Every fall, when the NFL kicks off, so does Fantasy Football, giving SNU students another way to connect on and off campus. Fantasy Football is a virtual game where players draft their own NFL team and compete against others in a league over the course of the regular NFL season, with playoffs at the end. It allows students a way to connect over an already established common interest.
Freshman soccer player, Walker Hebblethwaite, plays Fantasy Football in a league with his high school friends. He uses it as a way to stay in touch with the people he used to get to see every day. It gives the group something to talk, text, and tease each other about. His favorite moment so far was watching his first-round pick score a touchdown and give him 24 points that week. Hebblethwaite’s favorite player is the Atlanta Falcons’ Bijan Robinson, and he likes to watch NFL RedZone to keep up with the 16 games that occur weekly. He expressed, “Fantasy [Football] is really fun, and if you are bored on Sunday, you can always turn on a game.” For him, the best part is competing against his friends.
Sophomore Myles Etherington participates in the SNU Bowling Fantasy League with his teammates. A lifelong Cincinnati Bengals fan, he is excited to have their starting quarterback, Joe Burrow, on his team. As bowling competition season approaches, Etherington expressed, “I feel like competition is good for a team even outside of our sports. When we are competing, we have to work together, so I feel having a little bit of friendly competition outside of our sport helps us to grow closer as a team and learn more about each other.”
Both use the ESPN Fantasy Football app and are looking forward to having fun this season with old and new friends. The game gives athletes and non-athletes alike the chance to join another league, compete in a friendly way, and stay connected. For SNU students who are NFL fans, Fantasy Football offers a way to make the season their own while building community around weekly football action.
Photo by: Trynitie Krout