I only have experience with Yahoo!'s Fantasy Football, but I'm told they are all basically the same. Each person is a manager (aka, a General Manager or GM) and has the opportunity to pick their team. Typically, you pick: a quarterback, a defense, a tight-end, 2 wide receivers, 2 running backs, 1 tight end, 1 flex position (which can be either a wide receiver or a running back or maybe a tight end), and a kicker. These are the positions that must be filled at all times. Then, there are 5 people on the bench. You need those folks for bye weeks, injuries, or if your first choice ends up sucking. You develop your team on draft day. Some leagues do this as a huge event -- live and lots of yelling about stealing players. Others do it by auto-draft. However you do it, the strategy and gamesmanship can start as early as the first round. So be careful who you pick!
Of course, you can't always get the team of your dreams on the first try. (What would be the fun in that?) Inevitably, one of your favorite players will go to another team. Or you'll be in a huge league and end up with all kinds of players you've never heard of. That's fine. There's always the opportunity to draft players later, and many leagues allow for trades among teams.
So, you've set your team. Scoring is then based on what happens in the actual game each week. So let's take the QB position. Say you have Drew Brees (my fantasy pick 3 years running). I score every time Brees does his job on the field. For every touchdown he throws (running or throwing), I get 6 points. For every 20 yards he runs or throws, I get 1 point. And, for interceptions, -2. If my guy Brees gets sacked, -1. Running backs, tight ends, and wide receivers all score similarly in that they receive 1 point for every reception, 6 for each touch down (receiving or rushing), and 1 point for every 10 yards rushed (or received in the case of wide receivers and tight ends). Each position has the opportunity to score based on what really happened in each player's real game. Check your league settings for the rest of the scoring scheme.
The only downside to fantasy football, as beautifully stated by a friend of mine, is that you lose your ability to remain objective about games you just shouldn't care about. Suddenly, you're sitting in front of the TV intently watching the Monday night Cardinals vs. Raiders game, because your fantasy team's final score is totally dependent on how many receptions Larry Fitzgerald has. Which is pretty unreasonable if your Packers beat the snot out of the Bears in the early game on Sunday. Silver lining? It makes going out to watch the games on Sundays WAY more interesting. Suddenly, you understand why everyone loves the game so much.
One of my greatest triumphs is when I can talk about stats and points about little known players. I was out with a great friend a few years ago. She'd asked me to come with her to the local Browns bar to watch the 2nd half of the Browns' home game against the Patriots. As a true Packer fan, I'm an NFC kinda girl, and I couldn't care less about a random interconference AFC game, but whatever, I love football and my friends. And besides, the Browns were winning! Who wouldn't want to witness this live and among their fans? At the time, Peyton Hillis was one of my running backs on my fantasy team.. He was the Browns' running back that year, and their star player. He was a fantasy sleeper -- meaning, for those of us who had him, he was likely an auto-pick -- but out of no where, he started scoring mad points. (The same thing would happen with Joique Bell of the Detroit Lions the very next year). So, I'm standing at the bar, and Peyton Hillis runs it in for a touchdown. I'm not in a Browns jersey but I'm totally screaming my head off. A guy standing next to my friend makes some snarky comment like "riiiiight...like you really the Browns." And I respond, "they're alright, but more importantly, Peyton Hillis is KILLING it for me!! He's got like 28 points today!!" At which point the guy totally high-fived me for a) knowing who Peyton Hillis was in the first place, b) choosing him for my fantasy RB, and c) playing (doing?) fantasy football. Added bonus? It always feels good when Tom Brady is losing.
*And, as an aside, it's a great way to learn more about teams and players outside of the ones you already follow.
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