It is 11:30 am at AHS and three distinct groups of students are huddled around different tables in the commons. The atmosphere is hushed and serious. Fantasy Football season has begun, and these powwows are tense strategy sessions that involve careful data analysis and some high stakes bidding. Every participant is a self-proclaimed ESPN analyst with a whole lot of swagger. Playing Fantasy Football involves some major bluffing and pontificating, but the being successful in this virtual sport is just pure dumb luck.

  Fantasy Football is a way for average sports fans to draft and manage their own football team, compete for fun or money, and discuss football with their friends all day long. The process of picking a fantasy team commonly takes place a few weeks before the real football season starts in the Fall.  

  A standard Fantasy league is composed of a group of approximately ten people called managers. Team managers draft their rosters based on who they think will be the most valuable players in the upcoming season. A manager drafts a team of 13 individual offensive players from actual NFL teams. Each offensive player generates points for the team depending on their performance in the games they play from week to week. Unlike offensive players, defensive players are not recruited individually. Instead, a manger drafts an NFL team’s defense as a bloc that generates points from individual players collectively. Once teams are drafted, managers compete against each other weekly. Whichever team has the most points at the end of the week beats their opponent.

  AHS senior, Dylan DeGraff, is the quintessential fantasy fanatic. DeGraff, who is involved in up to four leagues each year, considers himself an expert in the field of Fantasy Football.  

  “I’m definitely not your average manager. I’m incredibly gifted at selecting players and making predictions, “ DeGraff said. “I dedicate hours upon hours of my free time to ensure that I have the most dominant team in the league.”

  DeGraff’s methods have proven to be effective, as has won his leagues on more than one occasion. While most Fantasy managers are convinced that trading players during the season is the most strategic way to roster a good team, DeGraff believes his successful track record comes from his meticulous preparation during draft week.

  Before the season starts, DeGraff looks for upward trends in NFL teams and players. For example, if a wide receiver is paired with a good quarterback for the first time in his career, it is expected that he is going to have a good season. Therefore, Degraff would consider drafting this wide receiver.  

  Real life AHS football player and team captain RJ Peshek is obsessed with Fantasy Football.

  “I love Fantasy Football because it brings people together and lets me put together the perfect team without the constraints of reality,” Peshek said.  

  While Fantasy Football may be a distraction from focusing on more scholarly pursuits, it’s a virtual playing field that allows students to find common ground and share their love for sports, competition–and the ultimate goal of rubbing it in your friend’s face.