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There's a reason we all love fantasy football. It's because we love the game of football. We love the team aspect of it. We love the lessons we all learned either playing the game, or watching the game or being involved as a fan in the game.

For me it was easy: I was born into a family that lived and breathed the Green Bay Packers. My parents went to every home game and we as kids made a ritual to go to church on Sunday morning and cheer on the Packers at noon. My older brothers also were good football players on championship teams, so getting involved was a no-brainer.

Now I'm working in the sport and raising a child who just joined his first pee wee football team, and I REALLY see the true essence of our love of football. He is 8 years old, on a tackle football team (they start 'em young up here ) and learning the good and bad of this team sport. He's been practicing 2 1/2 hours a day for the last two weeks and he's learned how tough the kids a year older are. We had nutcracker drills at this young age (linebacker vs. RB head on in tackling drills) and he came home, bruised, battered and wondering about the game. The coaches tried to toughen these kids up at a young age and it was VERY tough for parents to watch.

Then we went to their first scrimmage yesterday against a neighboring town. My boy's team is pretty big for this young age and after banging against each other for 8 days they lined up against an opponent for the first time. I was just shocked how good they looked. I mean, to see these kids learn the game in a short time and have nobody jump offsides or fumble the snaps or the handoffs, or miss many tackles was WAY COOL. They broke several big plays and they made sure every kid played a lot of different positions so that they learned each area of the game.

I literally had goosebumps watch this and I've been at every practice the last two weeks. To see the kids high-fiving each other after big plays and sweating like we all did back in the old days was something cool. To see the coaches pull the linemen aside and praise them for making their blocks when they thought they were "stuck" on the line instead of being QB was cool. I mean, they were playing the game for fun and because they loved it and in a way I've missed seeing that aspect of the game. I've been following the pros too long!!

My boy has a big bruise on his elbow. He's so worn out that he can barely move. He's lost a few pounds of water. And he has practice all this week in 85+ degree weather. The good news? He's loving every minute of it!! Because he loves the game and now is a part of it. That's pretty cool for any parent to see and I know many of you have seen it with your own kids. I just had to tell you how neat it was for this parent to see it himself.

Greg, I can't agree more. I coached my son's team when he was 5, yes 5 years old! Our biggest thrill that year was we got to play a mini game at half-time of the Colts Dolphins game that year. We had 40 family and friends there and it was a blast! Marino and the Fins crushed us, but that didn't matter.

Fast forward 12 years and my son just finished his senior year. He had the chance to play 3 games in Lucas Oil Stadium and had a terrific career. He loves football and is doing his part to help his 15yo brother follow in his footsteps.

I get to live vicariously through them and it will repeat with my 3yo when his time comes.

You know, in my family, it's next man up.

We love going to watch my nephews play on Saturday mornings.

A lifetime of memories...

i have'nt posted on here much because most things frankly are kind of dumb . to much yelling at greg,tom, ryan, fanball ect . but this post made me think . i grew up playing ball my dad was at every game it was great . then i had a son he wanted to play almost as much as i wanted him to .i would get home from work he would be sitting on the porch ball in hand . no mater how tired i was how could i say no .when he got into playing on teams me and my dad would go watch . i loved watching him play just like you guys . when he got to high school his first game was on the field that i played my varsity games on . kind of brought a tear to my eye . the only bad part was that my dad passed away before getting to see him play any varsity games . just like my dad was always at my games i never missed any games even if they were across the state . now me and my son play fantasy football together and will always have a great love for the sport . we have played in the main event twice and play 4 to 5 sat leagues every year . almost can't wait for him to have a son so we can start the new generation .what ever you guys do NEVER MISS ANY GAMES . they go by to quick .

i have'nt posted on here much because most things frankly are kind of dumb . to much yelling at greg,tom, ryan, fanball ect . but this post made me think . i grew up playing ball my dad was at every game it was great . then i had a son he wanted to play almost as much as i wanted him to .i would get home from work he would be sitting on the porch ball in hand . no mater how tired i was how could i say no .when he got into playing on teams me and my dad would go watch . i loved watching him play just like you guys . when he got to high school his first game was on the field that i played my varsity games on . kind of brought a tear to my eye . the only bad part was that my dad passed away before getting to see him play any varsity games . just like my dad was always at my games i never missed any games even if they were across the state . now me and my son play fantasy football together and will always have a great love for the sport . we have played in the main event twice and play 4 to 5 sat leagues every year . almost can't wait for him to have a son so we can start the new generation .what ever you guys do NEVER MISS ANY GAMES . they go by to quick .

Originally posted by jaguar:
i have'nt posted on here much because most things frankly are kind of dumb . to much yelling at greg,tom, ryan, fanball ect . but this post made me think . i grew up playing ball my dad was at every game it was great . then i had a son he wanted to play almost as much as i wanted him to .i would get home from work he would be sitting on the porch ball in hand . no mater how tired i was how could i say no .when he got into playing on teams me and my dad would go watch . i loved watching him play just like you guys . when he got to high school his first game was on the field that i played my varsity games on . kind of brought a tear to my eye . the only bad part was that my dad passed away before getting to see him play any varsity games . just like my dad was always at my games i never missed any games even if they were across the state . now me and my son play fantasy football together and will always have a great love for the sport . we have played in the main event twice and play 4 to 5 sat leagues every year . almost can't wait for him to have a son so we can start the new generation .what ever you guys do NEVER MISS ANY GAMES . they go by to quick . This may be your first post jaguar, but it's an EXCELLENT one. I hear ya. Same for me in every instance you wrote about. Great post.

thanks greg sorry i hit reply twice by mistake .

Sounds alot like what I am experiencing right now with two exceptions.

1. I am the coach
2. temps are 100+

it's brutal! I wouldn't trade it for anything though.

i have posted in baseball just not football . by the way love the new draft site . great job . have done 2 sats so far no problems . way better than mdc .