The subject of Fantasy Football came up in a discussion with a coworker the other day & I immediately got this sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. Call it the ‘Sunday Scaries’ or whatever, but just the thought of having to go back in the lab late this summer & do the necessary research in order to be ready for the fantasy football league I run, plus any leagues I’d be invited to play in, put me into an instant state of stress.
Something hit me as I was driving home from work that day, however. I don’t have to play in or run a fantasy football league this year if I don’t want to. I don’t have to pay the price. I don’t have to know all the players. I’ve put in my time. After all, it’s been 11 years of playing & eight years as a commissioner.
Today, August 10th, 2023, I officially declare my retirement from the game of fantasy football.
It’s been a tolerable 11 years in fantasy football, but I’ve decided to finally retire from the sport.
I played in various different leagues over the course of my fantasy football career.
I’ve been the commissioner of a league for from 2015 through the 2022 season & I really struggled with making the decision whether to keep the league going or not since I have a lot of family & close friends in the league.
But truth be told, my heart just isn’t in it anymore. I had lost my passion for fantasy football long before — years before, I’d say — coming up with this decision to hang it up.
I took as long as possible to make sure my feelings were backed with conviction. I’m just done with fantasy football & I knew it.
Anyway, it is with much relief — & just a tiny bit of regret (mainly because of the timing) — that I am announcing my retirement from fantasy football after 11 seasons.
As I’ve already alluded to, I don’t want to pay the price from a “constantly being on my computer/smartphone keeping track of my team & other teams in the league I run” perspective, while trying to have a life & working.
While I will miss some things about my fantasy football days, I will not miss most of the things.
I won’t miss the several hours each week on who to start, who to bench, who to pick up on the waiver wire & who to release.
I will not miss those Tourettes-like outbursts while in the middle of a conversation about ceiling tiles when I discover Devante Adams was tackled short of the goal line.
I will not miss being the league commissioner & spending the entire season begging people for their team fees or having to monitor each team weekly to make sure they’re playing by the rules & not trying to mess with the integrity of the league.
I will not miss donating a portion of my salary to the fantasy football gods most years.
Finally, it has been a fun — or tolerable, at times — ride over the past 11 seasons, but it’s time to pursue other things & actually have a life.
I also look forward to spending time in my living room this Fall & not worrying about who’s doing what other than the Green Bay Packers.
I realize some people will try to coax me out of retirement at some point.
But for now, my mind is made up.
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