How MLB clubhouses embrace fantasy football during NFL season - ESPN

The energy in the clubhouses for Friday night's game between the Tampa Bay Rays and Baltimore Orioles at Camden Yards was unmistakable.

It was the same intensity that existed in every baseball clubhouse in the major leagues that day — at Fenway, Wrigley, Dodger Stadium. Yes, it's September, it's the stretch run, with great pennant races, but this excitement was different because Thursday night, the NFL season opened with the Kansas City Chiefs' 27-20 win over the Baltimore Ravens. That means fantasy football is back.

«Guys came in the clubhouse today and they were already running their mouths about last night… and there was only one game — one game,» Orioles catcher James McCann said. «After the first weekend of fantasy, every baseball clubhouse will be bedlam.»

«Monday will be unreal,» said Orioles pitcher Zach Eflin. "Unreal."

Rays infielder Taylor Walls, who Eflin, a former teammate, lovingly calls «a lunatic» about fantasy football, says it is «an event. I love it because it allows me to — sorry for my language — to talk s---, which I love to do. It allows you to look at a teammate and say, 'How can you be such an idiot?' Motor [Rays hitting coach Chad Mottola] had three playmakers from the Ravens on his team last night, and we were all over him today, like, 'How could you play a running back, wide receiver and a tight end on the same team?' But fantasy football is all about camaraderie, it's about bringing a spark to the end of the season. It's an escape. It's about staying in the loop with guys even after the season ends.»

This goes on in most clubhouses around the major leagues. The Arizona Diamondbacks determined the order of their fantasy draft by placing each team's fantasy league name on 12 different