Fantasy Football; Changing America's Pastime

After a long day at MetLife Stadium, Ray and I finally returned to my apartment to watch the Sunday night football game. As we watched the game San Diego moves into the Red Zone;

Me: Who is that in the backfield?

Ray: Ryan Matthews, it better be Ryan Matthews.

<The ball is handed off>

Ray: It’s Jackie Battle.

Me: STOP BATTLE STOP, DON’T YOU CROSS THAT GOAL LINE! YOU STUPID VULTURE!

This conversation is like many Ray and I have. Although our two favorite teams played earlier in the day, we still had invested interest in the Sunday night game. After all, he had two players going (Matthews and Marques Colston) while I sat shaking my head watching Jimmy Graham stranded on the sidelines with an ankle injury. If this game took place five years ago, I wouldn't care who got the hand off at the goal line or who caught Bree’s record breaking TD. This friend’s is the beauty of Fantasy Football and its effect on fans around the world.

I am relatively new to the Fantasy Football scene compared to my fellow PSS contributors. I've been actively involved in leagues going on four years. I watch the same amount of games as I did before joining a league, I cheer for the same team, and I cheer against the same teams. However, Fantasy Football has completely altered the way I watch the NFL.

Last week at Giants/Eagles, I gave myself a small high five on the inside when Victor Cruz scored a TD. Not that I was cheering for the Giants, but because Cruz is on my big money fantasy team. I felt the same sort of conflicted joy when he gobbled three TD’s this past week against the Browns. While I would prefer the Giants lose first and foremost, I need Cruz to catch passes and score touchdowns.

Wait a second does that mean I am cheering for Cruz to play well? Thus, helping the Giants, one of the Eagles most hated rivals. Does this mean that I am not a true Philly fan? C’mon I bleed green for the freaking Birds. I've almost been in fights supporting the Eagles at Giants games in New York. Yet I am cheering for Cruz, a member of the Giants, whose goal is to defeat my team.  This is beyond conflicting, but it is a daily occurrence in the realm of Fantasy Football.

Fantasy provides a way for fans to stay connected to games that they may not have been interested in previously. It gives another reason for people to spend all day Sunday glued to their televisions, smart phones, or computer screens. Before Fantasy Football, fans could watch a game simply to watch a game. Now, fans are watching games to see how their specific player or defense is fairing. They have strong emotional connections to all the games, not just the one’s their favorite teams are playing.

This game/hobby/obsession is not only changing the way  fans watch football, but is changing how fans cheer for the games as well. I as an Eagles supporter am forced to cheer for the Giants ever time Cruz catches a pass. I have developed an obsession with Chicago Kicker Robbie Gould. Not because I like the Bears, quite the contrary I actually dislike the Bears a lot, but Gould has led my fantasy team to victory on MULTIPLE occasions. Therefore, I have developed a liking for the Penn State alum. If it wasn't for Fantasy Football, I probably wouldn't even know who Robbie Gould is and if I did, I most likely would not cheer for him. By playing fantasy, my will for knowledge of teams and players is tripled because I can benefit from any information that I gain. The TV networks are routinely posting players statistics and Red Zone is a fantasy player’s Heaven on Earth on Sundays.

With all this in mind, I have a plea to make to any fantasy player who will take a moment to listen. Do not let Fantasy Football or any fantasy sport for that matter, change the way you appreciate the game. Whenever I watch football, I am consistently trying to remember which players I am playing against, what team I need to score a lot of points, what team I need to pitch a shutout. I get furious if things don’t go my way and my attitude towards while watching completely changes. It is not fun for me because I know my fantasy team is suffering.  I no longer enjoy watching football which is a sport that I absolutely love above anything else. (Sorry Mom, Dad, Ray) Finally I realized there is no reason for this.

If it wasn't for my love of football, I would have no interest in playing fantasy. The love I have for watching football will last well after the fantasy season is over. I should not allow my fantasy success and/or failures to effect how I appreciate the games each week. I want to share this lesson because I cannot be the sole individual on this planet who has experienced this confliction. Even more so, I know I am not the only person whose football experience has been altered by Fantasy Football.

Let us remember the reason why we enjoy watching football. We enjoy healthy competition, the opportunity to eat and drink massive amounts of wings and beer, and the chance to cheer our favorite teams to success every week. This past week Denver/New England featured two Hall Of Fame quarterbacks duking it out in an epic battle and all I could think was how many points Willis McGahee lost with his fumble. We as fans cannot let our appreciation of the game and more importantly, the way we watch and cheer games be affected by possible poor performances on our fantasy roster. At the end of the day, we are all football fans and we cannot let a silly secondary game effect how we appreciate, cheer, and enjoy football.