Above: The Jerzee Extreme fantasy football league gets down to business during its annual draft party in Freehold on Aug. 25. Left: Lacey resident Rob Patriello, last year’s winner of the Jerzee Extreme fantasy football league, hoists his trophy during a fantasy draft barbecue. PHOTOS BY KEITH HEUMILLER The first week of September is a pretty big deal for Jeff Ward of Freehold. Ward, a lifelong New York Giants fan and one of the tens of millions of fantasy football players throughout the country, looks forward to this week with the kind of giddy anticipation usually reserved for youngsters in late December.
“It’s like ‘man Christmas,’ ” Ward said as he set up folding tables and trays of food for his fantasy football draft barbecue on Aug. 25. “It really is the most wonderful time of the year.”
After a seven-month layoff, the National Football League (NFL) season kicks off Sept. 5, bringing with it the return of the most popular pretend sport in American history. More than 23 million Americans — approximately 7 percent of the national population — will play fantasy football this year, according to the latest statistics from the Fantasy Sports Trade Association (FSTA). Hundreds of millions, if not billions, of dollars will be spent on fantasy football leagues, websites, magazines, TV shows and advertising for all of the above.
While the game’s roots extend back to the early 1960s, fantasy football’s meteoric rise in popularity began with the advent of the Internet nearly 20 years ago. People like Kevin Sharkey — a Howell resident and member of Ward’s Jerzee Extreme fantasy football league — began keeping track of NFL player stats on pieces of paper in 1992, comparing “their players” with those of their friends, and facing off in mock competitions every Sunday.
Today, friends, co-workers and sometimes even complete strangers face off in Web-based leagues across the country, drafting and managing teams of real NFL players and keeping track of their stats online. Those stats translate to points, which in turn decide the fates of millions of fantasy teams locked in head-to-head competition every week. While technically illegal, cash buy-ins are used by many teams to up the ante. They range from the nominal to the astronomical, and yield payouts for winners at the end of the season.
Sharkey introduced Ward to the game in 2006. Seven years later, Ward now manages three separate leagues and plays in two more.
“It’s probably my favorite hobby that I have,” said Ward, a Monmouth County park ranger and a part-time concert and event security officer. “But it’s only because so many other people are into it. … I work my butt off all summer, and I never see anybody. So when we have the drafts and everybody gets together to cook food and hang, it’s awesome.”
Fantasy is not just a boys’ club, however. Twenty percent of players are women, according to the FSTA, and the number climbs every year. Jackson resident Lihping Lam said she joined a league with her boyfriend a few years ago, mostly out of curiosity.
“Some of the guys in the league would message me to tell me about players … or warn me about not accepting trade offers that they didn’t think were fair,” she said. “When I started to win games and beat the guys, those friendly, helpful suggestions soon stopped.”
Requiring a unique mix of strategy, quick thinking and social interaction, fantasy football attracts a wide range of players from all walks of life.
Most fantasy teams have both an active roster and a bench, and players are swapped in and out each week depending on when they will be playing in real life. This, combined with trades, cuts and other strategic options, makes fantasy a 17-week battle of attrition, rather than a quick showdown. It’s no wonder, then, that the game appeals to those who never even had an interest in football.
Freehold resident Pat B. said he had rarely watched football games, except for the Super Bowl, before joining an office fantasy league in 2006. Today, he can name the third-string running back for the Carolina Panthers.
“I’m not that knowledgeable yet, but I’m learning about offensive schemes and the different coaching styles,” said Pat, who manages one league and participates in two others. “It’s just really entertaining. You can talk crap to your friends, go to bars, eat good food and just watch the games. … It gives you something to look forward to every Sunday.”
Ironically, these reasons are highly similar to those given by hardcore football fans for their own love of the game. Fantasy, in a way, serves as a surrogate passion for fans like Pat, who never had a specific team to root for or a real reason to care. This might help to explain why the NFL has embraced fantasy football in recent years, unveiling its own Web platform and encouraging teams and broadcast partners to run fantasy stat tickers during live games.
But for those players who have spent years worshipping one team, fantasy can present a unique set of complications. Ward said he often finds himself cheering on the Giants’ hated division rivals, drawing stares at bars and sharp criticism from his family. Lam, an Eagles fan, said she went to a game in Philadelphia last year and found herself secretly rooting for the opposing quarterback.
“It was at that moment when I realized fantasy has gotten the best of me,” she said.
The key, Ward said, is to learn to separate fantasy from fan-dom and not take either too seriously. But even for him, that’s easier said than done.
Spurred on by an innate competitive drive, Ward fell hard into fantasy. Since 2006, he’s played in as many as 11 leagues at once, earning nicknames like “Guru” and “Fantasy Freak” along the way.
Ward works on his annual player rankings all year long, using a spreadsheet to account for a wide variety of stats, trends, game schedules and roster changes. He does his own research, forgoing the countless fantasy football magazines and broadcasts that compile such stats for most laymen.
And it seems to be working. Since 2007, Ward has won between two and four fantasy championships every year. This year, however, the “Fantasy Freak” is scaling back.
“It was actually pretty bad at one point,” he said. “My family would go to see the [Christmas] tree in the city, but it would be during the semifinals or finals for fantasy football, so I said, ‘No, I can’t go. I’m not going.’ Now I know you have to actually, like, enjoy life too.”
Pat B. is moving in the other direction, planning to join a fourth league next season. A big reason, he said, is the money.
This year, he’ll spend $375 in combined buy-ins and will compete for a total prize pool of more than $4,000. With a couple of championships under his belt, Pat said fantasy provides a more enjoyable and immersive gambling experience than a home poker game or a trip to Atlantic City.
“You can drop $500 on blackjack in an hour, or you can spend $100 and play for four months,” he said. “It’s a small investment for such a long, roller coaster ride of a season, where you are cursing everyone one week and running your mouth the next. It’s beautiful.”
And while every fantasy player has experienced some painful losses, and many admit to spending too much time preparing, analyzing and talking trash every week, few are willing to give it up.
Lam said fantasy has increased her appreciation for NFL games that she previously wouldn’t have watched, and has created a new connection between her and her boyfriend.
“It is nice to do something together that we both thoroughly enjoy,” she said.
Ward, who uses the game to keep in touch with long-distance college buddies and childhood friends, said nearly every minute of the last seven years has been time well spent.
“It’s especially worth it when I hear the guys in my league, especially the ones I didn’t know before … tell me, ‘This is the best league I’ve ever been in,’ ” he said. “It’s just this awesome experience that everyone is a part of.”