Braves pitcher Tim Hudson keeps a huge silver trophy belt, like wrestlers wear, in his locker at Turner Field. He earned it by beating his teammates in their fantasy football league.
I started in my first fantasy football league three years ago, after I had Tommy John surgery on my arm and I had time on my hands. I don’t think you can say it’s luck that I won. I’ve played for three years and each year I’ve been in the Super Bowl.
Really, it’s nothing but luck. You draft by what the players are projected to do. Even if you’ve drafted good players, whenever one gets hurt, you have to deal with those injuries every week. You just hope and pray. It’s a little bit of your gut and a little bit of information from the web.
To decide who plays each week, I go to two or three websites. I can’t tell you what they are because it would give away secrets. They are like my Bible. They are spot on.
The week of trades was key. Trades were the difference for me.
We draft when we’re on a road trip, in someone’s hotel room or in a conference room. We have 12 teams. Eric Hinske is the guru. He’s in seven leagues. Week 15 really hurt him, when his quarterback, Aaron Rodgers, went out with a concussion.
I had the eighth pick in our draft. I got Philip Rivers, and then packaged him with another running back in a trade for Peyton Manning and Dallas Clark.
I always draft a top-flight quarterback and power running backs. My backs were Michael Turner and Peyton Hillis. I had receivers Greg Jennings and Calvin Johnson. No, I don’t know any of these [football] players personally.
I had to overcome a bit of adversity after starting out 1-5. I had a deep team, and I had some players come in and make some ground up.
Fantasy football is competitive. To be honest, in every big-league clubhouse, it will dominate the conversation during the fall. It gets your mind off the everyday knocks you have to take in baseball.
The year before I won, Brian McCann won and bought the belt. Then he ended up going first to worst. I might retire on top.
-- Reported by Michelle Hiskey
