NFL season begins with dreams rooted in fantasy
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. - New England wide receiver Deion Branch's holdout has reached
the point where he's asked to be traded, Cincinnati quarterback Carson Palmer looks sharp
after a potential career-ending injury, Philadelphia traded for Saints receiver Donte` Stallworth
and Jacksonville backup running back Greg Jones is out for the year with a torn ACL.
All of this information may not seem like much to you, just more lines in the daily transactions
and briefs, but it is extremely important in the world of fantasy football.
The billion-dollar-a-year industry that takes over offices and homes across the country from
September to January officially began for me last month as I made the trip south on I-95 to
New Jersey for my league's annual fantasy football live draft.
The Retired Orangemen Fantasy Football League is in its fifth year of existence and I'm
coming off my best season to date. (This is only technically, of course, as everyone seems
to forget that I won the league in 2001 before we reached "official" status.)
I came in third place last year (I blame Seattle coach Mike Holmgren as to why my name
isn't etched on the ROFFL Trophy right now) after taking Patriots quarterback Tom Brady
and Bengals running back Rudi Johnson to compliment my two "keepers" in Seahawks
running back Shaun Alexander and St. Louis receiver Torry Holt.
I scored points all over the place but had a successful run in the playoffs to finish "in the money." In the end, it wasn't enough, as
Nomads in the Deep won for the second straight year behind the ridiculous season of Chiefs running back Larry Johnson and the
out-of-this-world year from Carolina receiver Steve Smith.
The rundown of the league looks like this: Fourteen college graduates, eight from Syracuse University, including two who are
married and one who just got engaged; seven who live in New York City, two from New Jersey, and one each from Baltimore,
Virginia, New Orleans, Los Angeles and Maine.
For the fourth year in a row the lot of us crammed into a small hotel room on the Jersey Shore and spent the better part of a
Saturday afternoon eating, arguing, talking smack and selecting the fantasy team that will undoubtedly cause us much misery but will
also be the reason we wake up every Sunday.
The draft took nearly eight hours to complete as we took far too long between picks, hammered out trades that never materialized,
and questioned each others motives until we all hit the wall around the 10th round. Then we just sped through as fast as we could,
took players whose names we can't pronounce and college we couldn't name, so we could hit a buffet before they all closed or get a
nap in before a night on the town.
There were several questionable picks -Jags receiver Matt Jones in the second round?! - and a few that raised eyes and had
owners cursing to themselves as a another sleeper left the board.
This season Brock's Bandits has a new look. Gone is the '05 NFL MVP in Alexander, as well as Holt, who both reached the
three-year max as keepers, and suiting up this season is a new host of players. Brady and Johnson are back for Year 2 and joining
them are Chicago running back Thomas Jones (please don't get hurt this year), Tennessee receiver Drew Bennett (my biggest
sleeper pick, can you say contract year!), New York Giants receiver Plaxico Burress (just don't tank in the second half of the
year again), Patriots tight end Ben Watson (Deion who?) and the Panthers' defense (That's Mr. Peppers to you).
I was real confident with my first six selections but after that it got a little fishy. With slim pickings across the board I had to take Isaac
Bruce, Antawn Randel-El and Bobby Engram to fill out my receivers, Michael Turner (if LT gets hurt I'm gold!) and Ryan Moats as my
backup running backs, and Ben Roethlisberger as my backup QB. Kansas City's Lawrence Tynes is my kicker and the Giant are my
backup defense (please, Houston at home week 9, shutout!)
A solid group and definitely a playoff team on paper. Anything could happen between now and the season kickoff next Thursday, but
I like my chances.
Lets get it on!
- Chris Brockman is a closet fantasy geek. Check out his fantasy team at www.myspace.com/brocksbandits
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. - New England wide receiver Deion Branch's holdout has reached
the point where he's asked to be traded, Cincinnati quarterback Carson Palmer looks sharp
after a potential career-ending injury, Philadelphia traded for Saints receiver Donte` Stallworth
and Jacksonville backup running back Greg Jones is out for the year with a torn ACL.
All of this information may not seem like much to you, just more lines in the daily transactions
and briefs, but it is extremely important in the world of fantasy football.
The billion-dollar-a-year industry that takes over offices and homes across the country from
September to January officially began for me last month as I made the trip south on I-95 to
New Jersey for my league's annual fantasy football live draft.
The Retired Orangemen Fantasy Football League is in its fifth year of existence and I'm
coming off my best season to date. (This is only technically, of course, as everyone seems
to forget that I won the league in 2001 before we reached "official" status.)
I came in third place last year (I blame Seattle coach Mike Holmgren as to why my name
isn't etched on the ROFFL Trophy right now) after taking Patriots quarterback Tom Brady
and Bengals running back Rudi Johnson to compliment my two "keepers" in Seahawks
running back Shaun Alexander and St. Louis receiver Torry Holt.
I scored points all over the place but had a successful run in the playoffs to finish "in the money." In the end, it wasn't enough, as
Nomads in the Deep won for the second straight year behind the ridiculous season of Chiefs running back Larry Johnson and the
out-of-this-world year from Carolina receiver Steve Smith.
The rundown of the league looks like this: Fourteen college graduates, eight from Syracuse University, including two who are
married and one who just got engaged; seven who live in New York City, two from New Jersey, and one each from Baltimore,
Virginia, New Orleans, Los Angeles and Maine.
For the fourth year in a row the lot of us crammed into a small hotel room on the Jersey Shore and spent the better part of a
Saturday afternoon eating, arguing, talking smack and selecting the fantasy team that will undoubtedly cause us much misery but will
also be the reason we wake up every Sunday.
The draft took nearly eight hours to complete as we took far too long between picks, hammered out trades that never materialized,
and questioned each others motives until we all hit the wall around the 10th round. Then we just sped through as fast as we could,
took players whose names we can't pronounce and college we couldn't name, so we could hit a buffet before they all closed or get a
nap in before a night on the town.
There were several questionable picks -Jags receiver Matt Jones in the second round?! - and a few that raised eyes and had
owners cursing to themselves as a another sleeper left the board.
This season Brock's Bandits has a new look. Gone is the '05 NFL MVP in Alexander, as well as Holt, who both reached the
three-year max as keepers, and suiting up this season is a new host of players. Brady and Johnson are back for Year 2 and joining
them are Chicago running back Thomas Jones (please don't get hurt this year), Tennessee receiver Drew Bennett (my biggest
sleeper pick, can you say contract year!), New York Giants receiver Plaxico Burress (just don't tank in the second half of the
year again), Patriots tight end Ben Watson (Deion who?) and the Panthers' defense (That's Mr. Peppers to you).
I was real confident with my first six selections but after that it got a little fishy. With slim pickings across the board I had to take Isaac
Bruce, Antawn Randel-El and Bobby Engram to fill out my receivers, Michael Turner (if LT gets hurt I'm gold!) and Ryan Moats as my
backup running backs, and Ben Roethlisberger as my backup QB. Kansas City's Lawrence Tynes is my kicker and the Giant are my
backup defense (please, Houston at home week 9, shutout!)
A solid group and definitely a playoff team on paper. Anything could happen between now and the season kickoff next Thursday, but
I like my chances.
Lets get it on!
- Chris Brockman is a closet fantasy geek. Check out his fantasy team at www.myspace.com/brocksbandits