With the NFL season starting in early September, America’s most popular sports always have high expectations for the 17 week season. However, oftentimes it is not the football games that people look forward to the most, but instead, fantasy football. 

Fantasy football is a fan-favorite activity for anyone to participate in all throughout the NFL season. Fantasy football gives fans a sense of what it is like to be an owner of their own football team. A fantasy football league generally has eight to 12 teams that match up one on one with new opponents each week. Each owner starts the season by drafting their own team, choosing players of several different positions to make up their own lineup. 

Teams consist of a quarterback, multiple running backs, receivers, tight ends, a kicker and a defense. Owners are also able to make trades throughout the season, in order to adjust their team however they feel is best to get themselves the strongest team possible. Two teams match up against one another and face-off to see which owner drafted the better team for each week. There is a points system that is constantly calculating how well players are doing for their teams, which all depends on how well the players they drafted do in their NFL games. Whichever team scores the most points each week gets a win, and thus starting their path to getting the best record possible. A fantasy season is 17 weeks long, which includes a playoff and a championship game, just like the NFL season. 

Owners are able to join a league online with random people, or create their own league to compete against a group of friends or family. Each league can have a different goal that they are playing for. Whether it is for money, a punishment to the worst team or simply for bragging rights, fantasy football always provides lots of competition and fun throughout the NFL season. Although fantasy leagues can be done in many other sports, no sport has a bigger fan base and a higher fantasy league than  football. No matter your age, gender or whether you even watch the NFL, fantasy football is a friendly competition that all sports fans love to be a part of.