Freshman Drew Newlin opens his phone to find out how his Fantasy football team’s playing. His team throws passes and scores points against teams his classmates drafted in their own fantasy football league. 

But in order to make the game more interesting, Newlin and his friends, as well as many other leagues in the school community, set punishments for the losing person’s team at the end of the season.

“I’ve never done fantasy until this year and I really enjoy it,” Newlin said.  “It’s something I play every week that doesn’t require much effort. Me and my friends have this punishment where if we lose, we can’t eat anything for the next two days, and let’s just say I won’t be putting the sandwich down anytime soon.”

In fantasy football, you are able to draft your own team consisting of real players. As these players pass and score in real NFL football games, you’re awarded “Fantasy Points.” These are used to determine how you do against other fantasy teams, and your league ranking. The player’s team at the bottom of the ranking by the end of the season loses and is the culprit for punishments like the one Newlin and his friends are using.

“I wouldn’t care if I fasted for two days” Newlin said. “But I am taking fantasy a little more seriously because of the punishment.” 

“I’d say it’s like tension on yourself, it’s stressful,” Drew said. “If you drafted a horrible team, you can’t do anything to make your team better. There’s no coming back from losing and you know the punishment is getting closer, so it’s scary.”

Senior Zac Zammas and his friends’ punishment is another example of how creative students are getting with their punishments.

“We have a running bet in the group that the bottom person’s going to have to dress up in a monkey suit and ask someone to prom with a sign saying ‘I’ll go bananas if you go to prom with me’,” Zammas said. “I am close to the bottom of our league, so I do take it pretty seriously because I don’t want to lose that bet.”

In addition to friend groups, sports teams, like the basketball team, have begun to create their own fantasy leagues.

“It helps with team bonding,” Sophomore Jack Boucher said on the varsity basketball team’s league. “It’s especially fun because it adds another layer of friendly competition. Whoever loses in our league has to get a buzz cut, so yeah I’m taking it pretty seriously.”

The fantasy craze has even reached staff, who have their own league including teachers, coaches, and faculty including Assistant Principal Glenn Webb.

“We’ve got 12 teams in our league.” Webb said. “Last year, we started getting together for the draft. It’s a great way to start conversations and keep up with each other. It’s all fun and games and keeps the relationships alive.”