoom. And we have a trophy that we pass around. Based on who wins, that’s new this year…
Last year when we did the rules call, I went over to my brother’s house in downtown Chicago and we played a little bit of a drinking game with our friends. That was a lot of fun as well. It’s really just a great way of staying in touch with people.
Staying in touch with old friends is a great benefit for fantasy leagues in college and beyond. But it’s also a great way to meet new friends.
Christian Morales is a freshman at Northwestern studying journalism. This year, he’s in a league with his new Northwestern friends.
MORALES: I was a football manager at my high school and all the O linemen were making a fantasy league, so I decided to join them. That’s kind of what started my interest in fantasy football. This year, I’m in a league with a bunch of other Northwestern freshmen. I’ve got to meet like a good amount of kids here at Northwestern doing fantasy football.
Aside from the connecting power of fantasy, it’s just a good way to increase your sports knowledge. Jimmy Milas is a sophomore at Loyola Chicago studying environmental policy and pre-law. He only recently got into fantasy.
MILAS: It’s kind of like a fun story. I had heat stroke while on vacation. And so while my family was out at the theme parks in Orlando, me and my dad stayed in my room. And we just watched ESPN for 72 hours. Draft season was happening last year for fantasy football, And I just got, like, engrossed in it.
Milas has a league with his friends from home, as well as his friends from Loyola Chicago.
MILAS: I don’t know if you’ve seen Moneyball, but I’m Billy Beane. That’s who I like to embody whenever I’m a fantasy football general manager.
Though he’s relatively new to the craft, he takes it pretty seriously. He even made a spreadsheet for the draft.
MILAS: I went on ESPN rankings, which I think are just wrong and terrible. So on my Billy Beane team, I have Lamar Jackson, Aaron Jones, Brian Robinson Jr, Stefon Diggs, Cee Dee Lamb, Dallas Goddard, David Montgomery, Jets defense and… yeah, terrible. I regret it so much.
Jets defense aside, Milas says that fantasy has increased his enjoyment of professional football.
MILAS: It’s fun to see names that you didn’t recognize before, like Puka Nacua. I remember him from BYU and now he’s probably going to win Rookie of the Year. So it’s just something cool to see and definitely to expand my sports horizons.
And if nothing else,
MILAS: I think it’s a good way for men to fight against each other without physical violence. You can snip that sound. Men used to go to war, now we pray that Nick Chubb can come back later this season. He’s so gone. It’s so bad.
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For WNUR News, I’m Allison Rauch.
