Ready for fantasy football?

As much as I love summer, it lacks one thing… football. While baseball is traditionally acknowledged as “America’s pastime,” football is the sport that many fans, including myself, agonizingly wait for. The NFL season starts on Sept. 8, which also means it’s time for fantasy football!

Fantasy football has become a hobby, even an obsession, with an estimated 30 million people playing each year. For those unfamiliar with the game, it’s simple. Fans draft individual offensive (and sometimes defensive) players from the NFL for their personal fantasy teams and accumulate points based on their game statistics. Fantasy football has become so mainstream that there are now magazines, TV, radio shows and even a scripted sitcom (“The League”) dedicated to it. It’s also changed how fans watch the sport. Fantasy football players no longer just root for teams to win games, but rather for players to gain yards and score touchdowns. If you’ve ever felt agony when your player was tackled at the 1-yard line before scoring a TD or have prayed for a team to fail to convert a 3rd down play so that your place kicker could score a field goal, you are definitely a fantasy football addict.

I’ve been playing fantasy football for 15 years and have seen the game evolve dramatically. Back in the day, all we had to rely on for information were outdated magazines, Sportscenter highlights and personal knowledge. Today, there are dozens of fantasy football websites with information that’s constantly updated. In fact, information is so readily available that if you don’t know who the backup to RB Arian Foster of the Houston Texans is, you’re probably already at a disadvantage.

But while the fantasy football season spans about four months, draft day is always the day we look forward to. It’s when all the players in a league meet to pick players for their teams. We eat, drink, study, and most importantly have a good time. I now play in three leagues, and all three leagues are different. Here’s a recap of the three drafts I just completed this past week.

Draft No. 1 – Tuesday, Aug. 30, 6 p.m.

My first draft of the year was for a league consisting mostly of employees for an engineering firm that sometimes works with my company. By joining this league three years ago, I’ve made friends and connections with fellow engineers, therefore expanding my networking circle. Most of the people at this engineering firm are about my age, so it’s been a good fit. This draft took a mere three and a half hours, although we have an unusually large league (14 members), and we dined on mostly Costco fare (pizza, wraps, poke) along with some grilled steak and chicken.

Draft Position – No. 13 out of 14

QB – Matt Ryan, Ryan Fitzpatrick

RB – Frank Gore, Matt Forte, Joseph Addai, James Starks

WR – Andre Johnson, Brandon Marshall, Sidney Rice, Johnny Knox

TE – Kellen Winslow

PK – Dan Carpenter

DEF/ST – SAN DIEGO

Draft No. 2 – Sunday, Sept. 4, 9 a.m.

Since my second draft took place in the morning, our potluck menu featured donuts, malasadas, Spanish rolls and dim sum, along with fried chicken and fried rice. This league was started by a co-worker and includes some fellow co-workers, along with other friends from the construction industry. Again, it’s a great opportunity to bond with my colleagues and strengthen relationships with people in my industry.

Draft Position – No. 3 out of 10

QB – Matthew Stafford, Joe Flacco

RB – Chris Johnson, Frank Gore, Knowshon Moreno, Reggie Bush, CJ Spiller

WR – Vincent Jackson, Brandon Marshall, Mario Manningham, Julio Jones, Hines Ward

TE – Antonio Gates

PK – Rob Bironas

DEF/ST – ATLANTA

Draft No. 3 – Sunday, Sept. 4, 5 p.m.

While I try to win all the leagues I play in, a championship in this league means the most since I’ve been playing in it the longest. This league is entering its 15th year and has always consisted of my close group of friends — guys I play basketball with, drink beers with, and basically hang out with. But as close as we are, we don’t get to see each other as often since our lives have become busier. So every year, we look forward to draft day since it’s one of the rare times we can all be in the same room, get buzzed on beers and talk smack — the basics of proper male bonding. And since the prize for winning this league can get quite substantial, it’s become tradition for the previous year’s winner to provide food and drinks for draft day. This year, along with providing catered mochiko chicken, noodles, grilled ribeye steak and spring rolls, the reigning champion splurged and also hired a sushi chef to come and personally make as many hand rolls and dynamite rolls we could eat. Nice!

Draft Position: No. 10 out of 12

QB – Matt Ryan, Donovan McNabb

RB – Frank Gore, Knowshon Moreno, Ryan Mathews, Darren Sproles

WR – Andre Johnson, Brandon Marshall, Danny Amendola, Lee Evans, Jordan Shipley, Hines Ward

TE – Jimmy Graham, Dustin Keller

PK – Dan Carpenter

DEF/ST – ATLANTA

So now that all my drafts have been completed, how do I like my chances? I think my success will depend on a few players that made it to several of my rosters (Andre Johnson, Frank Gore, Brandon Marshall, etc.). Free agency (players picked up over the course of the season) will also play a big part in any team’s success. And while my favorite part of fantasy football is already over, I take solace in the fact that I have the next four months to analyze and utilize every minutiae of NFL information.  Woohoo!

So how did all of you do in your fantasy football drafts?