It’s that time of year again. NFL team jerseys get pulled out of the closets, husbands start getting amped up from pre-season football games and many of them go MIA for the next five months. Wives start rolling their eyes and complaining about the amount of time the sport pulls their husband away from them, and their honey-dos, while others are excited because this just means more time to go shopping on Sunday afternoons. What many wives don’t understand is that football can be fun, and so can signing up for a fantasy football league.
Growing up, the only football I ever saw was the occasional 49er game on at my grandparent’s house on a Sunday afternoon or Thanksgiving Day games played while we feasted on turkey and mashed potatoes. The only knowledge I had of football was that my grandma really liked Joe Montana and that everyone got excited when there was a “touchdown”. Until I met my husband, I was one of the women that rolled their eyes at the mere mention of football. I hated that he would spend hours with his buddies having their fantasy football draft and then he’d spend even more time watching the games, week after week, yelling at the TV. I am a very competitive person and what I started to realize was that, “hey, maybe I can beat him AND we can spend more time together.”
This will be my fourth season playing fantasy football and I’ve learned a little bit more each year. There are so many different platforms that offer fantasy football, such as Yahoo! Sports, ESPN, NFL, and Fox Sports, just to name a few. The platform that I love is the free ESPN one and with today’s technology, having an app right on my iPhone is so convenient! I had no clue about football when I joined my first fantasy football league and the only thing I regret about signing up was that I didn’t do it sooner!
With that said, here are my top five reasons that I feel wives would benefit from joining a fantasy football league; whether you like football or not!! You never know, it may grow on you as it did me!
1. Socializing
Really. Who doesn’t like to socialize? Whether the kids and husband are in tow, everyone needs to be around friends while sipping on their beverage of choice, eating finger foods and shouting at the TV because they feel the referee made a bad call. Thousands of people gather on Thursday nights, Sundays, and Monday nights to watch America’s pastime sport, football. If you aren’t into the sport, instead of staying home and missing a good football gathering, joining a league gives you something to talk about with others when everyone is getting together to “watch the game”. Next time you are out to eat and the whole restaurant starts cheering at the TV, you’ll know why and you can cheer right along with them. Plus, it’s a good excuse to invite friends over on Sunday afternoon.
2. Breaks the Language Barrier
Touchdown, holding, pass interference, what? Do you hear your husband using these words and you have no idea what they are? I had no idea what any of it meant, (well, except for a touchdown of course) and after four years, I still hear the referee make calls that I have to ask my husband about. Being a part of a fantasy football league has helped me to understand the positions, calls being made and who does what on the field. I think my husband and I actually talk MORE now because I can speak his football language.
3. Bragging Rights
Everyone likes to talk a little smack every now and then, right? If you have any sort of competitive nature in you, you will love fantasy football. When your Quarterback throws a touchdown pass or your running back runs 60 yards, you are going to want to brag about it and who better than to those that you are playing against and beating for the week. Part of the fun for me is bragging to my husband, and the rest of the teams, how awesome my team is.
4. Possibility of Earning Money
All of the leagues that I have participated in over the past couple of years have been “For Bragging Rights” and there was no money involved. However, friends of ours and past leagues my husband has played in had a pot that everyone put money into and at the end of the season, the winner gets it all! Sounds great, if you win!
5. Shared Hobby
Not only do I now speak and understand my husband’s football language, there is a lot less resentment between the two of us, having this shared hobby. Instead of being upset that he’s gone out to watch a game or that he wants to watch football on Sunday, I am happy and can talk to him about it. Since we have different teams in fantasy football and we play against each-other, it’s fun to brag to one another about how well our players are doing that particular week or day. We have so many different interests between the two of us that it makes it really nice to share this hobby. I also enjoy discussing with him how my players have been doing while checking my weekly lineup.
Joining a fantasy football league may or may not be your thing, but my suggestion is to at least give it a chance and try it before you knock it! I am so excited for this new season of football to start and really excited that I am a part of not one, but two leagues this year. One of them being our very own East Valley Moms Blog league, which I am REALLYlooking forward to!
***Originally Posted on East Valley Moms Blog as a contributor post***
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