At Parkway South, fantasy football season is just as competitive as Friday Night Lights. 

From group chats blowing up on Sundays to lunchtime debates about who to start at running back, it’s clear that fantasy football has become one of the most popular traditions among students this fall. Nearly 46 million people nationwide in the United States play fantasy football. What makes it so popular at South and nationwide?

For people who don’t know, Fantasy Football lets fans build their own teams using real-life NFL players each week.

 “I picked the best player in the league, Josh Allen, with my first-round pick this year,” said sophomore Jack Leicht. 

Each week, people can start some of these NFL players on their fantasy team, and the better those players perform, the more points they earn. They compete against other people’s teams in their league each week, and the team with the most points wins. As the NFL season comes to an end, there are fantasy football playoffs, and only one team can be the champion. This is what makes these leagues so competitive among students at South. 

Some Fantasy leagues among students at South can come down to the wire. Sophomore Audrey Richards explains how close and competitive her league is, which includes many sophomores, including herself. 

“The league is super-duper competitive,” said Richards. “I’m always checking my points every hour while my players play.”

With the school’s new phone ban, keeping up with fantasy points with your league mates becomes a lot harder for students to discuss. A backup option for this problem is to use their Chromebooks to look at fantasy points. But that won’t always work because most of the fantasy football websites are blocked, making it hard to consistently check on their team. 

In a lot of Fantasy leagues, there are big prizes for the person who wins the league, giving students a big reason to take their league seriously. 

“The winner of our league gets a huge trophy with a goat on it,” said Richards.

In certain leagues, prizes will even consist of large cash prizes where everyone puts in a bit of money and the winner takes all. In senior Carter Bielickie’s league, he says there isn’t a set amount of money, but once the winner is declared, all the money goes to the first-place finisher,

“The winner gets a big cash prize,” said Bielickie. 

While there can be huge prizes for the winner, the loser isn’t so lucky. Many leagues have a pretty unfortunate punishment for the loser of the league. The loser can be the player who comes in last, or just anyone who misses the playoffs.

These punishments can get pretty bad, like in sophomore Madden Mcpeek’s league, he explains the gross punishment for the loser who comes in last,

“Every player that didn’t get last gets to put one ingredient of their choice in a smoothie,” McPeak said, “and the loser has to drink it.”

Fantasy football is all about winning. It’s a competition for bragging rights among friends. Week after week, it fuels rivalries among students, starts trash talk, and turns casual hangouts into fierce competitions.

“I just like winning each week to show everyone else in the league how good I am at fantasy football, and to avoid the punishment,” McPeak said.

Despite the strategies these students have, even the most carefully planned lineups can’t prevent surprises. One bad week, an unexpected injury, or a kicker’s missed point can completely change the outcome, leaving players frustrated and doing whatever it takes to recover.

“I lost by one point because my kicker missed an extra point,” said Leicht. “I still haven’t forgiven him.”

These leagues are primarily just about touchdowns and stats, but it seems to be a treasure trove of unforgettable, funny moments that keep memories all season long. From surprise busts and underperforming players to strange team names and wild trade drama, these funny memories are what make fantasy football so popular and competitive at South.

“Last week, I traded for a player who scored zero points, and my whole team ended up tanking,” Bielickie said. “The people in my league still talk about that to this day.”

 Strategizing for fantasy football starts with just picking your favorite players or cheering for big names on game day. For most people, it’s a high-stakes battle of strategy, where smart decision-making, deep analysis, and all can determine who rises to the top.

“I check who my opponent is for the week and see who he has on his team while also seeing which teams my players are playing,” said Bielickie. 

Fantasy football isn’t just a fantasy; it’s the ultimate battleground for bragging rights among friends. Week after week, it fuels friendly rivalries, sparks playful trash talk, and turns casual hangouts into fierce competitions.

“I just like winning each week to show everyone else in the league how good I am at fantasy football,” Richards said.