Gonos: An old-school approach, but -- "I like to do weird stuff"

I love fantasy football history. I wish we could go back in time to relive some of the most amazing fantasy moments, like Emmitt Smith’s four-TD opening game in 1995, or LaDainian Tomlinson’s 400-point 2006 season. What about Robert Griffin III’s breakout rookie year? Or the passing-TDs-per-season battles between Tom Brady and Peyton Manning? Good times!

As a fantasy football player for over 25 years, and a fantasy writer for over 15 years, I like to think I’ve seen it all. Whether it’s injuries, breakouts, sleepers or busts, there’s almost always a comparison to be made to something that happened in the past. I spent five years writing for CBS Sports in the early 2000s, and I’ve been a fantasy columnist for Sports Illustrated and FanDuel. My articles have landed on NFL.com, USA Today, Fox Sports and even MLB.com.

That’s what you can expect from me — an old school fantasy viewpoint skewed by current analytics and foggy memories of fantasy days gone by. I’ve drafted both Curt Warner and Kurt Warner, and I picked up Randy Moss while he was still in college (quirky rule in our league).

I still have fantasy magazines dating back to the early ’90s, along with my league write-ups, taking shots at my mom for drafting Mark Rypien in the first round. (I’m a three-time Son of the Year award winner, by the way.)

‘I Like To Do Weird Stuff’

If I had a nickel for every time I used that pickup line … but as far as fantasy writing, I really do like to do weird stuff. You’ll see some columns from me about weird, quirky rules you should consider adding to your league, or a strange stat breakdown on the best methods for drafting a kicker. At some point, I’ll do a midseason redraft, as if the first few weeks never happened (it’s like when George Costanza quit his job, then showed up to work the next day).

Oh yeah, TV and movie references — Tommy likey. You won’t see me talking about “The Bachelor,” or sharing Kardashian gossip, but classic sitcoms like “Seinfeld,” “The Office,” “Friends,” and “King of Queens” will get a fair amount of tips of the hat. I’ll even try to work in some new show references (“Detroiters!”).

My Theory on the Future of Fantasy Football

Did you play in fantasy leagues with your mom or dad? Probably not.

Will you play in fantasy leagues with your sons or daughters? Probably so.

My point is — we’re going to be joining more fantasy football leagues as the decades roll on. This includes our buddy league that we’ve had forever, a work league for water cooler talk, a family league and probably others.

There are twice as many fantasy players now as there were just 10 years ago, according to the FSTA. That’s going to exponentially climb again. But you need variety! I’m going to do my best to try to convince you to try different types of leagues, including auctions, dynasty and best ball leagues.

The Athletic is a disruptor — and I expect we’re going to see even more disruptors in the fantasy football world in the near future. From TV shows to TV channels to streaming possibilities to on-screen fantasy updates, the sports world is picking up on the fact that fantasy fans are steering the ship. What’s in store for us? I’ll make my guesses, based on the past. My background in writing about over-the-top streaming services, devices and content will help educate my guesses.

Why So Serious?

One thing I won’t do in my fantasy column is similar to the aforementioned “Seinfeld.” I’ll never have a “very special episode” of my column in which I talk about serious things that make you stop and think. I’m a great, big dope, and I fully expect to have a lot of fun. My hope is that you’ll find it fun as well, or else I’m just a great, big dope for no reason. (I’m pretty sure that last phrase was a direct quote from my high school yearbook.)

Are you a 30- or 40-something fantasy player who traded in his 1993 Upper Deck card collection (didn’t everyone have that set?) for a love for trading fantasy football players? Or are you a millennial who probably scanned through this article and decided I didn’t have enough bullet-points (I actually do tend to use a lot of bullet-points)? I promise I’ll work hard to provide something in here for everyone.

Thanks for reading through this entire piece — that bodes well for me! If you stopped reading before you got to this sentence, then, well, I hope the first group of people beats you in your fantasy league!

I’m also the co-host of the “Fantasy On 5” podcast, where we talk fantasy fun twice weekly. Follow me — and absolutely tweet at me — @DavidGonos, where I share all sorts of fantasy goodies!

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(Top photo: Geoff Burke, USA TODAY Sports)