How to Find Good Fantasy Football Owners
by John Clifton
When looking to add a new owner to your fantasy football league, you're going to find a lot of pitfalls. I've detailed what I think it takes to be a good fantasy football owner by detailing what I think is good fantasy sports etiquette. But while it's easy to assure you're playing the game the right way, how do you know the owners you're adding to your league have the right stuff?
Below, I discuss the search for fantasy owners of quality to add to your league. I've found there are several pitfalls when the search for new blood begins. It pays to have a healthy dose of skepticism--and as many backup plans as possible.
- "He's a big football fan." (bad)
- "He and his wife play in a league together." (bad)
- "He broadcasts local high school football games." (really bad--I have proof)
- "He's obsessive about work, so he'll probably be obsessive about fantasy football." (not good)
- "He's a fantasy football veteran, knows a lot about it, and has won several leagues." (possibly okay)
Statistics, Not Fan Support
This is all counter-intuitive, I understand, but let me explain. Being a football fan--even an NFL fan--is simply not the same as being a fantasy football fan. Some of the most clueless fantasy football owners I've ever met were huge fans of the NFL, usually people who are complete homers about their own teams and have little interest in any team outside their division. It takes five minutes (usually less) of conversation to figure out whether they really know NFL football or whether they follow the local team to the exclusion of everything else. If they live in Atlanta and claim to be a big Falcons fan, start talking about an AFC team in another geographical part of the country--the Denver Broncos, for instance. If they know Tim Tebow and nobody else on the team, they're going to be trouble 9 times out of 10. Especially if they don't know who Knowshon Moreno is, or if he's the Broncos' starting RB, you know this person only has a passing interest in the NFL. Knowshon Moreno was a Georgia Bulldog, for pete's sake.
Living in the Dallas area, I don't know how many leagues in the 90s I entered, only to play against people who loved the Dallas Cowboys, causing them to draft Troy Aikman in the first round. I came to the conclusion that people who knew the NFL were at a disadvantage, compared to people who knew nothing about pro football, but were highly competitive and who liked pouring over statistics. That's the kind of owner you want.
When you hear about a man playing in a league with his wife, that's almost always trouble. She might be a huge fan. She might be a better league member than he is. But more than likely, they don't take the game seriously. If you're still in doubt, find out who else is in the league. I had a friend bragging about winning a league a few years back, only to find that he and his buddy had their wives in the league. On further questioning, the other man's 8-year old and 12-year old daughters also had teams. Competing in leagues with little girls should be illegal.
Organized Football Doesn't Cut It
The story about the local high school games is true. I know a guy who was in an NFL training camp back in the 1980s as a tight end. He blew out his knee and never made it into a camp again, but he was a big enough of a local hero that he called local high school games on Friday nights for his alma mater. So when I heard he was coming into the league, I thought, "Hey, this guy's going to be great competition."
Not so. By the 4th round, he was asking for help with his draft picks. One of my friends actually got tired of him stalling and actually volunteered real advice (he'd been drinking), and the guy says, "No, really." So my friend suggested a lousy player and he made that pick.
Let me say, I have another friend who is a radio dj and he calls high school games and he's an excellent fantasy football owner. But I'm saying, just because he has a connection to organized football does not mean he knows fantasy football. Just look at the ESPN NFL experts conduct their annual fantasy football draft.
Obsession Is Only Half The Equation
I've met commissioners who assume that obsession about some other aspect of life is going to turn into obsession about fantasy football. I guarantee you, if you know someone at work who is competitive and who lives to do the job, they will suck at fantasy football. By its very nature, they're obsessed with something else, so they'll have no use for your fantasy football league, even if you convince them to join for social purposes. This one is self-explanatory.
Fantasy Football Veterans
You might think that being told someone is a fantasy football veteran should cinch the matter. In these cases, you have to judge the person making that statement. What would it take to convince them this person knows a lot? Have they played with this owner personally, or just heard through hearsay? Were they told this by the prospective owner?
If so, the person might not know any better, might be exaggerating to make themselves look better, or might be a pathological liar. Unless the person who is recommending a player knows their stuff and has played in a league with this potential opponent, you have to remain skeptical about the person's qualifications. I say all this to mention that any single owner is suspect, so a whole league of owners is many times more suspect.
Turnover Is Good
When you can't find the right fantasy football owner for your league on the first try, don't be afraid to waive the new addition. Rookies improve if they want to improve. Some paranoid owners even learn to trust the rules and the other members, if the league is a good one, so the disruptive sometimes turn into good owners. But the ones who are apathetic and aren't interested in really competing should be trashed as soon as the season is over. The world is full of lousy fantasy owners, so you can always find a replacement for them. But if you keep adding good league members, you'll eventually have a highly competitive league.