The fantasy football playoffs have arrived, and while star receiver Justin Jefferson is just as disappointed with his lack of production this season as the people who drafted him, he couldn’t care less about those internet championships on the line over the next few weeks.
No matter how many people slide into his direct message to voice their discontent.
“It’s very hard not to see it, because we’re in the day and age of social media,” Jefferson said with a wry smile earlier this week at TCO Performance Center. “That’s definitely not my favorite conversation.”
The Vikings’ offensive struggles this season have had a residual effect on the production of their skill position players within the fantasy football realm. That has resulted in many of them having to navigate a large amount of hate on social media.
“They want to comment on all of my pictures,” Jefferson said. “They want to be in DMs and all of that stuff.”
It’s nearly impossible for Jefferson to ignore the hateful rhetoric that comes across his page. He’s the face of the franchise with 1.9 million followers on Instagram and the various brand deals that require his online presence. He can’t completely divorce himself from the platform.
The same goes for veteran running back Aaron Jones. He has 1 million followers on Instagram and enjoys engaging with fans on social media whenever he can. He doesn’t even mind some of the banter he encounters in response to fantasy football.
“I like it,” Jones said. “It can be fun. I think the problem is a lot of people get lost in it. That’s where it can get messed up.”
The logistics of fantasy football are rather straight forward for those that might not be familiar with the concept.
A fantasy football “owner” builds a team by drafting skill position players, then sets a starting lineup on a weekly basis that goes up against other teams in their league. The scoring system is also fairly intuitive as skilled position players earn points based on production. The goal is to score as may points as possible.
Fantasy football has been a net positive for the league in the aggregate.
More than a decade ago, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell spoke about fantasy football, noting the impact it has had on growing the game. He added the existence of fantasy football inherently creates more interest for a longer period of time.
Even if the Vikings are destroying the Commanders like they were last week, for example, many fans are going to stay tuned in until the very end because of fantasy football implications.
There were nearly 30 million people playing fantasy football across the United States in 2022, according to an article from USA Today, and that number has steadily increased since then.
That it’s been good for business isn’t lost on tight end T.J. Hockenson. He referenced how there are more eyes on the NFL than ever before. There’s an argument to be made that the positives of fantasy football outweigh the negatives.
“It can get a little bit out of hand,” Hockenson said. “We’re humans and some people don’t look at us like that.”
As he reflected on some of the hate he’s dealt with on social media, Jones emphasized there’s a line that gets crossed far too often from fantasy football owners. They say whatever they want while hiding behind a keyboard.
“I’m sitting here like, ‘Where’s the respect?'” Jones said. “We don’t come to them at their job and criticize. I know that’s part of being in the NFL and that’s what comes with it. It doesn’t make it any easier to deal with when it’s actually happening.”
The comments occasionally gets so out of pocket that Jones feels the need to respond.
“I try not to stoop to their level,” Jones said. “I can’t help myself.”
He also consistently has to remind himself to keep everything in perspective.
“They aren’t at this level,” Jones said. “They can’t do what we do.”
As for how running back Jordan Mason has handled it, he keeps a low enough profile that he’s managed to block it out as much as possible.
“My friends do all that fantasy football stuff,” Mason said. “They know not to talk to me about all that.”
Though he made it clear he doesn’t condone the hate being spread on social media, right tackle Brian O’Neill offered a different perspective, while also acknowledging that he doesn’t have to deal with the backlash of fantasy football by nature of his position.
“At the core of it, we’re in a revenue sharing model. So the more people that care about the NFL and the more people that can interact with the game in ways like that, the better the league does, and, in turn, the better we all do,” O’Neill said. “I know it’s easy for me to say that being immune to all that stuff. Would guys want a lower salary cap if people didn’t care as much? I’d guess probably not.”
He’s seen the impact of fantasy football on a personal level.
“My wife had a bunch of friends in town,” O’Neill said. “They play fantasy football. And before they started playing fantasy football, they weren’t fans of the NFL. It helps get more eyes on us. A rising tide lifts all boats.”
As the fantasy football playoffs begin, the numbers speak for themselves when looking specifically at the Vikings. No skill position player on the roster is currently in the Top 20 of scoring at their position.
Jones is ranked as the No. 47 running back with 82.6 points, Mason is the No. 33 running back with 114.5 points, Jefferson is the No. 25 receiver with 157.4 points and Hockenson is the No. 22 tight end with 101 points.
Not that any of them are thinking about fantasy football or the hate on social media as the Vikings prepare for their primetime game against the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday night at AT&T Stadium.
“I kind of look at it as motivation,” Jefferson said. “Just seeing the comments that they leave and seeing the opinions that they have. That’s something that motivates me. To go out there and shut them up.”
