I want to prep this by explaining something. I'd say I'm an average bragger. I don't talk about my skills as much as some people do, mostly because I don't have a lot of them (true), and the ones I do have are fairly dorky and pointless (golf, writing, ping-pong). That said, I've always been a fairly decent fantasy football player, even though I think at this point in the history of fantasy, it is more luck and less about skill (see "Brady, Tom" first-round pick).
Anyway, my fantasy football story begins a year ago, when I was reading ESPN's BIll Simmons talk about his fantasy year. He was going undefeated. His fantasy team hadn't lost, and his favorite real team, the Patriots, were undefeated as well. He made it a battle to see who could keep the second "0" the longest.
His conclusion was Week 6 was an appropriate time to start thinking undefeated. For my fantasy team in 2008, I didn't really "think undefeated" until Week 10.
What I did do was go undefeated in a fantasy football league with 12 teams. We played one quarterback, one true running back, two flex positions, one true wide receiver, a tight end, a kicker and special teams/defense. It was in a keeper league my family and friends had started three or so years ago, and my keeper from the previous year was none other than the one and only LaDainian Tomlinson. Who wouldn't keep him, right?
I've spent some time thinking about my season and I've broken it down into three parts: opponent's injuries or byes, complete and utter luck, and "the hunch." (Note: Fantasy is the only place in sports where there should ever be talk of "a hunch." If any coach [see: Brad Childress] says he is starting a quarterback because "it feels like the right thing to do," you should stop being a fan of that team.)
It all started in the first week of the season. I, the Denver Dewey Decimal Systems, played the Portland Eager Beavers. It was a fairly even match. I had LdT and Thomas Jones starting, he had Earnest Graham and Edge. Where did my edge come from? The guy started Tom Brady. 1-0, Shane.
In week 2, I got the good fortune of playing someone that obviously didn't read up on how the hurricane in Houston was affecting fantasy football. The man started Willis McGahee, and the strange bye week occured. I'm now 2-0.
Week 3 was just a flat out win, with both Drew Brees (my quarterback steal) and LdT going for 20 points each.
I won't bore you with all the details of each week, but I think it's worth noting my Week 6 game against my brother-in-law and avid Ravens fan, Keith. The Charleston Ornery Sons were beating me around the yard, thanks to a Tony Romo-Marion Barber combination of 50 points and Ronnie Brown tossing in a 50-yard-one-touchdown game. Because of a hunch, I had decided to start Braylon Edwards over Calvin Johnson, because Johnson was playing early and against Minnesota, and Edwards was the Monday Night guy on a team that hadn't showed a lot of life all season.
Down 22 points heading to Monday, I didn't think I had a shot. He was killing me, Edwards was up against the Giants, and, well, I was relying on Braylon Edwards. You could hand the guy a pillow at Bed, Bath and Beyond and Edwards would probably drop it. Yet after 154 yards and a touchdown, I was a point behind my opponent. No chance, right? The Browns decided to go for two in that game, and for some reason, found Edwards in the end zone. Two point conversion, two points for me, ball game folks.
That was how the fantasy season went for me. Undefeated? It's unlikely, but at least I have one story of it happening. The only problem is, what do I do for my encore?
