Some of you have a lot more Fantasy Football (FF) experience than I do. Others have never played FF before. This article is aimed mainly at the second audience.

I followed and watched a moderate amount of NFL football through my mid 20s. After that my interest declined. I am a Detroit Lions fan (rebuilding since 1959). A good part of the reason for the decline in my interest in NFL football is that I moved to the West Coast at age 24 and for some reason they don’t broadcast many Lions games there.

5 years ago, my brother ask me to join a FF league he is running. The players are scattered over the East and Midwest. I have enjoyed playing FF for the past 4 years. Although I have increased the amount I watch NFL football a little, I still don’t watch it very much. How I watch, what little I do, has changed. I end up rooting for or against specific players on my or my opponent’s team. Since I still don’t watch much football, I get most of the info I need from FF websites and podcasts. Although I have yet to win a championship, I have not had a losing season and have made the playoffs 3 out of 4 years (top 4 out of 10 teams during the regular season make the playoffs). Not a great record, but not too shabby either.

In order to be competitive in FF an owner needs to consistently spend a few minutes twice a week making decision for their team. First, sometime between the Monday night football game and Wednesday night, a team owner will need to select which players they want to try a pick up from the Waver Wire (WW). The WW is a list of all the NFL players that are not currently on a team in your league. Early Thursday morning, the WW selections take effect, with a waver order determining who gets a player if more than 1 team selected him. Second, sometime before the NFL games happen, an owner needs to decide which players from his team he will start this week. A team can have about twice as many players as it starts. A team’s starters need to be updated from week to week because of injuries, bye weeks, what NFL teams are playing each other, and which players are doing well or poorly. In large part whether someone enjoys FF depends on if they look forward to making decisions for their team twice a week or if they find it a chore.

The reason I wanted to start a Rockwell Collins Gamers (RCG) Club FF league was to have a real time offline draft. The articles I read on FF websites and the podcasts I listen to often mention that real time offline drafts are more fun than online drafts. The draft is the most important event in a FF season. I would guess that a little over half of an owner’s ability to effect how well his team does is what players they draft.