Suzanne Tobias: Dream big: It’s fantasy football time

When the call went out for fantasy football this year, I couldn’t resist.

Last year, as you might remember, I decided to try fantasy football for the first time because I thought it would be fun.

I started with high hopes — and Kansas City Chiefs running back Jamaal Charles — and finished solidly in the middle of the pack, thanks to Charles’ season-ending knee injury and my overall lack of expertise.

But I learned a lot.

(That’s what coaches and managers usually say after a mediocre season, right? They focus on the journey and not the dismal outcome? I’m still learning.)

This year, I told our league commissioner I was eager for another draft. Armed with buffalo chicken dip and just enough research to sound vaguely knowledgeable (Antonio Brown! Arizona’s defense! Remember to watch bye weeks!), I attended our league’s Draft Day shindig and filled my roster with some impressive talent.

I drafted Chicago wide receiver Alshon Jeffery and New Orleans quarterback Drew Brees in early rounds. I picked Denver receiver Emmanuel Sanders because my husband’s a Broncos fan, and Kansas City receiver Jeremy Maclin because I like the Chiefs.

I snagged the Arizona defense — woot! — and Minnesota kicker Blair Walsh. A Vikings-fan co-worker says he’ll never forgive Walsh for missing an easy field goal against Seattle last year, but I gotta think he’s primed for redemption.

Random luck scored me Rashad Jennings and Devin Funchess, who days later were listed in a story headlined, “15 players who could power your team to a fantasy football title.”

So I’d say this sophomore year is shaping up nicely.

But I know better than to boast before Week 1 — or even Week 10. If there’s one thing I learned from my rookie season, when I lost several matchups by five points or fewer, it was the real-life agony of fantasy defeat.

This year, my co-worker Jaime is part of our league for the first time and made draft day especially fun. While the serious players weighed options and made their selections quietly — one was even flanked by a somber two-man research team — Jaime and I wondered aloud whether we should pick or pass on players whose profile pictures were mysterious gray silhouettes.

For me, fantasy football ratchets up interest in the game, which makes the NFL season that much more fun. Already this past Thursday night, I cheered solid performances by Sanders and Greg Olsen, a tight end I almost passed up because he wasn’t smiling in his photo.

I have a slight lead on my colleague Dion and feel good about my chances this week. I’ve started listening to the fantasy sports station on satellite radio, and although I understand about 0.03 percent of the stuff they talk about, I’m optimistic.

I named my team “Suzanne’s Superstars” and jazzed up my online profile with a picture of the plaid-skirted Mary Katherine Gallagher from “Saturday Night Live.”

I can feel it, I’m telling you: It’s going to be a breakout year.

This story was originally published September 9, 2016 at 5:12 PM with the headline "Suzanne Tobias: Dream big: It’s fantasy football time."