On the opening night of the 2009 NFL football season, over 17.5 million people watched the Pittsburgh Steelers defeat the Tennessee Titans. For NBC's weekly Sunday Night Football broadcast, advertisers pay an average of $339,700 per 30 second commercial. According to ESPN's Colin Cowherd, over 27 million people play fantasy football annually, with many participating in multiple leagues (including myself). Heck, even television network FX this week will debut a half hour sitcom based around guys who are in a fantasy football league. Football has become America's sport.
I now have a reason to cheer for the Miami Dolphins (Ricky Williams), the New Orleans Saints (Pierre Thomas), the Houston Texans (Andre Johnson) and the Indianapolis Colts (Dallas Clark). Growing up in Wisconsin, if you're a sports fan, you're a Packers fan. On Sunday afternoon, you watch the Packers. We went to church every Sunday at 11:15. On the way home, we listened to the radio broadcast because the first quarter had already started. It was just a way of life during football season. I had no reason to really pay much attention to the rest of the NFL. Sure I'd keep an eye on other teams in the NFC Central (now minus Tampa and called the NFC North), but I really didn't care what else was going on in the NFL until the playoffs rolled around. Now with Fantasy Football, I almost always have someone to cheer for or against in every NFL game each week.
It creates an interesting dynamic. Two weeks ago, in my bigger fantasy football league, I was playing against a team that included Greg Jennings of the Packers. I still love the Packers. It's one major alliance I haven't lost since moving to Michigan. Even if the Lions were a good team, I'd still maintain my allegiance to the Packers. So, two weeks ago I settled in Sunday afternoon to cheer for the Packers. Then, as Greg Jennings was running free after catching a pass, I found myself cheering for the other team. I was cheering against my Packers. I wanted them to win, but I needed them to do it without the help of their star wide receiver. Was I really cheering against the Packers??
What as a guy to do? Cheer for his favorite team or cheer for his fantasy football team? Then I remembered watching Brett Favre and Reggie White in Super Bowl XXXI. I remember Favre hitting Andre Rison for a long touchdown pass early in the first quarter. I remember each of Reggie White's three sacks of New England QB Drew Bledsoe. I remember Desmond Howard's MVP performance that included a 99 yard kick return for a touchdown. I was 15 years old and I could still to this day tell you the 22 starters for the Packers and their kicker and punter that day. At that point I realized, my fantasy football team could go 0-14 this year, and I'd be the happiest man in the world if the Packers were to win the Super Bowl (or even just make it to the Super Bowl). My love of the fantasy football will never outshine my love of the Packers.
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