Fantasy Football…How Can it Help my Marriage?

Guest Post by Steve Walters:

From the start I want to get something out in the open.  This blog post is written by a male, with a target audience of females.  In no way am I saying that ALL women don't understand fantasy football or the sport of football.  I will admit that I am not an expert on either. I also admit I listen to female fantasy football experts podcasts,  in addition to subscribing to their twitter feeds, looking for advice.  In no way is this article meant to imply that men are better than females in any way.  The ONLY intent of this article is to provide a basic understanding about a game that millions of men and women play every year, in hopes of giving you another way to connect in your marriage.

I enjoy playing fantasy football.  I am not a big fan of the NFL but I am a fan of numbers.  I enjoy fantasy football because of the stats involved in the game.  Last year I spent a few minutes discussing some of the basics of the game with my wife.  She now plays fantasy football with me, giving us an opportunity to spend time with each other over a game that has long been a cause of arguments in marriages.  Here are some very basic “entry” level information about Fantasy Football

• What is Fantasy Football?

  • There are many different types of games, rules, styles, etc of fantasy football.  Basically fantasy football is a game that is based off of real NFL games.   You “draft” players for your team.  The players performance in real life determines how your fantasy team scores.  The scoring can be setup in many different ways.  Fantasy Football can be played for nothing more than bragging rights and fun or it can be played for real money.
• There are two basic type of fantasy leagues.
  • Season Long – This type of fantasy football is played by drafting a team consisting of any number of players depending on how your league is setup.  Usually it is 1 quarterback, 2 running backs, 2 wide receivers, one tight end, one kicker, one defense and your bench players.  This team is kept during the entire NFL season.
  • Daily Fantasy Football (DFF) – Daily fantasy football is a lot more confusing in my opinion.  It  is played by drafting players on a weekly basis.  You are given a pretend cash budget to draft your team with.  Again, your team score is based on the real life performance.   DFF is catching on in popularity because if a player you drafted in a season long league gets hurt, it usually hurts your team the entire season.  In DFF you draft a new team each week.  DFF leagues are usually setup on sites called Draftkings or Fanduel.  There are other sites but those are the two main sites.
• How do I score points?
  • Again, there are many different ways to score points.  In any case, the performance of your players in real life determines your players score.  Example: Lets pretend your league rewards your QB 6 points for a touchdown; 1 point for every 25 yards of passing and 1 point for every 10 yards  of rushing(running the ball)  In real life your QB throws three touchdowns with 250 yards passing and 20 yards rushing, his score would be:
    • 3 TDs X 6 points = 18
    • 250 yards passing / 25 = 10
    • 20 yards rushing / 10 = 2
    • Total score is 30 points.
  • Your score would be the total of all of your players.
• Who wins?
  • In a season long league your team plays against another teams each week.  Whoever has the highest score wins that week.  The season long record determines who makes the playoffs.  The winner of the playoffs wins the championship!

The thing to remember about fantasy football is to approach it like anything in life.  You make it fit what you want to gain from the game.  You can play for fun or real money. You can spend a lot of time or very little time playing.   I hope this gives you enough basic information to discuss with your spouse and hopefully find something you can do together.  Whatever the case is for you make sure you have fun!

If you are interested in joining a fun, free fantasy football league contact us and let us know.  Do you have questions about fantasy football?  Feel free to contact us as well.