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Don?t believe any pro football player who tells you he doesn?t worry about disappointing fantasy football enthusiasts with his statistics. At a panel discussion about fantasy sports at SXSW Interactive, the Green Bay Packers wide receiver opened up about how fantasy mania gets in players? heads.
?When a player says it doesn?t really bother them, they?re lying,? he said. ?That?s the politically correct answer. As players, it puts pressure on us to make sure we?re the liked player in that category. It plays with your mind.?
Jennings repeatedly cracked up with the audience and his fellow panelists ? who included executives from ESPN, Bloomberg Sports and CBS ? with his candor. At one point, he recounted playing a game against the Pittsburgh Steelers during a lull in his season and being screamed at by a fan for his low fantasy production. After scoring an 80-yard touchdown in the game, Jennings said, ?I wanted to turn around and be like, Am I still sucking for you? I remember sitting there and, like, I wanted to say something to a fan but I can?t let them know they got to me, because it?s fantasy football. But it?s probably the most serious game out there.?
Players have mixed feelings about fantasy, he said. Many like it for the way it extends their fan bases throughout the league. But fans? heightened enthusiasm has its downside. ?It?s a unique deal where we mean more to a fan than we ever have,? he says. ?I remember getting hurt and I?m leaving the stadium, and first thing a guys says to me is, ?Jennings, should I drop you from fantasy?? And you sit back like, ugh, really??
And players themselves aren?t immune to fantasy?s pull, he said. Lots have their own teams. ?Anything that?s extra competition, guys want to be a part of it,? he said. Playing simultaneously in real and virtual versions of a game is just as confusing as it sounds, apparently. ?You think you guys are serious, get a player that?s actually in the game and he?s playing against a player who?s on his fantasy team? You?re competing against a guy, but you want that guy to be successful.?
After the panel, I caught up with Jennings, who may or may not be one of my favorite all time football players; I?m not telling. Like a lot of people, he was blown away during the panel by a presentation by Bloomberg?s Bill Squadron, who showed off a data product for tracking and visualizing baseball statistics.
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