Kicking off the fantasy season with insights and predictions

With the National Football League starting, Fantasy Football has begun among VHS students. Fantasy football and the NFL are directly connected. Fantasy Football is a game where players draft and manage a virtual team of real NFL players to compete against other teams in a league. The players team earns points based on your players’ real-life performances and players win weekly matchups and the season championship by accumulating more points than players’ opponents. Players will not only be cheering for their favorite team but they will also be cheering for the players in their team to score touchdowns, yards and interceptions. Fantasy football started with the Greater Oakland Professional Pigskin Prognosticators League, which was developed in the fall of 1962 and held its first draft in Aug. of 1963. Bill Winkenbach, an Oakland Raiders minority owner, along with Raiders Personal resource manager Bill Tunnel and Oakland Tribune reporter Scotty Stirling, created the league while on a Raiders road trip in New York. The league was an eight-team setup.

Some players have been playing in previous years and others have just started. Haedan Weber ‘27 said, “I started playing Fantasy Football seven years ago. Me and my dad started together and bonded over it.” Weber is a Fantasy Football veteran and it has been a tradition for him. 

Samuel Buenning ‘27 said, “I have been playing for two seasons. My first season was the 2023 season and I have been having so much fun.” 

Players plan to draft some of their favorite players. Buenning said, “I’m excited for my quarterback Bo Nix to play his second season. Last year he did really good as a rookie so I’m excited to see him develop into a great quarterback.”  Fantasy football leagues add a punishment for the person who gets last place or an award for the winner. Weber said, “I am most excited to see how much I win my leagues by and have fun watching the games with my friends.”