Continually popular among high school students, fantasy football has returned with the advent of another NFL season. Having been around since the 1960s, this cherished competition is certainly not a new cultural phenomenon, but has become increasingly widespread since the invention of the internet.

Fantasy football involves virtual teams comprised of real NFL players. Friend groups form leagues, usually consisting of 10 or 12 people, in which each person represents a single team.

At the beginning of the season, a draft occurs, and each participant picks the players they believe will earn them the most points.

“You consider who is going to get the ball the most and how much they are going to impact the game and how many points they are going to score,” Luke Nalos (10) said. “If he catches a ball, he may get one point. If he drops a ball, he may get negative points.”

Every week, each person’s team is matched up against another’s team in that league. A team wins a matchup when their group of players has accumulated a larger point total throughout the week. To win the league, one’s team must progress through the playoffs and win the championship.

The camaraderie of the competition brings friends together despite pitting their teams against each other’s.  

“A couple buddies of mine on the cross country team last year decided they wanted to start a league, and I was like ‘Yeah, I guess I’ll try it’ because I wanted to just be a part of the team,” Nalos said.

Even though football is already a beloved American tradition, fantasy allows for an even greater level of participation, encouraging those to pay attention to games or players that they normally wouldn’t. Not everyone can attend NFL games each week, and fantasy provides an outlet of accessibility.

“It just adds a fun aspect to the NFL game, I feel like, because people always watch football as it is, and it makes it more interesting when you have some incentive to choose a certain player or watch a certain game,” Josh Kouch (12) said.

Fantasy football continues to draw fans in and keep them dedicated for years to come.

“My dad and me grew up huge Cowboys fans, and he’s been doing fantasy forever,” Broach said, “so when he introduced me to it, I fell in love with it, and I’m never going to stop doing it.”