|
 The development is a game-changer in the league – and for the
millions of fantasy football fanatics across the country, especially
those who put their money behind Brady in early drafts.
Last year an estimated 41 million people played in fantasy football
leagues, most wagering upwards of $100 for the season. In fantasy
football, participants create virtual teams by “drafting” existing
players from the NFL. Each week a fan's team goes head-to-head with
another in the league, and the score is based on the real-life,
statistical performance of the people on the fan's squad.
For many leagues, drafting wraps up this week, although, depending
on a league’s rules, a fan may be able to trade players throughout
the season.
In general, fantasy football team owners receive points each week
when their players do something right (for instance, a wide receiver
catching a pass for a touchdown) and lose points when they do
something wrong (such as a quarterback throwing an interception).
For some fantasy football fans, the allure of drafting Brady, the
Super Bowl XLIX most valuable player, outweighed concerns about his
potential four-game suspension.
LONG SHOT
“There’s always your stats guy; there’s always your fan guy,” said
Zack Jones, editor in chief of SportsbookReview.com, a sports
analytics and commentary site. “And there’s always the guy who wants
to go for the long shot.”
Stuart Green, a 10-year fantasy veteran, said he did not pick up
Brady - but his 13-year-old son grabbed him in the seventh round of
one of the numerous leagues he participates in, in a draft held
prior to the Berman ruling.
"He now thinks he’s a genius,” quipped Green, a lifelong
Philadelphia Eagles fan and senior vice president of strategic
accounts at Symphony Health in Lafayette Hill, Pennsylvania.
“We all were just kind of staring at (Brady’s name) on the board
wondering if anyone was going to do it,” said Todd Wachtel, an
attorney in New Jersey who has wagered $265 this season. Eventually,
Brady went in the ninth round of his 10-person draft.
“I have two friends who drafted Tom in the third round (in separate
drafts), and they could not be happier,” said Jason Jepson, a vice
president of a public relations agency in Austin, Texas, whose
eight-person league has a total of $2,000 on the line. “They are
celebrating as their friends berated them.”
GAME CHANGER
Brandon Marianne Lee, founder of Her Fantasy Football, a fantasy
ranking and analysis site, and an analyst for fantasy site FanDuel,
said Brady’s return to the field could have repercussions for the
players around him.
“The biggest impact is on wide receivers,” Lee said, noting that
Patriots receiver Julian Edelman’s value from a fantasy prospective
has increased dramatically. Wide receivers working with a top-tier
quarterback are likely to be more productive than those working with
a backup, even a good one.
[to top of second column] |
Experts say fantasy fans would be wise to look at how Brady’s
week-one status affects the rest of his team. With a reliable
quarterback active for week one, Patriots receivers could catch more
passes and, subsequently, pick up more fantasy points.
“(The ruling) moved Brady up, obviously,” noted KC Joyner, a senior
ESPN NFL & Fantasy Football Insider and analytics expert. But “it
helps the guys around him.”
For example, New England tight end Rob Gronkowski is now a top-five
draft pick, Joyner said.
‘WHO IS LAUGHING NOW?’
While Brady will return to Gillette Stadium this week, the
“Deflategate” saga is far from over.
After the judge overturned Brady’s suspension, the NFL appealed the
ruling. If successful, the NFL would have the power to reinstate
Brady’s suspension. And it remains unclear whether this could affect
the 2015 season – and fantasy football.
Jamie O’Grady, an attorney and the editor of The Cauldron, a sports
news and analysis site, said, “no one knows” the timeline for the
appeals process. “The league doesn’t necessarily want to litigate
this in the near term because they want to focus on the season,”
O’Grady says.
For Lori Jung, a public relations specialist with firm Hudson West,
who put up $150 for her 10-person league, that risk was too great.
“I picked up starters,” Jung said. “I don’t like to take any kind of
gamble.” Jung’s strategy means that – barring a last-minute injury
or personal conduct issue – every player she drafted will be on the
field in week one.
Even so, Brady went in the second round of her draft – and the
person who drafted him took a fair share of jeering for the move.
“But who’s laughing now, right?”
(Reporting by Amy Tennery; Editing by Lauren Young and Steve
Orlofsky)
[© 2015 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
Copyright 2015 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. |
