NFL players don’t care about your fantasy teams.
And the question is, should they? Sure, some players also have fantasy teams, but they are only allowed to do it for fun, basically.
This weekend, Josh Jacobs, running back for the Raiders, posted on Instagram that he was out for Sunday, which sent fantasy owners into a freak-out mode tailspin, scrambling to find someone to put in their lineup. He posted again, letting everyone know exactly how he felt about fantasy football – with a not very nice middle finger emoji. Then, low and behold, he played in the game… fairly ineffectively with only 49 yards rushing and 25 receiving.
Josh Jacobs’ fantasy owners were not amused, to put it mildly. Some called him immature, others said he should be fined by the NFL. Look, I understand that people who play fantasy football do so with passion and intensity. I’m one of those people. I get that some people have a lot of money riding on their fantasy seasons. But, one thing that I do not agree with is feeling like the players owe you something.
Fantasy football has brought another layer of recognition and viewership to football games. I know that the NFL is reaping the benefits of obsessed fantasy football managers… along with Draft Kings. But, the players, they owe you nothing. They are obligated to their team, their owners, their fans, and themselves. Not you. Playing football is their job. Richard Sherman once said, people who play fantasy don’t see the players as humans anymore. Instead of seeing the impact that an injury has – like pain, fear, uncertainty for the future, rehab, being cut – fantasy managers see a commodity.
It was pretty funny on Jacobs’ part, though. He waited to post on social media that he wasn’t playing until the early games had started, which meant some sub possibilities might already be playing. Plus, it was the first weekend of playoffs for a huge majority of fantasy leagues! Easy targets.
If you were one of those people who lost because Josh Jacobs fooled you: yeah, it might not have been very nice to trick you, but you need to remember, you’re really just a fake manager.
You should have had James Robinson on your team, anyway.
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