Midseason Fantasy Football Check-In: Hope Is Dead, But We’re Still Pretending

Welcome to Fantasy Football’s Sad Middle Child Phase

We’ve reached the midpoint of the fantasy football season - the time when optimism fades, once lively group chats become quieter, and the phrase “I just need a big week” echoes through the chambers of your conscience as you try to make peace with your week 7 standing.

Picture this: Half your team is injured. Your “sleeper pick” is snoozing so hard they may as well be in a coma. You’re considering throwing your bench players in as a proverbial Hail Mary move in a desperate attempt to make something happen. Sound familiar?

As devoted believers of fantasy football, we keep showing up; grinding through the pain. Because if fantasy football teaches us anything, it’s that denial is a coping mechanism disguised as strategy.

The 4 Stages of Midseason Grief

Denial:

“It’s still early.” (It’s not.)

You’re 2-5, your quarterback just threw three picks, and your top running back is on IR.... but you’ve convinced yourself a waiver wire miracle is coming.

Anger:

Directed at your league opponents, the players, the refs, your own draft choices, and most of all, the football gods who clearly enjoy your suffering.

Bargaining:

“If I start the rookie tight end and promise God I will go to church next Sunday, maybe I’ll pull this off.”

Acceptance:

You finally admit you’re rebuilding for next year, but still spend three hours Sunday morning rearranging your lineup just in case.

The Truth Hurts (But So Does Fantasy Football)

Fantasy football midseason isn’t glamorous. It’s a grind powered by delusion and blind faith in players you’ll probably drop or bench next week.

But that’s what makes it beautiful.

It’s collective chaos. It’s yelling at your phone over the performance of athletes who you will never meet (and who get paid regardless of the fantasy points they score). Sports fandom is pain.

So as you, or your loved ones, trudge through bye weeks, injuries, and heartbreak, remember: this isn’t just about football. It’s about holding on to the irrational belief that next week will be different.

It won’t be.

But we’ll believe anyway.