You Can Take It With You

Jody Feagan, writing from Santa Fe

Type the words “draft picks” into Google search at this time of year and you’ll be able to examine any number of pages dedicated to helping the millions of people all over the world who have signed up for the fanatical, time-sucking hobby of Fantasy Football.

My team’s name is Los Dragones (Spanish for “The Dragons”), which makes me the Mother of Dragons.

I’ve been playing Fantasy Football for over 20 years. I joined a group of fellow expats when I first moved to Mexico. While I loved my new life abroad, the one thing I missed was American football. It didn’t take long however to find others, who, like me, missed the weekly gridiron action. It was then that I realized that with Fantasy Football, you can take it with you.

While I will be the first to admit that I really don’t have time for this s#@t, I can’t help myself. I love it. Apparently, I’m not alone. According to the Fantasy Sports and Gaming Association, there are over 150 million people playing fantasy sports worldwide.

In my book, there are five seasons in a year. Winter, spring, summer, fall, and football season. Now, you can pretty much live anywhere and still be wrapped up in the world of American football, as owner and general manager of your very own virtual team, which you can christen with a cool name like No Punt Intended, Captains Crunch, or, in my case, Los Dragones.

Last night was my league’s draft. I left work early, raced home, and powered up my laptop minutes before the starting bell rang. I entered the chat room to meet up with my trash-talking league mates, a bunch of guys with plenty of time on their hands. Some had probably spent the last month and a half dithering over running back stats.

I wasn’t fazed.

I can hold my own among the chatter. I know that when the Patriots have the ball with third down and 12 at midfield the Seahawks will likely line up in a nickel formation to jam up the middle and maximize pass coverage.

I also know what the best play call of the game is going to be. (See below)

For your draft, you can get expert advice on strategies, statistics on the top-ranking players, the inside scoop on sleepers, and a list of first-round busts. There are cheat sheets and advice columns and blogs dedicated to aiding in the proliferation of this “sport,” which generated around seven billion dollars last year, an amount larger than the budget of many small countries.

For my draft, I managed to steer through the chaos, shut out all the chatter, and organize my team, not based on the advice of some self-styled, think-they-know-it-all sports junkie, but on my very own proven scientific evidence. I go with my gut.

After all, I am a woman, and a woman’s intuition is a powerful thing.

In our league, we don’t play for money. We play for something more important. We play for pride. I am, by the way, last year’s reigning champ, the proud winner of my league, which consists of me and nine other men.

It’s not as easy as I make it sound. In the many years I’ve been playing fantasy football, I’ve only won one other time.

The season always starts out so bright, with so much hope. After a week or two comes the inevitable anguish when some high-ranking running back will end up on the injured reserve list for six weeks and my mid-season wire trade goes south. But there can be that come-outta-nowhere wide receiver I picked up in a late-round, who racks up a 100-yards in a day and, just like that, I’m back in the ballgame.

This year’s National Football League season kicks off in a matter of days. And it looks like my best team yet.

I got Tom Brady for Christ’s sake and Derrick Henry and George Kittle. Who can possibly beat that? I can feel it. The Mother of Dragons’ team is going to breathe fire. Scorch their opponents. Kickass. And take names. And do some awesome end zone dances.

And, oh by the way, the best play of the game… with possession of the ball and the clock ticking down… will be taking a knee for the win.

Yeah, baby. Football season is finally here.

Jody Feagan is the director of content and women’s initiatives for Sovereign X’s SX International. She specializes in working with women who are interested in creating their best lives. She lived and raised three children as an expat for more than 10 years. She is the founder and former director of the San Miguel Writers Conference and Literary Festival in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. She is a journalism graduate of the University of Kansas.