Every fall there comes a time where Americans band together to compete. A time where individuals go online to play against each other. Players are drafted, and statistics of real players from actual games are used to compete. This is fantasy football, a game that football fans and statistical junkies alike play for money, fun and/or fame.

“[Participating in fantasy football] makes watching football a lot more fun and competitive, because I pay more attention to the statistics,” said senior Richard Fisher.

Those who play, pick the players through a draft and there are three different kind of drafts.

A snake draft is one type. With this draft, participants  go online and make picks. It can be in a fixed position of draft order or a serpentine where the draft flips the order every round.

“I like the snake draft because it’s different,” junior John Marroquin said. “It gives everybody a fair chance to get a higher pick. Say if you got the last pick in a draft…no worries! You get the first pick in the next round.”

An auction draft is another type. During this draft, participants bid on players within a certain budget. The budget is usually $200, but payment isn’t required.

“[This type] kinda gives everyone an even playing field from the get go,” chemistry teacher Emily DiNoto said. “You don’t have to worry about your draft position.”

The third type is an auto-draft. This is where the computer picks players for the participant to use throughout the season. The auto-draft also takes over if participants fail to attend a draft or misses a pick.

“[The auto draft ] is sick. It gives you the best players available,” said junior Keegan Beasley.

The league the participants play in is set up by either espn.com or by a league manager. There are money leagues where money is placed in a pot and whoever wins the season gets a share of the money. There are also free leagues where participants can play for free with no prizes. League managers set the rules of the season. This person is typically the creator of the league or whomever the create appoints to be it.

While playing, participants earn points for the player’s production on the field in real life. Those who play it will pick the players they want to “play” from your team for the week. Whomever has the most points at the end of week wins the game. There are 17 games based on the amount of weeks in the regular football season.

Fans of  fantasy football players to bring friends and family closer together. At the end of the season, the participant with the most wins over the 17 week season wins the league. The league manager can opt to adjust the league to have playoffs during the final weeks of the NFL season. When competitors consistently pick the right football players for each game for your team, some get lucky with a player having an outstanding game and win.

“I felt really lucky because I didn’t expect to win last year,” junior Chandler France said. “One player had the breakout game of his career and ever since he hasn’t had a game close to that.”