The Fun of Fantasy Football

Fifteen to eighteen million people play fantasy football every year and the number is growing rapidly.

In fantasy football, you "draft" or auction an imaginary team composed of real players (this can include NFL professionals or college players). Then score points based on their actual performance in real games.

Your imagination tournament progresses in much the same way as the real football. You go head-to-head, competing against a different opponent each week.

If your team scores the most points at the end of the season, and has the best win-loss record, you win.

Fantasy football was invented by Danny Dulac, one of the organizers of the Raiders. He thought about it during a trip to the east coast, and when he returned, he had fleshed out many rules and was "ready to kick off". Today there are thousands of websites, magazines and software that is dedicated to fantasy sports.

This is how it works. You have a fantasy league with 8 to 12 teams, with players drafted at the start of the season. Depending on the league you join, you start with a clean slate each season or have a permanent partial rosters (such players are not included in the annual draft). Some leagues will get you to keep the whole team and just draft rookies. At any time during the season, owners can change their team by firing some players (such is life) and hiring free agents who were not prepared. You can also trade with other teams.

The assessment is based on how players do in their weekly NFL game. For example, get a 1 point play to make 25 yards passing, 10 rushing yards or 10 yards receiving. He gets a whopping 6 points for a touchdown (unless it is a passing touchdown, which he only gets 4). Errors can also affect your score. For example, subtracts any interception thrown two points. This also applies to fiddles.

Defensive score is a little harder to calculate, so some leagues opt to calculate the score mainly yards. (They say it is more realistic and mimics the way an actual game works.) Defensive statistics such as sacks and fumble recovery, is then subtracted. To get the number of touchdowns, the total points divided by a number (sometimes 80 or 100). So any field goal from Placekicker added to score.

It is a very exciting game and adds a new dimension to the already popular game of football.