Grab your gear- the NFL is here-

By AMIR KOREHI

The National Football League is a name known throughout every American household. With the 2016-2017 regular season fast approaching, fans are ready to throw on the jersey of their favorite player and watch as many games they possibly can every Sunday until February when the two best teams in the league go head-to- head in the Super Bowl.

The road to the Super Bowl is paved in the offseason, when the Combine, Draft, cuts, trades and contracts are reconstructed. There are mini-camps and training for both veteran players and rookies where they get acclimated to what is in store for them during the season. This is also when coaches decide which players will fit in their team structure and which players will have no benefit to the team.

With all that said, it can be argued that this past postseason was one of the most energetic, with the Broncos Super Bowl win, and Peyton Manning’s retirement following; the allegations against Tom Brady surrounding the “Deflate Gate” scandal still stood, and he was sentenced to a four week suspension for the upcoming season.

Multiple appeals followed the ruling, and all were subsequently overturned, resulting in the ruling against Brady to stand. Colin Kaepernick, quarterback for the 49ers, recently followed the Brady controversy, by refusing to stand for the National Anthem during preseason games.

While there are many views on the issue, sales for Kapernick jerseys have seen a tremendous increase, and he has started several new trends across social media platforms. If all that was not enough for fans to keep up with, many fans, including UMW students, create fantasy leagues and hold drafts to select what they believe will be the ultimate team of players hoping to outscore their opponent for the week.

These drafts require a full-bodied knowledge of players and teams in order to create the most educated selection that will set your individual roster over the top and guarantee you a spot in your leagues playoffs.

Fantasy football players must know what players are on what team, their position on the team, if they have any injuries or if they have recently recovered from injuries, and whether or not they will be a useful asset to their team this upcoming season.

With all of these factors surrounding the NFL before a single game is even played, fans are almost given a fulltime job keeping up with the daily changes and updates to the league. The only prediction, which can be guaranteed to come true, is this upcoming NFL season will be full of excitement and even heartbreak for every watcher.