I don’t care about your fantasy football team.
Actually, let me rephrase that.
I don’t care about your fantasy football team if you’re berating a player on social media for a lack of fantasy production or thankful for injuries because it helps your team win its matchup.
Otherwise, I’m happy to hear about the players you’re excited about on your roster. The stories about your big wins or razor-thin losses. The concerns you have about this player or that player moving forward.
However, I should’ve started with this: I’m a die-hard fantasy football player myself. I’ve been in a league with my friends from high school since 2013 — yes, I’m the league’s commissioner — where we all put in $15 at the beginning of the season and the Super Bowl champ takes home the pot of $150 when it’s all said and done.
But our group isn’t the only one which sits around at an online draft each September to pick very real players for our very fake teams, then proceed to manage said teams as if we’re actual NFL general managers.
In fact, a recent ESPN story claims that around 40 million people play fantasy football in the United States annually, while that number jumps up to 60 million if you include those who play any form of fantasy sport.
Some leagues have money as their final prize, others bragging rights and physical trophies. And then there are the gutsier football fans out there who choose to have punishments for the league’s last-place team — such as getting a tattoo of the winner’s choice or spending 24 hours in a Mississippi Waffle House — that are all in good fun … at least for the other nine fantasy GMs that aren’t having to suffer the punishment.
Fantasy football can be exhilarating, competitive and downright fun.
It gives you a reason to watch that (likely subpar) Jaguars-Texans game when you’re a Panthers fan because you might have Houston’s Mark Ingram II or Jacksonville’s James Robinson on your fantasy squad.
It brings football fans together and keeps old friends in touch — as is the case for my group, which hasn’t been in the same room together since high school yet talks to each other nonstop during the NFL season.
But then there’s the darker side to fantasy football, perpetuated by those that take the game too seriously — in part because they might have big money riding on the season — and choose to take their anger out on the players themselves.
For example, New York Giants running back Saquon Barkley tweeted a couple of heart emojis in response to a video the Giants’ Twitter account posted of Barkley’s daughter cheering him on ahead of the Giants’ 27-13 loss to the Denver Broncos on Sunday. In that game, Barkley had just 10 carries for 26 yards, a rough performance for fantasy owners.
In the reply to that tweet, one Twitter user responded with, “You let me and this little girl down.”
In another example, users responded to a tweet from Cleveland Browns wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. — who was declared inactive just before Sunday’s game against the Kansas City Chiefs; he’s not been fully healthy since tearing his ACL last season — calling him a “coward” for not suiting up.
Every week, these replies pile up. On Instagram, on Twitter, wherever they may be, they’re unacceptable.
If you’re upset about a player’s performance — especially because it hurts your fantasy football team — then that’s O.K. It happens. But taking it out on the player by sending them threats, telling them they’ve disappointed their own family members and hurling insults isn’t the way to go about it.
Months ago, I wrote a column condemning fans in the NBA for their dangerous and despicable behavior in the stands towards athletes on the court.
This is no different. It may not be as serious as throwing trash at a player or berating their family members to their faces, but it’s still just as appalling.
In addition — and maybe this is just a pet peeve of mine — don’t get excited over player injuries just because they could help your fantasy team win one week.
As I’ve said before, athletes are humans, too. Let’s treat them like it.
Overall, fantasy sports aren’t a bad thing.
There are people out there who say they don’t want to hear about your fantasy football team at all because it annoys them or they don’t care anything about it.
But I’m not one of those people.
You should be able to relish in your wins, sulk in your losses and vent to your friends, family members, pets and local postal workers to your heart’s content.
But if you’re planning to take the route of sending out a tweet wishing harm on a player or telling them you’re disappointed in them all because they’re on your fake team, just don’t.
I promise they don’t care about your fantasy football team.