UNR Students Focus on Fantasy Football without a College Season
Jos Fagundes, Andrew Gardner and Chozen Pierce report on how in a time of COVID-19 and suspended college seasons, having NFL football and fantasy leagues have been a welcome relief.
Bringing People Together
“Do I pick Christian McCaffrey or do I pick Patrick Mahomes?” These are the hard hitting questions that many face when playing in a Fantasy Football league.
Whether it’s Yahoo Fantasy Football or ESPN nearly 48 million people are playing fantasy football. “It’s great to win because it shows off so much knowledge of the thing I love the most,” Andrew Ammerman, a 19 year old Sophomore at the University of Nevada Reno said.
From drafting players on draft day, to setting lineups for the most optimal way to win, and of course the most coveted part of Fantasy football, trash talking.
“ I love how it brings people together,and you have the ability to beat your friends and if you win you have all the power, if you lose, you hide out for a week.” Ammerman said.
Without a college football season right now at the University of Nevada Reno, more college students seem to be turning to fantasy football for their football needs.
Missing Real College Football
“ I feel as if my senior year is missing something without going to a Saturday football game, with fantasy football I get to hang out with my frat brothers and talk about the sport,” Derek Stuber, an Engineering student at UNR, said.
“After the first week of football I noticed a slight change in mood since the start of quarantine,” Jason Thompson, a UNR student, said of the beginning of NFL football, which took place earlier this month. “Fantasy football is a way to stay in touch with friends which is very important in today’s environment. I know this season is going to be different, but I can’t really complain since I still get to watch football regardless.”
While some fantasy football enthusiasts still have a favorite team they root for passionately, it also gives them new thrills.
“It has a small sense of gambling which makes the games for fun,” said Mark Fagundes, 48, who has been playing fantasy football for almost 20 years.
For students who can not go to casinos and gamble legally because they are underage, participating in fantasy leagues can also turn their wins into some actual money. Buy-ins for which winners take home the pot at the end of the season can range anywhere from ten dollars to 200 dollars and above.
On a personal note, I, Jos Fagundes, one of the writers of this story am the commissioner of not one, but two fantasy football leagues.
One is a league I have with my friends up here in Reno and the other is a league I have with my friends back home in Fresno. Fantasy football keeps people together. With the league with my friends back in Fresno, we definitely keep in contact more because of fantasy football. Throughout the NFL season, we will be talking trades, wins and loses, and of course, trash.
