In Fantasy Football Owners Should Still Follow a Code of Ethics

I was invited into a 12 team league with a few of my brothers and their friend. We had our draft on the last weekend in August. Yesterday I attended a draft for a league I have been in for six years now with those same brothers plus another (I have five total) and other friends of theirs. At first thought this sounds fun. Keeping in touch with your brothers while playing in a second league together right? Now I am not so sure.

Secretly, I have been very high on Green Bay's Tight End, Jermichael Finley. He has the ability to get a lot of yards and some scores and he is on an offense that not only allows him to find room, but is willing to use him as well. Yet this guy is going undrafted in most leagues because he is labeled the 2nd tight end. In the first league, I drafted him extremely late.

When we drafted yesterday, a disturbing pattern took shape. As the draft went on, a few of the players I planned on taking later, were drafted before I could take them. This happens in all drafts however, so as they happened I would grimace then let it slide, never giving it another thought. When Finley was taken however, it really upset me. He was taken way too early to get by me with just a grimace. Later last night I received a phone call.

One of my brothers was on the phone. We were talking about the draft and he told me he and his best friend were upset with the draft. Several times it seems, the players they planned on taking late were drafted a round earlier than they planned on taking them. Now understand, these are not just the standard players drafted. My brother, his friend and I do a lot of studying to find these players. When they are all snatched up by two of the guys we already drafted with, it becomes an issue worth considering. When I find out one of those friends admitted to going over the other draft and looking at who my brother and his friend took because they always do well, that really bothers me. Since in that same league, I was the top scoring team two years ago and third highest scoring team last year, I have reason to believe that is why they drafted Finley early on me.

Some may say it is a smart move to study your competition and learn who they draft. If this was the NFL and we were being paid a million dollars a year to produce winners, I would agree. Fantasy football is supposed to be fun however. Sure, you want to win bragging rights and rub it in your friends faces, but there is still an ethical code that should be followed. Owners like myself and my brother and his friend put a lot of time into studying players, patterns, teams and so on. We sweat over the workload we put into our fantasy football preparations. We expect others to put their own time into preparing for the draft. To find out a couple guys, one of them being another brother, looked at who you drafted late in order to steal your sleepers crossed that code of ethics. My brother said it best on the phone last night. "I studied hard to find those players. Do your own damn studying. Don't steal mine!"

To find your sleepers from looking at who your competition drafted in another league is nothing more than laziness. We dont study for others to get ahead... well in my case I guess I do for the most part. Otherwords I would not have this blog. But I would expect to lose picks to someone who looked at my blog and my rankings. The thing is, Finley I have not praised on this blog. He was going undrafted for the most part, so I made him my personal sleeper and after I was finished drafting I planned on touting him, telling people to pick him up off of waivers if he is there.

I think people need to learn to think before they act. There are plenty of ethical codes one should not break. Maybe I can help the fantasy world by posting a list of Ethical Codes that should be followed. Expect something in this order to come out in the future.