Fantasy Football Vs. Reality
Fantasy Football Vs. Reality
The NFL is the largest sport in the USA and it has been that way for decades now. Yes the NBA and the MLB have millions of fans but it is not like the NFL. The NFL is still the most watched sport in America even with the Trump administration, boycotts, and protest, the Super Bowl still garnered 103.4 million views per thefool.com. Comparing that to the NBA Finals and the World Series, it's at least 30 million more views a piece. As much flak as people want to throw at the NFL for various reasons, the bottom line is they’ve done an amazing job of growing its fan base. One of the main reasons, if not the main reason is because of fantasy football. Fantasy football has completely blown up the NFL fan base not to mention the fans that already are diehards; but it's bringing in people who are strictly number crunchers, gamblers, and now even women. It has really become a new way to watch the games. I mean there are tv shows, podcasts, and analysts now that only talk fantasy football. The NFL and fantasy football have reached a basis of fans that haven't been acquired by any of the 3 major sports. It's truly amazing to see what fantasy football has done for the NFL; but like with anything in life, there are two sides to this story. The other side is us, the fans. When we as fans and even analysts start to muddy the waters between what's going on in fantasy football and what's actually taking place on the field of play, and use what the player does in fantasy football as a barometer for how good or bad he is. You may think this a crazy thing to say but it happens way more than you think. So why not put it to the test. Answer these questions in real life and not in fantasy terms. How many QB's are you taking over Patrick Mahomes to start your franchise? How many RB's are you taking over Alvin Kamara? How many te’s are you taking over George Kittle? All of these players have had a remarkable season in their career and have lit the fantasy football world on fire, but is Mahomes a top 3 QB in the NFL? No. Is Kamara even an every down back? I think not but we will see. Is Kittle even a top 5 tight end realistically? I don't think so. For to the fantasy football heads we have to be able to decipher and compartmentalize real football from fantasy football. Players like Tom Brady who is the goat in real football is being looked at as significantly declining because of his age and losing Gronk to retirement. Don't you realize that he just helped the Patriots win the Superbowl last year and was in the big game the last 3 years? But because he had a down “Brady” year he’s probably not going to get drafted or won't start in fantasy football because someone will have a Carson Wentz. Fantasy football is a great and amazing game to play but you can not let that cloud your judgment of your rankings and what's actually happening on the field. Real football is a team game and wins and losses count way more than stats. So when you start comparing players or praising players or downgrading players, please do so from the viewpoint of you watching the games and that players performance instead of watching how good or bad he does for your fantasy football team.
-By: Reggie Thomas Jr.