Austin Collie and the Harsh Reality of Fantasy Football

I take my fantasy football play pretty seriously.  In the league I consider my main focus, I am determined to win the championship in this league for the second year in a row. 

I study the draft like a lawyer studies the law.  I wheel and deal after the draft as the preseason shows me potential sleepers others might have drafted deep.  I check the waiver wire numerous times a day.  I watch as many NFL games and highlights as I can while my fantasy stats update on the laptop in front of me.

This week I had a big matchup, as my league-leading Madden Maniacs (7-1) took on the Jello Shots (6-2).  The Jello Shots had been keeping pace with me record-wise for weeks, finally losing a second game just last week.  A win by the Shots over my first-place team would be a big victory.

The game went back and forth.  At any given time on Sunday, my team and her team could be on top.  Arian Foster ran wild for my opponent, Mike Williams ran up some stats, and Matt Cassell was having a good day.

Then it happened.  One of the Jello Shots' players, Austin Collie, took a nasty hit on the field.  There in my line of sight was a player laying out cold on the field and a statistic screen showing me that my opponent had gained no points off the player.

Sunday ended with my team carrying a slight lead over my opponent.  We both have players active tonight, but it looks like my team will move up to 8-1. 

Another manager in the league commented as much to me this morning.  He asked how happy I was that Collie got knocked out of the game since it might be what makes the difference in me winning or losing.

I wasn't happy.  While Collie was down, I didn't think about fantasy football for a little while.  I was looking for signs of life from the human being that went down on the ground limp and lifeless on my television screen. 

I feel bad that the manager that messaged me would think I could be happy over something that saw a human being injured.  Yeah, no doubt that I'll certainly take a win and continue to play, and no doubt that the on-field injury could go down as the difference maker. 

However, I can't forget that the names on my computer screen producing these numbers for the game I'm playing are real human beings.  This isn't Call of Duty: Black Ops or Super Mario Bros. up there.  These people get hurt, sometimes seriously.  They have families and friends and a life off the field, too.  Win or lose a fantasy match, I don't lose sight on that.

I suggest that nobody else loses sight of that, either.