As the NFL regular season ended, so too did a fan-favorite pastime of over the last 20 years: the Fantasy Football season. The popular sports betting game is one that many WCHS students and millions nationwide play each football season, where participants in different leagues draft their own teams with real-life NFL players. They are then awarded points every week based on the success or failure of their players when compared to their opponents. As the competition has become more trendy with each passing season, the stakes have evolved. Those whose teams scored the lowest composite total often have to do “fantasy punishments” where, at the end of the season, they are forced to complete a series of embarrassing tasks.
With the season now over, many WCHS students have been seen completing these tasks. WCHS senior Clay Norment came in last place of his league and thus had to complete a fantasy punishment. In Norment’s case, this entailed posting one TikTok video every day for seven days. While some of the videos Norment made were chosen by the other members of his fantasy league, Norment did have some creative freedom for his punishment videos.
“My friends gave me options for what video I would do each day in addition to allowing me to choose some on my own,” Norment said. “It was difficult to accept that I was going to have to do the punishment. I was drowning with humiliation at first.”
All of these videos were based on the concept of “TikTok brain rot,” which is defined as TikTok content that possesses little value or use and is supposedly associated with negative psychological and cognitive side effects. It is generally seen in the content posted by members of Generation Alpha and is viewed as highly embarrassing by many WCHS students. Despite the humiliation of posting “TikTok brain rot” videos to be viewed by the WCHS community, Norment still believes that fantasy punishment is not necessarily a bad thing. For Norment, Fantasy Football was just a fun activity to participate in with his friends and the punishments were all done in good faith rather than bullying.
“I think [Fantasy punishment] can be a fun way to encourage participation as long as everyone agrees and the punishment is not too harmful,” Norment said.
The TikTok punishment gained more popularity this year, but there are plenty of other devastating punishments that have been used in the last decade. One popular option is to make the loser go to their local Waffle House and stay there for 24 hours, but one hour is removed from the clock with each waffle that they eat.
“When I first heard about the punishment, I thought, ‘How bad could it really be?’” WCHS junior Ryan Nudelman said. “But by hour six, I regretted every trade I made this season.”
While a lot of success in Fantasy comes down to skill and knowing the game of football, tons of luck can make or break the season. For example, Nudelman had the first overall pick this season in one of his leagues and drafted 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey, who then missed more than half of the season with an injury. This destroyed his team and ultimately led him to Waffle House.
“You think fantasy football is all fun and games until you are staring down a plate of waffles at midnight, questioning every lineup decision you made this season,” Nudelman said. “Next year, I am making safer draft choices—or skipping the league altogether. I can not risk the Waffle House again.”
