There is no tougher job in sports than being a Detroit Lions fan. Mostly because there is a lot of sadness. None of which I am going to address here.
What I am instead going to do is an experiment with my beloved Detroit Lions and daily fantasy football. More on that below.
**This experiment is over. Recap at bottom**
After a decade of playing in three season long leagues and daily fantasy football for the past three years at DraftKings and FanDuel I am at a point where something has to give.
It’s too much fantasy football. And I feel it’s starting to cost me some money which I am not happy about.
Season long league dues are $75 to $100 each. For daily fantasy football I’ve been playing the week-long tournaments and the 1pm or 4pm games on both sites with entry fees around $5 each ($20/week).
I have had one big win where I came in 3rd out of over 4,000 entries pocketing $1000. That was exciting. And there have been a few $8-$75 wins. My guess is I’m probably somewhere around even on daily fantasy football over the years even with the big win.
Experiment Rules
If I make more than $1 playing daily fantasy football in the 2018 NFL season (including playoffs if the Detroit Lions make it..lol) then I will play the following year. If not, I will quit.
And to make it even harder to make money I will do one of the absolute stupidest things any fantasy football manager could do.
At least four Detroit Lions must be drafted per lineup including the QB and Defense.
Don’t think I’ll do it?
Back in 2014 I was invited to a league by a close friend whose buddies had been running since 1996. They read about fantasy football in a magazine and did everything…on paper. There were no ESPN or Yahoo leagues then. It’s quite impressive if you think about it.
In 2014 I drafted the best player available and finished in 9th place. For 2015 I did something that maybe has never been done ever in the history of fantasy football. I drafted all Detroit Lions. I also named the team after my friend.
The results were disastrous. A 1-12-1 record sure is shitty but man was it fun.
I won’t be able to get rid of the Detroit Lions as my team but I can get rid of daily fantasy football if it’s becoming a problem. So just like my daily fantasy golf experiment I am going to have one last hurrah at daily fantasy football. I don’t see myself quitting the season long leagues as they are with friends.
Prediction
A real Lions fan knows what the Lions do best. And that’s give hope.
They lose the games they’re supposed to win. They win the games they’re supposed to lose. They find a way to give away games they’re winning and rally when there is no chance in hell they can. Rarely is there a solid win.
At the age of 38 and being in a family that has had season tickets since 1992 I have seen just about everything. That is, except for something that can be put on a banner and hung in Ford Field.
So it would not surprise me if I do make more than the $1 requirement to play next year.
It would be such that the four Detroit Lions I draft plus the other players I choose (both sites have caps on how many from a team you can have in a lineup) would come together to form some sort of super lineup at some point during the season.
Let’s hope (like for real) that Matthew Stafford does his thing all year and he finds Golden Tate (have fun in Philadelphia), Marvin Jones Jr., and Kenny Golladay all day. Who knows, maybe I’ll throw in Kerryon Johnson or LeGarrette Blount here and there.
In the mean time I will publicly shame myself and post the results here. Each image is clickable to my lineup on DraftKings and FanDuel showing who I drafted.
There is a “follow this post” box at the bottom you can check if you’d like some humor delivered to your email every Wednesday.
| FanDuel | Time Slot | Week | Fees | Won |
| Week 1 |  |
 |
$10 | $0 |
| Week 2 |  |
 |
$8.88 | $16 |
| Week 3 |  |
 |
$6 | $0 |
| Week 4 |  |
 |
$13.44 | $15 |
| Week 5 |  |
 |
$14 | $0 |
| Week 7 |  |
 |
$15.54 | $0 |
| Week 8 |  |
 |
$15.54 | $0 |
| Week 9 |  |
 |
$17.76 | $0 |
| Week 10 |  |
 |
$17.76 | $18 |
| Week 11 |  |
 |
$17.76 | $20 |
| Week 12 |  |
 |
$18 | $0 |
| Week 13 |  |
 |
$17.76 | $0 |
| Week 14 |  |
 |
$17.76 | $0 |
| Week 15 |  |
 |
$17.76 | $0 |
| Week 16 |  |
 |
$17.76 | $0 |
| Week 17 |  |
 |
$17.76 | $0 |
| Totals | $243.48 | $69 |
| DraftKings | Time Slot | Week | Fees | Won |
| Week 1 |  |
 |
$16 | $15 |
| Week 2 |  |
 |
$11 | $18 |
| Week 3 |  |
 |
$12 | $0 |
| Week 4 |  |
 |
$18 | $0 |
| Week 5 |  |
 |
$11 | $0 |
| Week 7 |  |
 |
$28 | $0 |
| Week 8 |  |
 |
$28 | $0 |
| Week 9 |  |
 |
$28 | $0 |
| Week 10 |  |
 |
$28 | $60 |
| Week 11 |  |
 |
$28 | $15 |
| Week 12 |  |
 |
$30 | $0 |
| Week 13 |  |
 |
$18 | $0 |
| Week 14 |  |
 |
$28 | $12 |
| Week 15 |  |
 |
$28 | $0 |
| Week 16 |  |
 |
$23 | $0 |
| Week 17 |  |
 |
$28 | $0 |
| Totals | $363 | $120 |
**Week 6 was Detroit Lions bye week**
Recap
Much like the 2018 Detroit Lions season this experiment was a disaster. Here are the totals.
Entry fees $606.48. Winnings $189. Grand total of $417.48 lost.
8 winning entries out of 32 total entries for a 25% winning average.
All of it was bad.
The Detroit Lions were painful to watch. Their offense was boring.
Things went downhill when they traded Golden Tate. Didn’t help that Marvin Jones went on Injured Reserve in the middle of the season and Kerryon Johnson missed six weeks. It left me guessing between backups.
Whats most sad is the other guys I drafted couldn’t pick up the slack. Most of my entries were stacked due to there being so much salary cap left over. Didn’t matter.
DraftKings does a better job showing how sucky you are. I almost finished in last place out of 22,500 entires in Week 16. And 183,678th place out of 191,200 entires in Week 8 is hilarious.
So I was way off when I predicted I would make more than my entry fees. WAY OFF!!! Not one was close to hitting something big.
I should have known better. And with that, I’m done with daily fantasy football. Thanks a lot Lions!!
When checking your fantasy team is more important than watching your actual team and you don’t know the Detroit Lions just took a 360 degree picture of Ford Field. Miss you Dad.
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