With fall comes football, and fans of the gridiron are ready to tune in for that first game of the season. To add to the excitement of the NFL, many people participate in fantasy football. Fantasy football is a game in which participants serve as owners and draft real-life NFL players to their rosters. The goal is for one’s team to get more points than their opponents. One earns points based on how well the players they draft perform in their games. Points can be earned by scoring touchdowns, gaining yards and catching or completing passes.
Fantasy football has seen a rise in popularity at Gibson Southern, and students across all grades have been playing the game. Friends have gotten together to make leagues and try to be the best. This year, the GSBarstool X, formally known as Twitter, account, which is not affiliated with Gibson Southern but is a page run by the fans for the fans, is competing in a fantasy football league with other high school Barstool accounts. This is just one way students at Gibson Southern have connected with each other through the game.
Even if one is not the biggest fan of football, it is always fun to compete against friends. Students around Gibson Southern have used fantasy football as a fun way to learn more about the NFL.
“I am in a league with a bunch of my friends,” sophomore Jeremiah Mullennax said. “I get to learn about different players and guess and plan teams based off how good I think they will do.”
In almost every league or competition, there is usually a main objective to be reached. This will give contestants a reason to want to be the best. In fantasy football the same goes, in most leagues the last place team will be forced to do a punishment and the winner will get a prize. Clayton Gries, a freshman at Gibson Southern, competes in a league where the last place contestant has to complete a very unique challenge.
“The punishment is you have to go to Waffle House for 24 hours, and every waffle you eat is one less hour you have to spend there,” Gries said.
This can help solve the problem of players in the league being lazy and not competing. Now, everyone can have a good time and not be hurt by someone else not setting their team, interacting and making trades or sitting and starting players based on their performances.
A fantasy football league can also be used as a way for a group or team to bond. The freshman football team has a fantasy football league, owned by freshman Owen O’Neal.
“It is fun to compete against each other so we can win and have something against each other,” O’Neal said.
Fantasy football’s rise in popularity at Gibson Southern has had a positive impact on students. It has been a way for friends to compete against each other in a fun way and taught students about NFL players and strategies to win their league. Students who have never played football have still found enjoyment in the game. Anyone can make a league with friends and learn more about football and take on the challenge of having their own fantasy football team.
